Chomp

Chomp
by Carl Hiaasen
Alfred A. Knopf
2012

I've loved Carl Hiaasen since I read the very first page of Skinny Dip (read it, you'll agree).  I love his sarcastic wit and well-woven plot lines.  When I became a teacher librarian and found out he also writes books for young readers, I was excited and nervous.  Not many writers can write well for multiple ages (case in point: LOVE James Patterson books for young readers, can't stomach his adult novels).  However, Hiaasen nails it.

Chop stars two fantastic young people: Wahoo and and Tuna.  The only two kids on the planet named for fish (granted, Wahoo isn't named for the fish - he's named for a professional wrestler).  Wahoo's dad is a wild animal wrangler.  Tuna's dad is...not so great.  When Wahoo's dad is hired to help out with a survival show Expedition Survival, Tuna decides to tag along, especially since the host of the show - the famous Derek Badger - is her personal hero.  Tuna quickly finds out that Derek Badger (who is referred to not-so-affectionately by Wahoo's dad as "Mr. Beaver") is not the survivalist he claims to be on the show.  And when Badger goes a little crazy and wants to start doing all his own stunts, things get messy quick.  Wahoo and his dad can't back out of the job - they need the money, and Tuna doesn't want to go home, so they're stuck trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

As always, Hiaasen's dry humor and plot twists turn the book from just another book to an absolute page turner.  And I appreciate the fact that the relationship between Wahoo and Tuna never turns romantic - it would have been too cliche.  Wahoo's love for his family and his animals, and his desire to help Tuna are genuine and completely age appropriate.  And Hiaasen's portrayal of adults is also age appropriate: they are flawed but not to the point of being disrespectful.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks Bear Gryls is a bit much.  Ok, seriously, I would recommend this book to any one who likes survival stories (both wilderness survival and tough-life-situation survival), any middle-grade student looking for a fun read, and any parent who wants a great book through which they can connect with their child.

Paper Covers Rock

Paper Covers Rock

Jenny Hubbard

Delacorte Press

2011

Most people think that I’m super smart because I’m a librarian.  Completely untrue.  I’m really not that smart, and in reading Paper Covers Rock, I realized that I know nothing about classic literature.  Nothing. Zip. The amount in my bank account. Nichts.

Paper Covers Rock is written in diary form, and it is the diary of Alex Stromm, a student at a boarding school in North Carolina.  One afternoon in the fall, he witnesses one of his best friends die in a terrible swimming accident.  In an attempt to deal come to terms with his grief and feelings of guilt, Alex starts keeping a journal; one that is partly reflective in nature and one that tells the story of what happened the day Thomas died.   What keeps the book moving is the fact that Alex isn’t exactly sure what happened that day at the rock – he knows that he, Thomas and their friend Glenn had been drinking, and Thomas had been drinking the most of all of them.  He knows that they decided to jump from the rock into the river, and that he and Thomas played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would jump first.  And he knows that when he surfaces from his dive, Thomas is unconscious, and shortly thereafter, he’s dead.  The school has a very strict no alcohol policy, so Glenn and Alex must cover up some of their story in order to stay in school, and Alex quickly begins to suspect that Glenn is trying to cover up more than just the incident on the rock.

So what does all of this have to do with classic literature?  Alex has a bit of a crush on one of his teachers, Miss Dovecott, and in trying to help Alex deal with his loss, she recommends that he read different classics: Moby Dick, the Old Man and the Sea, etc.,  and he weaves lots of literary references into his diary.  For example, he refers to himself as Is-Male (I got that one), and he asks Her-Mann lots of questions (got that one too), and apparently the title to each chapter is a quote from Moby Dick (missed that one).  While I was reading I could tell when the narrator was referencing something, but I rarely had the background knowledge to make the connection.

Regardless of being able to make connections, Hubbard did an amazing job of creating a realistic voice in Alex Stromm.  I don’t know for sure, because, well, I’m not and have never been a teenaged boy, but Alex’s guilt and uncertainty are absolutely real and palpable. And the ending is absolutely true to life.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book for middle school or reluctant readers because of all the literary references (I’d call them obscure, but they probably aren’t).  However, I think that just about any high school student can relate to Alex because everyone, at some point, has to choose between seeing the truth even though it’s painful and difficult, or continue to turn a blind eye because it’s easier.  And everyone, at some point in their lives, goes through an event that will change their existence permanently.

