Week #14: The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco Stork

I chose this book because it had tons of reviews, although I didn’t read them carefully because sometimes they give away endings. I just skimmed them enough to determine the reviews were good before deciding to read this. There’s nothing worse than getting all comfortable in a blanket with a cup of tea on a crisp fall day and starting a book that is just plain BAD. I am determined to only read GOOD books this fall!

I was not disappointed! I had no idea that the effects of cancer were going to be another theme in this book, as I just read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, but it had a unique plot and cancer was not the main focus of the book, so it ended up being okay.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors is about a Mexican boy named Pancho whose father died in an accident and whose sister was recently found dead in a motel room. Pancho wants to get to the bottom of his sister’s death-- he is convinced she was murdered—and he wants revenge. In the midst of this, he is sent to a religious orgphanage he does not want to go to, where he meets D.Q., a skinny, weak white kid who is suffering from cancer. D.Q. immediately lets Pancho know that they are going to be friends, but Pancho doesn’t understand why and he doesn’t really want to be. All he cares about is seeking revenge on his sister’s killer.

Pancho and D.Q.'s relationship ends up growing anyway, as D.Q. grows sicker and Pancho gets closer to his goal of identifying and confronting his sister's killer. They go to Albaqurqe where D.Q. starts a new cancer treatmet and they also spend time with some other characters including little kids, a love interest, a shaman, and D.Q.'s mom who has been out of the pictures for his whole life.

The relationship between Pancho and D.Q. is the focus of the book, including D.Q.'s attempt to make Pancho a "Death Warrior." D.Q. is writing a manifesto in which he describes how a Death Warrior acts, trying to live up to it himself and trying to get Pancho to buy in to it. For example, D.Q. writes that one should become a Death Warrior "...so you can live and die with truth and courage..." (196).

Pancho is definitely a dynamic character, although not in a fake way. He stays true to his slightly cold character throughout the book, although when he warms up in certain parts the reader really understands why because you know what he's thinking.

This book is a great book,especially for boys. The title kind of turned me off (I thought it was going to be about real warriors fighting) but I was satisfied with the plot and the unique characters.

Would interest: boys and girls grades9-12
Good for: static and dynamic characters, symbolism
Themes: friendship, revenge, belonging, natural healing

My Grade: A

Week #13: Gil Marsh by A.C.E. Bauer

I am still cringing from how awful Gil Marsh by A.C.E Bauer was. It seems like lately I either love what I’m reading or absolutely detest it.

I’ll give the author some credit: this book was an attempt to write a modern version of the 5,000+ year old tale of Gilgamesh, and there were some parallels. That doesn’t make up for the fact that this modern twist of the famous tale was underdeveloped and ridiculously fast paced to the point where it was unbelieveable.

It’s about a teenager named Gil Marsh who is a track star headed toward a National Competition when a new student from Quebec, Enko, moves to his school. Enko is extremely hairy like a beast (which is pointed out many times because it’s supposed to remind you of Enkidu, the man who lived with beasts in Gilgamesh) and also a runner. At first Gil hates him because he’s afraid Enko will steal his thunder, but he grows to become best friends with him. Soon thereafter, Gil is injured and cannot compete in the Nationals, but Enko is still going strong so Gil supports and roots for him. After the competition, Enko suddenly becomes very ill and dies. Gil’s parents do not let him attend his funeral, and Gil is so upset that he runs away to Canada where he’s determined to find the location of the grave (he can't ask Enko's parents because they will tell his parents where he is) and find the man who made Enko’s beloved ring; Enko had told him that the ring was a family heirloom and was made by a man who was immortal. Gil thinks the immortal man can bring Enko back to life.

I won’t give away the ending but I will make some comments about the plot and writing.

First, back to the pace. In the first 38 pages, Gil establishes himself as an athlete, Enko moves to town, Gil hates him, then Gil loves him, they get in trouble with the law, they bond, Enko gets sick, and Enko dies. Can you see how choppy and fast that little description was? Well that’s how it is in the book. It’s difficult to really buy into a strong bond between the two friends when deep and meaningful interactions are scarce and Gil goes from loving him to being best friends in like, 20 pages. Sidenote: Some of the cheesy texts Gil sends Enko right before the Nationals competition imply a bit of homosexual romance: “I’m w/U.” Barf-a-roni. There are other things Gil says later, too, that imply this. I think one time he even said he loved Enko.

