What I’m Reading – A Certain Slant of Light

     Okay, I know I’m a late to the party on this one, but somehow this 2005 release escaped my notice. No problem, though, because A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb is so well written and timeless that anyone could step into that light now and be glad they did.

     A Certain Slant of Light is a supernatural young adult story about a coping yet fundamentally lonely spirit caught on Earth. Her 100-plus years of helpful hauntings are one day interrupted by a human boy who can see her. The two desperately want to learn more about each other and quickly fall in love. Their challenge to come together leads to them learning more about their own nearly forgotten lives and those of the teens whose bodies they’ve possessed.

     Film rights have been optioned by Summit Entertainment, the same studio which created the Twilight films. I’m glad for that because films bring so much attention to the original works, and this book deserves attention.

     Parents, yes, there are obvious sex scenes. Kids running off to be alone. They’re not kids, really. They’re very aged spirits but physically teens. The details are more implied than explicit, but there’s passion. Try to remember what it was like as a teenager and you may not view the topic quite as unkindly.

     Possibly more concerning for parents would be the disobedience of one of the teens — but not for the disobedience itself. It’ll be disconcerting in that parents might see some of their own highhandedness and hypocrisy reflected in the teen’s parents. “Protective” parenting entails real struggle against smothering young souls.

     This book haunted me for days. I can’t wait to get to the sequel, Under the Light.