I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler

I'm Not Her
Janet Gurtler
Sourcebooks
2011


I read a review or two of this book, put it on hold and waited for about two months to get it.  Usually, that's a sign of a really good book.  By the time I got the book, I'd completely forgotten about it.  When I read the description, I almost turned it back in without reading it.  I couldn't remember why people had said it was soooo great.  And now that I've read it, even I can't necessarily put my finger on why it's soooo great.  But it is.
Maybe I love the book so much because I feel like Tess is me and her perfect, athletic sister is my sister Nikki.  Tess likes herself just the way she is, and though Kristina is pretty content lets her be herself, she also encourages Tess to be a bit more social.  I think that's how things were (and probably still are) with Nikki and I.  Granted, my sister never had to encourage me to be social.  But I was (and still am) awkward, especially when you put me next to my tall, stunning sister.  I might not be shy, but when Nikki walks into a room, you can't help but notice her (I just make people notice me by being loud and often somewhat obnoxious.  I prefer the term charming, but whatever).
The twist of the book comes when Kristina is diagnosed with bone cancer.  All of a sudden her popularity weaves its way into Tess' life, and Tess likes it and hates it.  Tess has always been somewhat invisible in her sister’s shadow, and not just to Kristina’s friends, but also to her parents.  Suddenly, Kristina’s friends – who couldn’t be bothered to notice Tess before – are constantly around wondering why Kristina won’t return their calls, and her parents expect Tess to “be strong” even when they refuse to deal with the situation themselves.  Throughout the book Tess is completely torn between being angry that her sister’s situation has upended her life and dealing with the horror and the sadness she feels about her sister having such a devastating form of cancer.
I love that Gurtler made the parents fallible but not self-absorbed.  The parents have faults, and up until their daughter was diagnosed with cancer, they were able to cover those faults with style or academia.  When faced with the dilemma of their daughter’s illness, they don’t know how to cope with the reality of the situation or the emotions that come along with knowing their lives aren’t perfect and their perfect athlete daughter might end up an amputee.  I also love that Tess was not only mature and level headed, able to step in and be the adult when her parents were unable/unwilling, but also a girly teenager, completely controlled by her hormones.  Tess struggles to balance school – she really wants to be one of the freshmen chosen for National Honor Society, her friend(s) – including her former best friend and the multiple boys who now notice she exists and her parents – whose habit of turning a blind eye and acting like all is normal are not only affecting their relationship, but Tess’ grades and Krisina’s recovery.
In the end I know that my life and my relationship with my sister (and my entire family) is very different from Tess’, though I probably felt a lot like she did when I was a freshman in high school. The bond that Tess felt with her sister and the way it grew and evolved throughout the book was pretty close to the relationship I had with my sister:  we were different and we frustrated the heck out of each other, but it was in high school that we learned to talk to each other, confide in each other and value each other for our differences.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls
Patrick Ness
(inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd)
Candlewick Press
2011

First off, let me say that usually, I don’t do scary.  I’m the girl that has night terrors and is truly afraid of things that go bump in the night.  When I do read scary books, I usually only read them during daylight hours, and they usually have a pretty profound effect on me – especially on my ability to sleep.  When A Monster Calls came across my desk, I knew the book would have an effect on me, I just didn’t realize how much of an effect.  And…spoiler alert…it’s actually NOT scary.

A Monster Calls is about Connor, whose father has moved to America and has a whole new family, whose grandmother is hard-working and pretty cold toward him, and whose mother is battling cancer.  Connor has suffered from a terrible nightmare for months – his mother falling off a cliff being consumed by a monster.  When another monster appears at his window one night, he isn’t scared.  This monster has not come for his mother, it’s come for him.  The monster will tell Connor three tales, and then Connor must tell him a tale – the only truth Connor knows.  But Connor isn’t sure he can tell the only truth he knows.

Throughout the book Connor tries to convince himself that the monster is just a dream – I mean really, it’s a talking tree!  But as his mother gets worse, and things at school get worse, the monster continues to visit him, tell him stories and have a profound effect on him.

