Having recently read STAY by Katherine Ryan Hyde I eagerly anticipated reading BRAVE GIRL, QUIET GIRL; though my usual genre is psychological thriller I have found that I occasionally need an uplifting, feel good read, Ms. Hyde is quickly becoming my go-to author.

This is a good story about the complex, often difficult relationships between mothers and daughters. We are presented with three different mother/daughter relationships in all their dysfunctional glory.

Molly is living in a crate after being thrown out of her home by her extremely religious mother. Molly meets single mother Brooke when she finds Brooke's two year old daughter Etta after Etta is dumped on the street after a car-jacking. Brooke is recently divorced and living with her overly negative, critical mother. Brooke learns a lot about herself and her relationship with her mother when she gets to know Molly as a person.

This is a quick read with many heart-felt moments. I enjoyed it for it’s uplifting message at a time when I needed a little levity and warmth in my life.

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Cathering Ryan Hyde is a gripping novel of homelessness, motherhood, and eventually hope. Brooke's, a single mother, car is carjacked with her 2 year old daughter Etta still inside. Later in the evening 16 year old and homeless Molly finds Etta still strapped in her carseat on the side of the road. With very little resources Molly cares and protects Etta until she can find a way to reunite her to her mother.

This is a journey from prejudice and anger to one of hope and trust.

I would like to thank Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book.

A beautiful story about love, loss, and acceptance of others. I really enjoyed this story. This one moved me and opened my eyes and helped me to walk in another person's shoes.

This is a wonderful novel that is part thriller, part heartwarming and compassionate. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley . My review opinion is my own.

This book starts out with a car jacking leading the reader to believe it is a thriller. The author has surprises in store as she introduces us to wonderful charcters each bound by the crime, the Mother of the child in the car and the homeless girl who finds the child. As their lives intersect they find they have more in common then the welfare of the child and their lives open in new directions. I appreciate that the author has compassion for the homeless and writes a narrative to the reality of their lives. Very well done to the author.

A very enjoyable read with warm wonderful charcters.

I really enjoyed Brave Girl, Quiet Girl. I loved Molly from the start and was so hoping she would one day have a new life. She was a brave young girl. I admired Brooke determination to do what is right.
Four stars.

4.5 Stars

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a book that will take the reader by surprise. This dual narrative book is one that digs deep into the issues of homelessness and really gives the reader pause. The characters are also quite interesting in this well-written contemporary.

At first, this book seems as though it is going to be a thriller, as it starts off with a carjacking and a desperate search for Brooke’s daughter. However, after things begin with a bang, the story settles into a tale of two women in search of themselves. It is a really enjoyable novel that will make you think about the world around you.

❀ LIKEABLE AND INTERESTING CHARACTERS

Both Brooke and Molly are characters that are likeable and interesting to read about. I found the descriptions of Molly’s living conditions riveting and something that I have never come across before in a novel. The concept of being homeless is explored in great depth, including the struggle to find food, shelter, and a sense of community while living on the street.

❀ AN EDUCATIONAL ASPECT

I have come to expect that a Catherine Ryan Hyde novel will push my reading into a zone that makes me a bit uncomfortable so that I can discover another way of life. Her writing is so wonderful and vivid that the reality of homelessness is seen through a new lens. I was both terrified and angry as Molly is judged and mistreated throughout the book. There is always an educational aspect such as this in the author’s novels.

❀ A MUST-READ

If you are looking for a read that will cause you to stop and think, Brave, Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde is one to try. The story is intriguing and the characters are interesting. A must-read for fans of the author’s previous works.

A very easy read which I finished in a day or two.

The story was interesting overall, with a young homeless girl finding a baby following a carjacking, and the way in which the girl and the child's mum become close. I liked the two main characters and how they got to know each other.

However it was so obvious that this was heading towards a happily-ever-after that it put me off the book somewhat as there was no real tension or question of where the book was heading. .Everything was wrapped up far too neatly and perfectly, which was obviously going to happen but isn't very realistic!

This book hit me in all the places, especially Molly's story. Brooke is a terrible person regardless of how she turned out, but Molly and Etta carried this well-written, thought-provoking book. I love how the author uses adult-child relationships in her books as a way to highlight our own failures, shortcomings, and strengths, as well as the power of humanity.

