7. Sing You Home

When I got to Florida on Tuesday, I made sure to get the book I had carefully planned as this break's "fun reading" right away--Jodi Picoult's latest, Sing You Home. I've read all of her books (starting when I was 13 or 14), and they're really hit or miss for me lately. I couldn't pass this one up though with all the topics it promised to confront: homosexual relationships, adoption by a homosexual couple, the ethics surrounding embryo use, religious issues around those issues, alcoholism, and even the ideas behind music therapy--all things I'm interested in learning more about. One of my favorite things about reading fiction is the chance to learn about new things through an interesting, fast-paced plot, and my research of Picoult tells me she is quite well-researched.


It was not the most amazing book I have ever read. It was not even the most amazing Picoult book I have ever read. But it was thought provoking on a few levels. Without giving too much away, I'll list some of the "can you imagine's" that I found myself dealing with as I flipped through (so quickly, eating up the chance to read for fun) the novel.

Can you imagine...
...trying to get pregnant for nine years, only to have multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth?
...after those nine years your husband deciding he no longer wants to be a father? or even your wife?
...someone making a public case to say you should not have rights to frozen embryos containing your DNA, purely because of your chosen sexuality?
...someone questioning your abilities to be a good mother based solely on your sexuality?
...having the most painful secret about your past brought to light in a public setting as well as in front of all your family and friends?

I came up with many more "can you imagine" scenarios in my head, but I don't want to give too much away here at the risk of ruining the plot for anyone. Surely everyone's list of "fun reading" books are pretty long at this point, but I'd recommend this one because, at the very least, you can flip through it in two days (I'm living proof), and it's entertaining as well as thought provoking. In typical Picoult fashion, it's got your basic court scenes and plot surprises, as well as a list of well developed characters. As I said--worth reading even just for the issues it attempts to take on.