Sam: A Novel by Allegra Goodman

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

What happens to a girl’s exuberance and wonder as she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers a powerful reflection on class, addiction, parenthood, longing, and ambition.

There is a girl, and her name is Sam. She adores her father, though he isn’t around much. Her mother, Courtney, struggles to make ends meet, and never fails to remind her daughter that her life should be different. Sam doesn’t fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and don’t question the rules. Sam doesn’t care about jeans or rules. She just loves to climb--trees, fences, walls, the side of a building. When she’s climbing, she discovers a place she belongs: she can turn off her brain, pain has a purpose, and it’s okay if you want to win.

As Sam grows into her teens, she grapples with self-doubt and insecurity. She yearns for her climbing coach to notice her, but his attention crosses boundaries she doesn't know how to resist. She wishes her father would leave for good, instead of always coming and going, but once he’s gone, she realizes how much she’s lost. She rages against her mother’s constant pressure to plan for a more secure future. Wrestling with who she wants to be in the face of what she’s expected to do, Sam comes to understand that she alone can make her dreams come true.

Allegra Goodman’s beautiful and wise novel Sam is deceptively simple: it is about a girl who becomes a woman. But underneath its straightforward chronology and spare sentences lie layers of extraordinary depth, sensitivity, and tenderness. This unforgettable ode to girlhood asks, What happens to a child's sense of joy and belonging--her belief in herself--as she grows up? The answer will break your heart, but will also leave you full of hope.

my thoughts:

A coming-of-age story about a girl from the age of 7 to 19, Sam by Allegra Goodman, is an emotional and thought-provoking read. I found myself hooked right from the start and would not put the book down for anything. I just had to keep reading to see how Sam would fair in her life - how she would grow up and what choices she would make. 

Goodman has created a story that feels authentic and personal in the way she writes the character of Sam. She writes her with a clear and youthful perspective - thereby giving her a voice that is filled with confusion, insecurity, naïveté, hurt, hope, and so much more. Her parents are focused on their own problems - they are divorced and parenthood seems to fall to the wayside at times, or feels too suffocating for Sam at times. Either way, growing up is very hard to do and Sam is having to navigate through it all alone. 

Wow! What a terrific book! Goodman has written a must-read for anyone and everyone. Make sure to check it out!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!