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl is my first novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde and it won't be my last!
The story opens with Etta, a little girl, stolen in a car jacking. She is then abandoned on a street, in a sketchy area, still in her car seat. Found by Molly, a homeless teenager, she protects Etta from harm until it is safe to take her to the police where she is returned to Brooke, Etta's frantic mother.
The story focuses on the struggles of living on the street, as well as the relationship between Molly and Brooke. It is one that develops and is the heart of the story.
Superb writing and a great storyline!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Review of eBook

After her mother threw her out of her Utah home, sixteen-year-old Molly ended up in a dark corner of a trash-filled vacant lot in Los Angeles sharing a crate with her friend Bodhi. Homelessness is a rough existence filled with despair and hopelessness but Molly lives by a personal code that doesn’t allow her to steal; she spends most days hunting for recyclables to earn a few cents to spend on food.

One evening she happens upon a two-year-old child strapped into a car seat sitting abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk. Unaware that the child was a passenger in an automobile that was carjacked and that the police are looking for the little girl, Molly takes it upon herself to keep the child safe as she hunts for someone with a phone who will call the police and tell them she’s found the toddler. After a difficult night spent bonding with the child while hiding her from three older boys who want the toddler in order to ransom her back to her family, she sees and flags down a passing police car and explains about having found the little girl.

Etta’s mother is devastated; her child is her whole world. Brooke’s contemnible mother, with whom she’s been living since her divorce, offers her daughter little comfort. But sympathetic Officer Grace Beatty explains how they are conducting the search for Etta and keeps Brooke updated on the investigation. It isn’t long before the police officers report they’ve found the little girl and bring Etta and Molly to the police station.

Brooke and Etta are reunited, but Brooke, still upset, cannot understand why Molly waited so long to contact the police. Nevertheless, through Etta, the two women form an uneasy connection that ultimately leads to unexpected revelations.

Misunderstandings and assumptions give way to understanding and compassion as a friendship slowly grows between the two women. The story, told alternately by Brooke and Molly, explores the relationship between mothers and their children as it defines what it means to be a family. Nuanced, believable characters and events pull the reader into the telling of the tale from the outset; emotion drives the unfolding story of heartache, sacrifice, and love. Despair gives way to hope in a narrative that is impossible to set aside before turning the final page. Don’t miss this one.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley
#BraveGirlQuietGirl #NetGalley

3.75 stars rounded up to 4

I pounced on this due to author recognition. One of my favorite books of 2019 was her beautiful story Stay. This offering isn't quite as good as that 5 Star read, but was enjoyable nonetheless.

The book takes place in Los Angeles. A divorcee named Brooke has a sweet, intelligent and adorable two year-old daughter named Etta. They are currently living at Brooke's mother's house due to lack of funds in the wake of her divorce. Sadly, Brooke's mother has few redeeming qualities. She's very pointed and judgemental, and if Brooke wasn't so desperate for shelter at this crisis point in her life, she certainly would find other lodgings. One evening as Brooke is playing with Etta in the bedroom that they share, once again suffering the strain of the blaring TV from the living room, her mother criticizes her for not taking Etta outside enough. It's now evening (so Etta won't benefit from sunshine anyway), but Brooke decides to take Etta to a movie. If it wasn't for Brooke's Mom's badgering, she wouldn't have gone out and therefore would have avoided a nightmare scenario for any parent.

Immediately following the movie, an incident occurs which separates Etta from her mother. Unbeknownst to Brooke, Etta was discovered by a sixteen year old homeless girl from Utah named Molly. It's nighttime and there are some serious scary characters around, but Molly guards Etta with her life. She has some experience with younger siblings, so employs these skills to keep Etta entertained, and most of all, unafraid. This part of the book was a nail-biter and absolutely riveting. The title of the book is something Molly whispered to little Etta during this time: "Brave girl, Quiet girl". She only knew this little girl for less than 24 hours and found herself in love with her. And it was mutual.

The book was narrated in alternating chapters between Brooke and Molly, which provided deep insights into each character. However, I would sometimes forget who was narrating the chapter and although the dialogue had quotations, they were only identifiable by "I said" and "she said". This caused me intermittent confusion. Otherwise, the writing style was comfortable and free flowing, which I love.

I don't really want to spell out any more details, although the official blurb advertising the book goes farther than I am. I want future readers to enjoy the unraveling of this story. This author seems to have a secret sauce in her books of underdog characters, living difficult lives but imbued with inner strength to tackle life's challenges. You find your heart expanding, fighting tears with the hope of triumph over adversity.

