Review: Chalk Houses - Tracy Clark
Talon has a secret, growing up she has never felt that she
had a mother and that she has had to become the parent as her mother forgets
important things like school lunches, dinner and even when her birthday is. Now
at sixteen, Talon can't wait to leave
home as she enters into a creative writing competition using her absent mother
and life at home as the basis for her essays. Her way of getting out all the
pain is to write it down. During the book,
Talon also starts to receive emails from
her Aunty T and starts to learn more about her mother's family as every time she tries to ask about her mother's
past and where she came from - she gets shot down. Also living next door in a
similar situation is Gabby, who is seven years old. Gabby is living with relatives, but of course, they abuse and neglect her too. Throughout the story, at
times I wondered whether Talon had made up Gabby and that it was her projection
of what her life had been like. However,
near the end, we discover Gabby is in
fact real - as real as you and me. Chalk Houses was an emotional read, and some of it brought tears to my eyes
especially the child neglect of Gabby. I guess for me in another life; I might have gone into the field of
Social Work and working with children as that is one of my passions about
reaching and loving those children that need it. I did love the way that Chalk
Houses ended, and it shows readers that
every kind gesture can make a difference in a child's life.
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