Rob Thomas (not the musician) Owns My Heart Forever

Mr. Kiss and Tell.  Someone whom Veronica hadn't been able to save during high school is brutally sexually assaulted.  Even though the survivor doesn't want Veronica on the case, she finds herself drawn in, pushing Veronica to the point in which she may have to break some of her own rules.

Unlike the first book, The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, that continues Veronica Mars's story post-movie, Mr. Kiss and Tell is not narrated by Kristen Bell.  This automatically made the audiobook a disappointment.

Mr. Kiss and Tell is narrated by Rebecca Lowman, who I know best for narrating several of the books by Rainbow Rowell, including Fangirl and Eleanor & Park.  She's a great reader.  She has a wonderful way of drawing out the emotional resonance of a story (which is why she's a great match for Rowell's audiobooks).  But, she couldn't really capture any of Veronica's toughness or sass.

*Vague spoiler*  It is also worth noting that the title of the book does come from a plot point in the story.  I like the title, but when the name was introduced into the story, I felt like a part of the mystery was lost...because it was obvious who the primary suspect would be.  *End vague spoiler*

Now begins the wait for the next book....

Tasty Rating:  !!!

Audiobook Review: Lockwood and Co. (The Screaming Staircase AND The Whispering Skull)

After her career ends tragically, Lucy moves to London looking for a new beginning and a new job as a ghost hunter.  She manages to find a home at the small agency Lockwood and Co.  Her only co-workers are Lockwood himself and a boy named George.  Together they seek jobs to seek out and put to rest ghosts.

Set in a world where iron is sold for its ability to fend off ghosts and where only children and teens can detect ghosts, it's up to those with special senses to seek them out while most of the adults remain safely inside.  Ghost hunters' services are desperately needed, because the world has been faced with "The Problem" of ghosts emerging everywhere for several decades now.

Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood and Co. series is action packed and fun to read.  I stayed up late to finish reading The Screaming Staircase.  Though my excitement dwindled a little with The Whispering Skull, I will be on the lookout for the third book in the series (The Hollow Boy--due out in September of 2015!).

A new friend had recommended this series to me.  She's a children's librarian at at a local school.  I'll admit, part of my goal was to assess her judgement.  I downloaded The Screaming Staircase  on Audible.  At first, I struggled to get into it.  This can probably be blamed on my tendency to multitask more than the story itself.  I actually stopped listening for several days.  But, eventually, I decided it was worth a second chance and restarted the story from the beginning.  This time, the exchanges between Lockwood and Lucy as they battled a ghost caught my interest and I became more hooked as the story continued.   Suffice to say, my friend passed with flying colors and I'll be talking about more middle grade children's books with her.

My biggest issue with this series is the setting.  Not the location--London is perfect for some ghostly adventures.  The timing though.  Every time a television was mention I was taken out of the reading.  It felt like this book should have been set in the early 1900s, or at least before 1940.

As I was reading, I was vaguely reminded of Maureen Johnson's Shades of London series.  (Admittedly, the similarities pretty much end at ghosts + London.  But still, while waiting for the next book in one series, you can get hooked to another.  Story of my life.  Truth.)

Tasty Rating:  !!!. (3.5--four explanation points for The Screaming Staircase and three explanation points for The Whispering Skull)

Quick Review: Skip Girl Online and Stay Offline

I finished listening to the audiobook of Girl Online a couple of days ago and wanted to share some thoughts on the story.

First for those of you who haven't heard of Girl Online, the story is narrated by Penny who lives in Brighton, England and loves taking photos and anonymously posting to her blog, which eventually goes viral.  When her parents have the opportunity to go to New York City over Christmas, Penny leaves behind frienemies, a crush, and many recent embarrassments and stumbles into a potential new romance.

Girl Online first blipped on my radar when the book sold so many copies.  I hadn't previously seen any of the videos by the author who is a Youtube celebrity in England, Zoella.  The fact that there was then drama about the fact that Zoe had the help of a ghostwriter moved the book up to the top of my to-be-read mountain of books.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I was not impressed with the story. It was wish fulfillment fluff.  Having said that though, even fluff has its time and place. It's a good recommendation for a young reader looking to escape reality. It kind of brings Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging into the present day...but with fewer laughs and even more awkwardly embarrassing moments for the protagonist.

Here's the book trailer for Girl Online.  Hope you like Taylor Swift.

I feel bad that both the author and ghostwriter have found themselves at the center of a hurricane of craziness.  I can't help but find it ironic though, given that both Zoe and her character Penny find themselves hiding from their online communities due to drama.  Best wishes to everyone involved!

I did enjoy the audio book interpretation though.  It did a good job of adding cell phone sound effects.  I felt that the reader, Hannah Tointon, did a good job of bringing Penny to life.


Tasty Rating:  !!

Quick Review: In Real Life

Doctorow, C., & Wang, J.  (2014).  In Real Life.  New York:  First Second.

175 pages.


Appetizer:  After a guest speaker visits her school and after her mom establishes some rules for her online life, Anda joins Coarsegold, a multiplayer online fantasy game in which participants go on quests, and begins to make money by going on missions for other players.  As she meets people through Coarsegold, she learns that not everyone has the advantages she does and that she may be in a unique position to help a teenager who goes by the name Raymond who is struggling to survive in his job in China.

Although a quick read, I struggled to get into In Real Life.  I think I wanted more elaboration into how Anda originally became a gamer (as opposed to how she specifically began playing Coarsegold).  I was a little confused about Anda's beginning situation at the start of the graphic novel.  She'd just moved and didn't seemed particularly happy about it, yet she already also seemed to have a group of friends (and maybe was in a club for gamers?).  This also left me confused as to why Liza McCombs, the guest speaker who originally encourages Anda and other female gamers to join her guild, was speaking to her class.  What class is this?!  (Eventually, these confusions were cleared up:  Anda is in the sci-fi club and her class seemed to be a computer programing one with the assignment that students had to create their own games.  This would have been nice exposition to have before pages 42 and 161 though.)

