Emery Lord is a YA contemporary fiction author who writes books about teenage girls, all different and relatable. Her books include Open Road Summer, The Start of Me and You, When We Collided, and The Map From Here to There. Her books are powerful in their ability to bring difficult situations to the page, with simple yet heart-wrenching prose. Her books have been published in 10 different languages, and have been featured on YALSA and state book lists. You can find Emery Lord at emerylord.com. You can find more of my reviews of Lord's work here.
The Names They Gave Us is powerful in that way, as well as in how it brings this story of cancer to life without actually being about cancer. Lucy, the story's protagonist, is getting ready for her perfect prom with her perfect boyfriend, the precursor to the perfect summer, when disaster strikes: her mom's cancer has relapsed. In Lucy's best interest, her mom pushes to her be a camp counsellor at the camp across the lake, Daybreak, instead of her childhood Bible camp. Though clearly hesitant, Lucy learns so much about life, herself, and her faith during this whirlwind summer.
Lucy as a character was one of the best parts of this story. I've known of some girls in high school who were more religious, but it was really interesting getting to see what faith looks like in someone else's head. But even if you're not religious, so much of Lucy is relatable: her burning desire to fit in; her fear of losing her mom; her desire to say the right thing and be the good friend; and her general confusion on what life has in store for her. Lucy's relatability lends to this novel's readability, as it can find readers of all backgrounds and beliefs.
[Possible spoilers ahead] Another things about this novel I quite enjoyed was how the ending isn't exactly resolved: we don't know if Lucy's mom is going to survive. We don't know how the summer closes. We don't see Lucy grapple with her mother's mortality as it's drifting away. It's probably good that we don't see all these things - it would have made the novel much longer than it needed to be. But that's not the reason I enjoyed the ending. It was the right choice for Lucy's story - she's learned everything her mother wanted her to (and more) by going to Daybreak. Sometimes, despite how sad it is not to know for sure, readers don't need to know what happens to know the characters are going to be okay. Because even if Lucy's mom dies, readers are secure in her character growth to know that she will be okay. And not just "okay" by getting over her mom's death, but okay in that she'll survive going back to school, she'll be a great swim captain, that she and Henry will work out the distance of their relationship.
All in all, this book isn't really about Lucy's mom's cancer. It's about Lucy's growth and learning the most important part about life: that it has to be lived. Lucy made friends she wouldn't have if she hadn't agreed to at least try something different. She made decisions that were best for her without shame, a skill she learned at this camp. These are all lessons we can learn from Lucy, and this story.
*This review is also posted on my Goodreads page*
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