Second, most of the story is realistic and Gil’s character seems fairly intelligent until he unbelievably leaves for this journey to find an immortal man in Canada who might be able to bring Enko back to life. Seriously?

Third, for being a fairly smart kid, Gil’s stupidity amazes me. He only brought approx. $200 on this journey to run away to Canada. How long did he think he’d last on this? And why was he buying other people food and not scrounging every penny for himself? This just bothered me. And then he spent all of his money and had no plan as to what he was going to do next besides “find a job somewhere” which any educated person knows would be nearly impossible when he was an illegal alien to Canada! AHHHHH I hate stupid characters who don’t get any smarter by the end!

Finally, the writing was extremely choppy and lacked imagery.

Good for: not much—I don’t even think I’d recommend it to a teacher to use as a companion novel in the classroom, since Gilgamesh is usually taught at upper grade levels and this writing and story are very elementary
Would interest: a boy or girl with a low (6-8th grade) reading level
Themes: immortality, friendship
My grade: D

Week #12: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

Last year, a ninth grade girl in honors English wrote me a letter that said, "I want to read a book that makes me FEEL something." Well, she said a lot more than that, but the point is, I wish this book had been published already because this would've been the perfect recommendation for her. I'll have to find her this year and put it in her hands.

This book was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Awesome. Like Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and An Abundance of Katherines, John Green nailed this one and it won't let you down. It's officially one of my new favorites.

The main character is an intelligent, clever, witty seventeen-year-old girl named Hazel Grace who must suck her oxygen out of a tank because she's terminally ill with cancer.  She's hesitant to start living her life when she knows it's limited by time but all this changes at the beginning of the book when she attends a Cancer Support Group and meets Augustus Waters. With a cigarette in his mouth that he dare not ever light, this young man takes her breath away, and mine too.

I'm not going to go into details about their relationship, as what happens between them and how deeply they're effected by each other is the basis of the entire book. But I will say this: this is not a cheeseball story like you might be imagining. It's deep. And it really makes you think about love and life through the eyes of someone dying. At one point I had tears flooding my face and I just wanted to hug my husband and tell him how much I loved him. (Of course he thought I was just being emotional and obviously didn't understand the context....but if he read the book I bet he'd understand.)

Read it. You won't be disapp

Good for: point of view, symbolism, characterization
Themes: terminally ill, love, death, living, overcoming obstacles
Would interest: boys and girls (but more-so girls because the narrator is a girl)
My grade: A+

Week #11: Miss Timmins' Schools for Girls: A Novel by Nayana Currimbhoy

I'm so sorry that I've been on a hiatus, my loyal fans. A vacation hiking in the Canadian Rockies for two weeks resulted in not much time to read anything other than how to not get eaten by grizzly bears! But it's okay now: I'm back! Perhaps I'm not as motivated as I was, as the school year has just restarted and I'm taking on National Boards (among other stressful things) this year, but I'll continue to do my best here. I may just have to read some books that are not 500 pages long, like this one I just finished!

Holy crap, this book was long. I enjoy reading books that take place in other countries, mostly because I can learn a little about different cultures. Sometimes it's frustrating when I can't understand a lot of the vocabulary used, but this book wasn't so bad. I occasionally came across a word I didn't know, but it didn't stop me from comprehending what was going on. I just wish I had known while reading that there was a glossary of Indian words in the back of the book; instead I realized this after I finished the last page. Whoops.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is told from the main character, Charulata Apte's point of view. She goes to work at a private school for girls in a different region of India from where she is from. The school pushes British influences and ways, and the staff of women consists of some very interesting characters. One particular teacher, Moira Prince, is a very complex character that Charaluta develops a relationship with. In fact, some lesbian romance occurs between them, in addition to drug use. Charulata falls hard for Moira, but is it really True love or just puppy love, since Charulata has never been in a relationship before, or even really had a close girl friend like Moira.

