Ola's Wake

I loved Ola'Wake as it brought me back in time to my own fond memories as a child. While reading with my two daughters, we laughed and cried feeling closer to one another as we related to characters in the story. B.J. Stone writes with so much feeling and enthusiam she touches each and everyone of us in our hearts. We arelooking forward to her next novel.

Reading this book is like visiting my Aunt Ola in the Ozarks! It's all there...the sounds, the sights, the smells, the adventurous spirit. From the overnight trip up into the mountains, to the rusty milkcan by the cabin door, to the scent of my aunt's perfume and facial powder---this brief novel registers authentic. But its greatest strength is the way it conveys her joy of life, surprisingly, in a book named for her wake. One neat by-product, for young and old, is that this adventure motivates us to think of the meaning of death and life.

B.J. Stone did such a wonderful job keeping the story exciting and ending each chapter with intriguing thoughts that made me want to keep reading. I enjoyed the book so much! I cried and laughed at the descriptions, knowing and seeing and remembering so many things. What a deep-deep, dig into your heart and soul, moving thought B.J.'s ending phrase was! Everybody who reads it will be able to relate. I know I did....

Ten-year-old Josie never got to know her great-grandma, Ola, when Ola lived. Josie, who lives in Texas, is disconnected from extended family. Her father left to dodge the draft during the Vietnam war. Her grandmother died. All Josie has is her mother, whom she calls Ginny. When Ola dies, Josie and Ginny travel back to the Osarks in time for Ola's wake. This travel becomes a metaphorical, as well as actual, travel back in time for both mother and daughter. Josie learns much about herself, as she is introduced to her great-grandma, Ola, during this journey from past to future.