I don’t want to tell you much about the book, because I think part of the reason it affected me as much as it did is because I didn’t know much about the storyline.  I will say that the book really isn’t about monsters.  It’s about coping with grief and loss.  Patrick Ness has done a superb job of creating a new way of viewing the human condition and what is “unfair” in life.

What I will tell you about the book is that while it was written by Ness, the idea came from another great writer – Siobhan Dowd. She has written several excellent novels which I can’t keep on my shelf, and in 2007 she lost her battle with breast cancer.  Last night as I finished the book, I couldn’t help but think about her and her battle.  Did this idea come from her difficulty in dealing with her mortality?  I also kept thinking about a conversation I recently had with my dear friend Katy– is it easier to deal with loss when it’s sudden or when it is a slow process?  In the end, we realized that loss is difficult regardless of when and how it happens, but the most important part of loss is dealing with it.  I hope I never have to deal with loss similar to Connor’s (I’m hoping beyond all hope that my parents are actually immortal…), I’ve learned a lesson from Connor’s story – speaking the truth is the only way to truly deal with loss.

I would recommend this book to just about anyone – unless they’re looking for a traditional “horror” book.  The illustrations (by Jim Kay) are haunting, but the book really isn’t about monsters in the traditional sense.  This book really is about as close to realistic fiction without actually being realistic fiction as humanly possible.  This book is heart-wrenching, deep and thoughtful.  So if you’re looking for funny, don’t pick this one up.  But if you want a book that will make you think about truth, the human condition and the tough stuff in life, I highly, highly recommend this book.  And yes, I cried (shocker).

Here's an article/review written by Jessica Bruder, a woman who knew Dowd well: It Takes a Monster to Learn How to Grieve

Another great review from Stackedbooks.org

Here's an article written by a 17-old-student here in GJ. Genrefluent's Bistro Book Club - Teens Talk About Books


Here's a link to Siobhan Dowd's website The Siobhan Dowd Trust

True (...Sort of) by Katherine Hannigan

True (...Sort of)
Katherine Hannigan
Greenwillow Books
2011

When I started reading Katherine Hannigan’s novel True (Sort of…) my first impression was that it was an elementary level book.  I liked the character Delly Pattison and her made up words – you know, being a word-maker-upper myself – but it was just a little too…cutsie for me.  I couldn’t imagine a super-cool 8^th grader being willing to read about “surpresents” (surprise presents) and “mysturiosities” (very curious mysteries).  In fact, I envisioned the book being read aloud to a class of sixth graders.  Theoretically, a teacher could read this book aloud to a class – it’s a bit long, but it’s a very quick read.  However, in the end, I’m not sure I’d read it aloud to a class.  For a book that starts off being “cutsie” it definitely hits some heavy topics and in the end, is a very deep, meaningful and profoundly touching book.

Clearly, I loved it.

Like I said, it’s the story of Delly (Delaware) Pattison – second youngest in a family with five children.  Delly has been labeled a troublemaker, even though her escapades are always done with the best intentions.  The book starts out explaining how when Delly was younger, she was happier and even though she got in trouble, she always had a smile on her face and would wake up and face the day with excitement.  Somewhere along the line though, Delly lost that smile and that excitement, and now she’s usually just angry.

Then she meets Ferris Boyd, the new girl who doesn’t speak and doesn’t allow anyone to touch her.  She’s sort of a “mysturiosity” to Delly, so Delly starts following her home, telling her stories.  Delly is supposed to go home after school, so their friendship is sort of a secret.  Soon, they are best friends. Throughout the rest of the book, that friendship is tested, and Delly learns about the world around her and slowly starts to understand that she has been rather selfish in life.  As she learns to be self-less, the relationships in her life – with her family, teachers, and even with the local police officers – improve, and her life is profoundly changed.

What I love about this book is Delly’s worldview.  She sees the world in a completely different light than most people.  It’s the perfect blend of innocence, ignorance, wonder and thought.  It’s her worldview that creates, almost ruins, and saves her friendship with Ferris.  I would like to think that there are 6^th graders out there who are like Delly – who are still able to see the wonder in the world, but who realize the importance of being there for those you love.