The second part of the book is told from the perspective of one of the girls who attends the school and is in Miss Apte's class. It was refreshing to read another person's "voice", especially that of a teenage girl. The climax of the book is during this part when the girls sneak out of the school (just to rebel) and see Moira Prince on the edge of a big cliff. They see some other characters in the area that night, too, which thickens the plot because after the girls walk away, Moira falls off the cliff and dies. There appears to have been a struggle, and the girls are determined to get to the bottom of this supposed murder case.

The third part of the book is again told from Charulata's perspective. She is also determined to solve the mystery of the murder, since she "loved" Moira (but no one knows this). The reader, however, can't help but wonder if the narrator is somewhat unreliable and played a role in it all. It takes the plot a long time to unravel, literally until the last pages of the book, with some surprises at the end. I was left satisfied with the conclusion but a little frustrated it took so long to reach it.

Overall, this book was good! It's actually an adult book but would definitely interest upper-level YA readers (girls) who are okay with lonnnnnggg books. Because of the sex and drugs, I'd have to recommend it for eleventh and twelfth graders, as these parts may distract a younger or less mature reader from the rest of the book.

As far as depth is concerned, I'm not so sure I can come up with some deep meaning or message to the book. There are definitely some small conclusions you can make  about staying true to one's culture, doing what's best for one's family, and trusting people, but there isn't a huge overall "AHHHHH, that's it!" sort of message like in most YA books I've read. Oh, there are plenty of small conclusions, based on the various sub-stories going on besides the murder mystery: there's a romance with a man, finding the truth about her father's career failure, a very sick mother, slowly becoming an outcast, etc.

I think this one is worth reading if you want a good story and a good mystery, but not if you're looking for a deep message.

Good for: mystery unit, multi-cultural books, setting helping to convey theme
Themes: experimentation, obstacles, remaining true to one's culture, truth, appearance vs. reality,
Would interest: 11th and 12th grade girls who can read lonnnng books
My Grade: B+

Week #10: Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser

Caution: Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!
 
Sometimes I think if I spend enough time thinking about a book before blogging, it will somehow become deeper and ....um....better... Well, this one didn't. I'm disappointed and think I read another dud.

Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser only took me a couple days to read, and I thought it was going to be a lot deeper than it actually was. It's about four main characters: Kyle and Alex (brothers), and Katie and Julie (sisters). The brothers live in Philadelphia, and the sisters live in New Jersey. What brings the four of them together is that they spend their summers with their Russian grandparents in the Catskill Mountains.

Katie is a popular and pretty cheerleader at school, while her sister is shy and never gets the same attention or admiration from their mother. Quite early into the book, Katie's reputation turns sour because of some sexual situations she encounters. (Having sex with multiple people at once so they'll stop sexually harassing you about the last time you had sex with the both of them.....seriously? Probably not the best idea.) Alex has sex with a lot of different girls, using them and losing them, while his brother Kyle is more sentimental and respectful of girls.

Alex is drawn to Katie because she's evidently so reserved, as opposed to all the sluts that he's used to. Katie goes to extremes to keep Alex from finding out about her sexual mistakes. Kyle and Julie have a more child-like relationship, playing card games and swimming together each summer, although this relationship does start to change.

Predictably speaking, Alex finds out about Katie's mistakes. You know this is going to happen; it's just a matter of when and how. I really don't dig all this predictability in YA books.

I found the end of the book extremely depressing and almost all of the characters the opposite of role models for teenagers. The only exception might be Kyle, who remains a good friend to Katie through all of this.

The conclusions the reader is supposed to deduce from this book:
- don't drink a lot and then open your legs
- you can't keep your reputation clean if you sleep around
- if your mom obsesses over looks and popularity, that doesn't mean you should, too
- don't have sex with more than one person at a time in order to get them to stop bugging you (it won't work)
- if you're going to do it anyway, make sure cell phone are off and not recording it
- teenagers need good role models or they probably won't turn out so well

The only positive commentary I will give on this book is that I liked how each chapter was told from one of the main character's perspectives. Kyle's character is the only one who narrates in the second person ("YOU)" which is actually really strange and a little confusing at first, but I guess it's symbolic as he's the least selfish one in the book.

