Enjoy One Whole And Perfect Day Penned By Judith Clarke Contained In Copy

book was much too predictable and it was excruciatingly slow,
The fact that it had so many POVs could have been interesting but it ended up confusing and clumsy I so loved this book.
This book started off rough for me, It felt very afterschoolspecial, and I had a hard time getting a hold of Lily's age.
It switched characters frequently and was a bit confusing, But once it got going, it was wonderful to see the insight and growth of all the different people involved in the story, and I really enjoyed how everything came together.
It is a story of reconciliation and of the understanding coming from considering someone's whole story.
I had a hard time getting into this one, It jumped around a lot and I never really connected with anyone in the story, One whole and perfect book filled with wacky, but realistic and endearing characters, family problems, love, forgiveness and a whole bunch of delightful coincidences felt like it was written just for me.


I am so glad that I had finally caved in and ordered a copy.
The Printz Honor title entered and left my wishlist several times starting in, when the home of my virtual shelves was still at Anobii.
com. But somehow my positive gut feelings overpowered the doubts brought on by the bad average rating and the lack of gushing reviews.


And here I am: Grinning and perfectly happy after rushing through the multiplevoiced story of the Samson family, which made me cry twice in one evening.



A note on rereading this book half a year later: Judith Clarke's multiPOV eight, to be correct, very Aussie family story it's not strictly YA.
It's all age at it best gets even more magical when you are gleefully anticipationg all the wonderful interactions of the realistically flawed, but ohsounavoidablylovely characters and those incredibly gutwarming coincidences.
I could eat that book, honestly,



Reread in March
Still love it, To pieces. I am now officially addicted to Aussie YA books, especially the ones which have been shortlisted or have some awardstamp on the cover.
What can I say, I have high standards hahaha,
When I first began reading this novel, say when I was about two chapters in, the first thing I took note of was Judith Clarke's writing style.
How she took the classic approach, introducing the family first and then going into the story.
I loved it, because most of the books I've been reading lately have just gone straight into the plot.
Don't get me wrong, I love those kinds of books too some of my favourites fall under that category, but it was nice to see a change.


After reading the first three chapters it was safe to say that I was completely and utterly engaged in this novel.
I loved how Judith Clarke wrote in third person and in different points of view, and how all the characters were tied together in some way, whether they knew it or not.
I found myself sympathising with all the different characters, whether they were teenagers or old grandfathers.
It was amazing how much I loved this book! The ending was so freaking sweet and I loved it so much.
I will now be eagerly looking out for Judith Clarke's other novels! She's sure written a lot :o Good thing too, seeing as she is very promising :
Rating:/, no question about it.
The characters spend a fair amount of time sleeping and dreaming, and the book ends up with an appropriately dreamy quality to it.
It's got its details, though, and a delightfully

large cast of characters, and the loveliest little descriptions of things.
And while there is a great deal of coincidence, particularly at the end, the characters admit that so much coincidence is bizarre, and that things like this never happen to their family, and probably never will again: it is, of course, their one whole and perfect day.
The characters cover a nice age range, too our main character, Lily, is in high school, but we spend a fair amount of time with the parents and grandparents, with her older brother and other students at his college, all of which I enjoyed.
I have to admit a particular fondness for Jessaline, the astigmatic linguistics student turned cooking student, who stays up late baking and passes around her cookies and cakes.
I may have been a trifle biased in her favor, Contemporary Australian YA novel about a dysfunctional but loveable family, Great characters! I enjoyed this one well enough, The characters were defined nicely and their interwoven stories worked well with one another, but it's not the most interesting of a book: not much happens, and you don't always care about everyone involved.


Again, it's wellwritten and works as is, but there are plenty of other books out their with similar messages and styles that are much better.
Freakish, thought Lily. That was the word for her family

What!!! Did you just end like that That was an horrible ending.
. .
A cute story about family, dreaming about your crush and an axe! If you have read this book you will understand why I'm speaking about an axe
/stars
A story about a dysfunctional family Definitely not a quick read, I had to read in small doses, but it felt like the story really sank into my brain.
Not clear how it got marketed to teens, as it felt markedly grownup, but definitely see how it won honors.
I just wish the cover made it more clearly Australian, and did not make me think of Chinese New Year.
It was hard to keep reminding myself of the setting, and was actually one reason I passed on it for a few weeks.
Like us all, many people in Lilys life affect how she views and enjoys the world around her.

An interesting look at all the 'sub plots' in her life that come together to give her a whole and perfect day.

I was just talking to a fellow avid reader who reminded me that not all fiction needs to have major climax, this is a good example of how to pull that off.
/

This is really a lovely, beautiful little book about an average family in Australia.
I particularly enjoyed the story being told from all the various points of view, even those characters who would normally be throwaways in other novels.
I also loved how all those various threads came together in the end to create Lily's whole and perfect day.
Highly Recommended! I first picked up this book at an 'Op Shop', drawn in by the cover.
Mine is slightly different to the hardccover image show here, showing a blue but cloudy sky, and a pink chocolate cake with a bite missing on a pink plate.
For some odd reason I felt like I should read this book, so I bought it and put it off for a few weeks until reading it today.


This is the story of family, Not the family, not a family, but of everyone's family, We have members who miss other family members, miss friends, miss times long past, We have members not wanting what they have now, or not understanding it, We have bonds that stretch through lifetimes, inconsequential memories and meetings turning into so much more.
Most of all, we have the sense of what it is to be human, to want, to fight, to love.


