The Same Sky: A Novel

Loved this book. If you are someone who likes books told from different perspectives such as Jodi Picoult, you will like this book. Although the characters are not connected, their paths to happiness and optimism are memorable. I am on the hunt for another good one like this. Enjoy!

This book should be renamed "Ridiculous Journey." I couldn't help but think, in Carla's journey from Honduras to the US, there wasn't a single Mexican to help her besides a criminal? She had to travel all that way to the United States to find any help? Sad for their country and shame on this country's leaders.

I wish authors wouldn’t try to have two stories going at once—one chapter for each character, back and forth, as if it’s fair. It’s never fair, and it never fails: you always like one better than the other. There’s the Good Story and then there’s The Other One. I just wanted The Other One to stop interrupting, to stop sticking its nose in my face when I’m trying to find out what happens in the Good Story.

Here, the Good Story is terrifying, riveting, heart-wrenching. Carla is telling the story. She’s a young girl living in abject poverty in Honduras. In charge of her younger brother, she forages for food at the dump, dreams of escaping to America, and then makes a harrowing run for it.
The Other One is boring. Alice tells her story. She’s a middle-class, 40-year-old woman in Texas whose husband owns a popular restaurant. She desperately wants to adopt a baby and has just had to give an adopted baby back. Here’s a couple of things Alice and her family do: They go to parades and say grace. Alice’s husband gets interviewed for a story in a food magazine. The story has a Hallmark feel. See? No contest! Why not just make the story all about Carla?

Okay, Carla’s story. I’ve never read a book that describes poverty so vividly. You feel like you’re right there with Carla, walking in her shoes as she barely finds enough food to stay alive and as she endures horrible events during her trek to America. I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what horror she would face next and how she would survive. I’ll never look at immigrants in the same light again. When I hear of people trying to cross the border, I’ll think of Carla’s frightening struggles, her desperation, and her determination to get out of her country. It’s a treacherous journey, and not for the weak. Hunger, rape, theft, death, and pure and constant fear—this is what immigrants face.

The author does an amazing job of making it feel real. Carla is very well developed, the scenes are vivid, the pacing of the novel is excellent. There are no wasted words.

I have one criticism of the Good Story, which is Carla’s voice. Occasionally, she sounds like an American writer.

For example, she says:
“I tried to push down my anger, the sense that I had been abandoned, a fledgling left to founder in a disintegrating nest.”

And this:
“What do you want?, he said, leaning back against the door frame of my house, looking insouciant.”

Okay, embarrassing truth: I had to look up “insouciant.” (It means “nonchalant”, if you were as clueless as I was.) So Carla, who isn’t a native English speaker, uses “insouciant”? I don’t think so. I realize that she was probably an adult telling her story, looking back at her life in Honduras and her journey, but I sometimes didn’t buy her vocabulary and sentence structure. Did she get her M.A. in English or creative writing?

I don’t have a lot to say about the Other One. Besides being a mundane story, the relationship between Alice and her husband just didn’t ring true. Several actions seemed out of character. For example, Alice tries to help a troubled teenager, Evian, and Alice’s husband doesn’t approve. Then suddenly he is gung-ho Evian, with no explanation of why he changed his tune. Evian even contacts him, which seems totally out of character. I didn’t buy it. Another example: Alice insinuates that her husband is flirting with a person interviewing him, and it’s never addressed. Also, the dialogue is often stilted. The author keeps the story moving, but I wasn’t interested. I was dying to get back to Carla. The way the two stories intersect is cool but somewhat predictable.

I did like many of the metaphors used (“Her teeth are white as American sugar.”). I always love a good metaphor, and it made me see that the writer was clever when it came to creating good images.

I wish some reviewer had mentioned that the book has a God bent. God works in mysterious ways; you must have faith, etc. etc. I didn’t want to hear it. I felt like I was listening to a famous person who, when interviewed, thanks God (instead of giving themselves credit) for whatever he or she has achieved—which lessens my admiration of the star.

I’m going to pay careful attention when a book blurb says that the book is about “faith.” It usually means there’s God stuff, which will send me running the other way. In the acknowledgments, the author thanks a priest who provided much of the info on Carla’s story. No wonder the book has a religious bent. The characters in Alice’s story are also religious (though I must admit, not in a major way). Given that the family is apple-pie America, the inclusion of religious just turned me off more. I prefer edgy, not mundane straight lives of god-fearing people in middle America. But this is just my opinion.

