The Garden of Last Days--a review

This book was not as action-packed as I originally thought it would be (I must not be getting enough action in my life because nothing is good enough for me--not Jack Bauer, not books, hmmm...). But it did make me seriously consider the pros and cons of being a stripper.

The story is about a woman named April (stripper name: Spring) who lives in Miami and works at a "gentleman's club". She's a single mom and is trying to save up enough money to buy a house for her daughter and herself and brings home $10,000-$12,000 a month (PRO). Then one night her babysitter has a heart attack and she has to bring her 3-year-old daughter to work with her, where she ends up stripping for one of the 9/11 hi-jackers while her daughter is abducted from the parking lot (CON and CON).

The story offered insight into the sometimes devastating decisions people make and the motivations on which those decisions are based. It was sad and depressing and made me root for people I normally would not have...like the desperate child-abductor who somehow thought he was doing the right thing and whose life was a series of consequences put in motion by bad choices.

I work with young people and am daily reminded of the fragility of life and how one bad choice can change your life forever. Sometimes I want to scream at them and tell them there's more to life than what you're going to look like in the five minutes between my class and your next one. But then again, sometimes I'm just not sure there is...