All of the characters have their own motivations, their own reasons for reacting as they do.
Lily sees her Pop as 'racist' and as a 'bigot', but never questions why his views might differ from hers.
This is just one example of how the characters start of as being self focused, but as the book progresses they realize that they have to let people into their lives for them to be complete.
They have to make it so no one 'slips through the cracks' and gets forgotten, My favorite instance of this was with Pop, not being able to remember what his mother looked like or the color of her eyes.
It is only when he thinks of Lonnie, the grandson whom he has 'disowned', that he can remember.
It is keeping this little memories close, smells, sights, memories,

So just a really good book, the kind that makes you feel like you should have a family Reunion of your own at the end, or at least appreciate those who ARE in your life a little more.
This was definitely an enjoyable read, It doesnt have an intense plot, or any gaspworthy twists and turns, The title is perfect, because thats what the main extent of the plot is family and friends trying struggling to be whole, and one girl who pushes for it so she can have her “perfect day.
”

What I really liked about it was the changing characters, Though its written inrd person, each character has a story and purpose except for one character Jessaline.
I didnt really understand how she fit so there isnt really one main character, I also liked the age variations, With most young adult books, you only get a glimpse into the head of the teenage narrator, but these characters spanned from early teens to early eighties.


Everybody connects in a way, When I got into it, I was incredibly confused at why so many characters were being written such large parts, but it all fits.
Everybody fits together, hence why the word whole is so perfect for the title, Almost funny Probably not. Im lame, I know Everybodys issues, which every character has some, intertwine so wonderfully that I appreciated their flaws so much more at the end.


I finished it fairly quickly considering its not very long, Its not the kind of book that youll get swept away in, but its something that definitely will lift your spirits.
I laughed a lot, and probably smiled throughout the entire thing, I recommend picking it up, and saving it for a rainy day when youre not feeling so awesome itll make you feel a lot better, I promise! Audible
Aussie Reading Challenge

One Whole and Perfect Day was a pleasant and enjoyable read.
The reader for the audible, Gretal Montgomery, was a delight to listen to, Her voice was sweet and joyful and kept me quite entertained, Her Australian accent was delightful to hear especially when she said "Pop", "Lonnie", "Clara", I could still hear her sweet and cute voice in my head and picture the characters in my head as clear as day.


One Whole and Perfect Day is about the life of a sensibleyear old girl named Lily and her eccentric and dysfunctional family.
Though she is the main character of the book, there are several points of views in the book, both long and short, told in therd person.
For this reason, the beginning of the book was a little confusing because of the constant changes in voices as each character is introduced, especially when listening to its audible version.
Lily complains about her boring life and how she takes care of her disorganized and kind psychologist mother, Marigold, and her older and irresponsible brother, Lonnie.
Secondary characters consists of her grandpa Stan and grandma May, Clara who is Lonnie's friend and Clara's mother, Rose.
It's quite funny and interesting how these two families come in contact and connect in such serendipitous ways.
The book is like a giant ball of yarn with the strands of each of these characters' lives smoothly and haphazardly intertwined into a one big ball of life.


I thought Judith Clarke did such a fine job crafting these larger than life characters.
I personally enjoyed Stan's character because despite his gruff, he was all heart underneath, I personally connected with Clara and her family dynamics, I too grew up with a father who was highly critical and condescending of my mother and caused me to lose respect for my father.
I too experienced being discriminated upon just like Clara's mother because I am of Asian descent and had to go through my high school senior year being labeled as a dog eater.
However in Rose's Clara's mother case, she grew up being teased as a cat eater, The funny thing was, growing up in the Philippines, I recall my brother warning me to refrain from buying steamed meat buns from the Chinese fast food places for fear of it being made of cat meat.
And since I was young and stupid then, I believed him, It's just interesting how ridiculous stories such as these travel far and wide,

Anyway, I digress, I thought Lonnie was cute and kind despite him being a little clueless and dreamy at times.
I thought their Grandma May was sweet and adorable especially with regards to her invisible and childhood friend Seth.
I had a friend like that too when I was little and I still call upon him when I'm feeling a little bit down and alone.
He's one friend who's always there to listen, And I think May's relationship with Seth is very much the same,

And then there's Lily, Sensible Lily who was forced to grow up early and take care of the household because no one else would.
Oh don't I know the feeling, But, I was never embarrassed of it like she was, I was quite proud of being sensible and independent! But Lily definitely entertained me with her curious ways and her experimentation of how to get the opposite sex to notice you.
It made me reminisce of all the stupid things I would wear and do just to get a guy to notice me in high school.
Oh the stupid things we did when we were young!

I thought Judith Clarke was an amazing writer with her ability to conjure such intricate lives and weave them effortlessly into eventful coincidences culminating into a one whole and perfect day of reunion, selfdiscovery, a promise of a better tomorrow, and a greater appreciation for family and friends for Lily, Clara, an their families.
Unfortunately, because the ending is so perfect and could only exist in fairy tales, I was left not feeling completely convinced and impressed.
However, if you are the type who enjoy happily ever afters multiplied by, then this book is definitely for you!

Nevertheless, after reading One and Whole Perfect Day, I am still in awe of Australian authors and writers!.