I’ve recently read two other books, "Calling Me Home" and "Five Days Left," both of which also had two alternating stories, and in both cases I liked one story and not the other. I just don’t understand why the authors aren’t happy sticking with the strong story and ditching the other. The books would be so much better.

The Carla story was great, but the Alice story wasn’t. It was a fast read. I know most people raved about this book, but I can’t gush. All I can give it is a 3.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

THE SAME SKY

Carla is an eleven year old girl living in below poverty conditions in Honduras. Her mother left the entire family and made the trip to Austin, Texas, to save money to help her family. Carla helps her ailing grandmother take care of her twin brothers. They barely have any food and are lucky to have a roof over their heads. Carla works in the dump going through trash to make a few bucks to help support her brothers and grandma. What a life. The conditions are hard, cruel, and never ever get better. Even though their mom sends money from Texas, it isn't much help. Crime is horrible and constant, the streets are swimming with criminals, murderers, druggies -- Carla can trust few people. One day Carla decides to put her fate in her own hands and decides to make the illegal trip to America to find her mom and hopefully get a shot at a better life.

Alice and her husband, Jake, live in Austin, Texas, and operate a popular BBQ joint. Wow, just reading about their meals made this reader crave BBQ! Jake and Alice desperately would love to have children and have tried adoption. They are both very involved in their thriving business, the local community, are totally in love with each other, but due to the fact there are no children in their lives, they feel as if a link is missing for them.

Told in the oscillating voices of Alice and Carla, this is a great book. It really opens your eyes as to the conditions others in foreign countries live in and how these people will literally do ANYTHING to get to America. Carla has quite the story to tell -- she speaks in a clear voice, recounting the horrors of her daily 'normal' life. Alice's story is also well told.

From the minute I started this book, I knew how this story would end. While very predictable, this is still a great and eye-opening book, filled with hope, love, and the human condition. Come and meet Alice and Carla and see what life has in store for these very two different women. Ward has always been a favorite author of mine and she did not disappoint with her latest.

Thank you.

Pam

Two heartbreaking stories set in strikingly different countries--America and Honduras. A little girl and a 40-year old woman with poignant, painful circumstances about which neither one knows how to resolve.

Amanda Eyre Ward has taken a young girl, Carla, feeling lost and lonely without her mother who has headed to America to make a living to provide for her daughter, four-year old twin boys, and her mother.

Ward paints an equally sad and arresting story of Alice Conroe, 40 years old with her biological clock wound down. Alice and her husband desperately want a child, and each attempt to adopt falls foul of success.

Alternating Carla and Alice's stories in each chapter, the reader gains insight into two critical areas of life not always familiar to every individual.

Carla's life in Honduras is one of seeking food in the garbage dump and living in fear of being attacked or murdered. It is no wonder these people take such chances to enter America, whether legally or illegally. And what they go through in their efforts to arrive here is unbelievable.

Alice's dream of a child of her own seem to be defeated at every turn creating problems between her and her husband. And yet their love is strong enough to survive. Just as Carla's determination for a better life provides for her survival.

I fell in love with both Carla and Alice, and I hoped they would become parent and child. But even better the comparison and contrast between the stories brought home with greater power the human will which carries us through times of despair, depression, want and immense need.

This is my first Amanda Eyre Ward read, and it will not be my last. Her writing is powerful and yet filled with bits of humor in Alice's story, which is needed from time to time. Ward draws evocative pictures of her characters, real people, people you want to know.

Recommendation: The Same Sky is not an overly long book, and the story line moves quickly. If you want a well written, heart tugging book filled with the human longing we all share, The Same Sky would be a good book for you to pick up. Perhaps you have read Ward's other books and if so, she has written a winner here.

Note: I received a copy of The Same Sky from Ballantine Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The views expressed here are solely my own.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

My Review: This was one of those books that surprised me. It has some rather heavy subjects that it addresses but also has a rather quiet feel to it as the reader gets an intimate look at both Carla and Alice's lives as they tell their stories in alternating chapters.

