Not That Kind of Girl - Siobhan Vivian

Not That Kind of Girl

Siobhan Vivian

Rarely do I review books that I don’t like.  I prefer to just let them be.  Why?  Because the book that I loathe might be your favorite book of all times.  But this book is different for a few reasons.  First of all, I’m quite sure that teenagers will like this book and they’ll get a lot out of it.  Second, it really wasn’t terrible – I just didn’t like one character.  Ironically, when I was going back through my reading list, I noticed the notes I’d taken from the seminar where I’d first heard about Not That Kind of Girl.  The presenter, Karol Sacca of the Parachute Branch of the Garfield Public Libraries (I want to be her when I grow up, btw) had said that the book was worth reading, but that you had to get past the snobbiness of the main character.

Ha.  Understatement.  I’d say you have to get past the…uh…b-word-iness of the main character*.

Natalie is your quintessential good girl.  She keeps herself covered, she isn’t boy crazy and she knows what’s important in life and in high school.  Her best friend Autumn made a huge mistake as a freshman, and has spent the last four years being called “Fish Sticks” – something that Natalie, being the wonderful best friend that she is, has done her best to help her deal with.  Now that Natalie has been voted SBA president, she is determined to make the most of her senior year.  Only not everyone sees things the way she does.  Along comes Sterling, a freshman who is sexified to the max, and who is not afraid of attention.  Natalie, being the wonderful person that she is, decides to take Sterling under her wing and teach her how to “survive” high school.  Only Sterling doesn’t want her help.  And all of a sudden, neither does Autumn.  Natalie is completely confused that these two, clearly misguided young women would want to ignore her advice and chase after boys.  Enter quintessential hunky high school guy, Connor.  After overhearing him defend her to his Neanderthal buddies, Natalie is completely taken with him, and they start meeting in private.  Now Natalie not only has no friends, she has the burden of a secret weighing on her and eventually, everything crashes and burns, and Natalie has to face the web she’s woven for herself and those she cares about.

Could you sense the sarcasm in that review?  Natalie is not just snobby, she’s a downright b…b…brat.  The book is told in first person, so having that direct line into Natalie’s thoughts adds to her holier-than-thou attitude.  In true YA fashion, things turn out fine in the end and Natalie learns her lesson, but even that wasn’t enough to redeem her in my eyes.  I can’t imagine a world where everyone is so quickly forgiving of someone who has acted so stuck-up for four years.  I know if I were in high school, I would have enjoyed seeing a fall like Natalie took (people, I’m human, and honest, go with it).

But on the other hand, the book has some really poignant moments and lessons for teens, like the fact that the confident girls really aren’t as confident as they seem, and that being made fun of is not the end of the world.  Oh, and the fact that the snotty girls are just as unsure of themselves as everyone else.  Let’s all take a moment to remember high school – we thought we knew and that we were cool, but really?  We were WRONG.  And that was the one redeeming quality of the book:  Natalie realizes that she, the know-it-all good girl, actually doesn’t know it all.

*Just realized I’ve never established if this is going to be a PG or a PG-13 blog.  Hm…

Here are some other great reviews of this book:

Korianne Speaks – She actually loved the book!

YA Reads

Article: The Sad, Beautiful Fact that We're All Going to Miss Almost Everything

I don't write personal posts very often, but I came across this article through my Google Reader today: The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We're All Going to Miss Almost Everything by Linda Holmes (and stole the picture from the article too), and made me think about the ideas of being well read and being a librarian.  One of the biggest struggles I have in being a librarian is that I don't know that I'll ever be one of "the Greats" like Joyce Valenza, Buffy Hamilton or even Di Herald and Becky Johnson.  If those names mean nothing to you, let me try to put it in other terms:  I fear that I will be a D list actor.  Someone who tries to make a living doing something well, but just can't make it happen.  I will try my darndest to read all the award winning books (which is not evidenced by my blog, I read lots more books than I take the time to review) and keep up with constantly evolving technology, but how do I find time in the day?  And reading Holmes' article really articulated the conclusion I've come to in the past few weeks.  The simple fact is, I'm not ever going to be one of "the Greats" - in Libraryland or even as a German teacher, if I ever end up back in the classroom again - but I'm not sure I want to be one.  I will, as Holmes said "make a genuine effort to explore thoughtfully", but I don't know that being "great" is so important to me that I'm willing to give up everything else just to get there.  I think, instead I'll strive to be great for my family, my friends, my school community and my church community.  That way I can think I'm great - as long as I stay in my little geographic world.

