REVIEW: #52 Ferris Beach

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

Title: Ferris Beach
Author: Jill McCorkle
ISBN: 1565129318
Pages: 352
Rating:

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)

Ferris Beach is a place where excitement and magic coexist. Or so Mary Katherine “Katie” Burns, the only child of middle-aged Fred and Cleva Burns, believes. Shy and self-conscious, she daydreams about Ferris Beach, where her beautiful cousin, Angela, leads a romantic, mysterious life.

It is the early 1970s, and when the land across the road from the Burns’s historic house is sold to developers, Misty Rhodes—also from Ferris Beach—and her flamboyant parents move into the nearest newly built split-level. In contrast to Katie’s composed, reserved, practical mother, Misty and her mother are everything Katie wants to be: daring, outrageous, fun. The two girls become inseparable, sharing every secret, every dream—until one fateful Fourth of July, when their lives change in a way they could never have imagined.

In this classic McCorkle novel, the author’s shrewd grasp of human nature creates characters that resonate with truth and emotion, and a story perfect for mothers and daughters to share and cherish.

Review:

Although the characters in Ferris Beach are very likable and well-developed, I found the book to be hard to get into. I can’t say I every truly did feel as if I was completely immersed in the story. In fact, I almost put this book down multiple times. When you’re 50 pages into a book and feel as if nothing exciting has happened, it gets discouraging. Even more so when you get 100 pages in before anything remotely of interest happens.

I placed the book down for a moment, pondering whether or not to continue reading it at all. I go and re-read the review comments on Amazon.com about Ferris Beach and how wonderful it is, and how the readers couldn’t put it down. I picked up the copy, a bright blue cover which look as if meant to contain happy stories within it’s pages and I think, “Are we reading the same book?”

It wasn’t until this “fateful” Fourth of July evening when I thought, “Okay – here we go. This is when things start to get rough!” Fourth of July came, and went – and the tragedy was sad, yes – but not heartbreaking. At least, it didn’t break my heart. I thought, “Well – that’s a shame.” But maybe I didn’t find the situation all that believable. I have no idea. It just seemed like something a certain character wouldn’t have done – but maybe I just didn’t get the point.  After this point was reached, things started to pick up a little. You see a different side of characters as they deal with their different variations of grief, and the friendships and strong relationships that form when tragedies happen.

The book, I would say, was realistic in voice and situations and I imagine to some extent that someone may feel as if they can really relate to the characters. Kate was quite shy and insecure about her port-wine birthmark on her neck/face and it’s continuously mentioned throughout the book so you can imagine how it affects a shy girl growing up. Her parents, which are seemingly opposites and spar a lot with each other, have this unique partnership that works. Then there is the tough group of kids in the neighborhood, one of which is always finding ways to bother Kate growing up.

Even though Ferris Beach had an extremely slow start and not the most thrilling read, it still is written well and may be enjoyed by those who enjoy coming of age novels. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Ferris Beach, I will still consider reading other novels written by Jill McCorkle (and that means something, right?)

Ferris Beach in Pictures:

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