This book was a great read and was character driven. Etta is taken in her mother, Brooke's, car after it is carjacked. Brooke fears for her daughter's safety. Molly is living on the streets after being thrown out of her home by her parents. She finds Etta, but all Brooke sees is that she is a street person, not the kindness shown to her daughter. I loved how the author developed the relationships between this characters, as they all have flaws and are good people

Another amazing book by one of my new favorite authors!! I seriously loved this one - I loved the characters Brooke, Molly & Etta and disliked Brooke's mom (even though she came through a little at he end) and Molly's mom!! The car jacking and abduction of Etta grabbed me from the very beginning! My heart raced as Molly tried to keep Etta safe and get her back to her Mama and then it grew while witnessing the relationship and trust grow between Brooke and Molly. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone! It's a thriller in a sense and a family drama at he same time <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
With many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for a digital ARC to read

Catherine Ryan Hyde has written many books (35+) but manages to keep her topics and characters fresh.

This emotional story begins when a car carrying mother and child is hijacked. Brooke, the mother, is thrown out and the car speeds away with Brooke’s toddler Etta still in the back seat. A homeless girl named Molly finds Etta out on the street late the same night still strapped into her car seat. Molly shelters Etta in a makeshift cardboard home which happens to be in the same neighborhood in which the carjacker lives. She makes several futile attempts to get help from strangers in finding Etta’s mother but a number of them turn away, seeing Molly as just a dirty homeless person not worthy of their attention. Three sets of relationships begin to unfold, highlighting family challenges, finding healing strength and transformation.

Wow!! What a great read!!! Molly and Brooke were both so incredibly well written! An amazing view of homelessness and how tragic and hard it must be!
Emotions were everywhere and I blew through this book in two days! Well done!!

BRAVE GIRL, QUIET GIRL by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a book you will pick up and not put down, or even move, until you finish it. In this novel, Ryan Hyde has created two characters that are real, flawed, and relatable. She also focuses on relationships, family, homelessness, prejudices, and carjacking. The two main characters are strong females that haven’t had the best of luck at this point in their lives, but their paths would never have crossed if not for a tragic incident that brings them together.
I enjoyed how Ryan Hyde developed the characters and the story. The situations and emotions around them are realistic and more common than most people realize. This novel will warm your heart and keep you thinking well beyond the last word.
Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Author Catherine Ryan Hyde is beloved for her approach to storytelling and the themes she explores. Her 36 books focus on the human condition -- the struggles, foibles, and lessons learned by ordinary people who face and overcome adversity, and challenges big and small. Her latest novel, Brave Girl, Quiet Girl, explores the question of whether we have a responsibility to the people we encounter and what it means to have a home. It focuses on a vulnerable teenage girl who helps not because she has to, but because it is her nature. Hyde examines the series of events that she sets in motion and the ways in which the lives of three women and one little girl are forever changed as a result.

Brooke has a job in retail that does not pay enough for her to live independently with her two-year-old daughter, Etta. Fortunately, her mother has permitted her and Etta to move in with her. Unfortunately, her mother is a bitter, judgmental woman who openly expresses her displeasure with and disappointment in Brooke, and Brooke's decisions. Despite her crusty demeanor, she cares about Brooke and Etta, but demonstrates her feelings by nagging and cajoling. Although Brooke would never deliberately harm Etta, her mother's attitude aggravates her and prompts her to passive-aggressively respond with rebellion. That one small act of defiance causes her to suffer severe self-recrimination and guilt.

As the story opens, Brooke is the victim of a violent, harrowing carjacking in West Los Angeles. As has happened in numerous actual instances, the carjackers do not realize that Etta is strapped into her car seat in the rear of the vehicle, and Brooke watches helplessly as her mother's car speeds away with her little girl at the mercy of criminals. An intense search for Etta begins.

Miles away, Molly is living in a makeshift shelter with her platonic friend, Bodhi, who steals food for the two of them. At night, they snuggle close to each other to keep warm, and during the day Molly searches for anything she can cash in at the recycling center to earn money with which to buy food. Her most recent efforts have yielded enough change that she can purchase an apple and banana under the watchful eyes of the store employees who are repulsed by her filthy appearance, convinced that she intends to shoplift. As she makes her way back to the crate where she will spend another long night, she happens upon a car seat abandoned on the sidewalk. She is shocked to see that little Etta is still strapped into the seat. Molly knows how to care for Etta because Molly has two younger sisters back home in Utah. She collects Etta and the car seat, and trudges back to the improvised shelter where she and Bodhi agree she will remain while Bodhi finds a telephone to summon the police. He leaves her with a box of goldfish crackers and some apple juice . . . but never returns. Molly knows that means he has probably been arrested, and she is now on her own to Etta safe until she can be reunited with her parents. The streets of Los Angeles are dangerous, and Molly knows that, for now, only she can shield Etta from harm. As the night drags on, Molly contemplates her options. To calm Etta and keep her quiet, she rocks her and repeats, "Brave girl, quiet girl" to soothe her.

