Small Damages

Title: Small Damages by Beth Kephart

ISBN:978-0-399-25748-3

Pages: 293

Appearance:

Summary:

     It's senior year, and the future should right within reach.  But for Kenzie--bright, ambitious, and in love with Yale-bound Kevin--the future has been rearranged.  She's pregnant, and she's determined not to end her pregnancy.  Her mother and Kevin refuse to understand.  Sent off to an old cortijo in Spain, Kenzie must find a way to endure until her baby is safe in an adoptive couple's hands.  What will she make of the stubborn old cook who plagues Kenzie with demands?  How will she ever understand the mysterious young man Esteban--his way with horses, and birds, and his way of watching her?  And what can the eccentric Gypsies teach Kenzie about love?  There are choices to make.  there are questions about home.
     Small Damages is Spain alive.  It is hearts broken and healed.  It is heat and color and soul.

     Hello everyone out there in the big wide world of the internet!  My school has just finished midterms. Yay, so much fun those midterms :D Yeah...not really...So I've been reading, cuz you know that's the perfect way to relax and I have finished this book. Yay! So this is a pretty sad story at the beginning, Kenzie is kicked out of her home because she has fallen pregnant and refuses to get rid of the baby.  Her boyfriend, future Yale undergraduate *gasp*, and her mother refuse to accept this decision of hers to allow the baby to live.  Her widowed mother knows of people living in Spain who are willing to take care of her until the baby is adopted by a couple living there.  She feels so confused why she was willing to give up everything for her baby, to leave her family, her home to keep her child. 

     My favorite character is actually not the main character, Kenzie, but the old cook Estela that works at the cortijo who is responsible for teaching Kenzie how to cook each day.  However, as they grow closer and realize how similar they really are to each other despite a language barrier...all the while cooking food.  The lessons she learns while with Estela teaches Kenzie that there are no second chances to redo something that happens.  Estela knew before even Kenzie knew, why Kenzie wanted to keep the baby.

     Throughout the novel, Kenzie experiences flashbacks, to her old friends, her boyfriend.  They're important in revealing The entire story is written in a very lyrically; you can see the subtle connections the author is trying to convey to the audience through simple hints like two birds singing in a tree, an orange orchard, etc.  It really makes you think about the choices you make everyday.  

3.5 out of 5 stars

Sparkly Hearts,

Jen