The Impossible Knife of Memory

Truly, Laurie Halse Anderson's THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY deserves much more than 5 stars....more like 10, just for starters. Wow. From the moment I started reading this book, I was hooked. After a day or two of reading small chunks, I couldn't stand it anymore; I couldn't put it down and I finally just kept reading until I finished it! This is a book that you will WANT to stay up late to read--if not all night. This is a book that will tear your heart out, but make you believe in Love and Life and Hope and the eternal power of the fact that no matter how bad things get in life, life does go on and we just have to hang on for the ride, doing the best we can--one day at a time. I love so much about THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY. Yet it's difficult to say that this is a great book because the subject matter is so difficult and powerfully heart-wrenching. While I am not a soldier who has seen the horrors of war, I am a woman who has SUFFERED horrors of life. I understand the coping mechanisms that drive people to do things they never would have done if they hadn't SUFFERED the things they've suffered. Hayley is an incredible young woman who simply wants LIFE with those she loves around her yet she fights on a daily basis to keep a tenuous grasp on LIFE. She is stumped by normalcy, including school and dating while being drawn to normalcy as a moth to a flame. Like Anderson's book SPEAK, THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY is a book that will be with you long after you close the book. This book is sure to become an instant classic and be at the top of any avid reader's reading list and is definitely added to my list of books I suggest that EVERYONE read....Truly. Now. What are you waiting for? Do you need a copy of the book? I'll loan you mine, but you have to promise to give it back to me as soon as you finish. Then again, you might as well buy your own copy because you're going to want a copy of your own.....Seriously.

"The Impossible Knife of Memory" (IKM) is very good, a 4.5 star rating. Hayley is a high school senior, somewhere in the Albany, NY area. She has been "home" schooled by her Dad, a haunted war vet suffering from worsening PTSD for several years. The quote marks because home was the cab of a tractor-trailer rig that Hayley and Dad rode for years until it became just one more job that he lost due to fights and/or drunkenness and/or whatever. So for the first time in years Hayley has classmates and teachers, and she's not dealing with it well. Missed homework, insubordination which leads to frequent detention, poor test results, etc. etc. But early on she slowly builds a relationship with classmate and neighbor Gracie, and through Gracie meets Finn, a bright, glib, persistent ex-swimmer who slowly gets under Hayley's skin. But life for Hayley is not easy. Frequent flare-ups with her Dad, and then one of his ex-girlfriends returns, and Hayley, once again, is not at all pleased with that. But there are also happy moments with Finn, but they don't last long before another crisis flares up. Things finally reach the boiling point.... The IKM characters are the book's great strength. They are likeable, real, well drawn. Lots of tension and a very good storyline. Nice relationship between Hayley and Finn; a strong physical attraction between the two but Hayley draws the line. And that is exactly where too many YA books fail. Authors too often patronize their targeted audience, creating an environment where "everyone IS really doing it", but thankfully not here. But the pressures and the tensions and the desires are there, and dealt with. This is the area which the really excellent YA books (like "Eleanor and Park" and IKM) handle well. The only criticism I have of IKM is that once again in YA fiction, parents are MIA. There are no adult role models here. Obviously, Hayley's Dad situation is central to the plot and real, but other parents and teachers in the book just don't have their heads screwed on right. After sex, it is that portrayal that too many YA authors exaggerate which one suspects is only about building a faithful audience for future books. But lots of books go way beyond IKM in that regard and so it's still a 4.5 in my books and I'll read more by Laurie Halse Anderson.

First let me say, I LOVE LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON!!! This book stopped my heart many times- the title was so key to Hayley and her father and their memories. Hayley and her Dad, Andy, have decided to settle down in his grandmother's house and try for a more normal life. Before this time, Hayley lived with her father's Post Traumatic Stress demons from many tours in Iraq. She has heard his screams in his dreams, listened to his horrible, horrible memories of Iraq and watched him over the years drink and drug himself, which has resulted in a dad she loves and hates. She is now almost eighteen, attending high school (for the first time) and she doesn't know any of the rules and social norms, since she has traveled in her father's truck and been homeschooled for much of her life. When she reacquaints herself with Gracie, her kindergarten classmate, she also becomes part of her group and with this association, comes Finn. Finn (according to Gracie is an awesome swimmer, hottie, and ubersmart) is a really nice guy who Hayley asks for a ride one day so she can rescue her father once again. As Finn and Hayley get to know one another, Hayley dares to hope that she can have a normal life that is not fraught with the agonizing drama that is her father. As Hayley is pulled once again into the horrors, she begins to remember and with these memories, she battles who she is (did she really want to through herself off the quarry ledge?)and asks herself, who does she really want to be and want for her future? A compelling story, I couldn't put it down, I loved Hayley and Finn and so will teens. This book will be enjoyed by boys and girls, librarians and teachers will be recommending this thrilling, hopeful read.

Brilliant book

Laurie has done it again! After readsing 'Speak', I was keen to read more from her and wasn't disappointed. The story feels at times like nothing much is happening, just same-old, same old dad-daugher fighting due to his PTSD conditon, day after day. But the characters feel very real and the trauma that Hayley, the daughter, is suffering due to her dad is agonising. Highly recommended, but persevere - its light on action and heavy on emotional trauma, but worth it!

I have read "speak", "wintergirls" and "the catalyst". And I really looked forward to this book. I really don't regret it. The title really suits the topic of the book and you get a good feeling how soldiers feel, who fought for their country and come back to live a "normal" daily life. And how it effects the family life. I can only recommend it. Fiore