Friday, April 13, 2018

No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert

Challenging perceptions of discrimination and prejudice, this emotionally resonant drama for readers of Lisa Wingate and Jodi Picoult explores three different women navigating challenges in a changing school district--and in their lives.

When an impoverished school district loses its accreditation and the affluent community of Crystal Ridge has no choice but to open their school doors, the lives of three very different women converge: Camille Gray--the wife of an executive, mother of three, long-standing PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser--faced with a shocking discovery that threatens to tear her picture-perfect world apart at the seams. Jen Covington, the career nurse whose long, painful journey to motherhood finally resulted in adoption but she is struggling with a happily-ever-after so much harder than she anticipated. Twenty-two-year-old Anaya Jones--the first woman in her family to graduate college and a brand new teacher at Crystal Ridge's top elementary school, unprepared for the powder-keg situation she's stepped into. Tensions rise within and without, culminating in an unforeseen event that impacts them all. This story explores the implicit biases impacting American society, and asks the ultimate question: What does it mean to be human? Why are we so quick to put labels on each other and categorize people as "this" or "that", when such complexity exists in each person?

Heidi here. No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert was absolutely amazing. The characters were so well developed they were actually four-dimensional! Katie did a wonderful job threading the characters together. I loved how the characters saw the others as having a more solid life than themselves, yet the others were far from perfect as they were all dealing with big issues.

The plot was so current to the times we are living in. At first I thought something like that could never happen in today's world, but once I put thought to the matter I realized that unfortunately, these events could and can happen.

I especially liked the Jubilee subplot as I'm not familiar with adoption of a child other than an infant. So the issues Jubilee and her parents had over the course of the book was eye opening to me. I highly, highly recommend No One Ever Asked, grab your copy today!

6 comments: