MG works as a nanny for a couple who eventually take advantage of her. Later she finds employment caring for a woman named Liz who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the many challenges faced by MG in this new role (and learning of her pregnancy), she and Liz become wonderful companions. If you would like to take my last six years and put it into your brain, here are the different options (all available on Tuesday Feb 21): While she's working, she's also training to become a Personal Support Worker and hoping she'll be able to sponsor her husband so he can join her in Canada and they can start a family of their own. Her next job involves looking after an aging Alzheimer's patient who is living with her son in a rundown Scarborough bungalow.

When I told people I was planning to write a post about society, and the way people are acting, and the way the media is acting, and the way the government is acting, and the way everyone else is acting, people kept saying the same thing to me. So I started writing the book. I’d call it the name it should have always been called: What’s Our Problem? I knew what I wanted to say. I just had to write it. Mary Grace (MG) is the baby’s mother. MG is a married woman who wants to have a better life than what she currently has with her husband and extended family. She takes a job as a nanny in Hong Kong initially but learns that if she can get similar work in Canada and is employed there for two years that she can sponsor her husband to join her. After a short visit home before flying to Canada, she determines her husband will not be joining her. The last time I read a Catherine Hernandez book, I thought it was absolutely incredible. I cried and laughed with SCARBOROUGH. When I read the synopsis for THE STORY OF US, I wasn't sure how I felt about the story. I didn't know if it would be one of those books that would have me questioning why I'm reading a story about seemingly...nothing? The timing couldn't be worse. Hoping to encourage her son's artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world's greatest works of art as a family, and she can't bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.I nearly returned this novel after about 15 minutes because the narrative premise was so bizarre -- the book is narrated by the all-seeing eye of a newborn baby telling the story of all she'd seen and experienced via her mother's (and grandmother's) body. That said, Hernandez has a talent in making us feel and understand the characters’s clearly different voices and accents.

The Story of Us is the second book by Dani Atkins. It was first released in the UK last year and is due out in June here in the U.S. Her first book, Then and Always was a completely wonderful book. So I had high expectations for this second one. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Do other characters, in a significant plot point, learn things, experience catharsis or closure, or find themselves brought together by these characters' deaths? Caletti writes some of the best realistic young adult fiction I've ever read. Full stop. Her focus isn't on the romance--which undoubtably will disappoint some--but on those very real moments of growing up. Of figuring out who you are and who is your family. Who do you need to hold on and who do you need to let go.

Reader Reviews

Well I like that it tells truth about cliques, but it’s being told not shown, and in passing. And I like that she isn’t a queen bee or wannabe. Ugh, this book is terrible. The characters aside from the protagonist barely have one dimension, let alone more. She alternates being emo and mopey, and boringly annoying, while maintaining an aura of artificiality as a character. The book felt like a professional author didn’t write it. There is zero atmosphere-building. The chapters with her letters to her luv were inserted awkwardly and while it was a way to show her relationship with him, it helped slow down the pace of the book even more by being really boring. Oh, and it provides an excuse for the author to tell not show, but she does that in the rest of the book too so obviously she doesn’t need the excuse. The Story of Us is an emotional rollercoaster filled with struggles and triumphs. Most importantly it's a story of mothers, of sacrifice, of found family, of community, and unlikely friendship. I could definitely see this book turned into a stage production, and I cannot wait to see what Catherine Hernandez delivers next. Wait But Why articles are long, and they go deep. I bathe in the topic for a little while, dread writing it for a little while, then finally pump it out, draw the drawings, give it a read, and post. A mini-post is much chiller—I just open WordPress and type what’s on my mind, and post it. Told from the unique perspective of Mary Grace's unborn child and great on audio narrated by the author herself. I really loved this story!! The focus on some of the most neglected and disrespected members of society was so well done (both immigrant workers and PSWs). I also really enjoyed the friendship that developed between Mary Grace and Liz and the way she ended up fighting for her was so touching!

So this book was given to me by a friend, and I was expecting a nice, light contemporary read. And it definitely was a light read! It was great to be reading while I was reading other intense books. After her latest position ends, MG becomes a Personal Support Worker for Liz, an elderly trans woman who has Alzheimer’s disease. Initially, caring for Liz challenges MG’s very conservative beliefs. But the friendship these two women form is a thing of beauty. At the end of last year I had the pleasure of reading Dani Atkins' beautiful, mesmerising and haunting debut novel, Fractured. After finishing it I knew that I had read something truly special and I was amazed that it was the author's first novel, because it was already that good.A Story of Us by Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson uses the theory of “gene-culture inheritance” to provide a narrative of how we evolved from our common chimpanzee ancestor about 7 million years ago to who we are today, and how we are still changing. It is human history on the broadest possible stage. Done! In a sense! It was 250,000 words, which is about 150,000 words too long. And missing most of the drawings. And I had a giant “ADD IN” document full of news stories which had happened in the year and a half since I started writing the book that would need to be incorporated. What I can promise you is this: there are Maybe Babies inside of me now, witnessing you, the light of you, and there are Maybe Babies inside of them that will keep your legacy alive well after your last breath." I liked this book and thought it was a great coming-of-age read. I just wish the journey had been a little more smooth in its presentation for me. Those places people go to be a hero, to be an Overseas Filipino Worker, are all places constructed only through imagination."

The Story of Us by Catherine Hernandez was one of those books I went into pretty blindly and then was so happy I read it. Even if the oddness of the narrator (a fetus at first and then a newborn baby), was weird at times and took me a bit to get used to at the beginning. But my friends, persevere because this story is worth it! The Story of Us is creative—like nothing I’ve read before. And it’s thoroughly enjoyable, but then so was A Grandmother Begins the Story. So, what’s the verdict? I'm sorry, Alan. I’ve decided to call it a tie! They’re both so absolutely wonderful that it’s impossible for me to choose one over the other. I recommend both these books very highly and suggest you read them BOTH! Ein Grund dafür ist vermutlich, dass man gleich zu Beginn mitten ins Geschehen geworfen wird, die Charaktere noch nicht wirklich kennt und somit konnte ich nicht so mitfühlen bzw. die Ereignisse haben mich nicht so berührt wie sie es vielleicht zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt getan hätten.

Beyond the Book

Book blurb: "Catherine Hernandez has written a book that will make you feel as though your heart has grown twice the size once you put it down. A Filipina woman's life story is narrated from the perspective of her future unborn fetus in achingly beautiful, lyrical and astonishing prose... An extraordinary portrayal of the powers of chosen families, told with profound pathos, wonderful humour. It is a story of a modern Canadian family and its marvelous incarnations and offers an explosive commentary on the power of acceptance and inclusion as a path towards happiness." by Heather O'Neill. Another amazing book from one of my favorite Canadian authors!!! This story features Mary Grace Concepcion, a young Filipino woman who travels overseas to help support her husband. Eventually she finds herself in Toronto working as a nanny for a series of not-nice women who take advantage of her terribly. Dit boek, dit verhaal, vooral het begin, gaf me echt een brok in de keel. Je zou maar in die situatie zitten, mijn hart brak al een beetje.