Book 20: Some Things That Stay

Sarah Willis: Some Things That Stay. 2000. For the movie (rating 8) with boys, and teen girl/boy in bibs (including Kevin Zegers and skinny dipping scene) see

/2011/05/14/some-things-that-stay/

I read many pages today and yesterday, but I'm only at page 216 of 275 (Berkley paperback, May 2001 edition). Sadly no bibs scenes at all unlike in the movie.

The awarded novel is very similar to the movie (or better vice versa) including the skinny dipping scene (even describing a bit more). Unfortunately not describing the bibs of the boys and the girl. Maybe it's nothing special on a  farm in the 1950s.

The tags from the Library of Congress are "Teenage girls - fiction, New York (state), Moving Household, Children of Artists, Tuberculosis, Atheists. My tags would be farm - bibs - skinny dipping - kiss. I forgot that atheism plays a major part.

The main character is the 15 yo Tamara (played by Katie Boland in the film, pictured), who moved in the 1950s to a farm. Her father is a painter (and they often have to move) and her mom gets tuberculosis and is in a hospital (often writes letters). A good coming-of-age story, a romance with 17 yo Rusty (Kevin Zegers), the rest of the family, including her younger sissy brother 11 yo Robert and some farm content (cows, and cow manure). She often hits her sensible brother who is often crying. The book is well written and the main plot is maybe the search for god and maybe it's deeper than thought, but I have to finish it and then compare it again with the movie. The film is also very good casted.

Update: Sept 12th: No bibs scenes at all. One more very good love scene and the key attic scene is also interesting, but no bib scenes. She wears the underwear and jeans pants and a belt of dead Timothy (obiously simple regular pants). But I was right. Many scenes and thoughts are related to God and she is no longer atheist.

I noted the following pages of interest

Page 16: Unlike in the movie, her brother is described fat (compare pic below, Jack Knight in bibs)

page 41: comparison of her brother's balls with a men of a painting

page 102: romantic scene (kissing, breasts) good described

page 165: 1st imagination of the pond (I think not in the movie)

page 197: skinny dipping scene (describing private parts, especially of Robert and Rusty, of course not shown in the movie)

page 244: short but well written love scene (very brief scene in the movie)

page 248: attic scene (no bibs)