Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

Synopsis: 

Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel. - Goodreads

Fun Quote:  It's hard to explain how it feels when Nick Shaw smiles at you. Not butterflies or blushing.  It just feels good.

My Thoughts:  This book started out a bit slow for me, but it was very worth pressing on.  It's YA and written in the first person point-of-view of Samara.   I don't always like Zarr's main characters, but I liked Samara a lot.  I identify with her in a lot of ways.  She is struggling with problems within her family that she doesn't want anyone to know about, and yet she wishes everyone did know about them so that she wouldn't have to pretend her life is perfect anymore.  Her struggles lead her to doubt her faith and everything she has been taught.  Also appreciate Zarr for not putting in any language or sexual situations that would make me uncomfortable to recommend it to mature teens and adults.

A wonderful coming-of-age story that slowly unfolds too a lovely and satisfying end.

My review of Sara Zarr's other books can be found  here.

Her Is Me or Finding Depth In Ourselves and In Our Characters

Do any of you read the Nie Nie Dialogues?  If not then you really should.  Read todays posting - you can find it here.  Go ahead I'll wait...

Did you read it?  Heartbreaking, right?  What kind of a person would say such a thing?

If you don't already know, Stephanie Nielson is a young mother who kept up a charming blog about her family and life.  In 2008 Stephanie and her husband Christian (love that name, can you guess why?)  were in a plane crash.  They both suffered severe burns all over their body - Stephanie more than Christian.
Her blog postings are the most inspiring things I've read.  I eat them up everyday. 

This is Stephanie before the accident.

Beautiful yes?  I think so.
Did she have depth? Probably

For a long time Stephanie would not post pictures of herself post burning.  Finally she was brave enough to do it.

This is the first picture that Stephanie posted of herself after the accident.

Beautiful yes? I absolutely think so.

Does she have depth?  Loads and Loads.

Now I have not been burned and my pitiful trials are no where near what Stephanie's are, but I too don't like to post pictures of myself.  I have struggled with weight all my life.  There have been times where I have been thin and I thought I looked pretty good.

This was me in college.

Beautiful, yes? Maybe.
Did I have depth? A bit.

Stephanie struggles everyday with how she looks.  So do I.   In my mind I still look like that picture above.   Then I look in the mirror or I catch a glimpse of myself reflected in a window as I pass by.  Everytime I'm shocked.  The image in my mind and the image reflected back at me don't match.  When I come face to face with the reality I want to run away and hide.   Today when I read Stephanie's post I realized what a coward I am.   She is putting her picture out there for everyone to see and she is praying hard every day to be happy with who she is now.  So, if Stephanie can do it,  so can I.

 This is me now.

Beautiful, yes? Umm.

Do I have depth? More now than before.

I don't like to give writing advice, because really - what do I know? But I do know what I like to read.  I like books with characters who inspire me.  The main character of the book I'm writing is a person who once was beautiful and her family was wealthy, but she had very little depth.  Later her family loses their fortune and she loses her beauty.  Do those trials give her depth?

I'm not trying to suggest that you or your characters need to become ugly to have depth.  But just like us, it's not the trials that our characters face that gives them depth.  It's the way they deal with those trials and everyone's trials are different.  Do your characters become better people because of their trials. Are they inspiring?


Depth and Inspiration.  This is what keeps me turning the pages.  It's what makes me want to read a book over and over again.


Do you feel the same way?  In what ways are you giving depth to your characters?