I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for the opportunity to read and review The Shadows We Know By Heart by Jennifer Park! My first reaction was surprise and curiosity as I read the first chapter. The story involves a young woman and her family who recently moved close to the woods after their son, Sam, died. Leah, her brother Matt and their parents don't discuss their loss, but they each deal with it in their own way. Leah ventures into the woods, even though her family forbids her to enter them. She makes a surprising discovery, a human male among the Sasquatch she's been observing. A tragedy occurred when Sam went camping with the neighbors, Reed and his father. The father was killed and his body was found, but no one ever found the two boys. The two families have tried to move on but the search for the boys has continued for years, which Leah knows nothing about. The mystery unfolds as secrets come out into the open. The story is very interesting and better than I expected. 4 stars for a twist on the uncommon!

This is a slightly cheesy, predictable YA romance, but I needed it! A sheltered teenage girl who lost her brother and crush when she was a young girl is obsessed with the family of Sasquatch that reside in the woods behind her house. One night she discovers that one of the four is actually a human teenager. What follows is to be expected but also sprinkled with a few mysteries including what happened during that camping trip many years ago and why her estranged parents disappear until all hours of the night.

THE SHADOWS WE KNOW BY HEART by Jennifer Park (March 14, Simon Pulse) appealed to me because of its beautiful cover and the mystery element it contains. Independent-minded protagonist Leah is not supposed to go into the woods, but she sneaks away anyway and is fascinated by the Bigfoot Sasquatch she sees. There is even a Tarzan-like element due to the "wild boy" who accompanies them. It is a bit difficult to believe that these creatures could exist so close to a residential area, but the suspense will pull readers in and, of course, human contact eventually produces a crisis. THE SHADOWS WE KNOW BY HEART is shelved locally with Junior High materials and will be an engaging, quick read for middle school and freshmen students looking for a story filled with romance and some mythical elements.

Published online wit reviews for other YA titles.

The main character in Jennifer Park's The Shadows We Know by Heart is sixteen-year old Leah Roberts, the "preacher's daughter." Her family endured an unspeakable tragedy years earlier that they still haven't recovered from. When the boy she's had a crush on for years (her brother's best friend) takes an interest in her, she should be elated. She is getting what she thought she wanted, and yet something doesn't feel right.

Everyone thinks Leah follows her strict father's rules. None of them know that she's been breaking them for years, sneaking into the forbidden woods to watch what she has dubbed - a Bigfoot family. Now when I first read this I was ready to not finish the book. I thought it was hokey, until the mysterious boy appeared with these creatures. In all of her years watching them at night, Leah had never seen him. This got me hooked. Admittedly, I figured out his identity quickly, which didn't bother me, because Park's writing is lush. Her descriptions of the setting as well as Leah's observations of this boy are gorgeous. I later saw Park had been an art teacher - her ability to paint with words made sense.

After book-talking this to my 7th graders, they kept asking me for the title. I know this is one that will never stay on the shelf. So delicious I finished it in one night.

Years ago a tragedy struck Leah's family. Ever since her mother has been distant, her father an unhappy, strict pastor, and she and her remaining brother Matt are left to fend for themselves and find themselves bucking against the confines. As the story progresses we get bits and pieces of the past revealing the "deaths" of her best friend's father and his son Reed and her other brother Sam.

Since that awful tragedy Leah has been told to stay out of the woods but she is drawn there, especially because she has seen Bigfoot. At the beginning of the book she also sees someone else living with the Bigfoot - a boy, a wild boy.

Leah is drawn to the boy and despite her father's warnings goes to the woods and befriends the boy and a female Bigfoot. The boy is so familiar - but he can't be???

Because the book reveals the past quite slowly I was a bit weirded out at first about who the wild boy was. Then it became more clear. I felt that the romantic attachment was a bit much (Twilight anyone) and will keep this from my library (only goes up to 5th grade). I also didn't like the stereotype strict pastor, rebellious preacher's kid angle - especially at the beginning (Footloose anyone) but that got more understandable as the book went on (I am a preacher's kid - non rebellious). I felt that the book could have been cut by about 50 pages or so but in the end I did enjoy it.

This is a lovely book about loss, family, and redemption. It has such an unusual story at its heart: Sasquatch? A mysterious wild boy living in the woods? And yet it feels plausible. The mystery drew me in, and the detail of the characters and setting kept me reading. A carefully crafted, fresh and interesting story. Recommended.