Feb 7, 2011
Once Was Lost
by Sara Zarr
I really like what she decides to write about. Her books aren’t fluffy, they aren’t shallow, yet at the same time she hasn’t crossed into this sick territory where everything is extreme. I think she writes about realities that could affect any one of us at some point in our lives. I hope she continues to write and that more and more people pick up her books. None of them are so overwhelming to make the bestsellers lists, but they’re solid and good. Sweethearts I think is her best so far.
I really like how in this story she challenges faith. I remember when I was younger I just believed. I got confirmed and went to church and sang my little heart out. I even went to extra youth groups (although looking back that might have been more of a social decision). But when my mom died, all those assumptions, all that supposed faith, were challenged. And I kind of never went back.
I remember once my cousin Max told me that he didn’t go to church because of faith, he went because of community. And at the time I thought it was ironic that you had to pretend to believe in order to be a part of something. It makes me wonder, how much else do we pretend to support or believe so that we belong?
“I wish I understood what happened between then and now. I wish there was a way to put your finger on the map of life and trace backwards, to figure out exactly when things had changed so much…”
“That life is never really private, that it’s something other people look at and wonder about and make their conclusions based on what really might just be the tip of the iceberg.”