Both Carla and Alice's story lines focused on their daily struggles which were interesting and touching. Carla's story was emotional, raw and showed that a child could endure so much more than you'd expect. My heart went out to her as she struggled with what life (and her mother) left her to deal with. She was naive but courageous and ultimately risked everything in order to save herself and her brother.

Alice's story was, for me anyway, less interesting than Carla's. Maybe it was because I found her to not be as likable as Carla. Maybe that was because I wasn't fond of some of her choices - how she treated her husband, how she allowed Evian to take advantage of her repeatedly. I suppose Alice's struggles seemed to pale just a bit compared to Carla's because, while they were important to her, they weren't life threatening like Carla's. But on the other hand, if Alice's story was as dark as Carla's the book would have taken on too much of a somber tone.

While this book deals with some heavy subjects it also gives the reader a chance to step into two very different people's shoes and get a very intimate take on their personal struggles. Ultimately it is an emotional story that showcases how hope can endure in even the darkest of places.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
*** This book review, as well as hundreds more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) where I also share hundreds of my favourite recipes. ***

This dual perspective novel introduces us to Carla, a young girl growing up in a slum in Honduras and to Alice, who runs a barbeque restaurant in Austin, Texas. Their stories run separately for the length of the book and in the end I was kind of kicking myself for not seeing how they would intersect.

Carla is living a relatively decent life for her poverty stricken area. She and her brothers are being raised by their grandmother. Her mother is living in Texas and sends home money and fancy American clothing. By comparison, Carla’s best friend leaves school to help his family eat by salvaging food and anything sellable from the garbage dump. When Carla’s grandmother dies and her younger brother begins looking for drugs over food, she knows she has to try to find her way to America. To write this book, Amanda Eyre Ward worked at shelters interviewing children who immigrated. The journey that Carla and Junior take is harrowing and so many people make this choice every day. Ward tells a powerful story of how desperate people are to try to make it to the United States – something everyone lucky enough to be a US Citizen should understand. Carla’s life is not something a little girl should have to experience. Psst – if you are looking for a great nonfiction book on the subject, Holly recommends Coyotes: A Journey through the Secret World of America’s Illegal Aliens by Ted Conover)

In contrast, Alice’s life is pretty good. She and her husband have a crazy popular restaurant in Austin. They are broken hearted though as the baby they believed they were going to adopt was taken back by his birth mother after 24 hours. I think Alice is a character that women readers can relate to. She wasn’t trying to be the perfect wife or friend or business person. She was selfish in her grief – as you can be! Though Carla and Alice could not have been more different they were both great strong female characters. As I said, I probably should have seen where their lives would meet but I didn’t until the very end which I was glad for.

This was a really hopeful book for both Carla and Alice when it was over. Even though I would not change the resolution at all, it felt as though things wrapped up a little too neatly. However, I really loved how the book was finished from Carla’s perspective. This was a fast read despite the weighty subjects and it definitely leaves you with a lot to think about. If you want books like this I also highly recommend Prayers for the Stolen which I reviewed last week.

3 stars

Thank you Ballentine Books and NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

When I started reading Amanda Eyre Ward's "The Same Sky," I was reminded of the movie "Under the Same Moon" ("La Misma Luna"). Like the young boy in the movie, 11-year-old Carla, sets up on a perilous trip to find her mother in America after her grandmother dies suddenly, and she's left alone in Honduras. Carla's resolve to be reunited with her mother, however, is strengthened by the urgency to keep her little brother away from drugs. "The Same Sky" is also about Alice Conroe, whose hopes of becoming a mother are dashed when her adoption deal falls through at the very last minute. The aftermath will test her beliefs and her marriage.

Carla and Alice take turns to tell their stories. Their stories, however, run parallel to each other and won't intersect until the very end. The Honduran girl's and the Texan woman's lives may not seem to have much in common. The former is growing up in a broken family, surrounded by poverty and violence. The latter owns a restaurant, has a loving husband and is well-liked in the community. But as their stories unfold, readers will find that in spite of their differences, neither one is a stranger to fears, uncertainty, doubts, loneliness and deep longings as well as to resilience, compassion and kindness.