Themes: sex, love, self-esteem, friendship, parental role models
Good for: symbolism, point of view
Would interest: girls and boys (but mostly for girls) grades 9-12
My grade: B

ps- I'm sick of reading cheesy books. Can someone please recommend something GOOD that's appropriate for the YA level and published in 2010 or later? PLEASE?! I'm begging!

Week #9: Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams

You know how everyone has words they don't like? Well maybe you don't understand, but I really don't like the word biscuit in certain contexts. "Nice biscuits." Or beefsteak. Even nugget. Makes me cringe. Anyway, there's a point here, I promise! In this book, Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams, the main character uses the words "mama" and "granddaddy" so many times and each time, for some reason I cringe and I wish she's just say MOM and GRANDPA! "Mama" reminds me of Little House on the Prairie (not that I ever watched it...seriously) or country bumpkin-living. Call me overly critical, but it bugged me every time!

This book is about a 14-year old girl, Lacey, who lives with her MAMA Angela who is simply crazy. It's evident she has mental health problems, basing her whole life on the advice her dead father's (GRANDDADDY's....ugh) ghost gives her. Examples: they can't open the windows because the evil spirits will come in, they have to stockpile food because the world is going to come to an end, and they can't turn lights on. She has also been known to wander around the neighborhood and glare in the neighbors' windows. Yup, she's the freak of the neighborhood, the one everyone whispers about. And poor Lacey has to act like the parent in the house, always taking care of her mother and never having a life of her own.

Most of the book is about Lacey dealing with her mother's state-of-mind and behaviors. She helps to get her mom a job at a local grocery store and when Lacey goes to meet her at the end of her mom's first shift, her mom has disappeared. Lacey searches all over for her, with the help of her first real friend (a boy from school who started talking to her on the bus that day). All of the whining on Lacey's part during the search is really annoying, but at least it leads to a surprising ending, the best part of the book.

In the midst of all this chaos, there are many flashbacks to earlier conversations and events in Lacey and Angela's lives, including many with Aunt Linda, Angela's sister who used to live with them. Aunt Linda was the best thing in Lacey's life, a true mom-like figure, so it scarred Lacey deeply when Angela kicked her out a year ago.

Overall, the plot isn't very complex, although you do really get to see how Lacey became so introverted and timid so props to the author for showing what a parent's mental health problem can do to a child. I'm hesitant to say Lacey is a very dynamic character though; she does make a friend, and she eventually recognizes she needs help finding her mom, but overall she seems static, even at the very end with some comments she makes.

Okay, I haven't complained too much about this book yet so I don't want you to be surprised at the low grade I'm about to give it. Complaints begin here: it's whiny. It's generally shallow. The focus on Aunt Linda leaving gets dragged out through the whole book. The relationship with Lacey's new boy friend seems completely unrealistic and cheesy. Did I mention it's whiny?

Themes: mental illness, depression, children taking on parents' roles, seeking help, escape
Would interest: girls who don't like deep books, someone who wants a fairly quick and easy read
Good for: girls grades 8-10
My grade: C+

Week #8: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

I'm a sucker for award stickers on books. They always drive me in, thinking, "Well, if this book was good enough for a bunch of people to vote for it, I'll probably like it too!"

And so I grabbed Hold Me Closer, Necromancer off the shelf not knowing what to expect, the William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist sticker glimmering in the light. Little did I know it would fall into the supernatural/fantasy genre, which I usually can't stand. This book was okay. Really, just okay. Not super, not horrible...just okay enough for me to finish it and contemplate if I should file it in the "I actually like it" category. Still debating.

It's about a boy, Sam, who dropped out of college and works at a fast food place in Seattle. Due to a little mishap with a potato one night, Sam gets the crap kicked out of him by a mean customer who has noticed a "talent" in Sam that has never before surfaced. Sam is a necromancer and didn't even know it. If you're like me and have no idea what that word means (and if I did, I wouldn't have chosen this book.....cheers to my severe lack of vocabulary.... hint of sarcasm there), a necromancer can apparently bring the dead back as zombie-sorts, and control them.

