Opulence--Kansas--A Book Review

I read a new YA book this week.  OPULENCE--KANSAS--by Julie Stielstra. The story pulled me in immediately, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to Katie Myrdal, the 15-year-old girl who lives in a 19th-floor condo on Chicago's Gold Coast with her parents.

Katie's world turns upside down and spins round and round when her father is found dead in his Porsche. Words like suicide, fraud, investigation drift through the condo. At the funeral, Katie meets her Uncle Len and his wife, Maggie. They invite Katie to spend the summer with them on their farm outside Opulence, Kansas. She hardly knew these relatives existed but she grabs at the chance to get away from the situation and her distant mother.

Katie finds herself under the wide skies of the prairie in central Kansas. She lives with the loss and disappointment in her father brimming at the surface every day. Katie meets Travis Gibbs, a boy whose own recent loss is as bad or perhaps worse than her own. Their relationship has its ups and downs but remains steady.

Katie spends her summer getting to know and love Len and Maggie, learning to enjoy the Kansas prairie, taking myriad photos with her camera, and learning new skills. Opulence holds secrets and new-found knowledge she will need when it is time to go home.

Julie Stielstra has written a captivating story for young people and this adult. Her characters feel like real people, the descriptions of the land almost poetic, and she has created a story readers will enjoy.

The book particularly appealed to me because I grew up in the Chicago suburban area, so the names of the towns outside the city were quite familiar. Add the fact that I, too, moved to Kansas and grew to love its wide skies and prairie grasses just like Katie, and it scored with me again.

YA, or Young Adult, books are one step below adult books. They deal with the problems of teens but in a grown-up manner. There are many fine stories classified as YA. They usually are shorter and cost less than adult books. Consider buying this book as a gift for a teen or to read for yourself.

Purchase it at any of these places:  Meadowlark Books (the publisher) $10; Amazon (released June 23rd)$10; The Raven BookStore in Lawrence $11.94, Watermark Books in Wichita $9.95