We are Called to Rise (McBride) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
The lives of four Las Vegas families collide, reminding us all that every act—no matter how insignificant it might seem—matters. You'll be thinking about these characters long after you finish this haunting, heart-wrenching and hopeful book.
Houston Chronicle


Rarely does a novel reach into my soul and leave me sobbing, but We Are Called to Rise did just that with its beautifully drawn characters, true-to-life plot, and such exquisite writing that it's hard to believe that this is Laura McBride's first book....a graceful portrait of our time.
Minneapolis Star Tribune


McBride’s characters are warm with pulsing vitality, their interior struggles as dramatic as the painful events that will alter each of their paths. The narrative is compelling enough to draw the reader along, even as it skips from one character’s point of view to another. And it is a testament to the author’s mature voice and storytelling talent that we are willing to take to heart the lessons her story offers.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) How might children in crisis be helped if everyone—teachers, social workers, troubled parents, and the courts—worked together for their best interests? This is the big question at the heart of this well-written first novel by McBride.... [A]n urgent morality tale for our times in the form of this poignant and gripping debut. —Leslie Patterson, Rehoboth, MA
Library Journal


The theme of tragedy, specifically why bad things happen to good people and why good people can do bad things, is heavy-handed, though the novel is stocked with kind, professional, intuitive secondary characters who go a small way toward balancing out the horror.... Though ardently told, this novel takes on more issues than it can reasonably handle.
Kirkus Reviews