I have read many of Katie Ganshert's book. I enjoy reading of areas close to me in Missouri.

Read intro of Brown v. Board of Education and I was interested.

As I started reading, I thought that it sounded like a situation that I kept reading of and seeing on our local news...then in the Afterword, I learned that I was correct- it was based on the local schools.

South Fork schools lost accreditation - so it will start busing students to Crystal Ridge.
A mother is teaching in her 1st year
A mother has just adopted a girl of another race and who has suffered a trauma.
A mother is pulling together after her husband leaves her.

This book raises issues of racism, white privilege, education, segregation, parenthood/childhood
new and old friendships both for young and mature.

EMPATHY WILL GROW! We must allow it to.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Waterbrook for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* This hard-hitting novels manages to deal with a plethora of topical issues - from school funding and zoning, to race, class, police shootings and international adoption. It helped me hooked from the very first page. The characters are not always likeable or perfect, but that makes them inherently more relatable. The story is based around two very different school districts in the state of Missouri - privileged, mainly white Crystal Ridge and underprivileged, non-white South Fork. When the South Fork School District loses its accreditation (I'm not American, so did not even know that was a thing), the students that attend its schools are given the option to be bussed to high-performing Crystal Ridge schools. This is where the fun begins, as families on both sides resent the move and simmering hostilities are brought out into the open. A brilliant, thought-provoking read.

3.5 stars
This book is the story of three families whose lives overlap in many areas including school, adoption, health issues, marriage issues, racism and gun violence.
I am so very conflicted about this book. I truly loved most of the book, but other parts I did not care for at all. The very best thing about this book is the strong Christian theme running throughout the story. Secondly, the author is a master at creating both believable characters and delivering solid writing within every sentence.
However, Ms. Ganshert is just plain trying to hard to be profound and relevant. She tackles some troubling and disturbing aspects of day to day life without sugarcoating them, which I appreciate from authors. Ganshert just tried to incorporate far too many stories into one book. This book really should have been broken into two books.
The story of Taylor, Camille and their family should be one story, Jen and her family one story and Anaya and her family included into any of the other stories. The chapter by chapter back and forth between the three main characters left out to much detail and as a reader much has to be assumed.
There is just so much going on in this book. If it was scaled back just a tad it would have been much more believable. Overall, It is a good book and I would not hesitate to read this author again.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

I really think books like No One Ever Asked are so important. There are some things we can never understand unless we we are able to see the point of view of others. I think this book did a great job of conveying that point. There were several different characters who cross paths but who all have different walks of life and different struggles and I thought Ganshert did a great job with their character development. I have read every book Katie Ganshert has written, and I have loved them all, but this one I think may be the most important. This is book club material. This is a book that needs to be discussed and open further dialogue about racism. I love that there are discussions questions conveniently included. I recommended No One Ever Asked to fans of Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give or to fans of Katie Ganshert.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book. I found it to be a very well written story, an important story that unfortunately is still all to real in our world today.
This book got me thinking about how we may think we feel a certain way but actions show our true selves much more than words.
I believe there is much more work to be done.....books like this prevent us from forgetting that the world still has a way to go....in some ways we have made great strides in our thinking ..... but in many ways we have a great deal ways to go!,,

Does this kind of thing as described in this raw, but beautifully written novel actually happen today? You betcha! Look around!
This is just the book everyone and especially adolescents need to read and discuss.
Each person and family in these chapters is dealing with everyday real life crisis! It is a hard but necessary read!
Well done Katie Ganshert!

A well written book touching a sensitive subject mstter,race, goid devrlopmrnt of characters throughout the book with a twist at the end of the book.The suthor poses a series of questions,snd sttitude thst people relate to in the race issue it slso shows that race is a two duded effect.

No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert was absolutely amazing. The characters were so well developed they were actually four-dimensional! Katie did a wonderful job threading the characters together. I loved how the characters saw the others as having a more solid life than themselves, yet the others were far from perfect as they were all dealing with big issues.

The plot was so current to the times we are living in. At first I thought something like that could never happen in today's world, but once I put thought to the matter I realized that unfortunately, these events could and can happen.

I especially liked the Jubilee subplot as I'm not familiar with adoption of a child other than an infant. So the issues Jubilee and her parents had over the course of the book was eye opening to me. I highly, highly recommend No One Ever Asked, grab your copy today!

A story that helps gives insight on a crucial problem we need to fix to make North America Great: racism. From the viewpoint of a white mother, a white mother of an adopted Liberian girl, and a black woman whose skin colour has cost her and hers so much, this is an uplifting, gripping story that will leave a great impression on readers wanting to contribute to the elimination of racism.

No One Ever Asked is a deep, thought-provoking story. It was definitely not an easy read and had me questioning my own beliefs as I traversed each page. I'm finding that a story like this is a difficult one to review, so I will just say that I enjoyed the book. It's well written, well researched, well thought out. The only negative I have is that I wish more of the characters had dealt with their racist feelings/actions. That being said, I very much appreciate Katie Ganshert's willingness to dive into such a hot, difficult topic and handle it with much grace!