So, based upon the cover and title, my expectations were a little skewed going into In Real Life.  Instead of the girl making friends online and in real life at a new school narrative that I had been expecting, I got insights into the economics of gaming and insights about those who farm or cheat the system by buying the things that most gamers earn through a lot of work.  Which is also a good takeaway--one that has some uses for in the classroom.  Along with the exploration of economics--which is fleshed out more fully in Doctorow's introduction to the book--I also like the secondary issue of addressing gender in gaming and the encouragement for more empowerment among female gamers.

In Real Life did end up addressing the issues I'd assumed it would (noting that online life is real and economically relevant and showing that Anda can make friends both online and at school).  But, those themes took backseat to examining the economic realities of games and to showing the treatment of a teenaged employee in China.

I would definitely consider using In Real Life in a classroom.  It addresses important issues of economics and social justice in a unique way.  I do, however, think some concepts will need extra support if students are not already familiar with multiplayer online games.

For those interested, here's a link to Doctorow's original story that inspired In Real Life from Salon.com.

Also, for a lighter take on online gamer culture, I recommend watching Felicia Day's series The Guild.  It is fun.  (The series is also on Netflix.)


Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!!.  (3.5 explanation points)

Tis the Season: A Quick Review of My True Love Gave to Me

It's snowing outside and I'm about to make myself some hot chocolate.  So, it seemed like the perfect time to post this review.

Perkins, S.  (2014).  My True Love Gave to Me.   New York:  St. Martin's Griffin

Appetizer:  This anthology features twelve festive short stories by some of the most popular authors in YA literature.  The vast majority of the stories are realistic, but there is a touch or two of the fantastic (most notably in Holly Black's "Krampuslauf" and in Laini Taylor's "The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer").  There is a lot of inclusion in terms of the holidays/festivities covered (and quite a bit of cultural and LGBTQ representation...though, most of the writers representing those groups seem to be from white and middle class backgrounds--NOT ALL, but some).  A few of the experiences included are choosing a Christmas tree, celebrating Chanukah, welcoming the New Year, participating in a Nativity play (or trying to), dressing up as Santa, living in a place named Christmas, etc.  There's pretty much something for everyone among the stories--but most notably, there's romance.

This has been a fun book to go through during the holiday season.  I enjoyed reading each story and then trying to match it to the pairs of characters on the cover.

Although enjoyable, I found myself wishing there was less romance and focus on protagonists having revelations about their lives.  Call me cold-hearted (or, perhaps more appropriately, call me Scrooge), but several of the stories felt forced when they tried to wrap-up the ending with a festive kiss just as the protagonist has had an epiphany I'm particularly thinking of "What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?" which features a big-city freshman stuck on her small-town campus for a few days after the semester has ended.  Another example occurs in "It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown" in which a young animator seeks out the help of an attractive Christmas tree salesperson with an amazing voice to add to her latest project.).

The emotional climax in Kiersten White's "Welcome to Christmas, CA" also felt forced, although that one was less focused on romance and more on a revelation about her family as the protagonist, who has always hated living in a place called Christmas, realizes she does have a sense of home.  Eh, bah humbug.  Stop forcing the feels and let me giggle over a character slipping on some ice or something.

I'd have to say, overall, my favorite story was "Midnights" by Rainbow Rowell.  It explored the friendship (and maybe more!) relationship between Mags and Noel over multiple New Year's parties.  The story featured the strong character development that Rowell is so gifted at giving her readers as well as a strong conclusion (where generally she struggles more).

P.S.  Be jealous--my copy of this book is autographed by both Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan.  Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal.


Dinner Conversation:

"It was cold out on the patio, under the deck.  Frigid.  Dark.
Dark because Mags was outside at midnight, and dark because she was in the shadows.
This was the last place anyone would look for her--anyone, and especially Noel.  She'd miss all the excitement.
Thank God.  Mags should have thought of this years ago."  (p. 1)

"Marigold loved this Christmas tree lot.  It was brighter --and maybe even warmer--than her mother's apartment for one thing." (p. 99)

"It's hard not to feel just a little bit fat when your boyfriend asks you to be Santa Claus.
But I'm Jewish," I protest.  "It would be one thing if you were asking me to be Jesus--he, at least, was a member of my tribe, and looks good in a Speedo.  Plus, Santa requires you to be jolly, whereas Jesus only requires you to be born.'" (p. 133)

"The whole mess started when I lit the church on fire." (p. 203)

'"Also terrible?  'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.'"
"Santa as Big Brother.  Just imagine his posters, staring at you from every wall.  SANTA IS WATCHING."
"I love Christmas, but Santa is creepy."
"Thank you, yes!  No one understands.  If someone is watching me sleep, it had better be a hot vampire, otherwise I'm calling the cops." (p. 242)


Tasty Rating:  !!!


In tangential news, one of my own New Year's resolutions is to dust off this blog and write more regularly.  So, hopefully you'll be seeing more of me in the future.

Quick Review: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry (Drink tea as you read this book...make make sure nobody is trying to poison you first...)

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place  by Julie Berry.

Set in the Victorian era, after the seven girls at their finishing school realize that their headmistress and her brother have been murdered with poison, the girls decide to bury the bodies in the backyard.  Fearing that they would all have to return to their families if they summoned the police, the young women scheme to try to run the school for themselves and to find the murderer that may live among them.

This book was an enjoyable listen.  I was thankful that the girls were given epithets to help identify who they were.  I struggle with names as it is.....

Although, some of the epithets were troubling:  Pocked, Dour, Disgraceful.  But, that was part of the point.

Here's the book trailer:

I thought the ending was a little predictable, but the story was still enjoyable enough that it was good to confirm my suspicions.

The author's note at the end left me wanting to research more about Victorian poisons.    This is a good recommendation for students who love this era in history.

Tasty Rating:  !!!

Quick Review: The School for Good and Evil (Deconstructing )

I just finished listening to the audiobook of The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani.

