This plot-driven YA thriller was fine to listen to on audiobook, although I doubt I would have finished it if I were reading on the page. I found the This plot-driven YA thriller was fine to listen to on audiobook, although I doubt I would have finished it if I were reading on the page. I found the plotting a bit predictable, the characters sometimes dense and stereotypical. That's me, though; I would recommend this to teens who seek a fast-moving, dystopian read....more
zarr wins again with a convincing portrait of a pastor's daughter who sees brokenness every where. I found the revival of faith toward the end less pezarr wins again with a convincing portrait of a pastor's daughter who sees brokenness every where. I found the revival of faith toward the end less persuasive than the lower-key role of Christianity in Story of a Girl....more
strong plotting and interesting premise. characters--and their worries, commitments, and choices--were less compelling. I object in particular to the strong plotting and interesting premise. characters--and their worries, commitments, and choices--were less compelling. I object in particular to the portrayal of minority experiences (Latino, Indian American, African American). While I admire the attempt to offer a diverse cast of characters, too many of the characters' actions were "motivated" by stereotypes....more
I grabbed SPLIT on an impulse and didn't have many specific expectations, but halfway through, I was reading the author's bio because she SO persuasivI grabbed SPLIT on an impulse and didn't have many specific expectations, but halfway through, I was reading the author's bio because she SO persuasively writes from a male perspective, something I admire extra much because I know how challenging it was for me in THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY.
The plotting of the novel is excellent, with each thread of the story propelling the action forward. There's a count-down dimension that ups the tension considerably. The book has a wildly upbeat ending for a book about domestic violence, but it's an ending that is earned by the protag's incremental growth through the course of the novel.
This is a no-brainer choice/recommendation for fans of Chris Crutcher--the voice of the novel really reminded me of WHALE TALK....more
I was drawn right into Blink's part of the story, which is told compellingly (against all odds!) in the 2nd person ("you are wearing the Blessed BreakI was drawn right into Blink's part of the story, which is told compellingly (against all odds!) in the 2nd person ("you are wearing the Blessed Breakfast Clothes"); it took me a little longer to warm to Caution's narrative. I liked the chemistry between them and the pacing of the thrills in this novel. It's more subdued than most "thrillers," though, so be aware that a lot of what readers will connect to here are the portraits of teens on the run (Blink from a deadbeat stepdad, Caution from her past). As far as homelessness/life on the streets goes, this is a great book to pair with Steven Brezenoff's BROOKLYN, BURNING....more
I read Anne Frank's diary several times as a preteen, but Sharon Dogar offers something new, here, especially in Part II, which imagines Peter's experI read Anne Frank's diary several times as a preteen, but Sharon Dogar offers something new, here, especially in Part II, which imagines Peter's experience in the camps. As a writer, one of the things I appreciated most was how Dogar captured Peter's personality and worldview, how she gave him a powerful, distinct voice in spite of his shyness. The narrative pulses with his will--and his right--to live.
The only gripe I had was with the chapter headings (e.g. "Peter Dreams of Lisa," "Peter Is in Love with Anne"). They seemed unnecessary and intrusive, but perhaps that wouldn't be the case in a paper book rather than in audio; the reader's eyes might fly right past these markers.
FYI: I listened to Annexed on audiobook, and it's wonderfully produced with a large cast. Usually I don't like "performed" audiobooks, but it works here....more
This is a very special book, and not just because it received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews calling it "a stirring and thought-provoking accounThis is a very special book, and not just because it received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews calling it "a stirring and thought-provoking account of an unsung figure in 20th-century American history." In these pages, Lewis Michaux emerges as both a flawed human being living in difficult times and as a player in some of the most important events of African-American and American life over 30 years.
As a novel "in documents," No Crystal Stair weaves together actual materials (articles, FBI files, pamphlets, bits of poetry) with journal-type entries from Lewis Michaux, his family members, prominent authors, and many other figures (some historical, some imagined) that he crosses paths with in the pages of the novel. For example, we hear from the banker who turns him down for a loan when he wants to start the bookstore; from his sister-in-law who disapproves of his politics and doubts his faith; from authors on the rise, like Nikki Giovanni; from reporters; and (my favorite!) from teenagers who get turned onto books because of his recommendations.
Not all the voices in the novel are perfectly distinct, but that's okay. Because by the end, we've got a gorgeous portrait of a life that's full of nuggets of wisdom, little-known facts about life in Harlem, spot-on portrayals of debates on race and civil rights (integration or independence? accomodation or confrontation? violence or patience?), and anecdotes that you'll want to tuck into the pockets of your heart. A few of my favorite quotations from the book:
Lewis: "If a sexy book gets them in the door, I'll show them a sexy book. Then I'll show them Douglass or DuBois or something else of value. If you're in the book business, you've got to sell books."
