Mary Ann McGuigan

Rich and pampered sixteen-year-old Morgan Lindstrum is upset because her mother and father aren’t talking to each other, and not spending time at their beautiful home in Princeton, New Jersey. She is also confused about feelings she’s been having for her best friend Ansel and, on top of everything, her beloved Grandfather passed away.

While trying to make her way through the minefield that has become her life, Morgan discovers her mother has a secret centered in Brooklyn. Her curiosity about her mother’s past leads her to discover poor Irish relations, which include her real grandfather Terence Mulvaney. Her mother is reluctant to forgive her father for past wrongs, but Morgan is determined to bring the family back together.

While seeking a bridge of reconciliation she soon discovers her newfound relatives may soon become part of Brooklyn’s homeless population. Morgan must call on all of her resources to try and reconcile her family, but it may come at a price she cannot pay.

Though “Crossing into Brooklyn” realistically described the city’s homeless population, contrasting its poverty with Princeton’s upper class, fake exterior, I thought Morgan’s constant references to what happened in Chicago did not lend merit to the storyline and were a distraction. In addition, though she came across as a heroine, there were aspects of her story that did not come across as believable. Her encounter with Carlos, as well as the fact that she managed to come and go many times through a very poor, rough area of Brooklyn without once being challenged by area residents for being a richly dressed girl in a poor neighborhood did not ring true to this Brooklynite.

I have mixed feelings about this book, so will leave it up to you to decide if you want to read it or not.

Book review blog link: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/crossing-into-brooklyn-mary-...… (meer)

Crossing into Brooklyn is an engrossing book about a 16 year old girl, Morgan, who comes-of-age in a family filled with secrets and evasions. Once Morgan finds out the truth about her mother's identity and pieces together some of the reasons for the detachment and coldness that underlie her family dynamic she immerses herself in a quest to understand her own complex feelings about her lineage, class and social standing, poverty and suffering. Another theme in the book is Morgan's developing sexuality and how to be honest in the face of social and sexual pressures.

In some ways, Morgan is like her mother. She is not particularly warm though she does have some passion. Like many adolescent girls it is hard for her to understand her mother's point of view but as she comes to understand more about her maternal grandfather she does feel some compassion for her. As she gets to know him she becomes more sure of herself, stands up to her parents, feels less shame with her friends and family and becomes more fleshed out with a fuller sense of herself.

I did not particularly understand the point about Morgan's friend/sometimes boyfriend Ansel. The virgin/whore split that Morgan felt and Ansel seemed to create felt pointless and underdeveloped. What seemed to be a good friendship became bogged down in this dynamic and I could not understand the reason. Otherwise, I was completely absorbed by Morgan's story and how in crossing Brooklyn she found herself.

Thank you Edelweiss for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.… (meer)