“Thing is, you can be cursed and not cursed at the same time. Just because you have trouble doesn’t mean you’re troubled all the time.”
Hello Adventurers!
Grab your tea or cocoa (or soda, or apple juice, or IPA, whatever you want – I can’t tell you what to do) because it’s that time again. Today’s journey is a great recovery from last time, and I have to say that it’s probably one of the best ways I have ever spent a dollar. Yes, this book cost me a dollar. I found this book in the dollar store around Christmastime looking for some bows, and I was honestly shocked that the dollar store even had books. I have no idea how the book ended up there, but I am so glad it did because I don’t think I would have seen this book otherwise. And I would have definitely been missing out.
Zulema Renee Summerfield’s Every Other Weekend follows the life of eight-year-old Nenny, child of divorced parents whose life becomes a series of trips back and forth between her mother’s noisy, blended-family home and her father’s empty, lifeless one. Along the way she struggles to navigate her endless fears, the slew of tragedy and trauma around her, and her desires for real home and family.
First off, I have to say that every aspect of this book makes me feel like it was written for me. The tale is broken up into mostly one-to-five-page chunks (which is wonderful for my childlike attention span) as it follows the thought process and emotional life of this little girl whose world is in a constant state of unrest. Her parents get divorced and they live in separate homes. She, her mom, and her two siblings move into a house with her mom’s new husband and his two children, whose parents are also divorced. The emotional lives of the parents involved are unstable, and it trickles down to the children. And in the midst of all this, life’s unexpected troubles continue to crop up (no spoilers), continuing to unravel her already rocky sense of safety and comfort.
Summerfield is expert in her handling of fear and anxiety at an age where you really don’t have words to even express it. The story is told to us in fragments, almost as if we are getting a window into how Nenny herself sees the life she’s been thrust into. Her world is interrupted every other weekend, and again when tragedy strikes, and again when adults make decisions around her that she has no say in. She looks for comfort in the people should be able to get it from, but the problem with tragedy and family trouble is that everyone in the family is going through it, and they may not be able to see their way through their own mess enough to help you with yours, even if they want to. They may not even see you at all. But Summerfield also reminds sends glimmers of hope our way, as Nenny finds hope and comfort in short, beautifully imperfect moments, and a few people who show her what love really means.
I love Nenny. Nenny, with her never-ending anxieties and her deep-rooted longings that she can’t really express, is me. Honestly, Nenny is everyone. That’s not to say that everyone comes from a broken home with parents that hardly speak to each other. I don’t. But many of us can say that we’ve been through so much, even from childhood, and we haven’t always even had the mental and emotional tools to deal with it all. We can say that we’ve needed to grieve without even knowing that’s what we needed, or even knowing how to do it. We’ve entered difficult, traumatizing seasons in our life, without asking for it or expecting it, that seem like they will never end. There isn’t a soul on this Earth who gets through life without realizing that pain and fear are a part of it, and part of growing up is learning how to make a safe space for yourself in spite of it.
I cannot recommend this book more. It’s wonderful, and if you’ve ever felt alone in your suffering, this is one book you shouldn’t miss. Oh, and let me not forget to mention that this book is a great nostalgia trip for anyone who lived in (or wishes they lived in) the 80s! It will certainly give you those vibes.
Have you read Every Other Weekend? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and subscribe to get notified when my next review comes out.
Thank you to l.lorraine.w85 for subscribing to the Nook. You are an adventurer! Happy literary trails! – Cozie
Family Friendly Content Considerations:
Recommended for Middle School Age and Above
Occasional Harsh Language
Discussion of Violent Imagery
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