Lewis: "I found out who the real Lord is. That is the landlord. He comes to see me every month. So praying doesn't get it. Work gets it. And I'm working hard."
Elder Lightfoot, Lewis's brother: "If there's no devil, who gets the credit for raising all the hell?� and “Be willing to help anybody who is down, but don't go down helping him.�
Snooze (teenage male): "Man, how does Hughes know this stuff? It's like he's inside my head. Like he's reading my mind. I, too, sing America. I read it over and over. It carves itself deep in my mind 'til it sticks. I can't shake it. Don't want to."
Lewis: "Until the neglected and the rejected are accepted and respected, there's gonna be no damn peace . . . nowhere! Only a tree will stand still while it's being chopped down" (after assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.).
This is a book with much, much heart. In addition to being lovingly executed, it's flawlessly researched. It's a beautiful example of multi-genre research that teachers can share with students of all ages. Tom Romano--the guru of multi-genre research--would be thrilled with this book....more
This book hooks you and will not let you go until you see Polly and Odd down the road.
The star here is the voice of the narrator, Polly. Polly after aThis book hooks you and will not let you go until you see Polly and Odd down the road.
The star here is the voice of the narrator, Polly. Polly after a brush with death via flesh-eating bacteria. Polly who no longer has The Plan. She is raw, cynical, and stalled in a place that's scary and looks very different with only one eye.
Because she's been robbed of The Plan, Polly has also been freed from The Plan. Freed to think thoughts that would have been off limits to the Polly who was nice because she had to be, not because she wanted to be. Who had the boyfriend she thought she wanted to marry, but never thought too hard about.
For me, those thoughts were just delicious--pitch-perfect but also provocative. I love a character who teaches me something. And not just Big Thoughts. Crazy facts, which I believe are Blythe Woolston's secret specialty.
But there's more credit to spread around; it's the trip with Odd (who is) that lets Polly discover the difference between being robbed and being freed. Odd needs tending, and the kind of tending that he needs opens up that place in Polly that can let her move her story down the road.
In case you were wondering, there's not a romance that opens up between the two; it's a book about the push and pull of unexpected friendship (and what happens when you put two very different people in a car for an extended period of time). BUT, for those of us who think about what might be down the road... Polly does think of him as her "beautiful Odd." I think there are some more road trips in their future.
Gorgeous storytelling and incredible voice. Catch and Release is not to be missed....more
I admired Jordan Sonnenblick before I even knew his books. Like me, he put in a number of years teaching in the public schools of Houston through TeacI admired Jordan Sonnenblick before I even knew his books. Like me, he put in a number of years teaching in the public schools of Houston through Teach For America. Plus he's a funny, unassuming guy who is unstinting when it comes to sharing his experiences. Among other things, he gave me heaps of advice about managing publicity and pulling off high-quality author visits.
Maybe all this awesomeness contributed to the moment of fear that struck my first-time-author heart: what if I don't like the work as much as I like the person?
Not to fear, though: Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie and the companion novel After Ever After hit all the right notes. These are middle-grade fiction at its best. Put it out there for guys or girls. Serve it up in class or outside. These books are real without crossing any of those tricky boundaries that are so worrisome for librarians and teachers of the younger crowd.
I accidentally listened to these books out of order, hearing Jeffrey's story in After Ever After before Steven's in D, G, and DP. It didn't really matter, though, because After Ever After really is a companion book, not a sequel, and nothing is lost for readers who haven't read D,G, and DP. The self-deprecating humor and general wholesomeness of the guys is a common thread, but Steven and Jeffrey's challenges, strengths, and outlooks are appropriately distinguished. Together, the two novels offer a view of how childhood cancer affects--and continues to affect--families.
After Ever After in particular helps readers think about something that they might not consider: the many costs and complications of life for a childhood cancer survivor. Jeffrey and his friend Tad (also a cancer survivor) have to live with side effects from treatment that touch everything from their fine motor control to their walking ability, their memory to their problem-solving skills. (FYI I was intrigued to hear mention of Gleevec as a treatment for one of the boys as this is the medication my Dad has been on as a treatment for gastrointestinal cancer.)
For all their differences, both Steven and Jeffrey are sweet but not TOO sweet boys. The books are clean but not squeaky; Sonnenblick's pitch-perfect voice keeps the reader from ever thinking for a second that the writer is writing at a younger audience. This is writing for middle-grade readers at its best.