For a book that started out as a fun, read-aloud book, I cried hard in the end, and my worldview has changed in regards to my students.  I no longer think this would be a good book to read aloud to a class, but I will recommend it to just about any one of my students who enjoys realistic fiction, and I think I might recommend that the Literacy teachers at my school read it.  In fact, I would say this would be an excellent book for any middle school student, or anyone who works with middle school children.  It is a beautifully written book with heart and a sense of humor.

Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker

Small Town Sinners
Melissa Walker
Bloomsbury
2011

Do you remember when exactly you started to realize that your parents didn't know all the answers and weren't always right?  Do you remember when you started to form your own opinions that differed from those of your parents?  I do, and I don't.  I think all parents try to raise their children to the best of their abilities, teaching them what is helpful and what can be harmful (I hate the words "good" and "bad"), and I think that for all parents, the time when their children start making choices of their own - whether helpful or harmful - is extremely difficult (I'm kinda guessing, as I have no children of my own).

Small Town Sinners is an amazingly crafted novel that examines this phenomenon from the point of view of the child.  Lacey Ann has grown up in West River - a small, God fearing community.  Lacey Ann's dad is the youth pastor at the church, and every year the youth put on a production called "Hell House" - a house of sin production aimed at bringing souls to Christ.  The book begins when Lacey is finally old enough to audition for a main role, and Lacey wants to be Abortion Girl.  Lacey knows that her performace will show people the truth as she knows it:  that abortion is wrong and that Christ is the answer.

Enter the mysterious Ty.  Lacey has never met anyone like Ty before - his smile melts her resolve, but more importantly, she can talk to him like she can't talk to her parents or her best friends.  She can talk to him about her doubts and worries when it comes to the church, her friends and the things that happen in West River.  However Lacey's parents don't approve of Ty, and when "bad" things start happening to Lacey's friends, she finds it easier to talk to Ty and more difficult to talk to her parents.  All of a sudden, Lacey finds herself questioning what she believes and how she has been raised and wonders if she'll be able to resolve the two.

I know there was a time that I realized that my parents - and some of their views - were wrong.  I also know that my own personal faith/values journey has been more extreme than that of most.  In my lifetime I've been on the extreme ends of many ethical/religious arguments.  And I think I've come to a pretty happy place in who I am, what my values are and what I believe.  While reading Small Town Sinners I heard my own voice and my own thoughts echoed in what Lacey Ann was going through.  I remember times where I was so angry at my parents because I didn't think they could hear me (and sometimes, honestly, they couldn't) and other times where, in hindsight, they could hear me, but their wisdom was beyond my understanding.

Walker has created a wonderful cast of characters who are more honest than many teens think they can be - with themselves, each other and the adults in their lives - who I think will both speak to and encourage young people struggling with who they are and what they believe.  I also love the way she portrays West River!  It is a christian community that is wholly human - they make mistakes in their pursuit of the Kingdom of God, but for the most part, the people don't forget that they are merely human.  Often times people outside of the christian community don't understand the "zeal" of "believers" and see them, as, well crazy zealots.  And, admittedly, some people - regardless of faith tradition - are crazy zealots.  Walker clearly and plainly brings humanity, respect and dignity to the "zealots" in her book, allowing the reader to disagree with their beliefs, but still respect them for their dedication.  It's amazing.

I would recommend this to anyone who has a friend or family member they consider a "religious zealot".  I would also recommend this to parents whose children are starting to stretch their own wings and figure out who they are, as well as the children (pardon me...I mean teenagers - they HATE being called children) starting to realize their parents don't have all the answers.  It's an excellent book that shows the many perspectives of any given issue and how to love those around you regardless of their perspective.  I will say, I'm not sure it's appropriate for middle grade

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay
Gayle Foreman
Narrated by Kirsten Potter

I’ve only read a few of Nicholas Sparks books, and to be honest, I didn’t really like the ones I read.  But I feel like if he wrote books that I actually enjoyed, he would write something like If I Stay.  Imagine that you wake up one morning to a snow day (waHOO) and your family – that you love dearly – decides to go for a drive.  However, tragedy strikes and by the end of the day, you’re the only one left alive.  Mia is a senior in high school who finds herself in this exact situation.  After a horrible car accident, she lies in a coma and her spectral self has the ability to see and hear everyone around her, she can even follow them into other rooms, but she can’t seem to find a way to either re-inhabit her body, or let go and go to Heaven.   And more importantly, she’s not sure she wants to stay behind without her family.  The entire story is her remembering her life before the accident and trying to imagine her life without her family and her struggle to decide whether or not to stay and possibly go to Julliard, or go and abandon her grandparents, her boyfriend and her extended family.