Anyway, because Sam just learned of his talent and is now in major trouble with the most powerful necromancer in the area, Douglas, (and Douglas means business-- he killed Sam's friend and sent her talking head to him which he now keeps in a bowling bag) he seeks answers to a lot of questions he has, including why this secret has been kept from him. He learns about his mother's past (as well as her unique talents) and is in a time crunch to find and meet some family members. Toward the middle of the book, Sam is kidnapped by Douglas and held captive in a cage with a hot, naked fairy-were that he bonds with. Douglas starts to train Sam on how to use his powers, but things get out of control and soon Sam and his new powers are truly put to the test.

The author's writing style is fun and witty, and very light considering some of the deaths that occur. I have to admit, I was confused by what seemed to be a parallel story plot at the beginning of the book. I hate it when books and movies do that: you're following a story line and are really invested in it when all of a sudden new characters and a completely different plot are introduced. Then you have to wait, wait, wait until the two plots are somehow going to become linked together later because they always are. In the meantime, it's so frustrating as you wonder how much this other plot really matters and how closely you should be paying attention to names and details.  By the time the connection is revealed, you feel like you need to go back and reread a good portion of the beginning because you're like, "Damn, I should've paid more more attention to [whatever you didn't play attention to because you were mad the author did this]!" SO FRUSTRATING!

I did think the pacing of the book was at times uneven, as it slowed down a little in the middle, and then a major action scene toward the end was over in a flash.

I will, however, compliment the author's creativity in coming up with all these different characters and finding a way to wind them together-- witches, werewolves, fairies, necromancers, and other creatures. Most of the characters were strong and unique, which made their interactions interesting.

I'm not so sure my high school population that requests books about werewolves would actually go for this one, as it's kind of long and a lot different from something like Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. It is, however, amusing if you can set aside your confusion enough to get to where the two plots converge. I feel a sequel coming, too. (I probably won't read it though. I mean, the zombie panda finally died and I was really depressed about that...)

Themes: identity, good vs. evil
Would interest: boys and girls, grades 9-12, motivated readers who like realistic books mixed with some fantasy
Good for: a fun read
My grade: B

Week #7: In Too Deep by Amanda Grace

Yuck. Boooo.

I had a hard time getting through this one, especially after reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children that had so much depth to it. This one was too shallow.

It's about a senior in high school, Samantha, who is secretly in love with her best friend/next door neighbor Nick. The book starts out with her getting ready for a party, and the reader learns how she's dressing to impress a football star (Carter) so he'll flirt with her and she can make Nick jealous. She drinks too much at the party, ends up in Carter's bedroom, and is rejected by him in a nasty, nasty way right before she falls over and bangs her head, ripping her clothes on furniture. She exits the bedroom in tears, and the school's gossip girl jumps to conclusions that Carter raped Samantha; Samantha nods her head yes, even though she's drunk and didn't even know what she was saying "yes" to.

The rest of the book (not long, only 228 pages) is about the rumor spiraling out of control and Samantha's inability to set everyone straight for this reason or that. For a little while Samantha thinks maybe Carter deserves some of this treatment and being thrown off his gold pedestal, since she learns how he said and did awful things to other girls, too. Still, she has to suffer the repercussions of her lie, including harassment by sports jocks, damage done to her car, and more.

At the same time, there are two other smaller storylines going on: Samantha and Nick's growing romance, and Samantha's relationship with her controlling army-sargeant-like father. Samantha needs to learn to make her own decisions, gain self-confidence, and believe in herself. The conclusion is predictable and it's disappointing how it rolls out.

I chose this book because the summary on the back drew me in, but I was disappointed. The major storyline lacked depth and it was obnoxious to be in Samantha's head the whole time, hearing the same thoughts over and over and over. "I need to tell the truth, I need to tell the truth, I need to tell the truth." Shut up already and do it! And think something else more interesting, too!

As a reader, you already know nothing good is going to come from this mess of lies. It's just a matter of finding out how destructive it will be. The whole message about how rumors are bad and can spiral out of control to ruin lives (like I said, not deep at all) can be predicted as soon as Samantha leaves the party on page 20.