Ms. Ward doesn't shy away from detailing to the readers the ugliness, dangers and the risks Central American children like Carla face during their trek to reach and cross the border, but at the same time, she captures the determination and faith that it takes to survive such desperate conditions. What I also liked about "The Same Sky" is that the author did not forget the children living within the American side of the border. As Alice tries her best to mentor teenaged Evian, a troubled student of Chavez Memorial High School, readers are reminded that at-risk American kids are dealing with poverty, gang-related violence, drugs, and broken families too.

Some readers may find "The Same Sky" perhaps a bit uneven as Alice's story doesn't seem to be of equal weight to Carla's. At first, I found myself wondering what this somewhat shallow American woman had to do in a book about the plight of illegal child immigrants, but keep reading, and you'll find that the lessons learned by Alice are as important as the ones imparted by Carla's experiences.

The Same Sky is a powerful book touching on social and personal issues in a fast paced read. That’s not easy to do and I commend the author for being able to take two important subjects and merge them seamlessly at the end.

What I really enjoyed in this book was my equal appeal to both of the 1st person narratives. One a much more harrowing than the other, however if they both held such angst, this would’ve been a very dark book.

This novel deals with many topics such as education, immigration, infertility, rape, drugs, gangs, destitution and the American dream. Some fleshed out more deeply than others, but that was the beauty of this book. So many important, discussion worthy topics were touched upon and sometimes it’s those gentle nudges that really make you think rather than being forced upon you.

This book is a mere 270 pages and is packed with so much to discuss. I can’t divulge more with out giving any spoilers to the storyline. I look forward to reading more from this author. For more reviews like this visit goodbookfairy.com

I read this book with enjoyment but cannot give it more stars because
I found the book lacking . The characters were not well drawn. I did not feel
emotionally involved in the story, interest was my only feeling.
There were 2 paraelle stories, one about a young girl and the other about
a young married woman. Carla and Alice are profiled in alternating
chapters. Carla is an orphaned, needy child trying to get to America
and find her Mom. Carla and Jake are a happily married but childless
couple. I found the read slow and repetitious. The end was rushed ----boom it was over.
I think Amanda Ward just wanted to finish and move on. Ward's writing was
OK but I felt there was something missing in the rhythm and flow of the book.

"The Same Sky" by Amanda Eyre Ward is a compelling, it is a story told by two narrators; each one in alternating chapters.

Each voice is unique to the person telling their own personal story that eventually meshes with the other person's story. Ward managed to create two completely different characters with completely different ages, nationalities, backgrounds, and personalities along with their hopes and dreams. You get a fly on the wall view into the personal lives of these two females. This gave me an education into who Mexican immigrants are and their reasons for coming to the USA and what some experience while trying to get here.

This is a book that pulled me into it with the very first sentence and kept hold of me until I finished it. I found it to be a book that was hard to put down and will be equally hard to forget.

This book is both compelling and eye opening. A perfect weekend read.

REVIEWED BY SUNNY (originally posted on Kindles & Wine Book Blog)

THE SAME SKY is an extraordinary look at the lives of two very different individuals, each telling their first-person point of view in a back and forth cadence. The novel starts with Carla, a girl living in Honduras, who has experienced a tremendous amount in her young life. It then switches to Alice, a woman in her forties, who has had a very different life in comparison but has also had her share of problems. I found Amanda Eyre Ward's gripping stories for these two characters to be well written and very thought-provoking. The insights I gained were numerous and I felt like I was reading a memoir, their stories felt so real.

I found Alice to be very intriguing. Her struggles with health, and in more recent years with infertility, made her very relatable. She was so focused on this struggle that she was grasping at straws in all other aspects of her life and often forgot the good in her life. This tended to cause some frustration for those around her. Some of her relationships were strained, yet I found these words from her mother-in-law to be very important to Alice and her evolution throughout the story:

"I wish you had children, honey," said Winifred. "But what you have already...that's all I could ever hope for, for my baby--a love like yours. Don't you know how lucky you are?"

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As Alice came to grips with her life, her focus changed and that was when I enjoyed her character most.

