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!

In a Heartbeat

In a Heartbeat
Loretta Ellsworth

I know I love tons of books - in fact, most of the books I blog about are 'favorites', but this one really is top of the line.  It's so good, I've already ordered it for the library where I'm working - it's on my very first book order! (Exciting!!!!)

In a Heartbeat follows two girls:  Eagan and Amelia as their lives change forever.  Eagan is a sixteen year old figure skating phenom who dies in a tragic skating accident.  Amelia is the fourteen year old recipient of Eagan's heart.  The book follows Eagan as she makes sense of the afterlife, and follows Amelia as she deals with the guilt and joy associated with her new heart.  When Ameila starts to crave grape lollipops and wants to learn to skate, she feels inexplicably compelled to find her donor's family.  But the question remains, will Eagan's family want to meet her?  What was Eagan like?  And can Amelia help with the sorrow they feel at their sudden loss, or will her presence in their lives bring back difficult memories?

One of the things I loved about this book were its many great lines.  So many thought provoking ideas coming from teenagers - and they were things only a teenager could think of.  One of my favorites:  "But the fact remained that someone had to die for me to live...and every night at dinner, when my family prayed for a new heart for me, we were praying for that to happen."  Though the book is intended for middle to high school readers, it isn't fluffy.  It deals with big issues.  Amelia really struggles with her 'gift' and Eagan is forced to look back on her life and realize there is more to it than what she could see as a teenager - something we all tend to do as adults (hopefully) - you know, realizing that our parents aren't just 'being mean', seeing their struggles and understanding the sacrifice they made for us.    Unfortunately, Eagan didn't get the chance to make amends before she died, and that's a tough lesson that kids (and adults) need to learn or at least think about.  Hopefully, after reading this book, more people will consider becoming organ donors.  Though there is tragedy involved with it, it is an amazing gift that so many people benefit from.

For more information on organ donation, please visit http://organdonor.gov/

Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen
Catherine Gilbert Murdock

I'm never sure if I read more than the average person, or less than a normal bibliophile, but I feel like I read a lot.  And even though I feel like I read all the time, there are still tons of books I'd like to read and just can't seem to find the time to read them.  So I do what any literature lover would do - I get audiobooks.  I would not recommend audiobooks most of the time - part of my love of reading is the act of getting comfortable and shutting out the world - an act I would not advise while driving.  But in this case, I would highly recommend at least listening to the first disc, or chapter of the audio book (read by Natalie Moore) if only to hear the awesome Wisconsin accent - an accent that I miss terribly since I've moved away from the Midwest.  It is one of the most friendly, unassuming accents in the United States (in my opinion).  Southern accents are all too common, and - to be perfectly honest - I'm always a little afraid that a compliment from someone with a southern accent is actually meant to be criticism.  New York accents make me think of the mafia, and california/surfer accents make me want to sunbathe.  But the Wisconsin/Michigan/Minnesota accents are my favorites.  Might have something to do with  my love of the movies New in Town and Fargo, but it also has to do with my wonderful memories of the amazing people I know from those regions.

Ok, enough about the accent on the audiobook.  The book itself is fantastic - with or without the accent.  It's the story of DJ, a girl whose life has always revolved around two things:  dairy cows and football.  Her older brothers are legendary football players, and she's always loved the game.  Her father runs - or used to run - a dairy farm, but was injured and now DJ and her younger brother do most of (all) the work around the farm.  An old family friend - and the coach of the rival high school Holly - asks DJ to help out his 'star' quarterback, Brian Nelson.  In return for the training help, Brian will help out around the farm doing odd jobs.  DJ reluctantly agrees and not only is a friendship born, but DJ realizes that she has a deep abiding love of football, and just to prove that she can, she decides to go out for the football team.  Dairy Queen is the first in the series of adventures DJ has learning how to actually talk to people, how to deal with life's stress and curveballs, and how to be a female football player.

What caught me about the book is how Murdock used DJ's train of thought and internal monologue to make the reader not only understand her naiveté, but empathize with her.  Thoughts like "You're probably laughing now too.  So what.  I know where your milk comes from, and your hamburgers." DJ is the perfect embodiment of a strong teenage girl - she doesn't care what people think, except when she does.  And in doing something no one else has ever done, DJ does some soul searching to figure out what matters and what doesn't.  She never claims to figure anything out, she just honestly reports what she experiences and how she feels about events and people and people's reactions to events.  She learns not to make assumptions, and learns how hard it is to break free of the assumptions you've made and the assumptions people have made about you.

The rest of the series - Off Season and Front and Center - are definitely on my reading list.  This time, I'll probably sit down with the actual book - now that I have DJ Schwenk's voice in my head to guide me.