“Twins, Taylor and Mackenzie, have always shared everything- a love of horses, a disdain for small, yappy dogs, and a cancer diagnosis. After months of grueling treatments, they are in remission and ready to enjoy the best summer of their lives.
Nora Mae is a teenage slave who lived on a Louisiana plantation 170 years ago. Her life is marked by fear and suffering and an indomitable hope for a better future.
When the twins find an old diary hidden on their property, they are drawn into the story of another teen whose life, in some ways, mirrors their own. They discover that joy and sorrow often walk hand in hand and that life cannot be lived without both.”
Series: As of now, no. It seems to be a stand-alone novel.
Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Prayers & Screaming at God during a hard time; Talks about God, why He allowed the girls to be sick (which no one in the book knows why), & Him always being there like the North Star; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Taylor & others act out a Bible skit of Esther (the story is summarized through their play); Mentions of God & forgiving others; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of those & events from the Bible; Mentions of Heaven & dancing with angels; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, services, sermons, & preachers; A couple mentions of a Bible;
*Note: A mention of being lucky.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘shut up’, and a ‘suck’; Some sarcasm & eye rolling; Taylor, Mackenzie, & their older brother tease each other (which their brother says it shows that they love each other); Going through tests, hospitalizations, & pain (semi-detailed); Taylor often thinks about the cancer treatments her and Mackenzie have gone through, being in remission, & the possibility of relapsing or dying; *Major Spoilers* Towards the end, Mackenzie relapses and there’s many details about the new treatment for her; She get very sick and after a near death moment, dies a couple days later; Taylor witnesses all of this and her sister’s death with major grief *End of Spoiler*; Taylor & Mackenzie find a diary of a young slave girl, Nora, which tells about whippings, other slaves being whipped and killed, and overall being treated inhumanly (Taylor & Mackenzie decide to keep it from their parents so they can read it first); *Spoilers about Nora* At the end of the book, Taylor researches and finds out that Nora and all the other slaves with her were beat almost to death by their master and then he shot them all; The master was arrested and the girls say he got what he deserved *End of Spoilers*; Taylor & Mackenzie find a skull and freak-out (later, they try to tell each other that it probably wasn’t a human skull); All about & Many mentions of cancer, cancer treatments, tests, hospitalizations, relapsing and remission, & deaths and possible deaths; Many mentions of slaves, slavery, slave hunters, beatings and whippings, deaths, & the Civil War; Mentions of blood/bleeding, injuries, & sicknesses (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of snooty girls & their rich families (including both Taylor & Mackenzie laugh and make comments about one girl they know, but their relationship gets better towards the end); A few mentions of a hanging (in the Bible and a skit of the book of Esther); A couple mentions of other wars; A couple mentions of bombs & bomb making; A couple mentions of stealing; A couple mentions of a drunk & a bar; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of hatred; A mention of jealousy;
*Note: In the diary of Nora, she writes about white folks like her master being scared of losing control of his slaves if they knew how to read and write, the young daughter of the master making her act like a dog, wondering if “fear and degradation” is all that’s in life for a black person like her, being tormented by the young daughter of the master, one of the slaves not being “trodden down” by white people, the master forbidding them from having church (which she writes that maybe it’s because he doesn’t believe they could be spiritually uplifted or is afraid it will give them power and courage), & wonders if freedom is only for white people; Taylor’s family have staff they call servants due to her mom’s aristocrat background, but they treat them like family unlike others around their area; Taylor & Mackenzie pull pranks on their friends & also do pranks with friends to others (harmless, not mean-spirited ones, and do not get in trouble with adults); While Taylor knows it’s a little disrespectful to say it, she comments on her grandparents being horrible (due to her grandmother being a snob); Quotes from Jean Hersey, Susan Polis Schutz, Dominic Riccitello, & Shira Tamir are shared at the beginning of sections of this book; Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of brand names (Red Bull & Coke); A couple mentions of stores/places (McDonald’s & Walmart); A mention of Christopher Columbus; A mention of Disney princesses.
Sexual Content- Taylor notices the “really cute guy” she’s liked since fifth grade & Mackenzie teases her that he likes her (which makes Taylor blush); Mackenzie wonders if there will be any cute guys at a summer camp; Nora writes about her feelings of admiration for a young man and they due to their five year age gap, he probably doesn’t think twice about her, but she dreams anyway; A mention of virgins when paraphrasing a Scripture from Esther in a play;
*Note: Taylor’s grandmother says that a “skinny girl doesn’t make a pretty woman” when she sees how much weight the twins have lost; A mention of alligator mating season.
-Taylor Everett, age 13/14
1st person P.O.V. of Taylor (with the Preface in Riley’s POV)
160 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Before getting started with this book, I was concerned it would be really sad. And because sad books are not my cup of tea, I pushed reading this one out. To be fair, now after reading this book, I can agree there definitely is a hopeful note at the beginning, some sad parts mixed into Taylor and Mackenzie’s new normal during the middle, but also a pretty sad and bittersweet ending. Not for readers that don’t like sad endings. If you do like sadder endings, have at it. I would suggest having tissues nearby.
One of the parts of this book is the twins finding a young slave’s diary from before the Civil War which I found hard to read about as well and adds to the heartbreak of this book. It gives a realistic view, however, of a girl their age that had a very different life and it is history, no matter how hard it is to read about.
Sensitive readers might have a hard time with this book because of the sadness and topics of death. I was crying towards the end because of it myself. I would suggest parents to read along with their kids who are under age 13, especially if they’re sensitive because this book has a lot of emotions and may stir-up feelings for young readers. I know that this can be part of life for many, unfortunately, but please keep in mind that some may not want to read about a sad topic or it hits too close to home at that particular time. Personally, it was a bit too much for my reading tastes so that why I gave it a lower rating.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
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