I really enjoyed it.  The book gave me Harry Potter flashbacks.  It felt like a commentary on how characters from certain houses almost always turned out to be "good" or "evil."  The School for Good and Evil finds best friends, Sophie and Agatha, from a small town forced to attend a school in which the students are automatically sorted into the good side or evil side of the school.  Sophie, who landed in Evil, feels certain that she belongs in Good and Agatha isn't exactly certain that she belongs in Good either.  As the students are prepared to play roles in fairy tales, Agatha and Sophie are uncertain whether their friendship or they themselves can survive.

A former student recommended this book to me almost three years ago.  I certainly took my sweet time in reading the book.  I don't want to be *that* girl, but part of my delay was that the cover didn't impress me.  I know, I know.

I am glad I read it though.  I'll most likely continue with the series and will read A World without Princes at some point.

REVIEW: Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul (AKA the worst road trip ever)

Kinney, J.  (2014).  Diary of a Wimpy Kid:  The long haul.  New York:  Abrams.

217 pages.


Appetizer:  Inspired by a Family Frolic magazine article, Greg's mom has required the entire family go on a road trip together.  The adventure that ensues will prove harrowing for poor Greg and will feature a piglet, hungry seagulls, a trip to a vet, underpants bandits, lost keys, and a lack of space in the back of the van.

I laughed out loud a few times while reading The Long Haul, which is a step up from several of the previous Wimpy Kid books.  I really liked the description of Choose Your Own Adventure books and Greg feeling like he was faced with a similar choice.  (Although, this element did make me feel like the end of the book lacked a conclusion.  I kept turning the last page back and forth to see what I was missing.)

I also liked the family trip to the vet's office (see the last two pictures below).

This book left me feeling pleased that I don't have any road trips scheduled for awhile....


Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!!

Quick Post: Every day by David Levithan

Levithan, D.  (2012).  every day.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf.

322 pages.

Appetizer:  Each morning, A wakes up in the body of a new teenager, to live the life as him or
her for a single day.  One morning, he/she finds him/herself in the body of Jason and attracted to his girlfriend, Rhiannon, with strong feelings he's never really felt before.  Now, each morning, A wakes trying to get as close to her as A can, hoping to have his/her first real relationship despite the fact that every physical aspect of A's existence changes daily.  His/her persuit of getting to know Rhiannon will have unintended consequences.

I really love the concept of this novel:  Of someone with no physical presence experiencing all of these different lives.  It is a wonderful vehicle to explore some great issues.  One of the most notable moments is when A wakes up in the body of a girl with depression and he/she disccuses the cycle of depression:

"The body is working against you.  And because of this, you feel even more despair.  Which only amplifies the imbalance.  It takes uncommon strength to live with these things.  But I have seen that strength over and over again.  When I fall into the life of someone grappling, I have to mirror their strength, and sometimes surpass it...I have to keep reminding myself--this is not me.  It is chemistroy.  It is bilogy.  It is not who I am.  It is not who any of them are." (pp. 119-120.

Very powerful!

I found the ending to be a little disappointing.  The plot had finally increased the tension in a way that could have opened the door to a suspense series, then dismissed the conflict.  It was a little frustrating.  I know Levithan wasn't interested in writing a suspense thriller so much as he was interested in exploring some philisophical questions regarding gender and love, but it felt like a dropped possibility.


Dinner Conversation:

"I wake up.
Immediately I have to fiture out who I am.  It's not just the body--oeping my eyes and discovering whether the skin on my arm is light or dark, whether my hair is long or short, whether I'm fat or thin, boy or girl, scarred or smooth.  The body is the easiest thing to adjust to, if you're used to waking up in a new one each morning.  It's the life, the context of the body, that can be hard to grasp." (p. 1)

"As I take Justin's books out of his locker, I can feel someone hovering on the periphery.  I turn, and the girl standing there is transparent in her emotions--tentative and expectant, nervous and adoring.  I don't have to access Justin to know that this is his girlfriend.  No one else would have this reaction to him, so unsteady in his presence.  She's pretty, but she doesn't see it.  She's hiding behind her hair, happy to see me and unhappy to see me at the same time.
Her name is Rhiannon.  And for a moment--just the slightest beat--I think that, yes, this is the right name for her.  I don't know why.  I don't know her.  But it feels right." (p. 4)


Tasty Rating:  !!!!

Audio Book Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

The third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cress, is a very enjoyable read.  I enjoyed it more than Scarlet, the second book in the series.

Like the fairy tale of Repunzel, Cress has been trapped in a satellite orbiting Earth.  Her path will soon collide with Cinder, Scarlet and the rest of their little band of rebels.

As a whole, this series has a bit of a Star Wars vibe:  the team forced to separate to go on various misadventures only to come together at just the right moment to help each other.

Overall, I am enjoying this sci-fi interweaving of various fairy tales.  I look forward to reading the next book.  Hopefully I won't have to wait too long!

REVIEW: Bink & Gollie: Two for One (A light tale of friendship)

Yay, first post of 2014!  Happy new year, few but dear readers!  May your year be filled with many enjoyable books, but no paper cuts!

One of my resolutions for the year is to try and focus more on my writing.  I may try to post about my progress on my blog to help keep myself accountable.  Another goal will be to post more about what I have been reading.  And with that goal in mind, here's my first review of the year...

DiCamillo, K., & McGhee, A.  (2012).  Bink & Gollie:  Two for One.  Somerville, MA:  Candlewick Press.

80 pages.

Appetizer:  Bink and Gollie decide to tackle the state fair.  But there's a chance the fair may not be ready for the two friends.  In three short episodic chapters, Bink attempts to win the world's largest donut, Gollie appears in a talent show, and they both visit a fortune teller.  At the heart of all three stories is a sense of friendship and love and support.

I loved the first Bink and Gollie book and I actually think I enjoyed Two for One even more.  Set on an ordinary day and in relatable experiences, the illustrations and word choices and humor and delight to the story.  I giggled in surprise when Bink's first ball toss didn't hit its intended mark:

The illustrations are in black and white with a accents of color.  (I know that as a wee child, I would have wanted photocopied pages to color in the rest of the scenes.)  They include a lot of signs and cues that an adult can point out to kids to help them read both the written text and the images.  A teacher could emphasize some of the vocabulary and idioms (like fearing "this can only end in tragedy" or "in a manner of speaking."

