My Sunshine Away - Book Review

The peace and security, of the people living in the beautiful Pine Creek neighborhood of Baton Rouge, are shattered when golden track-star Lindy Simpson, just fifteen years old, is raped not far from her own home. Before this moment, the neighbors have been a close group of friends. The kids have grown up playing together in the woods behind their homes. The adults have held barbecues and helped each other with their yard work. Following the violent act, everything has changed. Several neighbors are suspect. People are distrustful and guarded. But the biggest change is in Lindy, who withdraws, changes and loses that early sparkle of innocence and naivete.

The narrator of My Sunshine Away is a fourteen year old boy who has long had a secret crush on Lindy. And he's a suspect of the crime.

Using magical language, My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh transports the reader back to the nostalgic days of the narrator's youth. Since the narrator (I honestly can't find a mention of his name) and I are the same age, as he tells of his experiences as a fifth grader watching the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster I was mesmerized by our shared history. Full of the recent historical events that shaped the narrator and most Americans, he includes these events and the reactions and feelings to thoroughly bring his characters to life.

My Sunshine Away is a coming of age novel. Just as the tragic and horrifying events of Lindy's rape shape her youth and the lives of her family, the narrator is also deeply affected by the crime and the shattering of an ideal. His own childhood is changed by this moment. It's powerful and moving and a good reminder that and individual's choices and actions affect so many others for good or bad.

The novel is also a mystery, as doubt and suspicion is cast on several neighbors. The reader can not fully be sure that the narrator is not guilty of the crime though he frequently professes his innocence. Well plotted with just enough evidence to keep the reader guessing, My Sunshine Away is a compelling read.

At times heart wrenching and painful, the novel is also filled with heroics and hope. I hope to encourage other friends to read My Sunshine Away because I'm anxious to discuss the elements and themes of the novel that impressed me. It would be a fabulous book club read.

There is some bad language in the novel.

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh is published by Putnam and released on February 10, 2015. 

**I received a complimentary copy of My Sunshine Away. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.**