A fabulous story for a student who loves books, Breakfast Served Anytime makes repeated references to Scout Finch and To Kill a Mockingbird. Sarah Combs’ debut novel tells about the friendships formed at a summer “Geek Camp” between Chloe, Calvin, Mason and Gloria. Along the way, we see each one’s character develop in the kind acts they perform, in the ways they support and reach out to others, and even in a newly found and surprising appreciation for nature (and blue butterflies!).
Yes, this story is solidly rooted in a time (a summer made
slower by a vow to not use gadgets and social media) and “right at the place
the country’s heart would be if it placed its hand across its chest to say the
Pledge of Allegiance”: Kentucky. But to me, the author adeptly handled the many
feelings we ALL have about transitions in our lives, especially about leaving
high school and moving on to college; about moving from a self-centered place
to one where we can more readily attempt to empathize with others. Do you recognize or remember those times?
When you first met people from different states? Or different backgrounds and
suddenly realized they were not all that different? When you were forced
to question your own assumptions? Or perhaps
asked yourself (as Gloria does), “How many other fascinating people had I
missed? Why hadn’t I made half an effort?”
Breakfast Served
Anytime is a “feel good”
story with a touch of mystery, romance and humor. Mostly, though, it is filled
with memorable characters, each of whom is trying to find himself; to define herself
in terms of relationships with peers and parents; to grow more independent
while still cherishing those moments and mantras that truly form each of us.
This is a
wonderful selection, particularly for those middle and high school students who
are looking for something other than the dystopian novels which often seem to
dominate YA fiction.
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