No One Ever Asked is a book that examines prejudice and discrimination through several families in a school district. Each families faced their own struggles with various problems. This book makes you analyze yourself and how you treat others. Another important point Ms. Ganshert makes in the book is the perception you have of others. What we believe to be true of a person (and family), may not be what is actually true. Everyone faces difficult situations or troubles. This was a fantastic book to read and very eye-opening to examining my own thoughts and how I categorize others. The book also provided you with different perspectives of different types of characters throughout. For educators and parents everywhere, I would say that you should read this book. There are so many important points this book made about how we view others, how things can escalate, and the struggles we each face. As I read, I did not want to put the book down. I highly recommend this book for anyone!!! Ms. Ganshert does a fantastic job with this book!!!
***I was given a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. This is my honest opinion. Even though I received this copy free, I have purchased her books before.

"No One Ever Asked" is one of those books that require humility to read. I'm afraid I'm gonna jumble throughout this review, but if you don't remember anything else, please take this to heart: you need humility to read this book .

Each one of us in our day-to-day lives are put in positions of influence one way or another. Honestly, we might not even recognize we're in it, but don't doubt your influence. This is one of the reasons this book can be uncomfortable to read, because as we relate to it, we can think: but I didn't mean to; what was I suppose to do? what can I do?

Start here, by this question: what can I do, and be truly opened to take a step from here.
Throughout this book, the author mentioned many quotes from other books, including one of my favorites:
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” - The Lorax
I adore it when I can use this quote with my students (not sure they're that enthusiastic when their teacher becomes all environmentalist on them, though haha) because it brings back that idea of influence, making the best of opportunities, being present and opened to care. There are many horrible things going on around the world, and let me tell you a few items that will be on the top of the list: prejudice and gossip. It breaks my heart to see this happening, but to live as if it didn't (even if it's not "our reality") is just not practicing empathy.

Personally, I felt like "No One Never Asked" was an invitation for me to go beyond my preconceptions, to seek more deeply into ideas I was pretty sure I knew everything about. It was a wake-up call that maybe we're holding tightly to a few misconceptions and we're being fueled by pride. In a world where arrogance and overconfidence are praised, would we be willing to take the first step and humble ourselves to see and listen to others? To put ourselves in others' shoes?

Discrimination is many times a group problem. I confess I hadn't thought of this before.
Segregation and intolerance create the death of fellowship, and I believe, above all else, this book is a wake up call to this. It was not a way to point fingers but an invitation to stop and ask: what can I do? This book is a tool to approach difficult topics and start asking: where do we stand among this?
This was not a comfortable book because it deals with difficult topics; nevertheless, they are urgent topics because they are related to life, they lead us to not fall again into the trap that empathy comes naturally either than being something that must be awakened, cared for, cultivated and nourished. Not by pushing yourself away, but by bringing yourself close.

A powerful story that will make readers think. This story portrays racial prejudices from three different perspectives. Prejudices against both black and white are brought to light. This is a heavy topic and I believe the author did a great job. Highly recommended!

I love Katie Ganshert and she didn't disappoint in this novel. We look at perception, racism, relationships, beliefs and a whole host of interweaving issues.
Anaya, Camille and Jen are all looking at the same situation through different lenses getting differing views. Anaya is a young, black teacher living in a predominantly black, depressed neighborhood. Camille is a white, veteran PTA mom of three ranging from High School down to 2nd Grade living in an affluent, predominantly white neighbourhood. Jen is a white, middle class new adoptive mom of a black child. They all meet in the affluent, predominantly white school system that is being forced to accept children from a failing school system located in a predominantly black neighborhood.
EVERYONE comes with expectations, presumptions and prejudices. Except things aren't always what you think, expect or believe. You are also not always right. Each character had to let go of pre-conceived notions on many issues and take deeper looks at themselves.
I loved the writing. There were many big topics tackled within this book and they were beautifully handled. The book started with a glimpse of the end and then took us back to the beginning, I had so much fun trying to figure out the events that would play out and who would do what.
I could not put this book down it was such a great read.

Another fantastic read for 2018. In this day and age the topic is very real.

As the wife of a police offer and many friends who are educators this book was revelant to today’s society. Once again, this was another novel I simply cluld not put down.

Thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

This is the most relevant to current day issues book I’ve ever read. And honestly it has only become more relevant since it was written. No One Ever Asked tackles the difficult conversations relating to racism and education and many other topics. Being a public school teacher myself I related even more to this book, but with three main characters and tons of side characters everyone will find someone to relate to in this book.

No One Ever Asked revolves around the lives of three separate women and their families. Anaya, Camille, and Jen have a few things in common, but truly lead very different lives. I found myself relating very much to Anaya as she is a teacher. But I also felt extreme longing to be Jen since she is an adoptive mother and I’d very much like to do the same one day.

I was really impressed with Anaya. For a first year teacher she really had it all together. Her classroom sounded amazing and I love that she prayed for her students. With Jen what I loved the most were the strong emotions she was feeling as an adoptive mom. The window into her soul was truly heartbreaking at times and heartwarming at other points in the story. I admired her courage and strength. With Camille I’ll admit being a little annoyed. But at the same time I know tons of people just like her - full of opinions without any true reasons behind them!

