Review Scattered Links by M Weidenbenner

Scattered Links is a novel that pulls its characters from the gutters and, in the end, celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit. 

Thirteen-year-old Oksana lives on the streets of Russia with her pregnant mama and abusive aunt—both prostitutes. When Mama swells into labor, Oksana makes a decision to save herself from abandonment, a decision that torments her forever. When her plan fails and her aunt dumps her in an orphanage, she never has the chance to say goodbye to her mama or tell her the secret that haunts her.

Scattered Links is a story of family and the consequences that come from never learning how to love, of a girl’s inability to bond with her adopted family and the frustrations that follow.

How can a child understand the mechanics of forming a healthy relationship when she never had a mother who answered her cries, held her when she was frightened, fed her when she was hungry, or loved her unconditionally?

Only when the child meets a rescued abused horse, and recognizes the pain in his eyes, does she begin to trust again.

My Review:

Oksana is a poor Russian girl, she lives with her mother and aunt in abandoned buildings. Her aunt takes her out to steal or fool people into giving Oksana things. not that Oksana ever sees something of it. She is hungry and her mother high pregnant. When time comes to deliver the babies, Oksana is on her own with her mother. Good thing she learned a thing or two from a former neighbour.

When she and her sister are dropped of a orphan house Oksana's world stops, all she wants is her mother. Then one day her sister is adopted and Oksana tries to stop them, but to her horror they adopt her too, she doesn't want to go to America, she heard horror stories about it. She does not adjust well till she met her aunt's" horse who is very much hurt, she recognize herself in him and they bound instantly. Oksana has hard times, till her "aunt" takes her back to Russia to find her mother to help her close that chapter.... Will Oksana stay there, or go back to that States??? will she tell her mother the secret she has been carrying around since the day she delivered her baby sister? 

This is one of the best books I have read so far, We all know it isn't so rich in Russia but this bad? I can't wait to read more of this author.