Even though I liked Alice, it was Carla who made THE SAME SKY for me. The realizations I gained from her journey were humbling. Ward did an incredible job of giving Carla an important voice in this story, telling of the difficulties so many people are facing around the world and the incredible amount of faith it takes to endure it all. In this text, Carla shares her thoughts on God's impact for her and those she loves, even during uncertain times:

Why God made certain decisions, I could not even dream of knowing. God only gave my grandparents one child--my mother--though they had yearned for more. God sent Hurricane Mitch to Honduras, and yellow glue. Yet He also gave us the stars, the feel of cool night on our faces. He gave me my brothers, and the way I felt when Humberto looked at me. I believed God watched over me. I was lucky in this. Many people I knew feared that God had forgotten them.

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Throughout the telling of her story, Carla frequently thanked God for getting her to the next phase of her journey. Carla's story hit me hard. I realized how much I have taken for granted growing up the way I did and living the type of life I live. Even though I can't feel guilty about it, I have been asking myself, what can I do to help others like Carla? I can do more. I feel like I have been challenged by her.

This was one of my favorite passages of the story, as it shares Carla's views, including what she thinks of Americans like me:

As I've said before, I believe in God. I could worry about what I could worry about, and I had to trust God to take care of the rest. As my story continues, please remember this. Some of the things that happened to me would ruin a person who did not have faith. If despair runs as deep and fast as the Rio Bravo, my belief that I am not alone forms a lifeboat underneath me, keeping me from drowning. This is hard for an American to understand. Having enough--having too much--enables you to forget that you are not in charge. But letting go of your fear also means you must accept whatever life God gives to you. I believed, as I prepared for my journey, that God had great plans for me.

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I have tried to be in charge of my life, and I have to admit there have been times I have tried to take that responsibility away from God. I am very thankful for young Carla who reminded me that I am not in charge; God is in charge and has great plans for me.

We are all living under THE SAME SKY, and I found how Ward shared that concept in this story to be gripping. This story was thought-provoking and wonderful, and I found the switch from Alice's to Carla's point of view to be very effective. If this story came out in audio, I would most definitely read it again as I would love to hear these stories told by two different narrators.

There were a few times throughout that I wish a bit more development would have gone into a scene, or that there was a bit more background information to solidify what I was reading/experiencing. The story also ended a bit abruptly for me, but after reflecting on that, I think it was the author's way of letting us decide how life would turn out for these two amazing characters.

I am thankful for the humbling lessons I learned while reading THE SAME SKY and am in awe of the realities of so many as close to home as my own small community, as well as around the world. God has great plans for all of us.

BOTTOM LINE
THE SAME SKY is a gripping story of two incredible characters and their difficult yet faithful journeys through very different lives. It is a humbling story that reads like a wonderful memoir and is an incredible view of how we all live under THE SAME SKY.

RATING: B+ (4½ stars)

Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

“The Same Sky” has two story lines narrated by two people in contrasting circumstances with very different problems.

Forty-year-old Alice lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband Jake, where they own a successful barbeque restaurant but are thwarted in their attempts to adopt a child. After having lost her mother at an early age, and surviving cancer herself, she prefers to take action when faced with problems. She has difficulty acknowledging her feelings, which creates tension between her husband and herself.

Growing up in abject poverty in Honduras, after her grandmother’s death eleven-year-old Carla makes a bold decision to take her six-year-old brother and make the dangerous journey to America to join their mother in Austin. Their journey is very traumatic, and her narrative is riveting and powerfully rendered.

Alice and Carla’s lives are intertwined in the final chapters, and the ending, while it feels rushed, is emotional and bittersweet.

A woman in the United States deals with the consequences of a life-changing illness. A young girl in Honduras tries to lead her family despite the worst economic conditions. The two will meet in unexpected circumstances that will once again change both of them. Amanda Eyre Ward gives readers this plot in the well-intentioned but deeply lopsided novel The Same Sky.

Alice and her husband, Jake, run a celebrated barbecue restaurant in Austin. The restaurant has begun to receive national attention and Alice couldn’t feel happier for Jake, the son of an experienced barbecue restaurateur. After her breast cancer diagnosis, a double mastectomy, and premature menopause, Alice feels like she’s finally getting a chance to partake in something productive.

Not that all is perfect in Austin. Alice’s deep longing for children provides the couple with a stumbling block. A failed adoption only makes things worse; the birth mother reneges on the adoption just days after Alice and Jake bring the baby home. Since losing the child, Alice can’t think of anything else.

