REVIEW
My cousin, Mara, and I read A Sky Full of Song, by Susan Lynn Meyer, and we both found numerous flaws with both the story and the main character, Shoshanna, a young Jewish pioneer. We didn’t find her to be relatable or likable. The book drowned its own message with too many woke topics like extreme bullying, the injustice of periods, sexism in the family, and mistreated immigrants, none of which were resolved. And, most importantly, there wasn’t any real hope offered, which left both the readers and the protagonist feeling defeated.
Although the author included beautiful descriptions of the North Dakota land surrounding Shoshanna’s home and the title implied that the beauty of midwestern America would become a comfort and resolution to the numerous conflicts the book attempted to juggle, it ultimately resolved none of the conflicts within the work. While the protagonist was upset about how unfair periods are, how her mother never favors her, how hard it is to have a different religion than anyone else, how mean the bullies at school are, how much she misses her home country, how hard it is to live in America, how unfair the government was to the Native American tribe that used to live in their area, and how her brother teases her, the author only resolved the issues between her and her brother. She explained that Shoshanna had merely forgotten how they used to tease each other, and after remembering that he meant no harm when he teased her, she teased him back. After reading this apt resolution, we were hopeful that the other conflicts would be resolved, as well.
Unfortunately, they were not. Instead, the book ends with the protagonist Shoshanna still wondering whether or not she should offer forgiveness to the bully who apologized for mistreating her. Although she decides not to hide her culture and beliefs from her friends, she mainly does this to appease her sister, Libke, and to smooth over the division between them. Meanwhile, her frustration with the partiality her mother supposedly shows to her brother, the anger she feels on behalf of the Lakota people, her discontent with both her old and new home, and her outrage at discovering that only girls have periods, remain unaddressed. The author drops these issues halfway through the book.
Life was hard, and only going to get harder.
Pioneering at that time and place was very difficult, especially for immigrants who would struggle to cross both cultural and linguistic barriers to set up a permanent home in the West. It is important that we tell stories about individuals growing up in unusually hard settings (as this story did). But the reader was never offered the resolution that hope brings. Not only is this unsatisfying, but it is also inaccurate. The pioneer spirit was a very real, powerful thing that transformed the mostly empty wilderness of midwestern America into a prosperous land. Immigrants were especially poignant displays of such spirit and determination. The depressed spirit of Shoshanna, who consistently complains about the difficulties of her old home while also mourning the challenges she faces in America, is in sharp contrast to the unbeatable optimism of those in her generation.
Laura Ingalls, for instance, survived three years of locusts destroying her family’s only income, a difficult winter that starved her village for seven months, and being consistently bullied in her school while keeping a pioneer spirit stronger than ever.
Another example would be the fictional story of Lyddie, who was sold off as a servant to pay her family’s debts. She dreamed of a day when the farm would be paid for, her father would return, and the family could work the farm together. Instead, her family fell apart, her closest friends fell ill, and she lost the only people she could depend on. Yet her final words are filled with hope that she would determine her own destiny and never fear anyone. She would finally be independent, even if it meant letting go of the dreams that she knew now would never come to be.
Western Americans, immigrant or not, were highly adaptable and strong because of it, and the author showed none of this in either her protagonist or the other characters. Instead, it seemed as though it was Shoshanna’s right to complain about the injustices around her and her injured spirit was never addressed as a flaw. Rather, it was referred to as an inevitable result of the difficulties she faced, rather than a hurdle she had to overcome to achieve happiness.
Overall, Shoshanna came off as whiny and unrelatable, giving the reader no reason to stick around for the rest of the story. She complained about the myriad of problems in her life but never got around to actually fixing them. And the one quality that could possibly redeem this book, the themes of hope, love, and a hard-working spirit, was missing too. We need children's stories that remind future generations of the strength, hope, and determination that built this country. Unfortunately, A Sky Full of Song is not one of them.
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