I know I mentioned the humor already, but really. Really. So funny. Like Tad in After Ever After calling his little sister the "emergency replacement child" that his parents cooked up just in case he croaked. In light of my colossal inability to generate humor, this kind of funny floors me....more
I just finished listening to Chris Crutcher’s Deadline, and doing so was both a pleasure (I’ve loved Chris Crutcher since listening to his fabulous WhI just finished listening to Chris Crutcher’s Deadline, and doing so was both a pleasure (I’ve loved Chris Crutcher since listening to his fabulous Whale Talk) and a chance to think about the relationship between realism and diversity in YA.
You might be wondering where diversity would come into play in the white, white world of Trout, Idaho, where the book is set. And that’s what I love about this book: it’s true to its rural setting without giving up on the idea that diversity matters. Ben is white, as are almost all of the kids at his school and in his town. But—like my younger self growing up in rural East Texas—he cares about what’s happening in the rest of the world.
He’s fascinated by The Autobiography of Malcom X as well as Lies My Teacher Told Me, both of which influence him to discover the subtext of discrimination and prejudice in his hometown. (Without, by the way, ceasing to care deeply about the town and his neighbors.) BTW, I’m guessing that the cranky Kirkus reviewer who criticized “Crutcher’s heavy-handed lessons on the ills of racial prejudice and the need for gun control� read the good ole boy attitude of some of Trout’s citizens as exaggerated. I don’t think it was. And for the record, I’m from Kilgore, Texas, a town where the concentration of Republicans and guns is just about as heavy as it gets. (I still love you, East Texas.)
Now, there are many other things I enjoyed about Deadline, including Ben’s self-deprecating sense of humor and his dream conversations with a wise man who goes by Hey-Soos. (Yes, Ben’s therapist helpfully points out that Hey-Soos is phonetically identical to the Spanish pronunciation of Jesus.) They talk about free will, moral relativism, relationships, and how premarital sex can be healing for Dallas, who turns out to have survived sexual abuse. Fascinating stuff that leaves readers thinking.
So: the challenge of embracing a diverse world from a not-so-diverse corner of that world isn’t the focus of Deadline, but it is there. And it’s there in such a way that it never subverts the realism of Crutcher’s world....more
Steve Brezenoff's latest novel, Brooklyn, Burning, sets the bar high for punk-friendly, slacker-sweet, gender-indifferent YA. And it takes on the issuSteve Brezenoff's latest novel, Brooklyn, Burning, sets the bar high for punk-friendly, slacker-sweet, gender-indifferent YA. And it takes on the issues facing many LGBT teens in the wisest way possible: by refusing to make those issues all that the book is about.
Brooklyn, Burning's strongest statement about gender and sexual identity comes through what goes unsaid. The biological sex of the two main characters is never explicitly identified, and the "you" and "I" and strategic phrasing that make this possible work without calling too much attention to themselves. And yet, of course, the reader notices what has been strategically elided. But by the end, we're convinced (or at least I was) that a love story can be a love story without being the story of boy meets girl (or boy meets boy, or girl meets girl). It's kind of like Georges Perec proving that a novel can be written without the letter "e" (L'Apparition). Only maybe less extreme. And a bit more to the point. But you know what I mean.
I, for one, stand in awe. Brooklyn, Burning belongs in library collections, bookstores, and your bookshelf. So get on that. ...more
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa Bick takes hold of you and doesn't let you go until the very last page. I'm proof: I read it in two sittings. Even knowing tDrowning Instinct by Ilsa Bick takes hold of you and doesn't let you go until the very last page. I'm proof: I read it in two sittings. Even knowing that Liam would be up at 7:00, I stayed up till 3:00 in the morning to finish it. Here's the description, courtesy of NetGalley.com:
There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)
Jenna Lord's first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.
There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)
Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain...magnetism.
And there are stories where it's hard to be sure who's a prince and who's a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)
Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.
Where to begin? As an author, I stand in awe of the number of plot threads Bick weaves masterfully together here. As a reader, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. And the writing--it's good. Really good. This book works on so many different levels. It's hard to know how to talk about it without spoiling things. So let me tell you about a few things I loved:
The conceit: Jenna Lord is telling her story aloud into a hand-held recorder given to her by a police detective who has asked her for the truth about what happened. She's in a hospital emergency room. There's been an accident; she doesn't know if she's in trouble or if she's the victim. And by the time she finishes the story--when we have all the pieces--we still don't know, exactly. But in a good way.
