Brave Girl, Quiet Girl: A Novel Paperback – May 19, 2020

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde is yet another powerful novel by a highly competent, prolific writer. Hyde’s writing allows the reader to get into the heads of her characters. I could see the world from the eyes of the various personalities, could feel their pain, their anxiety, and their fragile grip on hope.The story takes place in present day Los Angeles. Brooke uses every excuse she can to get away from her over-bearing mother. Brooke, thirty-nine, divorced with a two-year-old daughter, Etta, is financially forced to live with her mother. Although Brooke begrudgingly acknowledges gratitude that her mother lets her stay there—the woman is so negative and overbearing that Brooke must get out of the house. Because her own car is old and untrustworthy, she borrows her mother’s elegant Mercedes to take her daughter, Etta, to a movie.After the movie they return to the car and Brooke dutifully straps little Etta into her up-to-code car seat in the backseat of the car. Brooke has just settled behind the steering wheel when a carjacker rips open the door, drags her out of the car, climbs in, and drives off. Brooke watches, terrified and helpless, as the car speeds down the street, with Etta still in her car seat.On the other side of town, Molly, only sixteen, is living on the streets in a bad section of Los Angeles. She’s been homeless ever since her mother kicked her out of their Utah home. Unbelievably, on her way to the wooden crate she calls “home,” she finds a baby, on the sidewalk, still in her car seat, abandoned. Molly looks around for the mother, but finds no one looking for this sweet child. Shielding the little girl from possible, if not likely danger, she tries to find help, to notify police. Her cell phone stopped working months ago. Danger lurks everywhere. This baby could be a gold-mine for people with evil intentions.Brave Girl, Quiet Girl is a gripping story, with huge dollops of compassion across generations and financial circumstances. I highly recommend this compelling and emotional novel.

LOVED this book. It really has great character development and they stick with you. Diving into the thought process she goes through is going to change the way you look at other people who struggle, are on the street, are hungry. Read this book for a new look on life and to look for opportunities to put emphathy and compassion into action!

Brooke is a divorced single mother. she and her daughter Etta live with Brooke ‘s mother. Molly is is a sixteen-year-old homeless girl living on the streets of Los Angeles. Their lives collide and they will both be forever changed.One night Brooke decides to take Ettaa movie. While getting into the car after the movie Brooke is hijacked. The hijackers leave Brooke standing in the street while he drives off with her mother’s car and Etta strapped in the back seat.While Molly is out collecting recycling she discovers a car seat on the sidewalk.to her surprise, there is, still a baby in it. Molly makes a decision to take the baby with her. She knows it is unsafe for the baby on the street but it can also be unsafe with her. Molly must notify the police, which is hard to do. when you don't have a phone and you are worried about survival.From the time Brooke gets Etta back Brooke and Molly ’s lives become intertwined. But it's difficult Brooke and Molly come from two different worlds. Molly is a homeless girl living on the streets. Brooke lives in a nice house, has a job, and enough food. Conversely, Molly does not know how she is going to get food, and shelter is a crate. Brooke is appreciative of Molly, but she is not sure she can trust her. Through the course of the book, Brooke and Molly deal with issues such as wealth, poverty, trust, homosexuality, and respect.This story is told from the alternating point of views of both Brooke and Molly, so I knew what each character was feeling and thinking.I could not put this book down. It was both suspenseful and heartwarming.This was an amazing story that addresses a myriad of social issues. The characters were well developed. I did not want the story to end. I want to know now how Brooke, Molly, and Etta are doing today.Thank you, Catherine Ryan Hyde, for writing such a heartwarming story.

Never have I read a Catherine Ryan Hyde book I didn't love. She makes a story so real, takes on tough topics . I like to say a good book makes me laugh, sigh, maybe get teary eyed and it's hard to put down. Catherine's books always include all that and more

At first I didn’t really want to read past the first 10 pages. I felt the writing was too simplistic, too much conversation, too mundane, etc.Because it was my book club assignment, I trudged on. After another dozen or so pages, I became intrigued. The story offered a window into homeless life, made me delve more deeply into Brooke’s and Molly’s relationships with their mothers, and gave me a renewed sense of gratitude for my own mother, who taught me unconditional love, something Brooke and Molly did not have in their mothers. I’m glad I persisted in reading this story on many levels. Even tho I suspected early on how it was going to end, I found the path to that ending very satisfying and reasonable.