I also love the different characterizations of Bink and Gollie (and this would be a good book to start a discussion of characterization or foils with young kids).  From their size differences, clothes and language choices, and attitudes they're easy to contrast.

Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!!!

REVIEW: Drama

Telgemeier, R.  (2012).  Drama.  New York:  Scholastic.

233 pages.


So, after getting stranded in reading In Darkness for months and after going through getting the chance to act in a production of Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at my local community theater, Drama seemed like the perfect graphic novel for me to jump back into reading and blogging with, especially since I enjoyed Telgemeier's debut Smile so much.


Appetizer:  Callie and her friends work back stage in all of her school's drama productions at Eucalyptus Middle School.  As they prepare to put on Moon Over Mississippi, their final production of the year, just as much drama occurs backstage as on stage as crushes, in-likes, dislikes, realizations about sexual orientations, and fights unfold.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel.  The structure of the book mirrored that of a performance with an overture, acts and an intermission.  I also really liked that the focus was on the people who work behind the scenes of a musical instead of on the actors (which is what the audience usually focuses on).

Telgemeier does an excellent job of bringing the experience of middle school to life (I remember being equally impressed with this in Smile).  There's the crushes, new relationships, and heartbreaks of realizing your crush is interested in someone else (so much unrequited love!).  There's the embarrassing family members who you still love dearly.  There's the commitment to a club and the ceaseless effort to get it right.

I liked Callie as a character and her commitment to set design.  I think it could really encourage readers to think about what they're passionate about.

As Callie makes new friends with twins Jesse and Justin, I found that keeping the twins straight was the biggest difficulty of reading this story.  They do have different hair styles, but I found myself wishing that they didn't both have names that began with J's.

I also struggled a little with the character of Bonnie, a mean girl who auditions for one of the main roles in the musical.  There is no redemption for her.  Since so much of the story was about revealing who you are and what you want, I was hoping that at some point there would be more insights or empathy for why Bonnie was the way she was.


Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!!!

REVIEW: In Darkness

Lake, N.  (2012).  In Darkness.  New York:  Bloomsbury.

337 pages.

I'm not gonna lie, ya'll.  I got stuck in this book.  Like crazy cartoon nightmare stuck:  The floor and walls all turned to sticky bubblegum and every time I tried to move or read I became more tangled and it turned into a suffocating mess that gets so complicated that you wake up screaming, "I'll never leave gum on the bottom of a desk again!"

Except in this case, it was having to read and not wanting to read and thinking of all the other things I should be doing.

It was bad.

Arguably, my struggles with In Darkness are not solely the book's fault.  I was adjusting to a first year in yet another new job, living in a new town, auditioning at the community theater and trying to act for the first time since middle school, etc.  But, now that it's summer vacation and given the fact that it still took me longer than it should have to finish this book, I let that stand as evidence of how little I cared for it.

Appetizer:  Switching back and forth between narratives of "Then" and "Now," In Darkness shares the stories of Shorty, who is trapped in the rubble of a hospital that has collapsed in the 2010 Haitian earthquake and how he got to be there, long ago separated from his twin sister with whom he thinks he shares a soul.  It also takes on retelling some of the biography of Toussaint l'Ouverture as he led a rebellion to free Haitian slaves.  The two protagonists dream of one another, impacting their choices in their own times.

Here's a dramatic retelling of my thoughts as I began each new chapter of this book:

A now chapter:  "Hmmm, he's stuck in the dark, I wonder when he'll get out."
A then chapter:  "I do not connect with this character.  Hopefully this chapter will be over soon and I'll be able to read about the present."
A now chapter:  "Huh, he's still in the dark.  Surely, something will happen soon and he'll get out.  Otherwise this might become boring, despite the flashbacks to when he was younger.
A then chapter:  Ugh.  Man, Toussaint was older when this is being depicted.  I can't even connect with him as being a young adult character."
A now chapter:  "I am so sick of him being in the dark.  This chapter feels like filler so that stuff can happen in the other chapters.  How much longer until this chapter is over and I can read about someone else?
A then chapter:  "I am so bored.  I would skim, but that goes against everything I believe in, especially when reading a Printz award book.  Plus, I'd hate to miss the moment when this story becomes engaging.  Is this chapter over yet?  I'd rather read about Shorty being stuck in the collapsed hospital.
A now chapter:  Jebus, he's still trapped.  Man, there's a lot of dark and serious stuff in this book.  I feel nothing for most of these characters and wish this book would be over already.
A then chapter:  I feel nothing.
A now chapter:  Lalala.  My eyes are scanning the page, but I aaam elsewheeeeeere.
A then chapter:  LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
A now chapter:  I'm sorry, the connection has failed.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.
And so forth.

I don't want you to think that the writing was bad or the story wasn't well told.  My reasons for not liking this book are all due to me instead of the story itself.  It just didn't speak to me.  And the fact that this book was, in part, depicting a recent tragedy in Haiti and won the Printz award somehow grated on me--like the book was awarded to draw attention to the Haitian earthquake instead of saying this was the best book of 2012.  It was a well-written book on an important topic, but it didn't win me over.

From what I could tell, Lake did his research.  Admittedly, I'm no expert.  But I was left with a deeper understanding of aspects of Haitian culture than any textbook or newspaper has evern given me.  Granted, I did find myself wishing for more English translations of some of the French and Kreyol phrases and songs.  But nonetheless, a student could learn a lot about Haiti from this book, beyond what is presented in the media.