The nuances: As you can tell from the description, there's a teacher-student involvement in this novel. As a former high-school teacher, usually I steer way, way clear from these stories because they just piss me off. And at first, I wanted to shout at Mitch Anderson, "Never, ever, EVER have a student over to your house alone. Do NOT let her shower in your bathroom. Do NOT cook her breakfast." But gradually we come to see him in his flaws and his needs, to understand his motivations, however flawed. Also Blick deals with cutting, grief, sexual abuse, and lots of other serious stuff with subtlty and wisdom.·
The voice: Jenna Lord reminds me of the girl from Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why. Maybe it's the similarity of the conceit, the simultaneous closeness to the listener (Jenna addresses the detective directly from time to time) and distance from events since they're being narrated after the fact). But Jenna is smart, self-aware, and astute. The language of the book is just right for her.
The suspense: There was so much of it. Seriously. I had a list of questions about a mile long and it felt urgent to find out how everything could come together. Bick parcels out some of the secrets partway through, but there are always more brewing...
This book is one you don't want to miss.
Note: This review is of the uncorrected NetGalley proof of Drowning Instinct. The official release date for the book is February 1,·2012....more
This is the third book following the misbehaviors and adventures of Cyd Cherisse, which begin in Gingerbread and continue in Shrimp.
C.C. aggravates thThis is the third book following the misbehaviors and adventures of Cyd Cherisse, which begin in Gingerbread and continue in Shrimp.
C.C. aggravates the hell out of me a lot of the time, being all rich-girl angsty and so on, but she ends up scootching toward “responsible� with each book without turning all goody two shoes. Plus, who wouldn’t eventually love an avowed bad girl in miniskirts and combat boots who also carries a rag doll (Gingerbread) around in a metal lunchbox and makes friends with old people with names like Sugar Pie?
If you enjoy snarky humor or are looking for books that unpack the real challenges of coming from a wealthy family and yet wanting to chart a unique course, check out this trio of novels.
Bonus: the narrator for the audio version of all three books is just great. Her voice is a cross between the Nanny (Fran something or other—you folks who grew up in the nineties know who I mean) and a sexy French teacher. So much better than my description would seem to suggest. ...more
Okay, so it's a book about a (fictional) Olympic gold medalist in swimming. Hmmm. Snooze. Sports bio? Blech. But not so fast... the thing that some crOkay, so it's a book about a (fictional) Olympic gold medalist in swimming. Hmmm. Snooze. Sports bio? Blech. But not so fast... the thing that some crankypants on goodreads don't like--that the book is not really all "about" swimming--is what I like about it best. Swimming forms an exquisite backdrop for what is really the story of being Philomena, seeing the world as she sees it. There are healthy doses of family drama here. I'd recommend it for anyone who liked Jenny Downham's Before I Die or for people (like me) who can listen to the sad Sulfjan Stevens cancer song ("Casimir Pulaski Day") over and over for a good cry.
I could cite the Kirkus·review's final line to sum up my overall reaction: "Flags a little at the finish line, but nonetheless well worth plunging into." But when you put it like that... well, it makes it sound like a book a lot less worth reading than it really is. So I'll go with the final line of the Publishers Weekly review, which is what convinced me to check out the book in the first place: "It's worth reading for the prose alone."
It's true that the novel doesn't really end, it sort of just sputters to a stop. Okay, that's not awesome. I wish Keegan and her editor had worked it over one more time to find the right final note, the right final movement.
BUT let's remember how hard endings are and focus on all the (many!) things this book gets right. I mean, the speaker Philomena is brutally honest and funny in a way I only dream of....more
Graham's hands let him do some crazy things. Yes, Graham comes off as a bit dense, but there's something to be said for this: extraordinary gifts are Graham's hands let him do some crazy things. Yes, Graham comes off as a bit dense, but there's something to be said for this: extraordinary gifts are sometimes more extraordinary because of the ordinariness of those who possess them.
I recommend this on audio--great British narrator....more
This book offers a quirky glimpse at the city zine scene for teens. I listened to it on audio some time ago and don't remember it vividly, but I do reThis book offers a quirky glimpse at the city zine scene for teens. I listened to it on audio some time ago and don't remember it vividly, but I do remember thinking that it was something different and a little fresh. A quiet plot. ...more
I'm not a huge reader of fantasy titles, but this one pulled me in. Sure, the library research on fairies dragged a bit, and there was some awkward wrI'm not a huge reader of fantasy titles, but this one pulled me in. Sure, the library research on fairies dragged a bit, and there was some awkward writing. But I liked the girl/guy dynamic infinitely more than in other titles (ahem, Twilight) where the swoon factor is impossible for me even to comprehend....more
Loading...