Another reason this article struck a chord with me today is I recently recieved a comment on one of my older blog posts (uh, YEAY!!!) and because this doesn't happen often, I immediately posted the comment.  Then I realized that I didn't really like or agree with the comment, which thrust me into a conflict of  whether or not I would post all comments or if I would only post comments that added to the blog in some way.  Now, I realize that the person who made the somewhat snarky comment about my enjoyment of the Twilight Series was probably doing lots of culling and might benefit from a little more surrender.  My hero, Di Herald, always tells kids in my book club that no two people ever read the same book.  So to Anonymous from Singapore - first, I doubt you'll read my blog again, so I'm probably wasting my breath here, and second, I'm sure there are books out there that you have read and enjoyed that would make me question your professional judgement as well.

In any case, I have decided to post all comments, and hopefully, as more people read my blog, the will all remember that I am but one person dipping from the ocean of books available to us.  My opinion is about as important as everyone else's, so if you don't like a book I recommend, just remember, this is blog isquasi-pointless.  It says so in the title.

{And Suzanne steps down from her soapbox, waves lovingly at her fans, and exits stage right}.

Hush by Eishes Chayil

Hush
Eishes Chayil

The cover of this book reads “What happens when you are betrayed by those you trust the most?”  Who can pass up a book with a caption like that?  Honestly, usually I can.  Truthfully, the cover of this one didn’t really do it for me, but luckily I’d heard enough buzz about it that I went ahead and requested it through interlibrary loan (greatest system EVER).

Gittel is a young woman who has grown up within the comfort and safety of her Chassidic Jewish community of Borough Park.  She has learned to be pious, and longs for the day she will marry and her soul will find its’ match.  The one dark spot in Gittel’s life is the memory of her best friend, Devory, who died when they were 9.  Gittel knows there is more to what happened to Devory than she was told, but whenever she tries to uncover the truth, she is met with silence, fear and a healthy dose of denial.  The book alternates between present day and Gittel’s memories of Devory and all that happened to her, and her story is heart-wrenching and joyful all at the same time.  The author still lives within the Chassidic community but felt it so important that this story be told, she has chosen the pseudonym Eishes Chayil, meaning Woman of Valor.

What struck me about this book is that it could be a gritty, terrifying book.  What happened to Devory is horrifying and should not go unnoticed.  But Chayil has written an account of violence in such a way that the horror of the actions of a few do not take away from the love, morality and piety of the many.  She balances the heart and soul of the Chassidic community with the unspeakable acts that sometimes occur within their sheltered neighborhoods.  I think it’s important that she maintain this balance because unspeakable acts like domestic abuse, child abuse, etc. happen in every community, and every community values morality, piety and family.  This account does not allow the reader to dismiss the Chassidic community as evil or bad, but forces us to recognize the atrocities that happen everywhere.  By presenting the story in this manner, she has allowed us to see the thorns of the rose.  And the strength of her family and loved ones in the end moved me to tears.  Gittel and her family represent the good of the Chassidic community, and really, any faith community – following God (or whatever deity you worship), loving those around you and doing what is right and good, even if it’s difficult sometimes.

Here are some other great reviews of this book:

Velveteen Rabbi

Readergirlz

The Radleys by Matt Haig

The Radley’s

Matt Haig

So I’ll be the first to say, vampire are sooo last week.  Twilight, the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, and the House of Night are the books that started it all, and now we have TV series like Vampire Diaries and True Blood (does anyone remember the original vampire series – Buffy the Vampire Slayer?  Can I get a heck yeah?).  When I first read about The Radleys on the Alex Award List, I thought “ugh…not again”.  But then I read the jacket and I was intrigued.  Behold, the power of a well written book jacket!

The Radleys is the story of a small town family of vampires, only they aren’t your normal vampires (but when, since Count Dracula, have we had a story of “normal” vampires) because of two things.  The parents are abstaining vampires – they do not drink blood, and the children don’t know they are vampires.  And in classic style, because the children don’t really know what they are, the book opens and both are struggling to figure out who they are.  Rowan has a crush on a local girl, Eve, but lacks the confidence to even speak to her, and Clara is so desperate to get animals to like her that she is attempting to go vegan – a choice that, unbeknownst to her, could ultimately kill her.  When Clara accidentally tastes human blood, her hereditary instincts take over and she accidentally kills someone.  Now that the secret is out, all of the members of the Radley clan feel their lives turn upside down.  Enter Uncle Will – the practicing vampire that can save them all.  But there are more secrets hiding on Orchard Lane than one would expect.

