Chandra Sparks Taylor

Haitians4Life


At the behest of their mother, teenage twins David and Jerry leave Haiti headed to New York to live with their mother’s sister. It’s their plan to make enough money to send for the rest of their family. The boys quickly adjust, making names for themselves in the streets. Together, with fellow Haitians, they form the Body Snatchers, a ruthless gang of kidnappers. While they are looking for victims, little do they know someone is waiting to add them to their list of victims.

I really liked the storyline of Roze’s “Body Snatchers,” its premise and even the characters; its execution – not so much. What started off as an intriguing, tightly-woven story unraveled as the story progressed starting with its narration. Initially the story was told in first-person narration through the eyes of the twins, allowing for readers to get better acquainted with the characters. However, by the sixth chapter, the book switched gears to third-person. After three chapters it again switched back to first-person. This would become a pattern with the story losing its power with the multiple changes, some within the same chapter. Had the author chosen one form of narration it would have made for a much smoother, less convoluted flow.

The timeline was shaky as there were some points where I could not tell how much time passed. Add to that, with the flips in narration, an event would be covered in a chapter and the next chapter would be at a different frame of time or recover the same event from another viewpoint, which proved confusing.

I liked these characters. I liked the plot. I liked the Haitian pride displayed by both the characters and the author. I just wish the execution had been better, that the author had taken a little more time to play out the boys’ transformation, and had stayed focused on the boys (narration) as they were the charm of this book. I also wish that the author had given one complete story brought to an end instead of leaving an opening for the dreaded S word.

While “Body Snatchers” is not a perfect book, no book is, it’s obvious that care and attention was given to editing. That’s a rarity in an industry saturated with poorly edited books and this reader appreciated it.

Newcomer Roze has a unique voice and I look forward to more from her.

Reviewed by: Toni
3.5… (meer)

This heartwarming tale of a 10-year-old foster child who dreams of being adopted by the perfect family and living in the perfect home. Destini focuses on wanting everything she doesn't have, and at times those things are unrealistic - but for a 10-year-old who says dreams need to be realistic?

Destini finds that as time goes on, the things she dreamed of were going to come true, but not without a price. As realism rears it's cruel head, she learns some heartbreaking lessons and finds that life and love are different that one plans.

This book should be read by all tweens as it gives a look at the foster care system and how children feel being part of it. The emotional feelings of being displaced and unwanted are well illustrated and makes me feel that the author has had some personal experience with the system.

Don't worry about being overly bogged down with emotions. There are some really happy and warm "fuzzy" parts that balance this out nicely. My only complaint is that the is a focus on materialism. Yes, I do understand that children in the system wish for many things that they don't have - but I think some things were a bit overdone (Of course, this comes from an adult point of view).… (meer)