Customer Reviews

Her Daughter's Eyes

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Their mother Deidre recently died. Their father Davis ignores them as he spends his time working or at his girlfriend's house. Sixteen-year-old Kate is pregnant and only her younger sister Tyler helps her, just like the team they are when it comes to homework, cooking, and cleaning.

The two teens work to set up a home for the newborn. They are prepared with a makeshift crib, Goodwill clothing and other items, and even a Dr. Spock book. The duo finds it relatively easy to hide Kate's pregnancy from their father and though it is a bit more difficult to conceal it from school officials and friends, no one seems interested in either Kate or Tyler. However, what will happen once the child is born frightens both siblings.

HER DAUGHTER'S EYES is an incredible tale centering on a high school student having a child with no one but her younger sister to turn to for help. The story line is well written without accusations or preaching. The two intrepid, flawed, and apprehensive sisters are wonderful people who could be anyone's children or neighbors. This adds to the overall realism of a poignant look at a dysfunctional family and society. Jessica Barksdale Inclan has written a powerful tale that deserves wide reading.

Harriet Klausner

There is so much more to this book than I could possibly write in this review and oh, so very much to read in between the lines. This is such a "real and could be in your neighborhood" story. There is no exaggerated, descriptive writing and no unbelievable situations.
Some of this story....actually a lot of this story is sad and will almost rip your heart out. Kate and Tyler's mother died of breast cancer at the beginning of the girls' teen years, a difficult time to start with. The loneliness this causes them is heartbreaking. They miss their "normal" life tremendously. Their father, Davis, doesn't handle the loss of his wife very well at all. He finds a woman to fill that void in his life and basicly moves in with her, letting Kate and Tyler live alone in the house on the cul-de-sac in a well-to-do neighborhood with it's upper class residents. Davis feels that his daughters are old enough to take care of themselves with him stopping in a few times a week. 17 year old Kate also fills her void and loneliness the wrong way and ends up pregnant and scared and not sure where to turn. 15 year old Tyler takes on a lot of responsibility and is mature beyond her years. She cares for her sister, delivers a baby at home, and much more.
There is so much more to this story and this book would be one of the best discussion stories I've ever read.
I highly recommend reading this book. It is hard to put down and has such a wonderful easy to read flow. Oh, and there is some suspense here! Who is the father? Watch how all of the lives twist and change. A person's death or a person's birth can change so many lives in some of the strangest ways. Some good and some not so good.
I absolutrly LOVED this novel. Excellent writing. I like to read a book that I don't have to study to know who is who and what's going on. This one starts off great and keeps getting better. There are even little side twists that could turn out to be very good stories also. GREAT BOOK :-)

This books was awesome.. it gave you a perspective of what her life was like and it showed the willigness of two young brave girls growing up very rapedly. The things that they did were veryt courageous somethings i would have never eve thought possible. Just the thought of my younger sister delivering my baby gives me the chills. i recommend this book to everyone.Every chapter has a suspence to it and its very clear with its words.

Now that's a story... Though there are many teenage stories lining bookstore and library shelves, this one is different, both in plot and in language. Inclan's metaphors open up the lives of sisters, daughters, neighbors, friends, husbands and wives. The story that unfolds is tragic but all too true, with blame to be had by someone or everyone, but you're not often sure for on every page there is a feeling you've had, a thought you've thought or a hurt you can identify with, even if you can't condone it.

And there there is the biggest character in this book, the one who never says a line of dialogue or appears on the stage in real time. Deidrde, the mother, lover, gardener who took life and transplanted it wherever she went until cancer ravaged her once and then again, finally pulling her away from her workaholic husband and her two young daughters, one, the youngest, is taught to be strong and be a helper, another just hurts, watching as Deidre slips away. There are others who love her too, who stick their toes in her dirt, delight in her laugh. But when she's gone, the world seems all too silent and her house and her family fall apart, unraveling little by little until only one yank will destroy them.