Dinner Conversation:

"I am the voice in the dark, calling out for your help.
I am the quiet voice that you hope will not turn to silence, the voice you want to keep hearing cos it means someone is still alive.  I am the voice calling for you to come and dig me out.  I am the voice in the dark, asking you to unbury me, to bring me from the grave out into the light, like a zombi.
I am a killer and I have been killed, too, over and over; I am constantly being born.  I have lost more things than I have found; I have destroyed more things than I have built.  I have seen babies abandoned in the trast and I have seen the dead come back to life." (p. 1)

"I don't know what happened.  I was in bed minding my own zafe, then everything shook and I fell and the darkness started.  Or maybe everything else fell." (p. 3)

"On the night that rebellion caught like a flame in Haiti, the slave named Toussaint swung down from his horse.  It was a good horse--it had been a gift to him from his master, Bayou de Libertas, and despite its age it still served him well.  It was, Toussaint reflected, a fitting horse for him to ride.  He, like his horse, was old and had served his master well.
Soon, though, there would be no more masters, and no more slaves.  Or so Boukman hoped." (p. 37)

"I can see the whole of Port-au-Prince--the palace, the homes of the rich, the open-air prison of Site Soley.  It's all collapsed.  The palace is just dust and rubble, the homes are destroyed.  Only Site Soley looks the same, and that's cos Site Soley was a ruin to begin with." (p. 54-55).

"Biggie, he was the general of Route 9, and before that he was the right-hand man of Dread Wilme and a big dog in the Site.  He did all the shit the government should have done in the slums.  He funded the schools, provided security.  He punished thieves and rapists.
He sold drugs and killed people.
He made me what I am today.
I have not forgiven him for that, not yet." (p. 71)


Tasty Rating:  !!

REVIEW: Boy 21 (A #Cybils Award Finalist!)

Quick, M.  (2011).  Boy 21.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company.

250 pages.

Appetizer:  Finley doesn't say much.  The two things he's passionate about are basketball and his girlfriend, Erin.  He and Erin live in Bellmont, PA.  Gang wars and the Irish mob impact all aspects of life there.  All Erin and Finley want to do is escape and a basketball scholarship would save them both.

When his coach asks Finley to help convince a new boy to try to join the basketball team, Finley will have to choose between the team and his own future as he finds his starting position in danger of going to Russ, the new boy.  Russ has experienced a trauma recently, one that has left him broken and believing that he is from space, with the name Boy21, and destined to leave the planet to soon.  Despite Russ's break with reality, Finley may have more in common with the new basketball player than he can imagine and their developing friendship may bring up memories he has long refused to speak of.

When I first started reading Boy21, I was a little worried.  I'm not a big sports novel person, but after Russ/Boy21 was introduced, the book appealed more.  I loved the tension that Finley felt about wanting to help Russ and maintain his spot on the team.  I also initially liked the gang tensions and how it impacted the daily lives of characters who wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle.

I liked Finley's voice.  There are a lot of wonderfully rich descriptions throughout the novel that I really liked.

There's also a Harry Potter sub-plot that amused me.

But having said that, about 2/3 or 3/4ths of the way through the story, the plot took a turn that I wasn't crazy about.  And from that point forward, the book pretty much lost me.

I am very excited to have a book recommendation for my students who play basketball.

Dinner Conversation:

"Sometimes I pretend that shooting hoops in my backyard is my earliest memory." (p. 1)

"And then one day a girl appeared in my backyard.  She had blond hair and a smile that seemed to last forever.
"I live down the street," she said.  "I'm in your class."
I kept shooting and hoped she'd go away.  Her name was Erin and she seemed really nice, but I didn't want to make friends with anyone.  I only wanted to shoot hoops alone for the rest of my life."  (pp. 2-3)

"In my memory, she hits dozens of shots before I get the ball back, but she doesn't ever leave my backyard--the two of us keep shooting for years and years." (p. 3)

"'My friend Russell and his wife were murdered last February.'  The word murdered gets stuck in my ear and suddenly it feels like someone is jabbing a finger into my throat.  I begin to cough a little, but Coach keeps talking.  It takes a few minutes for my mind to process the rest of his words.  "The details aren't important right now.  But the event has had a dramatic effect on Russell junior.  He's spent some time in a group home for kids who suffer from post-traumatic stress.  The Allens here in town are his closest relatives and even though they don't feel quite up to taking on a troubled teenage boy, because Russell requested it, they have agreed to care for him until he goes to college next year."
I suddenly realize that Russell will be eligible to play for our basketball team.  And even though Coach is talking about the aftereffects of a murder, I'm ashamed to admit that Immediately begin worrying about my starting position." (p. 27)

"'Russell isn't exactly going by the name Russell at this moment in his life.' Coach glances out the windshield with this vacant look on his face.  "Russell now likes to be called Boy21."  He nods a few times, as if to say he isn't joking.
"Why?" I say, noting that twenty-one is my basketball number.  Could this night possibly get any weirder?
"The people at his group home and his local therapist have both recommended that we all call him Boy21 out of respect for his wishes.  They say he now needs to exert control over his environment in some small way, or something like that.  I don't know anything about therapy, but I think after all that's happened the boy could sure use a kindhearted friend.  That's what this is about. We'll call him Boy21 tonight and work on getting him back to Russ before school starts." (pp. 30-31)

"'You are an Earthling?' Boy21 says to me.
I swallow and nod.
"I am programmed to treat all Earthlings with kindness.  Greetings.  I am Boy21 from the cosmos.  I am stranded here on Earth, but I will be leaving soon.  Enter into my domestic living pod." (p. 37)

"'You don't talk much, do you?' Boy21 asks, looking over his shoulder.
"No."
"Did something happen to you?" he asks.
Truth is, many things have happened to me, both good and bad, stuff that would take a lot of words to explain, too many words for me.
There's part of me that wants to discuss my past, why I don't talk much, outer space even, everything, but it's like my mind is a fist and it's always clenched tight, trying to keep the words in." (p. 41)


Tasty Rating:  !!!

REVIEW: The Theory of Everything (A #Cybils Award Finalist)

Johnson, J.J.  (2011).  The Theory of Everything.  Atlanta: Peachtree.


334 pages.

