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    We Are Called to Rise: A Novel
    We Are Called to Rise: A Novel
    We Are Called to Rise: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    We Are Called to Rise: A Novel

    Written by Laura McBride

    Narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne, Madeleine Maby and Pete Simonelli

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    About this audiobook

    “Your heart will break…then soar” (Redbook) when, far from the neon lights of the Vegas strip, three lives collide in a split-second mistake and a child’s fate hangs in the balance.

    Avis thought her marriage had hit a temporary rut. But with a single confession in the middle of the night, her carefully constructed life comes undone. After escaping a tumultuous childhood and raising a son, she now faces a future without the security of the home and family she has spent decades building.

    Luis only wants to make the grandmother who raised him proud. As a soldier, he was on his way to being the man she taught him to be until he woke up in Walter Reed Hospital with vague and troubling memories of how he got there. Now he must find a new way to live a life of honor.

    Every day, young Bashkim looks forward to the quiet order of school and the kind instruction of his third grade teacher. His family relocated to Las Vegas after fleeing political persecution in their homeland. Now their ice cream truck provides just enough extra income to keep them afloat. With his family under constant stress, Bashkim opens his heart to his pen pal, a US soldier.

    When these lives come together in a single, shocking moment, each character is called upon to rise. “You’ll be thinking about these characters long after you finish this haunting, heart-wrenching, and hopeful book” (Houston Chronicle).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJun 3, 2014
    ISBN9781442370791
    Author

    Laura McBride

    Laura McBride lives in Las Vegas and teaches composition at the College of Southern Nevada. She is the author of the novels We Are Called to Rise and In the Midnight Room.

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    Reviews for We Are Called to Rise

    4/5

    162 ratings25 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Well done and good writing for difficult content. Characters demonstrate integrity.
    • 4/5
      I read this book for my local "One City, One Book" campaign. At first, though I appreciated much about the novel, I had mixed feelings, because it is told through the eyes of four different characters, but the author employs frequent flashbacks by each of these characters, which made it feel as if her own voice was coming through in each of them rather than them being distinct. I was also taken aback by reading the note at the end to find that the plot was based on a true story; somehow, I felt that if I had been those characters, I might not have wanted my real-life tragedy fictionalised in such a way.However, I keep coming back to the characters. This is truly McBride's strength as a writer. I was taken aback precisely because I can imagine myself in so many of the characters' shoes, and that is not normally how I read books. In fact, in the past, I have often devoted most of my attention to how an author writes and what message he or she is trying to get across, and I have loathed being in book clubs where people treat the characters as if they're real people whose thoughts and actions beyond the page and the confines of the story can be imagined. Not so with "We Are Called to Rise." Perhaps this is because creating empathy for characters is the author's main purpose, or at least one of them. Perhaps I am just growing as a reader, or felt moved by a particularly good book club experience this time. But I sense that more than anything, the credit is due to McBride's skill at her craft, and her ability to create more realistic and relatable characters than most. For a first novel, this is a particularly promising start. Beyond that, it is a cathartic way to take your place in the emotions of others.
    • 5/5
      It’s hard to deal with all of the tragedy in the world right now. Reading We Are Called To Rise was cathartic for me. I cried and cried. I was relieved at the “happy” ending, even if it was unrealistic. Who picked this book?

      It was not the easiest story to read, one that covers the gamut of domestic violence, immigration, racism, war, post- traumatic stress, death, grief, foster care, suicide, and addiction…

