Parents' Guide to

Touching Snow

By Kate Pavao, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Vivid, violent child abuse story sure to leave mark.

Book M. Sindy Felin Family Life 2007
Touching Snow Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 2 parent reviews

HeroneSilverton
HeroneSilverton Adult
September 14, 2009
age 15+
*This review contains spoilers* I no longer use CSM (except to attempt to set the records straight when books/games/movies are rated unjustly), simply because I don't trust their reviewing anymore. It's usually inconsistent, it gives things too low age ratings and then turns around and rates things way too high. This book is certainly not bad enough to be marked no kids, and it was very well written; there is no reason why it should be rated two stars for reason of content alone. The language is mild compared to other YA novels, although I agree that the violence is very brutal. But things like this happen, and believe it or not, your children know about it. The sexual content isn't that heavy either, nothing is really described, and although the main character (who is female) has an affair with another girl, nothing "sexual" really happens. Here's my normal review for the book: I didn't care much at all for the first half of this book; I thought it was rather dysfunctional and not very gripping, but the second half was outstanding. The ending was rather vague, but still very satisfying, and it did a good job closing the generally gritty story on a happy note. This is the author's debut novel of course, and therefore we can't expect this to be amazing, although I see great promise in her. This is an author I will probably track, because her prose really is outstanding, and I found it nice that she tackled such heavy subjects so well in her first novel. The characters were built up very well, although there are absolutely zero adults that are good role models. The Haitian culture is a little hard to understand at times, but the author did a pretty good job of explaining why the family acted the way that they did. I would have liked the book to be a little longer, because I felt like it ended just when it was getting good. As I've said before, I didn't like the first half very much, but the book got exponentially better as it progressed, and I was sorry to see it come to such an abrupt close. I think the relationship between Karina and Rachael could have been explored a lot more, and the storyline still had a lot of promise to it. I suppose that it's a good thing that the book didn't go on too long and milk the characters and plot dry before it ended like a lot of YA books do these days, but I was left wanting more. So I rated the book two stars for the first half, and four stars for the second half, which should be three stars, but as a whole it actually has a pretty lasting impact. .

This title has:

Too much violence
lindsey12345
lindsey12345 Adult
April 5, 2009
age 17+

what was the aurthor thinking

the book has swearing it must costs alot of money and it is a rare book
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What's the Story?

Karina lives in New York in the 1980s, but her family comes from Haiti where she says adults often use corporal punishment on their kids. But her stepfather's beatings are extreme -- one beating left Karina with head trauma that causes her to have fainting spells. When her stepfather nearly kills her older sister Enid, someone anonymously turns him in. But Karina's mother and relatives pressure her to cover up the truth from social workers and even a judge, because they need him to help pay the bills. Her mother says she won't let her stepfather beat them anymore, but what will happen when he comes home?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (2 ):

There are some complicated ideas here that require a sophisticated reader. For example, after Karina murders her stepfather, her life -- and the lives of her family members -- is greatly improved, and she suffers no guilt or consequences because of his death. Also, the author touches on some culturally sensitive issues around parenting and discipline that parents may want to help their teens sort through. Even so, this is a vivid and powerful novel that readers will remember. Karina is a very real narrator, made so believable by the casual way she drops in details about her horrific situation, like that you have to "try and stand still when a belt is coming at you."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the intense subject matter. Many kids have to live in abusive homes, but it may be disturbing for some readers to learn Karina's story, especially since it is told in vivid detail. Who should get to decide if a book is appropriate to read?

  • This book's protagonist admits right on the first page of her story that she killed her stepfather. Later she details how abusive he was to her family. Does this justify his murder?

Book Details

  • Author: M. Sindy Felin
  • Genre: Family Life
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publisher: Atheneum
  • Publication date: May 22, 2007
  • Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 12
  • Number of pages: 234
  • Last updated: July 12, 2017

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