Good for: someone who likes to start rumors and needs to gain some perspective by reading an example.....that's it.
Would interest: girls grades 8-10
Themes: rumors and gossip, truth, harassment
My grade: B-

Week 6: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

You've got to read this one!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is the best book I've read so far on this blogging journey! Fantasy....not usually my genre of choice, but this is one that caught me by surprise, and I have a feeling it's going to be big!

It's about a teenager named Jacob. His grandfather dies at the beginning of the book under somewhat mysterious circumstances, but right before he dies, he whispers some jibberish to Jacob who has spent his life debating whether or not his grandpa is crazy. Jacob also finds a letter from a woman his grandfather knew, and this leads him (along with his dad) on a journey to an island near Wales where his grandfather grew up. While Jacob tries to make sense of the jibberish his grandfather had muttered and put together some puzzle pieces, Jacob learns about a whole other realm, causing a lot of drama along the way.

There are mysteries to be figured out, and a great deal of suspense in this book. As I was reading I was thinking about how during almost every part of the book, there was something left unresolved, or some mystery that I knew was about to be revealed-- great motivation to keep reading! I didn't want to put it down! It didn't drag on or ever slow down, and one of the coolest characteristics of this book was that entwined with the story were old-looking/vintage photographs of children, drawings, scenes mentioned, and more. Jacob described the photographs of his grandfather's that he came across, and while the reader can sort of come up with a mental image based on the descriptions, (like a boy who had bees living in his stomach), the picture made the vision so much clearer so you can really understand why Jacob thought that it may or may not have been photoshopped or altered.

I was worried that all of my questions wouldn't be answered by the end, but indeed they were. The explanations were sometimes so complex that I had to reread particular parts. The storyline was obviously well-thought-out, and a sequel is coming in Spring 2013. (Why wouldn't the author write a a sequel? This one was a NY Times Bestseller!) I just consulted my old friend Wikipedia, and it appears that the movie rights have been bought, too. Like I said, I know this is going to be big!

This book is great for any reader, and I think adults would even really like it. Check out Ransom Rigg's book trailer below, and you'll be hooked!

Would interest: both boys and girls, grades 7-12, and adults
Good for: a general good book, suspense, mystery,
Themes: acceptance, death, exploration, reality
My grade: A

Week #5: Tunnel Vision by Susan Shaw

As opposed to the last book I read, Tunnel Vision by Susan Shaw was really good! I chose it because the summary in the inside cover sounded captivating, and I read it in just a few days. I didn’t want to spread it out over a week; the suspense all the way to the ending made me want to keep reading. 

The first couple pages of the book drew me into the plot right away. The protagonist, Liza, is walking home through a tunnel when she passes a group of men. When they start yelling at her, she runs to her home which is right outside the end of the tunnel. Her mom is working outside, and one of the men shoots a gun, presumably aiming for Liza but killing her mom instead. Along with Liza's character, the reader is left wondering, "Why are they trying to kill her? What are we missing?" The answer to those questions are what keep you reading!

The rest of the book is about Liza and her father on the run. They are tangled in an inescapable web, hiding in the witness protection program but never staying anywhere for too long because Liza’s red hair and tall, athletic stature keep giving her away. The media constantly features news stories on tv and articles in magazines and papers about the father and daughter who are missing, and they offer an award to anyone who finds them. All currents seem to be working against them, and as Liza is grieving the loss of her mother and hiding at the same time, she finds it difficult to trust anyone, as they may be working for “The Core,” or the group of men that’s hunting her.

The only problem I found with this fast-paced book was that it didn't have an obvious climax. It’s a lot of run, run, running, and a bit of a mystery as you (and Liza) try to figure out why The Core wants to kill her. The mystery unravels at the end, although I didn’t feel like there was enough closure to leave me satisfied. At least it’s not one of those predictable endings where everyone lives happily ever after. (Gag me, please.) That’s all I’ll say.

There’s an occasional difficult vocabulary word here and there, but it’s a pretty simple and straight-forward book with a lot of stream of consciousness narration. You may get annoyed that the action in the middle slows down a bit, but the fact that you’re constantly trying to figure out the mystery and learn what the conclusion will be keeps you reading.