Hyde takes readers from the street where Brooke hysterically watches her mother's car disappear to an industrial section of Los Angeles where Molly waits for an opportunity to reunite Etta with her parents, vividly describing the sights, sounds, and her characters' inner dialogues. The carjacking is gut-wrenching, but so is Hyde's depiction of Molly's predicament as the sounds of the night invade her hiding place and terrify her while she lovingly comforts the frightened little girl who does not understand what is happening to her and wants her mother.

Hyde compassionately portrays Brooke's anguish as she waits for word from the police officers who are frantically searching for her child. Her desperation and anguish are palpable, visceral, and gripping. All she can do is send a kind of prayer out into the world, attaching to it all of her hopes, asking that whomever has her child will return Etta to her unscathed.

Eventually, Brooke and Molly come face to face and Hyde probes the tentative, wary manner in which they approach each other. Hyde illustrates the distrust each feels -- with good reason -- and how they must overcome their own trepidation, wariness, and preconceived ideas in order to follow their better instincts and forge a relationship. They gradually learn each other's histories and the events that set in motion the horrific event that caused their lives to intersect. Both need to forge a path forward, recognizing that the choices they make at this moment in their lives will inform and shape their futures. Etta's innocent attachment to "Molly, Molly, Molly," as she refers to her, along with the information provided by the police, inspire Brooke to see the teenager through her young daughter's eyes, and enable her to acknowledge her own vulnerability, quickness to judge, and preconceived ideas about people.

As always, Hyde writes in a straight-forward manner, employing her economical style in a powerful, deeply moving manner. The compassion Hyde feels for her characters and about her subject matter is ever on display in her books, but never more so than in Brave Girl, Quiet Girl. It is evident from the way in which she describes each woman's journey that she cares deeply about their well-being and the themes she plumbs, including the complexities of motherhood and the overwhelming sense of responsibility it engenders, as well as unconditional love and acceptance of one's children. She also examines prejudice in various forms, from the bypassers on the Los Angeles streets who fail to see Molly, much less assist her when she begs for their help, to homophobia, to intolerance and condemnation in the name of religion. She depicts underemployment and the inability of so many Americans to earn a living wage that permits them to provide for their families, and the inadequacies of the foster care system. She deftly examines every topic by simply telling the story through the alternating first-person perspectives of Brooke and Molly in a credible, believable way. Thus, she skillfully invites readers to experience the story through the eyes of empathetic characters whose circumstances and futures readers can't help but also care deeply about. And as in her other novels, Hyde examines what it means to be a family: how families are formed, how they can be torn apart, and the importance of having a home of one's own -- a place that is welcoming, safe, and nurturing -- in order to thrive.

With Brave Girl, Quiet Girl, Hyde again demonstrates compellingly and decisively why she is one of America's premiere storytellers. The book is a tour de force character study, as well as a thoughtful, revelatory, and restrained examination of societal issues that Hyde never lets slip into a preachy or heavy-handed tone. Rather, the book is deeply provocative, especially because the story and characters continue to resonate well after reading the last page. Hyde's writing always shows that people are inherently resilient and capable of meaningful change, and illustrates how empowerment comes from enlightenment. Her faith in the goodness of humanity is always evident, and Brave Girl, Quiet Girl is no exception. Simply put, it is the book we all need to read right now because it is a story in which we can lose ourselves for a bit, get to know flawed, deeply human, and endearing characters, cheer for them, and feel uplifted by the experience of having read about their expedition to a place they can call home. It is indisputably one of the best books of 2020.

I absolutely fell in love with this book. The main characters Brooke and Molly are so well created. You can’t help but love them both in their own way. They come together in a most horrific and heartbreaking way. Even the minor characters, Bohdi and Grace are giving and loveable. As wonderful as these people are the mothers of both Brooke and Molly are so heartless it is almost unimaginable. Thank you for the opportunity to get an AVC of this great book. It was a wonderful read.

Brooke is out to take her two year old to the movies, when she is pulled out of the car and is carjacked. The thief abandons the baby in a sketchy area, where a homeless teen named Molly finds her. Brooke is in shock, waiting to hear if her baby is found, when Molly turns up with the baby after contacting the police. The relationship that develops between Brooke and Molly is at the heart of the story, while each has a troubled relationship with their own mother. The parts of the story dealing with the homeless were dramatic and illuminating. I recommend and thank Netgalley for the ARC.

I am a huge fan of Catherine Ryan Hyde's work and I was very happy to have been given the opportunity to read this. As always Hyde touches on social issues that are relatable and makes you think. In this new book, Hyde does not disappoint.