Shine--"You can cast off the darkness and shine again, can't you?"

Title: Shine

Author: Lauren Myracle

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer):  Cat's childhood friend, an openly-gay teenager in the small North Carolina town of Black Creek, was severely beaten and left for dead.  While Patrick lies in a coma, Cat questions everyone in her small town to figure out who did this to Patrick, and also confronts a boy who sexually assaulted her three years previously, as well as systematic poverty, drug addiction, homophobia, racism, and desperation in Black Creek.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  The mystery is very easy to figure out, even though I had a sad feeling in my stomach because I did not want for this character to be guilty--I really liked and felt bad for him! I stubbornly held on to the belief that it was another character, the openly "bad guy," but then, surprisingly, he feels remorseful for his actions (and has a solid alibi).

The ending to this book is absolutely heartbreaking, and for those who want justice served for victims, isn't very satisfying.

However, it's realistic behavior in a rural small town, a community in which people "take care of" and "reward and punish" their own.  I was impressed with the realistic depiction of super small town poverty and desperation as described in Shine.  I used to work in a rural school district with several small towns just like Black Creek.  Crimes are often swept under the rug, with local vigilante residents taking care of the trouble and not involving law enforcement at all.  Outsiders, even well-meaning ones, are not trusted.

The ending might seem illogical and ludicrous to readers not familiar with  cyclical poverty but is realistic depiction of how people behave, in my experience.  The bleeding-heart liberal in me wants to go to all of these small towns and save them, somehow.  The realistic part of me knows that I can't solve all of these problems, the problems took generations to create, and will likely take generations to resolve.

This book is on the 2012 Rainbow Book List.

My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer):  Definitely read Shine, and research Ruby Payne's research on poverty for more information, but be sure to consider the MANY valid critiques of Payne's theories.

The casual use of strong language and hate speech by the characters made me cringe, but, as I've pointed out before, hate speech SHOULD make you feel uncomfortable!

Cat mentions her favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and Black Creek, North Carolina, is similar in description to Maycomb, Alabama.

My favorite quotes/passages:  

• "'Haven't you already read that book?' he said.
  'Only a couple hundred times.'
  'Do you cry every time?'" (hardback edition, pg. 56).
• "I felt sucker-punched. It wasn't God's fault Patrick had been treated worse than dirt, as I'd let myself believe.  It was mine" (pg. 82).
• "God loves you even on your blackest days, and He will always, always be there to guide you back home.  All you have to do is look for the light of His love.  As long as you remember that one thing, why, then you can cast off the darkness and shine again, can't you?" (pg. 96).
• "I read that in India, cows roamed freely in the streets and did whatever they wanted. I thought that was downright strange.  But then, an Indian girl would probably find catching crawdads in empty Pringles cans strange" (pg. 345).

Other reviews: Book Page and Supposedly Fun

Some of the proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.