Songbird [Kindle Edition]

Angela Fristoe (Author)

Book Description

There are defining moments in life when everything changes. For Dani Mays, it was the day she witnessed her brother's murder. Afterward, she bounced between her alcoholic mother and foster homes until she found a permanent place. And a reason to want to stay: Reece Tyler. He's her best friend, yet Dani wants more from him. Faced with losing Reece, Dani struggles to escape her memories, even as people from her past reappear.

Product Details

• File Size: 365 KB
• Print Length: 208 pages
• Publisher: Little Prince Publishing (May 31, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0053NYOQ0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,618 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Songbird by Angela Fristoe September 6, 2011

By Amber @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Format:Paperback

Grief and growth combine in Songbird to weave a heartbreaking tale of one girl organizing the pieces of her broken life. Utilizing both the past and the present, Songbird is filled with all of the high and low notes in Dani's life. Dani's physical and emotional journey is gripping and realistic and the three boys that love her are entrancing.

After seeing her father kill her older brother at six, living off and on with her alcoholic mother and being tossed from foster family to foster family, Dani is struggling to reconcile all of her grief from the past. Each day is a constant reminder of the hurt she;s suffered and Dani is finding it hard to get out of the past long enough to live this life she has now. As a reader, I really wanted things to look up for Dani. At the same time, I did grow frustrated with her when she wouldn't make things better for herself. She has a major crush on her friend Reece but can't imagine telling him. While I understand this, I wanted her to take charge of her life since so much of it before had been reacting to awful situations she was put it. When she finally does, her voices rises into one of the most beautiful crescendos I've encountered.

I don't envy Dani her choice between Reece and Colin. Reece has been there for Dani since she moved in with her permanent family. He's been her biggest supporter and her protector. But he's also never noticed her the way she notices him until homecoming. But after, he gets weird. At first, Dani really doesn't like Colin but she gets to know him and all that changes. Colin can very easily shift into the hole that Reece leaves in her life. I liked that the boys were both good choices and that Dani doesn't have an easy time figuring out what's right. While Dani does make some poor decisions getting ot her final one, I understand all the reasons behind them and have to say that I'm not sure I'd have done anything differently if I was in her place.

And then, of course, there is Jace. He's a physical presence in the novel even though we only get him in flashback. Dani's transformation through is directly related to her grief at the lose of her brother and "normal" life without him. While the switch between past and present was a little jarring sometimes, it worked well to really make the reader understand Dani's sorrow and the trials she had to face. I wish the mysterious phone calls had been in the novel a little earlier and with more variety to spice up the plot more but the story was far more about Dani dealing with her demons. Ms. Fristoe approaches the subject with tenderness and is easy to read.

Songbird is a touching debut about loss and life after. Dani's journey was a pleasure to go along with and the past and present merging into the story was an effect tool for showing the reader the demons she keeps. If you like stories that deal with sorrow and song, this is definitely one not to miss!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book! July 20, 2011

By Jenny Nerd

Format:Paperback

This was SUCH a good book. I found myself unable to put it down because I wanted to know what happened next.

Dani is a foster kid whose dad is in jail for killing her brother and her mother is an alcoholic. It's rare to find books written on foster kids (or maybe I just haven't come across them much in my corner of the world), but it was interesting to read life from her perspective.

Dani and Reece's friendship/relationship gets off to a rocky start near the beginning of the book and my heart went out to them as they went through the ups and downs of dealing with their lives and each other.

The only part that bothered me about the book was Dani constantly going back to a memory. I understand why she was doing it, but all the same, I wanted to get on with the current events!

I received this book through LibraryThing's giveaways!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Young Adult novel that really speaks to your heart June 3, 2011

By Delsheree D. Gladden

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Dani's story may seem like another troubled foster kid at first, but the deeper you read into her life the more you see how unique and special she is. This is an engaging story of a young woman who has witnessed terrible things and experienced heartbreak and pain no one should ever have to face, but her strength gives her a chance to make her life into something more than another link in the chain of addiction and abuse. Along with all of that, Songbird weaves a beautiful tale of love and romance. But like the rest of Dani's life, love won't come easily for her. The struggle she goes through to find out who she is and who she belongs with kept me reading just as much as the mystery. There was sadness in Songbird, but it was tempered by hope and love. Songbird was a fantastic read with so much depth that it stayed with me long after i finished the last chapter.

More About the Author

Born in Northern Canada, Angela grew up on the Canadian prairies amid dreams of becoming the next Dian Fossey or a world famous flight attendant. Those, however, were never meant to be. Instead, she moved to Texas and then eventually beautiful Colorado where she divides her time between her family, writing and her other job, teaching.

Angela was the winner and double finalist in Romance category of The Strongest Start 2010 Contest hosted by TheNextBigWriter.com. Songbird, published by Little Prince Publishing, is Angela's first novel.