Themes: hiding, grief, murder and crime, trust

Good for: reading for fun (doesn’t clearly/easily follow a plot development chart because it lacks a major climax, and Liza is not dynamic enough to really study her)

Would interest: boys and girls grades 8-11, reluctant readers (although it’s a bit longer than most books I’d recommend for them)

My grade: A-

Week #4 1/2: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

After reading Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why that hooked me from the beginning and had what I thought was a great story line, and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Mackler which I also thought was great and fairly deep, I was sure this was going to be another one that I couldn’t put down.

Wrong.

It takes place in 1996 and is about a girl, Emma, who is given an AOL cd-rom to load onto her computer. When she signs on for the first time, it opens up to Facebook which wasn’t even invented yet. She and her friend Josh figure out what Facebook is and determine that the “Emma” and “Josh” that they’re seeing on there are actually them in the future. They keep checking their status updates, home towns, and relationship information as it changes almost daily based on decisions (even small and seemingly insignificant, like throwing some water on a carpet) they make. Emma’s status updates are almost always based on her relationship with whoever she’s married to, and they’re always miserable. Josh is seemingly destined to marry a girl he already knows and have a wonderful life with her. Most of the book is based on Emma trying to change the present so that she’ll be happy in the future, and Josh trying to figure out how his actions in the present will ensure his future with Miss Perfect is indeed bright.

What bugged me the most about this book was that it was full of all that high school drama I’m always trying to steer students away from. I don’t think that high school students should be worrying about who they’re going to marry and how many kids they’re going to have, but this book falls right into that drama trap! I found it SO ridiculous that I actually laughed out loud in horror when Emma, a junior in high school, cried out, “So I can end up unemployed at thirty-one like the first time we checked [Facebook]? Or angry that my husband spends all my money when I do have a job?” (134).

Seriously? Worrying about all this in high school? Lord help us.

As I read some reviews of this book, all for the most part positive, I tried to step outside my critical mind to see what other critics liked (ummm….yeah….I’m a critic now too, right?!). School Library Journal’s review had mentioned that the first-person narration back and forth between Emma and Josh gave the book a sense of urgency. Nah. I disagree. It was amusing, but I don’t think it led to any sense of urgency. I was actually confused at times.

 Booklist said it’s “clever” (agree) and “timely” (agree) and “will attract any teen with a Facebook account” (disagree…the cheesiness overrules all else).  I’m going to agree with Kirkus Review on this one, remarking that “Focusing almost entirely on the teens' future love lives, the authors neglect 1996-era subplots involving the teens' friends and families that might have given the story additional depth and immediacy.”  * Nodding my head YES. * Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Themes: today affecting tomorrow

Good for: boys and girls grades 8-10....but mostly girls since it focuses so much on future marriage and kids

Would interest: shallow readers who like to be caught up in lame romantic drama

My grade: C-

Boo.

Week #4: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Wow. What a long book. 470 pages later, I’m still thinking about what the point was.

It’s about a teenage girl named Samantha who dies at the beginning of the book, but instead of going to heaven or hell or limbo or wherever characters usually go when they die, she relives the day she dies. Over and over and over. And over. Oh, and over a few more times after that. There’s no logic or scientific reasoning to it; it just keeps happening, like the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. When she changes certain things, hoping to change the outcome of her death, she becomes a dynamic character and by the end you no longer hate her for the conceited, selfish, narcissistic witch that she is. Did I mention how much I HATED her? And by the way, the fact that I hated her so much really made me want to throw the book against the wall. I like a character with multiple facades to him/her, one that I can think deeply about, weigh the positives and negatives, and make my mind up about. Samantha Kingston is not that character. I hated her from literally the first page when she snapped at her little sister. And by the end, I still hated her because I remembered what she was like at the beginning.

