Every extraordinary book has that moment when you fall irrevocably in love with it. For me, that oh-I-just-love-this-so-much moment in Catherine Ryan Hyde's Brave Girl, Quiet Girl came from the mouth of a babe. You can pretty much count on a two-year-old to get right to the heart of the matter and Etta doesn't disappoint. When she whispers "brave girl, quiet girl" to her trembling rescuer, the story is made... the book's soul is revealed... and this reader was completely smitten.

Because you can find and follow links to the official synopsis, I won't spend time rehashing what you can discover for yourself. Let me just give you the broad strokes and then cut to the chase. After all, that's what I want in a review—not so much facts, as the alchemy of what makes for an unforgettable reading experience.

I have already mentioned Etta. If you ask me, this amazing toddler is the pivot upon which everything turns. As the story begins, Etta is ripped away from her family in the course of a carjacking. Her mother, Brooke, is desperate to find her baby, but the odds are stacked against a safe return.

And then there is Molly, a cast-off teen living on the mean streets of L.A. after being discarded by her rigid, unaccepting parents. It is so perfectly fitting that a child who has lost all sense of worthiness is the one who comes to find, and protect, Etta after the jackers abandon her to freeze alone in the dark of night.

Despite the bleak circumstances that embrace both Brooke and Molly (or, I'm now thinking it is because of that bleakness), the broken pieces of two psyches will discover a way to fit together in perfectly imperfect ways to form a new sense of acceptance, belonging, and family.

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl is ultimately the story of how the light gets in through the broken places to illuminate the beauty that was formerly hidden within the bleakness. Those who deeply appreciate the humanity at the center of Catherine Ryan Hyde's writing are sure to find much to love, just as I did, in this book. Highly recommended!

This is the first book I have read by this author and I must say it was not my favorite.

It starts out pretty exciting with a child abduction, rescue, and reunion. That is where is starts to just drag. It seems like it takes a really long time for anything to happen and when it does it is very predictable. It was a book that I just wanted to get done with so I could go on to another one.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my faves and she has struck gold again. I absolutely loved this book. Molly, a homeless teenager, and Brooke, a single mom, are two broken souls brought together by a twist of fate. They mutually distrust each other, but through difficult conversations, they each help the other gain self awareness and acceptance.

The story's ending was pretty obvious, but I didn't really care. The journey was well worth it.

I highly recommend this book. Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I love Catherine Ryan Hyde and absolutely loved reading Brave Girl, Quiet Girl. Within seconds of starting, I was hooked! The entire plot was exciting and emotional. This book would be a great choice for a book club! I’m looking forward to telling everyone I know about it.

Oh Catherine Ryan Hyde you always make me dig deep within myself to see that not everything is black and white, and how our interactions with people shape and affect them and ourselves.
Brave Girl, Quiet Girl took everything I thought I knew and showed me I didn’t .
Brooke is carjacked, while her baby daughter is in the backseat in her car seat.
Molly is the homeless teen living on the street who finds baby Etta, this begins the story of Molly and Brooke and how they interact and how the world see things.
An amazing book with such important issues being brought into the light
I fully recommend this book and I think it may be my favorite book of this author ( I think I say that about every new release)

First off, I must say that I love this author's writing style. I love how she gets down into the real connections that people make , sometimes unintentionally. She pushes people into emotional situations and then it's like you watch a painting slowly come to life .

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about people and their interconnectedness . Can't wait to read your next book!

This is such a wonderful story! I have read this writer's last 4 books
and so far I like this one best. It is written very well. I was able to
understand where each of the characters was coming from and what
made them who they are. This one to me is a special book I must own
and would feel good about purchasing it as a gift. I highly
recommend it!

Thank you so much, Catherine Ryan Hyde, the publisher, and NetGalley
for giving me the chance to read and review this great book!

I love Catherine Ryan Hyde. All of her books are emotional and this one was no different.
As a mother this is one of my worst fears, watching someone go off with child and I'm not able to do anything. Brooke's heart ache as she worries about Etta, where she is, what they are doing to her and all she's doing is hanging on to hope.

A broken teenager, Molly, comes across Etta who was left in an industrial area. Molly takes Etta under her care, trying to care for her and leads her right to Brooke.

As always, Catherine Ryan Hyde creates an story about people. A story about hope and a story about family and friendship.

This isn't coming out till May, but please please put it on your TBR list now!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A gripping story about an unlikely friendship that developes from a strange starting point, but ends moree like a family.. This book keeps you wanting to find out more,

I am a huge fan of books by Catherine Ryan Hyde. This is another great book that makes you think about the way you see issues. In this book, there are relationship issues between mothers and daughters, the views on homelessness in our society, and briefly, teen LGBT issues. There were characters in the story that I would like to get to know better. Maybe one day we will get to read more about those people. I enjoyed this book as I have all of her books. I am thankful to Netgalley for the advance copy in return for my honest opinion.

Classic CRH! I kind of knew what was going to happen, but it was still great. If you want a great book with wonderful characters then this is it. If you've forgotten how caring and good people can be, this will help you remember and to resolve to be kinder. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this!

Some of the previous books I read by this author dealt with realistic issues. This book also dealt with such realistic problems as carjacking and homelessness. It was told in alternating chapters by the main characters.

After enjoying a movie with her 2 year old daughter, Brooke suddenly found herself the victim of a carjacking. She was thrown from her mother’s Mercedes, but unbeknownst to the carjacker, her sleeping daughter Etta was still strapped in her car seat.
Molly, 16, recently came out to her strict religious family and was immediately thrown out of her house. She struggled to survive the streets of LA and was always vigilant of the dangers surrounding her.
When Molly was returning “home” to her small wooden crate located in an isolated industrial area, she spotted Etta, still in her car seat, alone and scared. Caring for Etta until she could call the police was harder and more dangerous than Molly thought it would be…and they especially needed to be brave and quiet.