I have been blessed in this life to have a kick ass family.  They are not perfect, but they are mine and I love them all fiercely.  This past winter when my dad had heart surgery my entire family was suddenly and brutally faced with our own mortality - our individual mortality and the mortality of our family, and it scared the pee out of all of us.  Lucky for us, my dad is fine and now has a whole new set of valves to clog with cholesterol.  The way that Foreman wrote this book, the reader is forced to consider tragedy like Mia’s.  What would I do if both my parents and my siblings were killed in a horrible accident?  Would I be able to go on?  Now that I have a special someone in my life (it’s about flippin time!!!) does that change my reaction to the situation?  I don’t know and I hope I never have to find out.  In any case, Foreman has created a beautiful book that is emotional, real and an absolute page turner.  Or in my case, a CD switcher*.  I highly highly recommend it!

*This post is connected to my post about audiobooks.  Feel free to read it!

The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston

The Freak Observer

Blythe Woodson

Truth be told, I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this book.  When I finshed it, I thought “hmm...that was a good book”, but when I sat down to write this review, I can’t really say what it was about the book that I liked.  Most of the time I just found the main character, Loa to be sort of blah.  Blah about her life, blah about the death of her sister, blah about the death of her friend, and blah about where things were going for her.  But it’s possible that the reason I liked the book is because it wasn’t an over the top book.  It was a book that was honest about every day life without having a huge, over the top storyline to it.  No vampires, no Necromancers, just ordinary life and the good and bad that comes along with being ordinary.

Loa Lingren isn’t what you would call a stand out personality.  In fact, because she has spent the last few years helping her parents raise her handicapped sister Asta, she has had very little social life.  When Asta dies, Loa experiences an odd form of PTSD – she sees death coming for her or has vivid flashbacks of her friend dying every time she goes to sleep.  So instead of sleeping, she does everything she can to stay awake.  And her parents aren’t in any better shape than she is.  The book follows Loa as she tries to figure out who she is without Asta.

As I said, it's hard for me to define what I liked about the book.  But maybe I liked the fact that Loa was so blah, because after going through everything she did, being blah was the safest response Loa could have.  Loa is real, and while her situation might not be average/every day, her reactions to trauma are normal (I think).  I'm sure that we have all experienced traumatic events in our lives that cause us to respond to the world in a very blah manner.  And I appreciate that Woolston didn't turn Loa's disasterous life into an after-school-special-esque book.  Because let's face it, life is not an after school special, and it's nice to read books every once in a while that help us remember that and validate our feelings of loss and confusion after a trauma*.  I'm positive there are people, teenagers especially, who will read The Freak Observer and relate to Loa and her blah-ness.  And being able to relate to a character - fictional or not - will help with the healing process.

*Having said that, I'd like to add that it's also really nice to read books that are after-school-special-esque too.  Sometimes we need the hope of a picture perfect ending complete with smiles and group hugs.

Swim the Fly by Don Calame

Swim the Fly

Don Calame

Here are the two short reviews I heard about this book.  First: this book is a must read for all teenage boys.  They love it! Second: I seriously almost wet myself laughing.  Since I find that most realistic fiction isn’t geared toward young male readers, and since I quite enjoy laughing myself silly (all urination aside), when I saw Swim the Fly on the shelf at Central High School, I immediately grabbed it and asked to check it out (much to the chagrin of Shar, their library secretary.  Guess it was on her reading list too).

Swim the Fly has actually nothing to do with flies.  I was a little confused by the title until I realized that “the fly” is a swimming term…I know, I’m not very smart. Matt Gratton is, well, a wimp, but he is a dedicated member of his local swim team, and when he sees an opportunity to impress the über-hot Kelly, he volunteers to swim the 100m butterfly (should that be capitalized?  See, I know nothing of swimming).  The beginning of Matt’s problems is the fact that he really can’t swim the fly.  At all.  The good thing about this book is it really isn’t about swimming “the fly”, it’s about the summer adventures (and embarrassments) of a teenage boy who has two really great friends, uncontrollable hormones, and not the slightest clue about girls.

