Gayle Brandeis

This is a book about a mother/daughter relationship, told from the perspective of the daughter. The mother, a Korean prostitute, basically rejects her half-black daughter as the girl is growing up. A string of the mother's dead birds (all killed by the daughter) serve as first a wall and then a bridge between them.

My favorite part of this book is how you only know what the daughter knows, so the whole story isn't packaged up and handed to you. Tidy happy endings that leave no questions are boring, and this book will not bore you.… (meer)

Each chapter alternates between the story of two women. One is a mother with a 9y/o daughter she homeschools as they live a nomadic life as a farm picker. The other is about a 17/18 y/o ice-skater whose life is controlled by her mother and then her crazy pair partner.
The characters seemed immature to me. The topography was interesting - the Delta in California. I wouldn't say the book was a waste of time, but I admit to skimming over parts to get to more substance and hurry the book along. I was glad when it ended and I don't think I'd recommend this book to any of my friends.… (meer)