The day she relives consists of various interactions with her friends and family: her little sister Izzy with a lisp who is somehow still the most self-confident character in the book, her three best friends who each have problems of their own, her shallow boyfriend who has been waiting for her to have sex with him, a childhood friend who just could be something really special if she lets him, a hot teacher who she has a secret crush on, a girl with steel-tipped black boots who locks herself in the bathroom every day to smoke pot, a quiet girl who is bullied,… the list goes on. And on. And on some more. Remember, the book is almost 500 pages long.

When I think waaaaay back to the first couple chapters, I remember thinking how slow the story was. It was so detailed that I thought, “What’s the point? WHY? STOP TORTURING ME!” If you can stick with it, the pace picks up, and by the end, you’re wondering if the theme is going to be based on if she can change her fate or not. I won’t spoil it.

Unrealistic books like this are not usually my cup of tea, but the plot of this one wasn’t as bad as others because I found it fairly easy to relate to some of the characters. I started reflecting on my years in high school, thinking about who the Samantha Kingston clique of my class was made up of and what sorts of issues they could’ve been concealing. I thought about the bullying that occurred around me and what I would’ve changed had I been given the change to relive certain moments with people. And then I wondered if changing anything would’ve affected any outcomes. And THEN I got mad thinking about things I can’t change anyway, and I remembered why I didn’t like the premise of the book.

As you can see, I have mixed feelings about this book. I am struggling between giving it an A- or a B+. I guess I’ll give it an A- because it’ll make you self-reflect and maybe start thinking twice about decisions and relationships. That is, if you come to the conclusion that you can change fate. The end is screwed up and I’m not quite sure I totally got the point or the message.

Because it’s so long and hard to get in to, it’s not a good pick for a reluctant reader. It lacks multicultural characters, too.

I would, however, recommend it for girls who are avid readers, perhaps those who liked the Sarah Dessen books.

Themes: bullying, self-reflection, impact of choices, friendship, suicide, popularity, loss, sacrifice

Good for: reader self-reflection, character analysis

Would interest: girls grades 8-12 who are avid readers and can handle lonnnnng books

My grade: A-

Week #3: Once by Morris Gleitzman

I wasn't sure if this book was going to meet my criteria of 2010 or later, since it was first published in Australia in 2005. The inside cover said it was published in the U.S. in 2010, so I thought I'd let it slide.

I knew this was going to be a Holocaust book, but I really had no idea what to expect. I usually don't like historical fiction, but I really liked this book.

It's about a young boy (younger than 10) named Felix who is Jewish. His parents have left him at an orphanage with nuns and he's been there for three or four years, convinced that his parents are going to come back for him. Felix is a story-teller: he has a vivid imagination mixed with a child's naivety, he tells stories to everyone, and what he thinks is logical reasoning to his stories leads him to believe many of them are true. For example, when Felix finds a carrot in his soup, he's convinced that his parents sent it as a sign that they're still alive because carrots are his favorite vegetable. This inspires him to run away and find his parents.

Throughout the story, the reader is exposed to the horrors of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust going on in Poland while witnessing Felix trying to make sense of it. It's depressing. It really is. The dichotomy between his perception and the reality is heart-wrenching.

It's no Night by Elie Wiesel in the sense that it's definitely not as graphic, and it's not based on the author's real encounters. But just as I teared up reading Night, I admit I teared up while reading Once, as Felix took pages out of his beloved notebook of stories he had written and gave them to an old woman on the train car who didn't have any toilet paper. Okay, writing this I can see how you might think it's sort of ridiculous that that part was so emotional, but if you read the book and understand the context, you'll understand.

Parts of Once reminded me of Life is Beautiful, the Italian movie with the father trying to shield his son from a Nazi death camp. I watched that movie in high school, and this book would've been a perfect companion.

Once is short (163 pages), easy to read, and exposes the reader to the horrors of the Holocaust in a way that's appropriate for young adults learning about it for the first time. It gives you a realistic picture of what this time period was like for children, and it's very emotional. It's a Sydney Taylor Honor Award book (Association of Jewish Libraries) and I definitely recommend it.

Themes: horrors of war, survival, coming of age, ethics of lying, book burnings/censorship, morality, human rights
Good for: Social Studies classes learning about the Holocaust, point of view, symbolism
Would interest: boys and girls grades 8-12
My grade: A


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