This book messed me up.I loved the first 50% of it. Penny is a very young girl growing up in the late 1960's. Her imagination knows no bounds. She does know that she is going to be a cowboy. Her rowdy family goes to Go Home Lake every summer and she just knows that this summer is going to be the one where she gets a pony."My Dad's going to get me a pony and I'm going to be a cowboy." I announced grandly."Girl," Ginny corrected helpfully."Wha-pardon?""Cowgirl. You're a girl, so you're going to be [...]

Please read more of my reviews at ultraviolentlit!This is the story of Penny, a young girl growing up in the 1960s in Ontario with several bullying older brothers, and a mom and dad who fight viciously while pretending everything is fine. Penny’s coming of age story is punctuated by her family’s annual summer trips to Go Home Lake, which she looks forward to all year. However, as Penny gets older, she realizes that the seemingly idyllic family trips are not as perfect as they seem. Because t [...]

Okay. wow. There is quite a bit packed into this 260-page book. I smiled and smiled and smiled all along at the beginning. Although Penny's childhood memories of being at the cottage in Go Home Lake take place in the 60s, there were many times when my childhood in the 70s could be fondly recalled in Penny's memories. However, her life takes a very dark turn at the hands of her older brother and also because of two parents that cannot be together without erupting into great and loud arguments end [...]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I just did not enjoy this book. What I did enjoy was the very last section of the book - the last two pages. This is when the older Penny is looking back on her younger self and reflecting on her past. I wish the novel was more of a reflection and how she is coping now, with flashbacks from the past, rather than the entire novel a retelling.

Really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Took me right back to my childhood. Actually laughed out loud in several places. As I got mor into the hood I didn't enjoy it as much. Found it somewhat disturbing.