In Honduras Carla does all she can to display bravado. Her mother left the family when Carla was only six years old, making the dangerous, exhausting trip to enter the U.S. illegally, so she can earn money and raise the family’s economic status. Since her mother left, Carla has run the house. She takes care of her twin brothers and their grandmother.

Carla’s mother eventually saves enough money to send for one brother. Carla keeps hoping her mother will send for her and her other brother, Junior. When Carla’s mother left, town life hadn’t become so unbearable. As economic hardships strike the town, however, money becomes even more scarce. At one point Carla begins digging through dumpsters for any items to salvage and sell.

When her grandmother dies, Carla knows she can’t stay in Honduras any longer. Junior has begun engaging in dangerous activity. If she wants to keep both of them safe, Carla will have to find a way herself to cross the border. Despite stories of failed border crossings, Carla knows she will not stop trying until she reaches her mother.

Author Amanda Eyre Ward creates two diametrically opposed characters, albeit unintentionally. Carla’s sweet voice underscores the gravity of her situation. In the end notes of the book Ward shares the fact that she spoke to girls in situations similar to Carla’s, and the research certainly shines. Carla’s three-dimensional will draw readers in, shock them, and make their hearts ache.

By sharp contrast Alice doesn’t kindle any feelings of sympathy in readers; in fact, if nothing else, by the end of the book readers may sigh in relief in the fact that Alice’s side of the story has ended. No one can dispute the fact that Alice has suffered hardships. Her reactions to those hardships seem too pat, almost trope-like. Alice’s laser focus on the child issue guarantees that she doesn’t change throughout the entire book; readers hoping for a protagonist who travels a character arc will feel disappointed by Alice.

Because Ward chooses to tell the entire story in first person, alternating chapters between Carla and Alice, readers may find it difficult to sit through the Alice portions. Had she simply chosen to tell Carla’s story Ward would have given readers a book that drew them in and refused to let go. Unfortunately The Same Sky doesn’t do that.

If readers want to experience firsthand the journey of an illegal immigrant I recommend readers Borrow The Same Sky. Otherwise Bypass it.

I am a huge fan of Amanda Eyre Ward, particularly "Sleep Toward Heaven" and "How To Be Lost." This newest novel was not quite up to par. I found the character of Alice a bit whiny. It seems that Alice and Jake could not quite decide if they were happy or not. The same with her sister and brother-in-law. Everyone seemed to be in a rut. However, the story of Carla was poignant and heart-breaking and could have been told without the Alice at all. Although you know the two women's paths with eventually cross, it take until the last 20 pages or so before they do. The final chapter was beautifully written and made up for the slower Alice story. And just an annoyance, no one goes on a miles long hike just after having a miscarriage. Oh, and Jake seemed a bit off, particularly because he seemed to despise Evian, but then shortly thereafter, he is taking her to buy a dress for the homecoming dance. I thought the whole part of Evian and the school was really unnecessary.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to read and review. Carla's story was compelling; Jake and Alice's story, in comparison, lacked the emotional quality that you would expect from a couple who has gone through failed surrogacy and a failed adoption. The parallel stories being told in alternating chapters were disjointed and ruin the continuity. By the time the lives of Carla, Jake, and Alice intersect, the book is already at its conclusion. In my opinion, Carla's struggles with abject poverty, death, despair, and faith are so powerful that they deserve a book of their own. There are too many characters and too many plot lines to make The Same Sky cohesive. The author was successful in the way that she highlighted social issues that are both timely and important. Those in society who usually have no voice found theirs through the telling of Carla's story.

I received this e-book in advance of publication from NetGalley, for my enjoyment and review. And enjoyable it truly was! This e-book moves along very quickly, back and forth from Alice in Austin, Texas who is unable to conceive or adopt a baby with her husband Jake due to medical problems. Carla is a very poor 10 year old in Central America, willing to do whatever life-threatening events that could happen, in order to cross the boarder in America to find her mother. It is not until the very end that the conclusion is revealed, so keeps you flipping pages to the end! Not 5 stars because of an occasional 4-letter word which seemed out of sync to both Alice and/or Carla when used, plus some of the writing style was more like a Young Adult read. Regardless, a most enjoyable book, couldn't put it down. Good job Amanda Ward - look forward to more from you.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for giving me an e-book of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This novel contains some heavy subjects: illegal immigration, extreme poverty, drugs, gangs, rape and infertility. There are two protagonists and the chapters between the two, each telling their story. It's a fast read even though the switching back and forth slowed the flow of the story. The author does a great job in describing the scenes so realistically that I felt I was there.