      Interestingly, all those who “rise” are women. There’s Avis, the mother of the war veteran Nate. There’s Roberta, the Court Appointed Services Advocate and defender of children; the abueula (grandmother) of Luis a traumatized war vet; Mrs. Monaghan, Baskim’s teacher, Dr. Moore, the elementary school principal, Mrs. Delain, the foster mother; and, even the victim, Bashkim’s mother.
    • 4/5
      Each chapter of this book is told from a different point of view. The thing they all have in common is that they live in Las Vegas and as the book unfolds, we learn how they all become connected. Avis has spent her whole life in constant fear that something would happen to her beloved son, Nate. She lost daughter, Emily, at a very young age and it has a huge effect on the rest of her life. When the book opens, Avis is standing naked in front of her husband thinking of ways she can spice up their marriage when he tells her that he is in love with someone else. Avis is faced with the heartbreak of losing her house and her husband. Avis had a rough childhood, living with a drunk mother who moved from one abusive relationship to another and moved into one run down hotel to another, sometimes even living in the back of a car. She has spent her whole life trying to not be anything like her mother. Nate is Avis’s son. He recently came back from serving time in Iraq and has just begun his career as a police officer. His mother notices he isn’t quite right when he returns home from the war and his PTSD gets worse and worse until something tragic happens. Bashkim is a young Albanian boy in Las Vegas. His father was put in an Albanian prison for protesting an act of the government. He applied for political asylum with the United States and his family was sent to live in Vegas. Bashkim’s mother is lonely in US. She misses her family and their homeland. Bashkim’s father is often violent and angry. Bashkim worries a lot. He lives in a state of fear that he will get in trouble at school, which will get him into trouble with his father. As a school project, Bashkim begins writing letters to a soldier in Iraq. Luis is Bashkim’s pen pal. After three years in Iraq (or hell as he called it) he shoots his own self in the head and winds up in the hospital instead of dead. He wanted more than anything to be a good soldier and make his grandmother, who raised him, proud of him. Luis blames himself for everything. He is full of anger and guilt and self-loathing. He lays in bed and wonders, “Will I ever be a man again? Will I always be this crippled fuck?” At 22 years old, Luis feels he has nothing left to hope for, he doesn’t know what to do with so much pain and failure and he has no idea what to do with his life if he’s not a soldier.The letters he receives and writes to Bashkim begin to wake him up and bring him back around. They make him want to do something right. Bashkim really gives Luis the will to live again. Roberta is a court appointed Special Advocate who takes her job very seriously. She puts all her heart in soul into her job and wants to make recommendations for the children she helps that she would make if the child were her own. She learns everything she can about each child so she can make the best decision possible for the future.Las Vegas, in my opinion, is also a character in the book. “It’s not a small town anymore. For decades, people have been streaming in from all over the world, from every country on the planet; stateless people, desperate people, eager people, ambitious people. They came for easy work, the ability to pay someone off, for the chance to start over. They come because they are rich, they come because they are poor, and someday soon, all these hundreds of thousands, millions, of newcomers may even wipe clean the slate drawn by Vegas’s earliest dreamers.”These three quotes sum up everything the book was about:“Coincidences can be powerful. The strangest coincidences are opportunities.” “Things happen to us that are more than we can take. And we break. We break for a moment, for a while. But that break is not who we are. It’s not the sum total of who we are.”“One small thing changes everything. The tiniest act, the smallest space of time, the most inconsequential of decisions, changes a life. Whole lives are born out of the most fragile of happenstance.”
    • 4/5
      I became more interested in the story when I could see how all the characters were important to each other. I enjoyed the stories about people who make their home in Las Vegas. It was not a joyful read but I liked the way the author gave us the situation throught the eyes of many characters.