This was a fast paced emotionally driven storyline. The characters were well developed and the interactions between Molly and Etta and Molly and Brooke were at times heartwarming and heartbreaking. From start to finish it was an engaging read.
If you enjoyed other works by this author, you’ll enjoy this latest novel as well.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I must say it was not my favorite.

It starts out pretty exciting with a child abduction, rescue, and reunion. That is where is starts to just drag. It seems like it takes a really long time for anything to happen and when it does it is very predictable. It was a book that I just wanted to get done with so I could go on to another one.

This book was about a mother who gets carjacked with her little girl in the back seat, and a homeless teen who finds the little girl. its told by both points of view the moms (Brooke) and the teens (Molly). It was a very relatable book, Not that I would ever want to go through something like that, but it could be relatable.

Thanks to Catherine Ryan Hyde, Lake Union Publishing and netgalley for the arc of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Catherine's books always suck me in. She writes about real life issues and real life people. Not all characters are likeable. So many thought provoking subjects in this book. It challenges you to really think about your own views on homelessness, family relationships and so much more. Another winner by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite author’s and this novel is one of my favorite of hers, and that’s saying a lot because I love everything she writes. This is an emotionally complex novel story about mothers and daughters, about teen homelessness, about doing the right thing, about standing up for oneself. I was drawn in from the very first page and didn’t want it to end!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A heartwarming and heart wrenching book. I loved the story immensely! I fell in love with the characters. The author made me think about my views and prejudices about homelessness and homeless people. Are we too judgemental as a society? Brooke a single mother lives with her mother and her baby Etta. One night when in her car with Etta she gets car jacked and Etta is taken with the car. Molly a homeless teen is out walking the streets when she notices a baby (Etta) on the sidewalk all alone in a car seat. She can't believe her eyes but knows instinctively that she must protect her and get her to safety. Molly encounters so many prejudices and fears as she tries to get Etta to safety. The rest of the story takes many detours and is very riveting. I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I would love to read more about these characters!

Brooke is a single mother living with her difficult mother and her two-year-old daughter, Etta. Whatever Brooke does somehow never measures up to what her mother thinks should be done. "Buckle your seatbelt" "take Etta out more" Brooke and her mother are constantly arguing over Etta's care and whose car is safer. Her mother sees the whole world as being dangerous even though they live in a nice part of West LA. One night Brooke buckles Etta securely into her car seat but leaves her own seat belt undone because she was wearing a big, long sweater, and it kept getting caught. Brooke stopped at a red light when it happened. A man moved fast towards her side of the car and before she could react, her window shattered. A hand opened her car door and pulled her from the car. Brooke sat in the middle of the highway and watched her mother's car drive away with Etta in her car seat in the backseat. Every mother's nightmare!
Later that night, Molly, a teen estranged from her family, living on the streets, sees a baby in a carseat on the sidewalk. Molly can't believe her eyes and her first thought is to find a phone and call the police. Not as easy as it seems, markets are closed, no pay phones anymore and people living on the street don't have cell phones. Molly realizes that she is now responsible for the baby and must keep her safe.

Brooke and Molly's lives are totally different but the one thing that they have in common, they are both looking for a home and family where they belong and are accepted. Drawn together by this horrific act, Hyde has created a heart-stopping story of love, acceptance, and friendship. I am not a crier and do not cry easily, but this story really touched my heart. Hyde portrays the good in people even in the midst of evil. Mr. Rogers once said" When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Catherine Ryan Hyde shows us the helpers and inspires us to be the good.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite "go to" authors. I know when I sit down to read one of her books, I am going to love it! Each one of her books is distinctly different from the other and a treat in itself. Make sure you add this one to your TBR list and preorder it so you don't miss it!

Brave girl, quiet girl was not Catherine Ryan Hyde’s best effort. I thought the book just ran on, at times, to fill pages. There seemed to be so much more she could have said. Disappointed, to say the least.

I have become a huge fan of Catherine Ryan Hyde in the past year after I read Have You Seen Luis Velez? I then began a goal to read her new and previous books. Her book to be released on May 19, 2020, Brave Girl, Quiet Girl (which, by the way, I love that title!), I believe is my new favorite. I have been immensely touched by Ms Hyde’s previous stories, but this one found a place that was so deep within me. By one-third of the book I was crying. That became the norm off and on for the rest of the book.

This author creates characters that become real to me. I care deeply about them. I am invested in their lives. Her characters are far from perfect. She makes you love them with all their flaws.
I will not write about the plot itself. A potential reader can find that easily. I will say that although the world she writes about in this book is foreign to me, I believe she captured it well. People are judged by their image, by their possessions and by their actions. Sometimes these are not a true judge of the person. Sometimes a person’s actions speak more for them than anything else.

The world of the book is told with two different perspectives. One view is from Molly a 16 year old, which I found totally captivating and genuine. The other view is from Brooke who is 39 and is more worldly, yet almost as lost as Molly. Reading the two views of situations that occur brought so much to the understanding and immersion into the story.

This book will make you think about your interactions with strangers and with difficult people in your life. Themes of forgiveness, gratitude and trust are constantly interwoven in the plot.

I recommend this heart-touching book so very highly. I believe it will be on many book club reading lists and will be a much talked about book after it is released in May 2020.

I want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the wonderful gift of allowing me to read the ARC of Brave Girl, Queit Girl. My review is my own opinion not influenced by receiving the Advance Reader Copy.