Appetizer:  To say sophomore Sarah Smith is going through a rough patch would be a understatement.  Left reeling from the death of her best friend, Jamie, in the school gymnasium, finding a deer in said gymnasium who needs to be put down, brings out many bad memories and emotions.  Sarah can't seem to turn off her snarkbox or openly share with her loved ones what she is going through.  She's worried she's going to love her long distance boyfriend, Sten, forever.  Her parents are running out of ideas of how to help her and all they can think to do now is prevent Sarah from getting her driver's license, take away her beloved wild dog, Rubie, or continue to ground her.  Jamie's twin brother want nothing more than to hear the story of how his sister died from Sarah's lips.  Sarah alone must find a way out of her tailspin.

The main aspects that drew me into this realistic YA novel was Sarah's voice and the various charts and graphs that were featured at the start of each chapter.  (The latter factor means I'm going to be recommending this book to my many mathematically-inclined students...even though Sarah herself never expresses any preference for the subject matter.  It was still interesting to see her represent her life experiences in such varied ways.)

Since the book is serious, and since Sarah spends much of the novel not expressing herself aloud, I was kind of reminded of Melinda from Anderson's Speak.  Although, the books' conflicts are very different.

My one concern with Sarah's voice was the fact that she made a lot of references and allusions to Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica,  and some movies from the 1980s.  As a mmpha-year-old adult, I can appreciate and enjoy all of these references, but I'm not so certain they'll appeal to some of the teenager readers, who will at best maybe be familiar with two of the shows or movies.  (I know, I know, that gives them a reason to try and see the other shows and movies mentioned.)  I just felt it made the book a little dated...it's not the 14 to 16-year-old crowd I hear running around still saying 'frak.'  (Let's be honest it's my group of friends.)

I also wasn't initially crazy about the character Captain Possum/Roy.  Sarah's multiple interactions with him early in the novel seemed a little too convenient to be a coincidence in realistic fiction.  Eventually, his story line won me over.

Aspects of the ending of The Theory of Everything left me unsatisfied, although, one of the scenes (Sarah's prank!) was my favorite in the book and made me laugh out loud.

Overall, I enjoyed The Theory of Everything, but I didn't *love* it.  It was the kind of book I could put down and didn't mind coming back to several days later.


Dinner Conversation:

"Eight years ago, when we were seven, my best friend Jamie gave me a kaleidoscope.  It sounds lame, but I loved that thing.  So did Jamie.  The girl kept stealing it back until I gave her one of her own.  We would just lie there in my backyard, staring up at the sky through them.  Prisms turning, colors changing.  White cloud crystals, blue sky fractals.
Trippy, in a wholesome, Hugs Not Drugs way.
Well.  My whole life is like that now--it's trippy and turny and there are no drugs involved, unless Zoloft counts." (p. 2)

"I sigh.  I'm not really a badass, I'm just pissed off.  I hate Mrs. Cleary being sad and the deer being hurt.  Not to mention that the last time a cop asked me questions like this, my best friend had just died right in front of me." (p. 10)

"Sarah,
I want to know what happened.  How Jamie died.
Please.
--E.
Well.  I have two responses to that.
1.  Holy.
2.  Crap.
Actually, three.
3.  No, frigging way.
Sub-divided into
    A.)  No way could he still not know.
    B.)  No way am I going to tell him.
    C.)  No way is this happening." (p. 18)

"'Mom and Dad were talking about how you're becoming such a deadbeat in school.  You don't care about anything anymore, so they don't have any leverage.'
"Leverage?"  What does that mean?
"Anything to bargain with.  Convince you to turn your crap around."
"You mean like, to threaten me with?"
"I guess you could call it that."  He shrugs.
"But Ruby, and Stenn..." My heart freezes.  "And driving.  They wouldn't take them away from me?  They can't."
"Calm down, Freak Show.  I don't think they're planning on it tomorrow.  And I bet they'd start with driver's ed before moving on to the big guns." (p. 37)


Tasty Rating:  !!!.

REVIEW: Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (A #Cybils Award Finalist!) "I am like the Joseph Stalin of narrators"

Andrews, J.  (2012).  Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl.  New York:  Abrams.

295 pages.

Appetizer:  Greg Gaines has a difficult goal of surviving high school without any confrontations, enemies, or a group of friends.  He and his friend Earl make videos that they won't allow anyone to see.

This goal is complicated when Greg's mom informs him that a girl Greg has some history with has been diagnosed with Leukemia and that Greg has been recruited to re-befriend her.  This could cause trouble for Greg and Earl's future as filmmakers.

From the first page, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl amused me.  It opens with Greg contemplating how difficult it is to write a good first sentence for a book.  It's a passage I already plan to share with my future "Teaching of Writing" classes.  I love meta-narratives.  I could eat self-aware narratives for breakfast every morning for FOREVER.  So, the book had me amused from the get-go.

Then, THEN, a few more pages in, I realized that the book was set in the area around the Shadyside and Squirrel Hill districts of Pittsburgh.  I spent two years in that area while working on my MFA.  The familiar places and memories were also a nice introduction to the book.

I really enjoyed Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  It was a "stay up late and read just one more chapter...one more chapter...one more...laugh out loud...read one more chapter" kind of book for me. 

I also liked the characterizations of Greg's family.  The conflicts within the family were some of the most amusing moments for me.

I also liked the many forms that were included (screenplay, texts, lists of people's comments, etc.)

I did wonder what everyone thought about the way race was depicted.  I did feel like Earl was an original character, but I worried that the way his family was presented could be seen as stereotypical (an angry family...absent step-father...Earl being in a special needs classroom).  I'm still not certain how I feel about these characterizations.