    • 4/5
      Set in the Las Vegas where people live, rather than in the casinos filled with tourists, McBride’s debut novel tells the story of four different people whose lives intersect as the result of one split-second choice. Avis is a woman whose marriage is crumbling after 29 years. Bashkim is the nine-year-old son of Albanian immigrants who struggle to make do while isolated from all family and friends. Luis is a veteran, waking up in Walter Reed hospital from nightmares that hint at something awful that happened. Roberta is a social worker and volunteer, who tries to help the lost and disillusioned, the emotionally wounded and mentally fragile people who wind up in court, especially the kids. The novel is told by each of these four characters in turn, letting the reader get to know their various hopes, dreams, disappointments, joys, failures, and triumphs. I was immediately drawn into their personal stories. I wanted to know how they got to where they are, where they hoped to go, how they planned to get there. And, having been teased by the book jacket, I was curious about how their lives would intersect.McBride does a great job of writing these characters, making them real to the reader. I thought Roberta’s story was the least developed, and she has little role in the central plot until close to the end of the book. I also felt the ending was a little too contrived. But those are really my only complaints about the book. I also really liked the way she described life in Las Vegas. One of my best friends used to live there, and she commented how most residents lead typical lives; kids go to school, adults go to work, the casinos may be the major employers, but there are other employers and other jobs. The story really could have been set anywhere in America and still ring true. It’s a great debut, and I look forward to reading McBride’s next work.
    • 4/5
      This is not the easiest story to read. It's full of heartache and hope and reality. Reality means it's not all rainbows and unicorns. Instead, it's a hard and then it's harder and then it's wonderful!Las Vegas is the backdrop for this story of Bashkin, 8 year old Albanian son of an ice cream truck driver. And Bashkin's exuberant Aussie teacher decides it would be a good idea to write a letter to a soldier deployed from the nearby base. That simple act sets in motion unexpected actions that impact all!Bashkin's letter is filled with innocent questions of a curious and scared boy. The letter he receives from Specialist Luis is not innocent - instead he describes how he shot a boy in Afghanistan. And Bashkin, poor Bashkin, gets terribly sick with anxiety when he reads it.This book is not only Bashkin's story though. It also follows Specialist Luis, recovering from a head injury that seemed to occur right after he sent off that fateful letter. And we hear from the mother of a newly instated police officer, with her fears for her recently returned soldier son. And another woman who seems to be connected with the court system someway.Each of these characters brings a piece of the story to a final culmination when their separate stories coalesce. This is a hard story to read if you are connected to the military. There are scars from war that affect each soldier in a different way. The families sometimes bear those scars in hidden ways. This is not only the story of American war families - but also those scattered across the world wherever there is violence.And at the heart of it all is a boy who only wants to fit in and do what is right for his family and himself.This was a little deep for a beach read - hard to cry with the sun shining down on me!!Costa Rica book #1
    • 4/5
      It took awhile to get into the story and the connection between the various narrators was not evident until almost halfway through the book; nonetheless, it was a very worthwhile and timely read given some of the critical issues our society currently faces. I was left wondering what happened to some of the other characters in the story -- most notably Nate, his wife Lauren, and his partner Corey. Perhaps that is a way to keep a reader coming back to the story. I recommend this book, particularly for bookclub discussions.
    • 5/5
      I've read studies that screen time is rewiring brains. It is mine. I love to read, always have, and yet I find it hard to maintain focus in a book. I start, but get distracted. Really, truly immersing in a story and deeply engaging with the characters and the threads isn't as easy and all-consuming as it used to be.