I loved this book.  It was hilarious.  Some of the situations Matt finds himself in are painfully funny – for example, drinking an extra dose of protein shake that turns out to be fiber laxative (totally not a spoiler, you kinda see it coming).  My tummy actually hurt thinking about it.  The best part is every crazy situation Matt gets himself into, I can totally imagine one or more of my former “super smart” students getting into.  It’s almost like the time I went to see SuperBad with some of my co-workers and we spent the entire movie laughing, not because it was funny (though it was) but because we kept naming students we could see trying to pull those kinds of pranks.

However, I will say that I’m not completely sold that this book is a “guy read”.  I actually think it’s more of a chick read about how guys think.  But I’m not sure – I don’t know any guys who have read it.  It won’t ever be in the collection at GMMS because it’s not middle school appropriate, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to find a guy to read it.  I thought about asking my dad, who loves to read, but I’m pretty sure it’s not his cup of tea.  He’d think it was funny, but anyone who loves Motherless Brooklyn  by Jonathan Lethem is kind of on a different level.

Regardless, I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, fun summer read.  And if you happen to be a teenage boy (wow, this sentence TOTALLY started out creepy) let me know what you think!

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

A Long Walk to Water

Linda Sue Park

Clarion Books

2010

In my life I have read many moving books – books that made me reconsider my world view and books that have made me reconsider my view of self.  As a middle school librarian, sometimes the books that move and inspire me are books that I cannot add to my collection because they are inappropriate for the grade level I serve.  But the issues still remain, and because I want to encourage young people to become reflective members of society, I constantly look for books that will help them see the world in a broad, non-egocentric way.  There is a great, big, fascinating world out there, and the sooner we can teach young people to embrace it, the better off our future will be.

Over the past two years, I’ve read several very moving books about the struggles of misplaced natives all over Africa.  But none were middle school appropriate.  Enter Linda Sue Park and her short novel about two young people in Sudan.  A Long Walk to Water many not be the best book I’ve ever read, but it is written in such a way that it will inspire and inform middle school students about the lives of people who live half a world away.  It is a short novel – about 120 pages – and it is mostly the story of Salva and his struggle to survive.  After violence strikes while he’s at school, he is forced to walk to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, and then years later to another in Kenya, all the while not knowing whether his family is alive or dead.  At the beginning of each chapter there is a short narrative from the perspective of young Nya, a girl growing up some twenty years later in southern Sudan, who must walk for eight hours each day to fetch water for her family.

What struck me most about the book is that I could not imagine how these two stories would intersect.  I didn’t notice at first that the accounts were over 20 years apart, so I assumed that Nya and Salva would meet, she would save him and they would marry, or something like that.  Having read other novels by Park (A Single Shard is another one that really made me think), I should have known that it would be different.  And I loved it.  Park does an amazing job of creating an inspiring, realistic story (well, it is based on a true story so it should be realistic) that explains the trials occurring in Africa in a way that young people will relate to and possibly be moved to action.  The one thing I would recommend to making this book just a bit better would be a resources list at the end.  Salva’s organization is mentioned, so there’s a possible starting point for those interested in getting involved, and I suppose it wouldn’t be too difficult for students to find information on their own.  But I’ve seen how middle school students conduct research (and I’m working daily to make them better, more saavy researchers) so I feel like a list of trusted organizations might be helpful to them.

All in all the book may not have moved me in the way that other books did, however, I think it is perfectly written for young people, and I hope that it is a catalyst for them to see the world in a different way and to understand that sometimes making a change in the world happens one step at a time.

Salva Dut's Organization - Water For Africa

Other books about the Lost Boys & Girls of Africa

What is the What? by Dave Eggers

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Other Reviews of A Long Walk to Water

5 Minutes for Books

Meredith Dias

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

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 Chosen One

The Chosen One

Carol Lynch Williams

St. Martin’s Griffin, August 2010

When I think back to the decisions I had to make when I was not quite 14, I realize that I had it pretty good.  All I had to worry about was making sure my shirt matched my pants and socks, whether or not I’d finished my homework, and how to get the cute boy (yep, that’s you Andy W.*) in my Language Arts class to notice me.  Reading the story of Kyra – a girl growing up in a polygamist compound, completely shut off from the outside world, and betrothed by the “Prophet” to her 60+ year old uncle before she even reaches her 14^th I am lucky that I was raised to think for myself – though I definitely could not have done so at the age of 13. birthday – made me realize how lucky I am.