Dinner Conversation:

"I have no idea how to write this stupid book.
Can I just be honest with you for one second?  This is the literal truth.  When I first started writing this book, I tired to start it with the sentence "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."  I genuinely thought that I could start this book that way.  I just figured, it's a classic book-starting sentence.  But then I couldn't even figure out how you were supposed to follow that up." (p. 1)

"I do actually want to say one other thing before we got started with this horrifyingly inane book. You may have already figured out that it's about a girl who had cancer.  So there's a chance you're thinking, "Awesome!  This is going to be a wise and insightful story about love and death and growing up.  It is probably going to make me cry literally the entire time.  I am so fired up right now."  If that is an accurate representation of your thoughts, you should probably try to smush this book into a garbage disposal and then run away.  Because here's the thing:  I learned absolutely nothing from Rachel's leukemia.  In fact, I probably became stupider about life because of the whole thing." (pp. 2-3)

"So in order to understand everything that happened, you have to start from the premise that high school sucks.  Do you accept that premise?  OF course you do.  It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks.  In fact, high school is where we are first introduced to the basic existential question of life:  How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad?" (p. 5)

"This was the second brain-punchingly insensitive thing I had said in about thirty seconds, and again I considered closing my cell phone and eating it." (p. 45)

"Earl and I are friends.  Sort of.  Actually, Earl and I are more like coworkers.
The first thing to know about Earl Jackson is that if you mention his height, he will windmill-kick you in the head.  Short people are often extremely athletic.  Earl is technically the size of a ten-year-old, but he can kick any object within seven feet of the ground.  Additionally, Earl's default mood is Pissed, and his backup default mood is Mega-Pissed." (pp. 61-62)


Tasty Rating:  !!!!

REVIEW: The Eternal Ones

Miller, K.  (2010).  The Eternal Ones.  New York:  Razorbill.

411 pages.

Appetizer:  Seventeen-year-old Haven Moore is haunted by dreams and memories of another life, of a girl named Constance who loved a boy named Ethan.  While watching TV with her uber-religious and controlling grandmother, Haven happens to see a celebrity gossip report of a rich playboy named Iain.  She faints at the sight of him, certain that she is the love she lost in the 1920s.

Haven's grandmother conspires to prevent her granddaughter from travelling to New York City, the scene of all her memories.  As her grandmother's religious overtures grow more intense and as Haven becomes more and more ostracized by the other students in her small town in Tennessee, her only means of escape to New York may include a strange society that is focused on helping people who believe they have been reincarnated.

But, even after Haven does escape to New York City, she learns that everything may not be as they appear and that the love she has trusted through multiple lives may be her greatest betrayer...time and time again.

I really liked the idea of The Eternal Ones, but the execution of the story left a lot to be desired.  Plus, despite liking this initial premise of finding a love from a previous life and trying to find him, I realized that it had already been used previously.  Dead Again is a movie from over 20 years ago and it does a much better job of establishing a mystery...if you can manage to look beyond all of the early 1990's styles:

The novel felt like a rough draft for a great mystery.  It felt like all the ingredients to a recipe had been thrown into a bowl, but very little mixing had taken place.  Plus, the story should have been tightened (say to 280 or 300 pages instead of 411 pages).  The Eternal Ones spent way too much time in Snope City with Haven being bullied by various characters.  As I read the first 120-ish pages, I thought the book would appeal much more if the novel opened with Haven arriving in New York. Let her past and purpose be a mystery to be unraveled as the reader gets further into the story, as opposed to having to witness Haven faint many times and go back and forth about deciding to leave or not leave.  Ugh.

As a character, there was nothing really striking or engaging about Haven's love interest, Iain/Ethan.  In fact, after he meets Haven, I almost immediately started to dislike him.  Gentlemen of the world pay attention:  If you want to turn-off a girl and send her running, be sure to refer to other girls as "props" (p. 163), and make her feel as though you're ordering her around (p. 179).  So unsexy.


Dinner Conversation:

"Haven was back.  She glanced across the familiar little room.  Silver clouds hovered over the skylight high above a rumpled bed.  A candle sat on the edge of the vanity, waiting for her sun's weak rays to finally fade.  Her gaze returned to the mirror in front of her.  She smoothed a strand of her blonde bob and tucked it behind one ear.  The reflection in the mirror wasn't hers, but she knew it as well as her own." (p. 3)

"Haven Moore stood on top of the footstool, gazing out the open window in front of her and willing herself not to fidget.  Over the winter, the anticipation had been building inside of her.  Once the weather turned warm, she found herself unable to sleep or stay still.  It felt as if every cell in her body were dancing.
Beyond the tall mountains that surrounded Snope City, something was waiting for her" (p. 5).

"Haven's eyes glanced up at the action.  A tan, handsome young man slid out of a black Mercedes as camera flashes sparkled in the car's windshield.  For a moment, he stared back at the paparazzi, his face dark and unreadable.  Then, unexpectedly, a corner of his mouth curled into a grin.
"Ethan," Haven whispered.  A blaze ignited at the tips of her toes.  As it began to burn its way upward, Haven felt her knees buckle beneath her." (p. 8)

"Suddenly she was no longer just Haven Jane Moore, daughter of Ernest and Mae.  If the notes were to be believed, she had once been someone else.  A girl named Constance.  And her visions weren't fantasies or hallucinations.  They were scenes from a past that was every bit as real as the present." (p. 43)

"'Well, I think I might be having the visions for a reason.  I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to find Ethan.  That's what I told my dad when I was little.'
"Ethan?  You think he's still around?  Wouldn't he be awfully old for you by now? I mean, even if he is real, at the very least he'd be pushing a hundred and ten--"
Haven cut him off.  "I had another vision last night.  There was a fire.  That's how Constance died.  I think it killed Ethan, too.  And I think he's been reborn, just like me.  I have to find him, Beau.  And you have to help me.  I can't explain how, but I know he's out there." (p. 53)


Tasty Rating:  !!

REVIEW: Days of Blood & Starlight (Favorite quotation: "Kiss/Punch")

Taylor, L.  (2012).  Days of Blood & Starlight.  New York:  Little, Brown, and Company.

513 pages.

Appetizer:  After the events of Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou has disappeared, leaving her best friend Zuzana to obsess, worry, and deal with the aftermath Karou having been recorded flying over a bridge in Prague.

Tensions are mounting between the angels and chimaera and Karou and her former love (of a couple of lives), Akiva, are separated and fighting on opposite sides once more.

Strange and mysterious thefts has occurred at many museums around the world.  Someone is stealing from the large animal displays.  Someone is taking the beasts' teeth.

