{"id":5959,"date":"2020-08-15T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-15T16:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=5959"},"modified":"2020-08-11T20:51:55","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T03:51:55","slug":"the-easy-part-of-impossible-teen-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2020\/the-easy-part-of-impossible-teen-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Easy Part of Impossible &#8212; Teen Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Review by Jasmine Sov, 14<\/p>\n<h3><i>The Easy Part of Impossible<\/i> By\u00a0Sarah Tomp<\/h3>\n<p><strong>*Spoilers Ahead*<\/strong><\/p>\n<div><em>The Easy Part of Impossible<\/em> by Sarah Tomp is told from the perspective of ADHD-diagnosed Victoria \u201cRia\u201d Williams, a teenage diver who excels in her sport as opposed to her struggles in school. Fiercely pushed along and put under high pressure by her coach, Benny, diving quickly went from a hobby to a probable career prospect. Or at least until a freak accident made it all come crashing down. In the blink of an eye, Ria is thrust back into a life without diving\u2014or Benny. With nothing to fill her days, she rekindles an old elementary school friendship with Cotton, an autistic boy who helps her to see that Benny\u2019s harsh rules and punishments weren\u2019t just pressure\u2014it was abuse. But when Benny returns with a diving opportunity that could change everything, Ria must solve the conundrum of how to keep doing the thing she loves without getting tangled back up with the thing she fears most.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I admired Ria\u2019s growth as a person, which was reflected by events in the story. For example, Tomp uses her and Cotton spelunking in a deep cave as a metaphor of her self-discovery journey. Additionally, Ria\u2019s unwavering breakup with her boyfriend Sean, who had planned a date using advice that Benny had given him, showed how she was coming to realize that Benny was a toxic influence. Cotton had a riveting subplot as well, with him gradually maturing as he came to terms with the loss of his little sister Esther.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>While I did find Ria\u2019s and Cotton\u2019s individual character development interesting to see, I didn\u2019t think that Ria\u2019s romantic relationship with Cotton was very necessary to the plot, nor was it essential for the growth of either character. To quote Hayao Miyazaki, \u201cI\u2019ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live\u2014if I\u2019m able to, then perhaps I\u2019ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.\u201d If anything, just having Ria become good friends with Cotton and focusing on her diving passion would have conveyed the book\u2019s message better.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>4 stars.<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>352 pages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 The Easy Part of Impossible By\u00a0Sarah Tomp *Spoilers Ahead* The Easy Part of Impossible by Sarah Tomp is told from the perspective of ADHD-diagnosed Victoria \u201cRia\u201d Williams, a teenage diver who excels in her sport as opposed to her struggles in school. Fiercely pushed along [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":5960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-teen-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2020\/08\/49950372._SX0_SY0_.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-1y7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3879,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2017\/the-stranger-game-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5959,"position":0},"title":"The Stranger Game &#8212; teen review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"May 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Review by Alaina Joby, age 14 The Stranger Game by Cylin Busby Summary:\u00a0When Nico Walker's older sister mysteriously disappears, her parents, family, and friends are devastated. But Nico can never admit what she herself feels: relief at finally being free of Sarah's daily cruelties. 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