The issues tackled in the book with race were good reminders that our country hasn’t really come that far. Black children, teens, and adults alike have to be so careful. It broke my heart to read some of the stories in this book about conversations black kids have to have with their parents. Racism is still a problem today and I’m glad Ganshert tackled a difficult topic.

I also really appreciated the honesty in which adoption was written about. Many people think that adoption is a piece of cake and I’m glad Ganshert shared some of the difficult moments it can bring. I actually learned a lot in this book about attachment. It was so interesting to have an inside peek into the life of a family with an internationally adopted child. I especially loved the moments when Anaya sat down with Jen and gave her advice.

This book will challenge you to look into your own life. To see how you think about so many things including but not limited to: race, gun violence, education, teachers, segregation, health, bullying, and forgiveness.

I’ve read this book twice now and can honestly say I noticed new things the second time. I know this is one I will read over and over again because it truly is that good.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. This is my honest review.

This novel was inspired by an episode on ‘This American Life’ that discussed segregation in modern American education. An investigative journalist shared the story of what happened in the Saint Louis area in 2013 when two schools with mostly black or brown students lost their accreditation. Their catchment areas were very poor but the State of Missouri transferred these students to a school in an affluent area, paying for their transport and tuition costs. The furore that resulted resonated back to days of latent inequality, segregation and all out racism, although those times should definitely be consigned to the distant past in today’s modern world.
Katie Ganshert couldn’t get what she saw and heard in that lone programme off her mind and 'No One Ever Asked’ is the superb and emotionally charged novel that resulted from her creating three strong women characters to base her story around. And what a story it is. It touched my heart, made me cry, made me joyous, made me angry but most of all it fuelled my hatred of injustice. It’s a tremendously vivid, meticulously researched, highly emotional and totally absorbing novel about inequality, rivalry, bias, discrimination and prejudice. The sensitivity of the narrative is both touching and beautiful.
Anaya Jones is a newly qualified young teacher drafted in to Crystal Ridge School to teach younger children. She would rather have been working at South Fork School, an area close to her heart, following in her father’s footsteps, but the school had lost its accreditation and was forced to pay the costs of bussing pupils to a different school and also paying tuition fees.
Camille Gray is the wife of a wealthy businessman and mother of three. She is a driven fundraiser and event organiser and is Chair of the Crystal Ridge School PTA. She is scandalised when children from a very poor area whose school has lost its accreditation are planned to be bussed in to Crystal Ridge to continue their education.
Jen Covington is the mother to a newly adopted African daughter. Once a nurse, but sadly unable to have children of her own, she is trying to build up a relationship with her daughter who has only ever known a life in care. It is so much more of a challenge than she had expected.
Now a fait accompli, and with the South Fork pupils attending their new school, these three women carry on with their lives, despite the turmoil and unrest that this situation in Crystal Ridge has undergone. As tensions rise, jealousy and intolerance raise their ugly heads. Told from three different points of view and with each story both interesting and compelling, suddenly a fuse is ignited and what happens next has far reaching implications for everyone.
I will never forget this far reaching and hugely enjoyable story. The issues are somewhat unpalatable, but the storytelling exquisitely mitigates the issues raised. I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher WaterBrook through my membership of NetGalley. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. I believe this is an outstanding novel and I am so grateful for my copy.

Wow. This is a really powerful book, and so needed at this point in our nation - possibly our world. It is told from multiple perspectives, each with their own baggage, and I will admit to struggling to get past the point of thinking, "such overreaction" at times. At it's core, it's a book about race, and understanding various races. If I had to point out one dislike, it would be that only black and white are represented, while we know that there are a multitude of races, each with their own perspectives and struggles, and none of these others are used as a character. The ending was somewhat anticlimatic, but only because the entire book was an exercise in straining your emotions and developing empathy.

Another awesome read from 2018! Timely, and full of headline news, this book is a real winner. Couldn't put it down.

Thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

No One Ever Asked
Katie Ganshart
Available: April 3, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Sometimes I forget that some states do not have the same laws as we do in California. I’m not talking about guns or pot, but cell phones. I was stunned when Camille had a private conversation with another person while driving her car. I can’t remember the last time I had a phone conversation that didn’t start out with “So and So is in the car with us…”.
Could this be considered a “Christian”book? Maybe – heavy on the church references and Bible verses; very light on the swearing and sex. If it is meant to be, I think it does an accurate portrayal of true Christians and those that are in name only ones. The topics of race and guns are, unfortunately, very timely topics right now and I think Katie Ganshart does an excellent job of presenting all sides.
What I loved: I love that Jen and Nick looked outside of the traditional baby route for an international adoption. I only wish that they could have also looked around their own neighborhood and maybe looked to foster and then adopt a child or two in our over burdened foster system
What I didn’t love: Camille is not a likeable main character and her daughter Paige is even more spoiled than Camille is so there very little sympathy from me in any of her situations. For her to completely abandon her stance on guns and do a complete 180 does not win her points in my book and in a state like California, probably would have been held accountable for what happened.
What I learned: Color is something we all see, but its how we all react to one another that can make the difference.
Overall Grade: B

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