REVIEW
Just Like Elizabeth Taylor
by Lu
Ann Brobst Staheli
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Like Elizabeth Taylor is brought to you by Ebooks
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Description
"I was named after a
movie star. Elizabeth Taylor. Mom didn’t have any idea that my life - and hers
- would turn out to be filled with those same unglamorous experiences her idol
had faced. Life wasn’t all movie stars and parties."
Twelve-year-old Liz Taylor has known for a long time that she would
escape - escape the abuse against herself - escape her mother’s boyfriend Mark.
Liz just doesn’t know how or when.
Then the perfect opportunity comes - money left of the table by Mark - and
Liz is on the run. But a girl her age doesn’t have many options when it comes
to hideouts, making a K.O.A. Kampground and a nearby middle school her perfect
choices...
Winner of the Utah Arts Council Original Writing Competition, Juvenile
Division. Winner of the League of Utah Writer’s Juvenile Novel & Diamond
Quill Award.
Note: This is a YA coming of age novel. There is some abuse before she
escapes her house, but nothing graphic.
Praise for the Book
"The things I liked most about this story are the characterization
and voice. There’s an outward feel of innocence and simplicity at first glance,
but there’s so much more lying right beneath the surface, and that’s what made
it beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking all at once. If I could ask for more, it
would be for, well, more – I’d love to have been able to spend a little more
time with Elizabeth… " ~ Author
Annette Lyon
"Very well written.
My heart broke for these characters. Elizabeth was amazing. Wonderful story of
triumph in difficult situations." ~ Mindy
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
Twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was so named because her mother was -
and still is - obsessed with the actress of the same name. Unfortunately, just
like the actress, Elizabeth is going through a hard time. He mother is being
physically abused by her boyfriend, and Elizabeth herself is being sexually
abused by his son Ryan. Elizabeth makes a plan to run away and waits for the
perfect moment - when Mark leaves his money on the kitchen bench while he's
passed out drunk in the living room. She rides her bike to the next town and
finds an empty shed in an abandoned campground, where she proceeds to hide in
plain sight by enrolling in the local middle school and changing her name to
Beth Burton. She makes a friend, Ida Mae, and she comes to the rescue of the
lunch lady, Ms Meyers. But then her old life intrudes on her new life, making
it impossible to keep up the charade. Elizabeth discovers that running away can
cause more problems than it can solve.
This is a heartbreaking and eye-opening story of what a young girl has to
endure when she has no support. From an adult's point-of-view, I found the
story to be a bit contrived and predictable. There are too many coincidences,
and things seem to work out a bit too easily. I'm also disappointed that Ms.
Meyers' situation is never explained. Nevertheless, it is well-suited to the target
young adult audience, with no explicit language or sexual content.
About the Author
Friends of Lu Ann Brobst Staheli (1954-2015) are compiling her unfinished collections
and putting her published e-books into paperback. All royalties go directly to
her husband and five sons.
Lu Ann got her start as a celebrity paparazzi-stalker-chick, which led to
her award-winning career as a ghostwriter for celebrity memoirs. A masochist at
heart, she taught junior high school English for 33 years and then moved to the
school library. She once spent two weeks summer vacation backpacking through
Europe with 15 of her students. Lu Ann won three Best of State Medals - two for
writing and one for teaching.
Lu Ann's published works include Men of Destiny: Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith; Tides Across the Sea; Just Like Elizabeth Taylor; Leona & Me, Helen Marie; A Note Worth Taking; Temporary Bridesmaid; "A Fezziwig Christmas" in the Silver Bells Romance Anthology; When Hearts Conjoin: The True Story of Utah's Conjoined Twins; Psychic Madman; One Day at a Time: Teaching Secondary Language Arts; Books, Books, and More Books: A Parent and Teacher's Guide to Adolescent Literature;
as well as numerous articles and essays.
Links
