Name All the Animals

Name All the Animals
by Alison Smith

I'd been wanting to read this for quite some time as I'd heard solid reviews from various sources. When I finally had it in my hands, I seriously had a hard time putting it down (and was basically reading for two days straight).

Alison Smith's memoir takes place in her teenage years, growing up in a Catholic family and dealing with the life-altering event of death, the loss of faith, and an unexpected sexual awakening. More than anything, I was drawn to the relationships in this book. Alison's relationship with her mother and father, her brother, her classmates, her relationship with God, even her relationship with food. All of them unique, all of them believable, all of them in some way totally relatable. Smith does an amazing job of pulling you in, to see the world through the eyes of a 15 year old girl, and to make her experiences seem like your own narrative. And of course, I love that it takes place in Rochester, New York.

Beautifully written with a quiet observation in every detail, has definitely become one of my favorite memoirs.