That Just Happened!

Halpern, Adena.  29.  Touchstone (2010).

What if you closed your eyes, blew out the candles and your wish came true?

Ellie Jerome is a young-at-heart 75-year old who relates more to her 25-year old granddaughter Lucy than to her 55-year old daughter Barbara.  Ellie’s done everything she can to stay young, and the last thing she wants is to celebrate another birthday. So when she finds herself confronted with a cake full of candles, Ellie wishes more than anything that she could be twenty-nine again, just for one day.  But who expects a wish like that to come true?

From the Author’s Website

When I read the review by Jen @ Devourer of Books, I was excited, because this seemed like just the kind of book I was looking for.  Light, fluffy, all in all a nice summer read.  I totally agree with her assessment of the book.  I also liked the author’s ability to write the character as though she were a 75 year old in a 29 year old’s body and kept it consistent through out the novel.  I was totally surprised by the last part of the book, though.  I know Jen mentioned that it was deeper than she thought, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so sad.  I ultimately came to like the ending, so that made up for it.  I found that I really could empathize with the characters and the book did evoke some verbal reactions from me.  Some, “oh, come on!“‘s and “Oh, for pete’s sake!”‘s definitely came out of my mouth, especially when reading scenes involving Ellie’s daughter. 

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a nice (end of…boo!)  summer read, anyone who likes reading books from a different perspective, and anyone who enjoys the story line of Freaky Friday and all variations thereof.  Put it on Your TBR list.  You can read Jen’s review of the book here.