      Then I read this, pretty much in one sitting.

      The title is brilliant and works on several levels. The writing is stunning--full of empathy, layers and subtleties. It's a story of the casualties of life, drawing resilience by giving and getting small gestures of love and the power of connection. This is one of the best things I've read in a long, long time. I loved it and I highly recommend.

    • 5/5
      I've read studies that screen time is rewiring brains. It is mine. I love to read, always have, and yet I find it hard to maintain focus in a book. I start, but get distracted. Really, truly immersing in a story and deeply engaging with the characters and the threads isn't as easy and all-consuming as it used to be.

      Then I read this, pretty much in one sitting.

      The title is brilliant and works on several levels. The writing is stunning--full of empathy, layers and subtleties. It's a story of the casualties of life, drawing resilience by giving and getting small gestures of love and the power of connection. This is one of the best things I've read in a long, long time. I loved it and I highly recommend.

    • 4/5
      This book was recommended to me and I'm so glad that it was. It's a simply told story of four different Las Vegas families that covers the gamut of domestic violence, immigration, racism, war, post traumatic stress, death, grief, foster care, suicide, and addiction...and how it all rolls up into this thing we call life. Some of the most personal parts were reading about what it is like growing in Las Vegas (it's not nearly as scandalous as people may assume). Such a great read. You should pick it up!
    • 5/5
      Library book. A woman coping with her past and the breakup of her marriage, an immigrant family facing adjustment, and veterans coping with PTSD all converge in Las Vegas. A difficult story well told. Debut novel.
    • 5/5
      This was such a lovely and incredibly sad book. The author draws together very different and very complex characters to create a picture of American life that is both heart-warming and heart-breaking. Theirs are not completely unique stories or circumstances - but their voices are.There is Avis, a woman whose life is being turned upside down as she deals with her husband's infidelity and her son's problems after returning from war.“I was wondering by the gun was in the drawer. I was thinking that I would have to turn around. I was acutely aware of being naked. I didn’t know which one of those problems to address first.”She is trying to understand who she will be after her husband leaves - where she fits in the world. How she can hang on to who she was and also forge a new future for herself.“If I don’t save these things, I have lost something. It’s not just that objects release memories, it’s also that they keep them in check. As long as I have Emily’s plastic band, I know the actual diameter of her wrist, not the one I’ve come to imagine. If I just have this one life – if I made all these mistakes in it, felt all this joy and all this pain – I want to know what it was. I want to know what it really meant.”There is Bashkim, a young boy who is trying to understand his immigrant parents and also how to navigate daily American life. Who is constantly on guard, who is quiet and fragile and who faces incredible tragedy and upheaval. His voice touched me the most. The words of a young child trying to make sense of insensate things was incredibly powerful. His story, too, is the heart of this book. The other characters surround him and change his life - but he is the true center of this story. And there is Luis, a young soldier who is shattered both by what he has seen in war - but what he has done to others and to himself. As he lays in a hospital and others try and help him to heal, he needs to find some way to heal himself - and some reason to try and do so. “You can’t get away from anything in a hospital. You’re lying on a bed, and you can’t even get up to go to the bathroom by yourself, and if someone comes in and just foists something on you – some experience, some memory – you cannot get away. You are just there.”These characters interconnect in ways the reader can see ahead of time. It's like watching a car careen towards another - knowing there is nothing you can do to stop it - only able to brace for the impact and hope the disaster is not too great. But in this story - the disaster is horrible. This story shows the worst that some people can do - and the best that humans are capable of. “We say, “Thank you very much” and “I so appreciate what you have done” to people who fill our grocery bags, to people who offer us a ride across town. What are the words to say to someone who gave you back your life, who believed that you still had a soul, who acknowledged how bad it was possible to feel? Shouldn’t there be another language for this? Different words all together?” Las Vegas, the city where most of the story takes place, also plays a role in the events and in some ways - is a character in the story. Having been there numerous times and having family that lives there, I appreciated the details on this city behind a city - the real lives that people live in a city of illusion and fantasy. “Home. For a Las Vegas kid, the lights and sounds of a hundred slot machines are more natural than rain, and a public space backgrounded in the bells and chimes and gravel rolls of bored travelers standing at kaleidoscopic games is as commonplace as sky in Montana or snow in Vermont.”"We Are Called to Rise" is a deeply moving book about pain, fear and love - and how these powerful emotions can work for good and how they expose just how fragile we are as people. This is a story about the horrors not only of war, but of life after war and how different people are when they try and make the transition.
