Name All the Animals: A Memoir

Alison Smith has created a wonderful novel of not only the hardships of growing up, but she also recounts the trauma of having a beloved brother die in a car accident. This is not a read that is simply about grief and having the world pass by after her brother Roy's death. This is a true story about how a 15 year old girl sees her life, and must adjust to having her brother no longer be with her. As the memoir progresses, Alison's story will touch every emotion a reader feels. While reading, the reader feels as if it is her diary, and she is letting the reader about the both the troubles and the happiness in her life. She will take her life into her own hands after Roy's death, but she will also tempt fate. The reader becomes connected to Alison while reading her incredible story, and even after the book is put down, there is always more left out. If the reader is a teenager, Alison understands. She recounts many things a teenager looks forward to or has experienced. If the reader is an adult, it will be a reminder of just how much drama is in a teenager's life, especially in that of a teenage girl. Alison gives insight into her everyday emotions: the grief and sadness from the loss of her brother, the joy of a first love, the stress of having to keep it a secret, and the feeling of being trapped as every teenager does at one point or another. As Alison brings the reader along for the ride of her teenage years, the reader feels everything she does, and is are frustrated when circumstances don't go her way. She is a person many people can connect to, and her story is touching with every word. Even if some people believe the story is not interesting enough at first, PLEASE KEEP READING because it is worth it.

Before I start I would like to say I am deeply sorry Alison Smith lost her brother (and one of her greatest friends) at a young age.However, this tragedy does not excuse the truly abominable nature of this book. When I pick up a book, I am looking for something engaging, moving, and even humorous, in short, something that is not an utter waste of my time. I took one look at the cover and decided I would hate the book. I judged this book by its cover, and I was completely right. With this book, there was no humor, Roy died too early on for the reader to be very moved, and the story and sentence structure were so mind numbingly tedious that it took me an hour to read only 20 pages.Here are some other problems I have with this piece of (what in my opinion barely constitutes) literature:(1): An author should not (under any circumstances) start a book with a girl menstruating, in public. I've read books about impending global genocide and human punching bags, but this was just beyond disturbing. Luckily, I was not engaged enough to vomit upon reading it.(2): The writing was inconsistent and dull. Smith described an apple she ate in the last chapter in far greater detail than she described her first lesbian encounter, something far more important to her than an apple she buys at a farmers market. As I have previously stated, I was so not engaged by the writing that it took me an hour to finish 20 pages. I was also so turned off by the writing, that it actually devalued my sympathy for her. I am truly sorry she had to lose her brother, but like most people have said, this reads more like a fiction novel than a memoir, and I cannot connect with fictitious characters (or in this case, characters who are written as fictional).(3): (The following is more of a problem I have with bible-thumping gay-bashers) In all the 613 Commandments in the Bible, there is not one mention of lesbianism, not one. And given the huge levels of specificity in Leviticus regarding proper sexual conduct, to have lesbianism omitted means it cannot possibly be a sin. Given how I know this and I am a very liberal catholic, I don't see how an ultra-conservative family and an entire convent of nuns can overlook it (or why Smith didn't just say something about it).(4): There is no literary significance. When my friends ask me how to summarize it I say "Her brother dies, and she finds out she's a lesbian." When they ask me to analyze its significance, there is nothing there to analyze. There is a reason this book is not on Sparknotes, and I'm quite certain it isn't that the people who have read it are too virtuous to post anything; it's because the book has no higher meaning of any kind.Suffice it to say, I hate this book and I found reading it to be a complete waste of my hard-earned summer vacation. I do not believe that anyone should suffer through such a literary quagmire of tedium. If you are considering reading this book, do not, and if a friend recommends it, disown that friend. If you have read this book, and you posted "Beautiful" or "Outstanding," then you probably liked, The Poop that Took a Pee (if you get the reference post it in the comments).

Alison Smith writes her memoir from the heart. As she makes the difficult transition from childhood to adolescence, Alison writes with painstaking honestly about the problems she faces and eventually resolves.Some memoirs seem extemporaneous, as though someone else has written the story. However, while reading this memoir, I could see the events unfolding right in front of my eyes, as though I was there. In addition, her descriptions of people, places, and even simple actions, such as eating an apple, are so descriptive that the reader can shut their eyes and picture the exact circumstance.Alison also touches upon her relationship with her parents. Growing up in a devoutly religious family, she is severely scolded for endorsing gay and lesbian rights. Alison describes the familial conflict this decision creates, and also relates it to her own relationships. However, I would have liked for the book to explain how her parents came to terms with the situation.Although the story does not completely resolve itself, Alison Smith has created a captivating memoir that successfully portrays the challenges of growing up amid tragedy.