I will not say that this is the greatest book I’ve ever read, but it definitely kept me turning the pages.  And I can completely see why this book was chosen for an Alex Award – an award given to books written for adults that experience wide success as YA books.  Haig created enough suspense that the reader wonders what will come next, and there are just enough plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat.  I had at least two *Gasp* moments, and I once said “OH NO” aloud – which wasn’t a good idea because I was reading…oops.  Though this book may not make my favorite book list, I will say that Haig has definitely taken a somewhat overused genre – vampires – and taken it to a new place and written a great novel.

Here are some other reviews of this book:

NY Times

USA Today

Recommended Reads - an update

It was pointed out to me twice today that 1) I haven't updated my blog in awhile (one more semester of grad school and I'm DONE!!!) and 2) I recommend books all the time, but could I please just come up with a list?!?  So here's what I have for you for right now.  I do plan to blog about all of these books (if I haven't already), but for my faithful fans (apparently now there are like seven of you...yeay!) here are the books I've been talking about for months now and some that I haven't mentioned yet.

Normally I would hyperlink all these titles, but it's late, so you'll have to google them yourselves!

Hush by Eishes Chayil - written by a Chassidic Jewish woman about the suicide of her childhood best friend.  Openly wept.  Not snotty hyperventillating wept, but I wept.  Beautifully told story that somehow is able to respect the Chassidic community while exposing a weakness.  Loved loved loved it.  Go get it. NOW.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly - already reviewed this one in March.  Can't get over how awesome this book is.  And yes, I will take the 30 seconds necessary to link to my own post.  Why, because I'm a little selfish.

Unwind by Neil Shusterman - amazing sci-fi story of a society where unwinding, or retroactive abortion, is the "solution" to the abortion debate.  Definitely an action packed book, but it also really makes you think about the right to life and what "life" is.  Wonderfully done, could NOT put it down (but really, when can I put books down?)

Graceling by Kristin Cashore - fantasy novel about a world where people are "graced" - have special abilities to do various things.  Katsa's grace is killing, something that until now, her uncle has used to his advantage.  But when the king from another kingdom is kidnapped, Katsa must learn to trust Prince Po, who - it turns out - has a very interesting grace of his own.  Started out listening to the audiobook and HATED it, but my bff Sarah convinced me to finish the book, and she was right - it's fantastically written.  Looking forward to a long weekend where I can dive into the companion novel Fire.

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock - speaking of audiobooks, this one is fantastic.  The Wisconsin accent makes the reading of this book fantastic.  The entire trilogy is worth reading, though Dairy Queen is my favorite.  And yes, I took the time to link my own review.  It's how I roll.

When I was Joe by Keren David - teenage kid living in London witnesses a murder and he and his mother must enter the witness protection plan.  Tyler (I think that's his original name) now has a chance to reinvent himself - something all teenagers wish they could do.  Love the suspense in the story of the murder.  The sequel, Almost True is sitting on my bedside table right now.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine - story of a little girl with Asberger's (I think) whose brother died in a school shooting.  It's supposed to be a novel for young people (middle school-ish), but it's definitely an adult book.  I think middle school kids will get something out of it, but I think some of the nuiances will be missed by young readers.  Tissues are a necessity for this one.

White Cat by Holly Black - Cassel is the only member of his family that isn't a "worker".  "Workers" all have the ability to do something - erase memory, impose luck, inflict pain, even kill - with a simple touch of skin on skin. Cassel also happens to have killed his childhood best friend in cold blood when they were much younger, only he has no idea why and can hardly remember the event.  When he gets kicked out of boarding school, he slowly starts to figure out what happened so long ago. Truth be told I'm a little torn about this book.  I really enjoyed it, but I figured it out pretty early.  I will say that Black's writing is AWESOME, and that the writing kept me reading.  But the sequel Red Glove isn't high on my reading list simply because I'm afraid I'll figure it out just as quick.

There are more, but I'm sleepy.  That and I'd like to read a little before I go to bed.  I'm currently reading The Radley's by Matt Haig.  This book is pretty darn good so far, and it won an Alex Award (books written for adults that cross over into YA stardom).  The Radley's are a normal family, except that they're vampires.  Oh, and the parents have never told their kids that they're blood sucking night fliers.  Yep, it's pretty good.

Ok, sweet dreams, and happy reading!