    • 3/5
      Gender bias leaves blot on uplifting story This is a novel about little things and how they all matter. How small acts of courage and kindness can culminate into something wonderful and how seemingly insignificant negative events can manifest into a terrible tragedy.It’s about regular people facing tough choices and doing the right thing. In that way Laura McBrides’s novel, We Are Called to Rise is positive and uplifting.When a routine traffic violation turns into a police officer shooting and killing the mother of two young children, Bashkim and Tirana, a disparate group of characters come together and “rise” to mitigate the suffering.Interestingly, all those who “rise” are women. There’s Avis, the mother of the war veteran Nate, the police officer who shoots the woman. There’s Roberta, the Court Appointed Services Advocate and defender of children; the abueula (grandmother) of Luis a traumatized war vet; Mrs. Monaghan, Baskim’s teacher, Dr. Moore, the elementary school principal, Mrs. Delain, the foster mother; and, even the victim, Bashkim’s mother.Even low level characters who are women are portrayed as reasonable, including Darcy, the woman Avis’s husband leaves her for, and Lauren the battered young wife of Nate who won’t report his abuse to the authorities because it will jeopardize his job on the police force.All those who “do not rise”, and in some cases sink are men. They include Bashkim’s paranoid, misogynistic father; Avis’s son Nate, the shooter, wife beater and PSTD sufferer; Luis, a soldier who killed an innocent child in Iraq and has attempted suicide because of his guilt; Avis’s husband Jim who dumps her for no apparent reason after nearly three decades of marriage. Even minor male characters are portrayed as weak or ineffectual including Roberta’s husband Marty who tells her “she’s bitten off more than she can chew” in trying to help the children; and Corey, Nate’s partner during the actual shooting who is “just sad” and “not likely to be a police officer next year.”If McBride wanted to balance her gender bias she could have easily made the principal and the school teacher men, or how about giving the foster mother compassionate husband?They say if you really want to know about an author the best way is to read their fiction. I enjoyed McBride’s fiction and I wouldn’t go as far as to say her gender portrayal is an indication of misandry, but it does give me pause.
    • 4/5
      Four seemingly separate families are inexplicably joined. Two Afghanistan vets, an eight year old Albanian immigrant, and a recent divorcee. What starts this is the fact that the young boy writes a letter to one of the vets. It's a remarkable story of the butterfly effect and family relationships.
    • 4/5
      It’s not often that I read an incredibly sad novel. Because I seek escapism from the stresses and moral turpitude of everyday life, I usually gravitate toward novels that emphasize how exhilarating life is, rather than depicting how disheartening it might actually become. Laura McBride, in her debut novel We Are Called to Rise, portrays a story about four relatively insignificant people from Las Vegas, whose lives intersect through an immensely unfortunate incident, and she shows how those lives might just not be as serendipitous as we would initially suppose. Seemingly instantaneous, insignificant actions can reverberate with profound effects, and lives are changed forever. The chapters juxtapose between the voices of the four characters… a housewife and mother whose marriage has reached its end, a soldier who returns from Afghanistan haunted by guilt, an Albanian immigrant boy whose life is upheaved in tragedy, and a child advocate volunteer who strives to help children in need. Although I thought it a bit distracting moving from character to character with each new chapter, by the conclusion of the novel, I understood how the author was preparing the reader for the significant event that was to eventually occur. I was enthralled by the incident, as I recalled reading about this event years ago in the newspapers, thinking what an unfortunate event it was then! Laura McBride portrays each character in the book flawlessly, my favorite being the young immigrant boy, Bashkim. One could not help but to cheer for him, as he faces insurmountable challenges to which no young child should be burdened. McBride is a gifted writer who successfully makes the point that no act of kindness is insignificant, and that when we are called to rise, man’s goodness will prevail.
    • 4/5
      “We Are Called To Rise,” by Laura McBride, is an exquisitely moving character-driven psychological novel about the “terrible weight of incongruous cause and effect.” It’s a novel about how the strangest coincidences can almost arbitrarily morph into remarkable opportunities. But perhaps more importantly, it is about how everyday people react when they are “emotionally stretched” beyond what they are capable of psychologically handling. The book takes place in 2008, mostly in Las Vegas, Nevada. The author takes us deep within the interior lives of four very different people: two middle-aged women, an eight-year-old Albanian immigrant boy, and a twenty-something wounded Iraqi war vet. It is the story of how their lives finally come together through a series of tragic and bizarre circumstances to remarkably good effect. The book is also, very much, a portrait of Las Vegas—the city, as well as the struggling community of emotionally stretched middle class workers that support it’s “Sin City” nightlife and reputation.I want to stress how much I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and