In The Chosen One, we follow as Kyra struggles with her upbringing.  On the one hand, she has her family – really three families blended together and headed by her very loving father who commits his time and his love to all of his children and his three wives.  Kyra cannot imagine a life without them and knows that the quickest way to Heaven is to do what is best for them.  On the other hand, she has the Ironton County Mobile Library that brings her forbidden books and a glimpse of the world on the outside, and Joshua Johnson, the boy who makes her feel alive and gives her meaning.  When she finds out she is to be bound to her uncle, her world turns upside down and she begins to struggle with her two lives: honoring her family or loving Joshua, her faith and the words of her prophet or her books and her freedom.

In this absolutely gripping novel, Williams has created the perfect coming-of-age character.  Kyra teeter-totters between a little girl who believes God knows everything she has done and will punish her for her sins, and a young woman who questions her faith – a faith that she has been raised never to question.  And Williams also does a tremendous job of developing the other characters, especially the men in Kyra’s life:  Prophet Childs, Patrick the book mobile driver, her father and her Uncle Hyrum – all the men who teach her what strength, courage and faith are.

All in all this book is stunning in it’s presentation of the subject matter and the journey Kyra takes as she – at the ripe old age of not-quite-fourteen – weighs and makes decisions that will affect her and those who love her forever.

This book was voted one of YALSA's 2010 Best Books for Young Adults

*for the record, Andy W. is still pretty darn cute, even with gray hair...

Crank

Crank
by Ellen Hopkins

Honestly, I have been avoiding reading this book since it came out.  I know how controversial it is, and I know how much kids love it and that it never stays on the shelf for more than about a day.  In fact, I had to ILL request it from Eagle Valley just to get a copy to read.  There are two reasons that I have been avoiding reading this book: first, I really don’t like books written in verse.  I’ve never been much of a poetry person, so I always assumed I’d hate books written in verse.  Second, I’m pretty much the quintessential good girl and have zero desire to do or try drugs (thank you Nancy Reagan, for teaching me to give hugs not drugs).

Now that I’ve read the book, I will say that I’m glad I read it.  I can see the appeal in the book and in the format.  And I do believe that the format of the book enhances the reading experience.  Though I am a self-proclaimed goody two-shoes and have never been on drugs, I did consult an acquaintance that has dabbled in the world of illegal substances and asked him to read some of the book.  He said that being under the influence was sometimes like the writing in the book – somewhat choppy and all over the place.  And did anyone else notice the hidden messages in some of the poems?  In many of the entries, the words that are set apart tell their own little story.  Take, for example the entry “GUFN Again”.  The words set apart on the left side read “I didn’t belong to my mom anymore”.  Another example is “I Went Home”.  Down the right side reads “Scott insisted, Chase invited, Brendan inflated, Leigh instigated, Mom finally noticed, Bree swore”.

Though, as I said before, I’m glad I read the book, I cannot say that I enjoyed it.  Not only did I start dreaming weird, verse-like dreams about drugs, the book left me with a very icky feeling every time I picked it up.  I suppose that’s a good thing –Hopkins doesn’t glamorize the drug (or glamorizes it as little as she can) in order to show the truth about drugs to readers.  And I am the one who is very much against happy endings that are unrealistic, so the ending – which leads readers to believe that Kristina/Bree is/was unable to stay away from meth after her son was born – made me appreciate the book more.  But I found it really difficult to relate to Kristina/Bree.  When she talked about her life pre-drugs, she didn’t make it sound terrible or horrible, so I have trouble understanding how she was so willing to throw it all away.  But then again, I suppose that’s one of the risks of drugs that kids should think about/know about before they even try it once.  In any case, this book will not go on my list of favorite reads ever.

When it comes to books in verse, I’m not sure this book would be as effective if it weren’t written in verse.  However, I was a little afraid that I’d associate all books written in verse with this book, so I read Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ronald Koertge (Candlewick Press, 2003) and I actually liked it.  So I promise I won’t give up on books written in verse completely.  However, I probably won’t read anymore Hopkins books…sorry.