Although still amazingly well-written, I initially had trouble keeping my focus on this book the way I managed to dive into Daughter of Smoke & Bone.  My suspicion is that Days of Blood & Starlight jumped upon too many different characters' perspectives for my tastes.  Plus, with Karou and Akiva's love being on ice, and Karou separated from her best friend/comic relief, Zuzana, my drive to know what was happening next was lessened.

But, by mid-book, friends and love interests were interacting and the drama heightened and Days of Blood & Starlight won me over and now I'm left waiting for the final book in the trilogy.

Taylor once again manages to write beautiful prose, establish a love triangle, and deliver some surprising plot twists.  It is worth noting though, that these beautiful prose do include some difficult and dark situations (including one extensive and disturbing sexual assault scene).  Still, the second book in this trilogy does live up to the first.  Keep reading this series!


Dinner Conversation:

"Prague, early May.  The sky weighed gray over fairy-tale rooftops, and all the world was watching.  Satellites had even been tasked to surveil the Charles Bridge, in case the...visitors...returned.  Strange things had happened in this city before, but not this strange.  At least, not since video existed to prove it.  Or to milk it.
"Please tell me you have to pee."
"What?  No.  No, I do not.  Don't even ask."
"Oh, come on.  I'd do it myself if I could, but I can't.  I'm a girl."
"I know.  Life is so unfair.  I'm still not going to pee on Karou's ex-boyfriend for you." (p. 1)

"Karou didn't understand.  The world she was returning to was not the one from her memories.  She would find no help or solace there--only ash and angels." (p. 7)

"Affixed to it [a table] with a twist of silver wire was a small square of paper on which was written a word.  It was a chimaera word, and under the circumstances the cruelest taunt Akiva could fathom, because it meant hope, and it was the end of his, since it was also a name.
It was Karou." (p. 26)

"A phantom, the news anchor said.
At first, the evidence of trespass had been too scant to be taken seriously, and of course there was the matter of it being impossible.  No one could penetrate the high-tech security of the world's elite museums and leave no trace.  There was only a prickle of unease along the curators' spines, the chilling and unassailable sense that someone had been there." (p. 39)


Tasty Rating:  !!!!!

REVIEW: A Tale Dark & Grimm (Don't miss this one!)

Gidwitz, A.  (2010).  A Take Dark and Grimm.  New York:  Dutton Children's Books.

249 Pages.

Appetizer:  This expansion of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale features a pushy narrator who uses a lot of false endings (see the pictures below) and who weaves together multiple stories inspired by some of the Grimm originals to share the siblings' complete adventure of betrayal and forgiveness.

The story begins before the birth of the twins Hansel and Gretel to a king and queen.  You see, the king and queen were only able to marry due to the help of a servant named Johannes who helped them to avoid three potential curses upon their wedding by sacrificing himself.

The only way to free Johannes is to behead Hansel and Gretel.

Understandingly upset about their beheadings, Hansel and Gretel decide to leave their parents and the kingdom of Grimm to find parents who will treat them better.  What follows is a journey that will involve sacrifice and a whole lot of courage.

Returning some of the violence and icky-bits to fairy tales, there are passages of A Tale Dark & Grimm that live up to the title and made me cringe.  But the narrator always provided proper/humorous warning to get wee-readers out of the room for those parts, thereby properly preparing any and all older readers for the gruesome bits.

That pushy narrator reminded me strongly of the narrator from The Tale of Despereaux.  I think the books would be wonderful to pair together since the themes of forgiveness and yearning for family run through both books.

What is more, since each chapter of A Tale Dark & Grimm could be read as its own individual fairy tale (beginning with "Once upon a time...," of course), each chapter would lend itself to a read aloud thereby allowing a teacher or parent to help kids manage the ickier passages.

Having taken multiple folklore classes, I thought Gidwitz captured some of the essential elements of traditional folktales:  The pushy narrator help the reader to feel as though he or she is being told this story.  There is a lot of repetition of three's in terms of the structure and events of the story.

A Tale Dark & Grimm also serves as a powerful allegory for trust and forgiveness within a family.  I found that Hansel and Gretel's adventure could be traced onto the experience of children having to go into foster care and being shuffled from place to place, trying to find a sense of home and forgiveness of what their parents had done.

The book itself avoids trying to answer why bad things happen, but still totes the power and capabilities of children.


Dinner Conversation:

"Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome.  I know, I know.  You don't believe me.  I don't blame you.  A little while ago, I wouldn't have believed it myself.  Little girls in red caps skipping around the forest?  Awesome?  I don't think so.
But then I started to read them.  The real, Grimm ones.  Very few little girls in red caps in those.
Well, there's one.  But she gets eaten." (p. 1)

"You see, there is another story in Grimm's Fairy Tales.  A story that winds all throughout the moldy, mysterious tome--like a trail of bread crumbs winding through a forest.  It appears in tales you may never have heard, like Faithful Johannes and Brother and Sister.  And in some that you have--Hansel and Gretel, for instance.
It is the story of two children--a girl named Gretel and a boy named Hansel--traveling though a magical and terrifying world.  It is the story of two children striving, and failing, and then not failing.  It is the story of two children finding out the meaning of things."  (pp. 2-3)

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom called Grimm, an old king lay on his deathbed.  He was Hansel and Gretel's grandfather--but he didn't know that, for neither Hansel nor Gretel had been born yet.
No hold on a minute.
I know what you're thinking.
I am well aware that nobody want to hear a story that happens before the main characters show up.  Stories like that are boring, because they all end exactly the same way.  With the main characters showing up.
But don't worry.  This story is like no story you've ever heard." (p. 5)

"Once upon a time, two children left their home and walked out into the wide, wild world.
The land was dark as Hansel and Gretel made their way across the level turf beyond the palace moat.  They had never left the palace by themselves before, and they knew little of the great world beyond its walls." (p. 39)

"For, as you well, know, the baker woman was planning to eat them.
But she wasn't a witch.  The Brothers Grimm call her a witch, but nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact she was just a regular woman who had discovered, sometime around the birth of her second child, that while she liked chicken and she liked beef and she liked pork, what she really, really, liked was child.
I bet you can figure out how this happened." (p. 43)


Tasty Rating:  !!!!!