plan to recommend it to my literature-loving friends. But love it as I do, the book is not without some major flaws; that’s why I’m giving it only four stars rather than five. But don’t let the lack of that fifth star deter you! Isn’t it true that some of the best things in life also have glaring flaws? With any beloved flawed thing, the weight and importance of the good things far exceed the bad. I don’t want to take up review space here listing the flaws. The leading three-star Amazon review for this book headed “Flawed but compelling,” (by reviewer A. Grace) does an outstanding job of outlining them. I differ from that reviewer only in how much I enjoyed this novel, despite its flaws. By the time I am writing this review, there are already over a hundred reviewers who’ve made it clear that they love this book. The main point I wanted to add to this discussion is that this book is, indeed, very special. It’s an honest, realistic, and searing portrait of contemporary life in America. It satisfies the soul and intellect. It delves deeply into the human condition. It grabbed me by my heartstrings and never let go. Laura McBride is a highly competent new literary novelist. She’s a writer with amazing talent for revealing the subtle and often conflicting realities of everyday life. I can’t wait to read her next novel. I hope some foundation discovers her and gives her a grant (like the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship) so she can quit that community college job and start writing novels full-time! And Hollywood, are you listening? This plot would make an incredibly compelling movie.
    • 4/5
      Another novel of interlocking stories. The characters are residents of Las Vegas--not the glitzy side of the city, but where day-to-day real folks live--and they are dealing with various forms of secrets and trauma in their past. Avis is a suburban housewife with a family background of homelessness, alcoholism, and domestic abuse. Bashkim is an eight year old whose parents are damaged political refugees from Albania and unable to cope with American culture and financial problems. Luis is a veteran of the Iraq War who has experienced and performed horrific deeds, attempted suicide, and is struggling with rehab. Each plot-line is complex and heart-wrenching at times, but the author conveys deep sympathy for even the most difficult situations, compelling the reader to understand motivations for what seem to be evil events. The resolution is open-ended, and therefore perhaps disappointing, but realistic at the same time.
    • 4/5
      I'd never heard of this book or this author when I saw it at the library. I usually comb the shoves and select several books that look interesting to me. Then I take them over to a table and get a better sense of each book, knowing that the title and cover art may not be enough to carry a book through for a full read. This book started well...as it opens, Avis, a 53 year old woman, is trying to seduce her husband by going to the rarely visited naughty-underwear drawer. The story starts there, Avis telling about her marriage to Jim, her daughter, and her soldier son, Nate. Other people narrate as well, Bashkim, a young Albanian boy who also lives in Las Vegas with his family. Luis, a soldier sent home from war, and Roberta, a CASA volunteer. Using different people to tell the story isn't a new device, and I quite like how it's done here. Each character is distinct and comes alive. While I figured that their stories would intersect somehow, and I correctly predicted some of what happened, I didn't predict all of it, and the characters kept me wanting to read more. A good find!
    • 4/5
      This left me somewhat flat. I liked the characters, and genuinely cared how things turned out for them, but the dialogue—internal monologue included—was so clunky in places it put me off. Strangely, though, only from certain character; others were given voice to realistically, and I think it was the unevenness that threw me the most. Even the message aspect, about small acts mattering and people being called on to be their better selves, didn't rub me the wrong way because it was earnest, if a little ingenuous—and in the end, earned. But really, this is where it's really good to have a writer's group, or someone to read this stuff out loud to. It could have been a much better book with more genuine voices.
    • 3/5
      A good book but one I wanted to like more than I did. It's always good when everything comes together at the end (even if it's predictable) but the ending was also a bit farfetched for my taste, especially considering how long the setup was and then how quickly it all wrapped up. But it is good to see a book with people helping people, and to see some hope in the world. And I really do believe that we are called to rise.
    • 5/5
      I received a copy of We Are All Called To Rise by Laura McBride from Net Galley in exchange foe and honest review.We Are All Called To Rise by Laura McBride is wonderful debut novel of love,loss hope and redemption. The story is told from alternating voices of the main characters,it will weave together a thread that ties them together.Avis: the middle age woman whose life and marriage just fell apart. Mother of a son who she know is not right since his return from Iraq. A son she is afraid of and for.Roberta: The Advocate whose job it is to ensure the best thing is done for those she is assigned to.Bashkim: the third grader who is at the center of the story. Who has to try to assimilate to two worlds. The knot that ties the threads together.Luis:the army specialist . Abandoned by his mother raised by his grandmother. He has suffered the greatest loss and in the need of the most redemptionThere is a beautiful paragraph that sets up the rest of the book.It talks about doing the right thing. There will be an events that shatters the lives of everyone and brings them together. After you finish reading and wiping the tears from your eyes you will find yourself asking Do I have what it takes to rise? This story will touch your heart you long after you finish reading it.