The subject of illegal immigration has been in the news for quite a while now and the author educates us on what children trying to get to America alone go through to get here. A worthwhile read!!

The storytelling in this book is impeccable. I kept finding myself needing to go, but couldn't stop reading. I think what I liked most about the novel was the terrifying story of the girl on her way from Honduras to the United States - it gave me perspective on what people have to go through to come to this country. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that it seems to have rather random story lines in it that I couldn't understand the significance in - like Ward wanted to tell a third story and just crammed it into the book. It just didn't develop the way I hoped it would, but overall its a book I would recommend to friends.

Every other chapter is a story about Carla or Alice. Carla, a young child living below the poverty level while scrounging for food in the garbage dump of Tegucigalpa. Alice, with her own hard luck history and yet living a decent life, her husband running a thriving business. Carla, dreams of migrating to El Norte, there to reunite with her mother and live the American dream. Alice has much to be thankful for but desperately wants the child her infertility denies her. Carla, at age twelve strikes out for the long treacherous attempt at migration to America, dragging her younger brother along. Alice, dealing with her family issues and striving to share her motherly instincts. Carla, facing the horrors of riding the train known as the beast, to reach and cross the border into the land of plenty. Alice, volunteers as big sister, mentor, mother figure for an ungrateful young adult. Carla, robbed, beaten, raped, forced to abandon her younger brother, but endures to arrive and reunite with her mother. Alice, still searching for the elusive child she so desperately wants, denied adoption of a child, money strapped from paying for failed adoption attempts. Carla, now living in a small motel room with 16 other people, including the twin of the brother she was forced to abandon and a new sister. The author now merges the two stories into the poignant final chapters leaving a few loose ends for perhaps a following story. A well-researched story and at a time when illegal immigration of children into America has become a news headline and a political hot issue. While not a must read book most certainly a book worthy of saving for a second reading at a future date, something I do with a few select books.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story contains vibrant imagery, believable characters, & a solid plot involving immigration and cross-cultural policy issues that face our nation.
The writer successfully evoked sympathy for the characters experiencing a timely hot topic in the US right now concerning unaccompanied minors crossing the border into the US.

I think this book would lead to very interesting discussions at book club meetings.

THE SAME SKY tells two stories of two very different women whose lives will intersect. Carla is a very young teenager living in poverty in Honduras who takes a brave and dangerous journey to get to the United States. Alice is forty, lives in Austin, Texas and is the owner of a successful restaurant. The entire lives of both of these females are well developed though Carla remains much more sympathetic than the more fortunate Alice. I don't want to give away spoilers so I won't reveal how it all turns out.

This book was incredibly moving and gut wrenching at the same time. I was compelled so strongly to find out what happened, I ended up reading the whole thing in one day. The author is very skilled in her ability to guide the reader's thoughts and emotions through the rough waters of these topics.

Carla's story was much harder for me to read, knowing it was based on the real life stories compiled by the author's visits with migrant children. The situations they come from, the lengths they go to try to reach a better life, are astounding and painful. It reminded me once again how overly, abundantly blessed we are, and how sharing and helping those in need is so vital.

Alice's story is poignantly worked around an area I know well - Austin, Texas. I definitely wanted some barbeque after reading about the restaurant she runs with her husband! There is an incredibly touching moment when Alice and her sister are on top of a mountain, and they both come to grips with their pain and choose to release it, I was moved to tears.

I always mention for those who want to know - there was some casual cursing throughout the book, including the f word. There were also a couple of sexual scenes, but they were carefully done and not in-your-face graphic.

After reading this, I was emotionally undone for a while. Living in Texas, we see a lot of conflict and evidence of illegal immigration, it is such a difficult topic. This story made it so personal, so real. I will never hear news about illegal immigration the same way again.