Sleeping in the closet in a onsie from Goodwill is that yank, a baby with her mother's eyes.

After reading it, I lost my appetite to write a review. I was disturbed by the reality of our life. What's wrong with us adults..?

This is not so much about the pregnancy or the birth. 17-year-old Kate is secretly pregnant and her younger sister, Tyler, delivered the baby. That concludes early in the book. So does the half-mystery of "who's the father and why the secret". (I won't spoil)

But this is more about the events that happened and how the people involved responded to them, which eventually resulted in the sad mess. The girls' mother, Diedrie, succumbed to breast cancer two years ago. Their father, Davis, broken, couldn't stay in the house because he misses her so much. So most of the time the girls are left alone in the house, tending to themselves. Fear of total abandonment and potential repercussion made Kate decided to keep the baby a secret inspite of the health risks.

When the secret is uncovered, also quite early in the story, the rest of the book moves from one character to another - pondering about what each has overlooked, selfishly neglected, misunderstood, mistakenly acted, and the consequences of it all. Somehow it revolves around the dead Diedrie and her untimely death.

I hope we learn something from stories like this.

I have to say that Inclan's writing is almost extraordinary. Characters are developed well, nevermind how hopelessly pathetic but unfortunately realistic they are. She's able to present to us the deep thoughts, fragile emotions, and hidden subconsciousness of the characters. This kind of storytelling only books can deliver.

This is a brilliantly written novel about a family's struggles. Seventeen year old Kate and her younger sister Tyler 15, tragically lost their Mom to cancer. Their father's inability to deal with his loss, emotionally and physically abandons his daughter's at a time when the girl's need a parent the most. He chooses to spend his time away from the family home, living with his new girlfriend, leaving Kate and Tyler to fend for themselves. Kate is pregnant and no one knows but her younger sister Tyler. These two sisters join together in a maternal bond to ready for the impending birth of the baby. They construct a crib for the baby to be out of cardboard! Together, on the floor of the bedroom, Kate and Tyler deliver her baby daughter by themselves. Such courage, strength and love these two young girls shared. The father's own struggles, the pain he was in and what he was going through prevented him from seeing that something was terribly wrong in his daughter's lives. I felt such compassion for Kate and Tyler's struggles and for the abandonment they felt. The 'I'm unloved' feeling they shared. This was a passionately and brilliantly written story. Jessica Barksdale Inclan gives so much insight and detail into how each of the character's pain makes them the way they are. That even if you can't always forgive them for their actions, you can come to understand them. The shelfishness of adults who put their needs ahead of those of their children, is a reminder to us all that WE ARE the adults and must deal accordingly with our emotions and not fade into the background leaving our children to deal with the harsh realities of life. A touching book that induced many emotions.
I have also read Ms. Inclan's other two novels "The Matter of Grace" and "When You Go Away" and would HIGHLY recommend that you read them as well. This author writes with such clarity, emotion and reality, that you, as the reader, feel a part of the lives of the characters in her stories.

Jessica Barksdale Inclan wrote an exquisite novel about reality situations and conflicts present in some teenage lives and families. Every time that one problem seems to be resolved, it is followed by another. Kate Phillips, only 17, finds herself pregnant and afraid to tell her father. With her mother falling victim of cancer, and her father always gone, she turns to her sister Tyler, only 15. When the baby is finally delivered by just the two of them, and no medical help, the conflicts begin to roll in. Kate and Tyler's secret is tucked away in a closet, a baby named Deirdre. When their secret is discovered, their lives and many others, are twisted into an emotional roller coaster. Their father has to fight to regain custody of his two daughters, and Baby Deirdre. Not only is Davis, the father, faced with problems of regaining his daughter, but also with grieving and responsibility. The problem of baby Deirdre's father also evolves. When the father is determined, lives change. Her Daughter's Eyes, is filled with life, death, love, pain, loneliness and happiness. There are conflicts in the novel dealing with teenage pregnancy, loss of a mother, and the battle to hold on to something loved. Her Daughter's Eyes is a book that was beautifully written with heartfelt and warming emotions, and still conveys the cold-hard truth. It is a book any teenager, or adult, could truly enjoy, and maybe, relate to.