    • 4/5
      The opening scene in this novel was humorous, sad but humorous as well. I could really picture this happening, it was so realistic and vivid. Than everything got serious, pretty quickly. The novel is narrated by four different characters, the youngest named Bashkim is eight. He quickly stole my heart, so wise for his years, always thinking and loving his little sister and his Nene. Avis, the character in the opening scene, proves to be a very strong person. I quite admired her. All these people live in Las Vegas, and it was very interesting reading about people raising families in this city of gambling and touristy. Making regular lives among the chaos. Some of these characters are facing life changing events, all are realistically portrayed. There are so many quotable lines in this novel, sometimes I felt that there were maybe too many, at times bordering on the preachy. Yet, the authors portrayal of her characters is so very realistic that I became invested in their outcome. Her secondary characters were also amazing. It is hard to take these types of problems and allow the characters to find some kind of resolution and hope for the future. McBride does it and well. Very sad at times, but somehow, often with the help of others, there are resolutions. Some things cannot be changed or fixed, but it was wonderful seeing the many people that pulled together to find solutions. I loved that part, near the very end of the book. It became very emotional for me. I loved reading Avis's story, after all the things that happened to her, she still put herself out there. Would I ever have the strength to do what Avis does at the end of the book? I have five sons of my own and I certainly hope I would have the courage to do so.Poignant first novel by an author to watch.
    • 5/5
      Random actions and circumstances can bring people together in all kinds of ways and with all kinds of results. We Are Called to Rise, illustrates this in the connections between various exceptionally different and troubled people. The novel is based on a real event but the author chose not to tell the story of the actual people involved, but rather her own rendition of how it might have played out. It begins with a marriage breaking up in a poignant bedroom scene. The reader might think that this is a key plot in the story, but it is not. Then we are introduced to other random people who have only one thing in common: their home is in Las Vegas. Eventually we meet and get to know a young Albanian immigrant schoolboy, Bashkim, who with his family winds up being the center of this powerful story. Each chapter of the book is written from the point of view of one of four characters who alternate telling their stories. The first is Avis, a mother who is struggles between doing the right thing and protecting the son she loves. The second is Roberta, a lifelong resident of Vegas who serves as a volunteer caseworker who cares deeply about kids and spends most of her time trying to make a difference in the lives of each of her assigned children. Bashkim, is the third grade boy whose family is struggling to make a go of things in the United States. The last narrator to which we are introduced, is Luis, a young soldier from Las Vegas, who is stationed in Iraq. These individuals and their family's lives intersect in a seemingly random but powerful way that is much like a perfect storm or ticking time bomb. Although it is a sad story of the multitude of problems and challenges facing many families today, the author is able to bring about a surprising ending that is touched with possibility and hope for the future.I was captivated by the young boy, Bashkim. His character was probably one of the most well developed and imaginable within the book. He got into my heart, and I was saddened by what he had to deal with at his young age. He shows a strength of spirit that is far beyond his years, yet a child's vulnerability that no amount of maturity can cover. This was not always an easy book to read, and often the events and people were agonizingly frustrating, yet it is a story that could happen anywhere and gives us a look at how our lives affect those around us.I highly recommend this title to anyone who is looking for a deep emotion-filled read that deals with the challenges of modern living. It is gritty and real and will make you think.I appreciate the chance to read and review this title, and I thank the publisher and NetGalley.
    • 5/5
      This novel is told from multiple viewpoints and it doesn’t seem at first that they are related. Once the character converge, it becomes both a sad and hopeful story that hits major issues such as returned veterans, broken families, the foster system and immigration. The city of Las Vegas, the location of the book, becomes a character in itself and the description of the buildings, the neighborhoods and growing up there are as powerful as the character’s stories. I thought that there were a lot of profound thoughts about life and trying to live even after tragedy strikes. The characters were entirely believable I liked how the author tried to end the novel hopefully, even if it did seem a bit idealistic and unrealistic. Overall, this was an extremely well written and developed book and I am fortunate to have received a free galley from NetGalley.