If there is any book that defines "lack of communication" this is it.

Reeling from his wife's death a year ago, a middle aged father (Davis) neglects his responsibilities to his very own teenaged girls in favor of accommodating the arms and needs of a new love, Hannah. Unfortunately, his unresolved grief, coupled with his sexual appetite, obstructs all common sense and basic observation skills. Choosing to spend most of his time (and nights) at Hannah's home, he basically has abandoned his own children for the needs of Hannah's young boys and her special interests.

He drops by his own house to do the minimum; some yard work, pay bills, and maybe share a hastily purchased pizza which must be gobbled quickly before "Hannah" reminds him they must rush off to pick up her boys from day care. His quick check that the house was still standing sufficed for quality time parenting and reassurance that the girls were "just fine."

Well, a closer look would have confirmed an extraordinarily different picture. The girls are deeply grieving for their mom, lonely, frightened and spending almost every night alone without their father. Physically, they manage to get by with the money he throws at them for food and necessities, but their world is crashing down on them. As children, they make decisions as children would; albeit unsupervised children. The eldest is pregnant and successfully concealing it from not only her father, but Hannah, (one experienced in pregnancy) her teachers and the father of the child, who just so happens to be the next door neighbor and father of the children she babysits.

Choosing to conceal the pregnancy AND birth, Kate has convinced her younger sister to assist her through it all. Together, they educate themselves with the birthing process and succeed to bring about Kate's new daughter in secret. It is inconceivable that the father ignored the many indicators that something was amiss.

Many adults were involved in these girl's lives, and all of them missed the obvious. This is a very sad, passionately told story. The concept of blame and punishment could produce another story, as one contemplates the legal and moral ramifications of the neglect the children suffered. While one may emotionally tangle with that issue, please don't fail to notice the poignant reflections of the pain, heartbreak and joy that the girls experience together upon the birth of the baby girl. When the dust clears, and everyone must take stock of the situation, it is quite clear that another innocent child has entered the "picture".

I hope Jessica Barksdale Inclan writes a lot of books, because I have a feeling she'll become one of my favorite authors. I absolutely devoured this book. As someone else said, the relationships were so well done and so real, you just felt as if you knew these people, and you CARED, tremendously, about them. The sisters were especially terrific. Their actions and their reactions were understandable. I never once found myself asking "why on earth would she DO that?" To me, that's the test of a great book. This is also a book that makes you think, and when you add that element to terrific story telling, you've got a real winner. Thank you, Ms. Barksdale Inclan for one of the best novels of women's fiction I've read this year.

I think that "Her Daughter's Eyes," was not only a very intersting book but also provided a look into the heart, and foundation of a troubled family. The reason I liked this story so much was the thought of how much it relates to everyday situations and problems that teenagers face. Kate is a seventeen year-old living a completely opposite life than all of her friends. She has struggled everyday of her life since the loss of her mother, and now that she finds out she is pregnant, Kate feels completely alone, except for the fact of her younger sister Tyler who has stuck by her side since the beginning. Kate and Tyler have planned for this baby without the help of the unknown, and unsuspecting father. Kate sometimes finds herself crying due to the fact that nobody notices her or the changes she is undergoing. Kate is at the point where she almost wants somebody to know, and to realize her well kept secret, but imagines that when the newborn is in her arms that somehow, someday everything will be alright. This story is more than the hardships of a teenager, but the compassion, ignorance, and emptiness experienced by many young people daily. Even though this is thought to be a fictional book it almost is not in the same sense. This is a real life situation that is not glamourized in any way, this can happen to the best of us or the worst, it is a story of life, and that is the reason why I am able to relate to the story so well.