The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

BookTalk

“Anyone who’s had something truly crappy happen to them will tell you: It’s all about Before and After.” (6, ePub ed.)

So begins this tale of After. Laurel Meisner and her once-friend-turned-bad-boy neighbor David ditch their respective families plans to grab ice cream after a seder dinner. David claimed calculus homework with a friend. But given the fact that he’d practically quit school this past year…his excuse was fooling no one. Laurel, however, was in the middle of an intense round of SAT studying. I.E. unyoke: meaning to separate. During Before her SAT Prep mental image for the word was separating the yoke from the white of an egg. When a police officer appears at Laurel’s home hours later to inform her of the car accident that has killed her family her first thought is that she now has a whole new SAT Prep image for unyoke: to separate.

Now begins the After. The grief, the breakdowns, the breakthroughs, and the survival skills. Laurel’s journey is real and at times it’s not pretty. Best friends don’t always know how to be supportive. Hot guys are just trying their best. And maybe the one person she should not fall for is the one she does. After is a hard place to be…but theres no going back to Before. And Laurel will learn that living her life on her own terms is exactly what she needs.

Review

This story was just so real. I personally lived through a death in my family while I was in High School. Granted it wasn’t the mass casualty situation that Laurel lived through, but losing my sister was more than enough to have me empathizing with the main character. So much of what Castle was writing was exactly how I remember feeling. Laurel was doing things and responding to stuff the same way I did.

I mean I had no major breakdowns in public places. And I didn’t hit the low that Laurel did but some of the little things. The allowing yourself moments of pretending everything was ok…that the people  you loved were still here…just out, or down the hall, or asleep. I got that.

I know that this book has had some mixed reviews. And it’s for sure not everyone’s idea of a pleasant read. But I think that as adults we sometimes forget that teens can feel a need to and/or even enjoy watching a fictional character go through something tragic. It’s what realistic fiction is all about. Watching a person deal with a situation in a true life kind of way. It appeases that voyeuristic need in all of us.

Really, that’s about it. There is no big bang, no perfect coming of age, no white horse to save the day, or paranormal angel to reconnect the family. What I can tell you is that this book is real. So real it makes me feel like Castle must have experienced something similar in her own life. When Laurel’s potential boyfriend hugs her delicately she thinks “Seriously, Joe, you can touch me without breaking me. In fact, you might even put me a little bit back together.” (142, ePub). My own potential boyfriend at the time showed up at my house during my own day After…he gave me the biggest, warmest, most crushing,  bear-hug I’d ever had. It was a hug that touched me so deeply I wrote about it in our wedding vows 9 years later.

In the end this book might not be for everyone. But if you’re a lover of realistic fiction this well written novel will fit like a glove.

Rating: 9/10 One of the best realistic fiction novels I’ve ever done.

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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

BookTalk

Do you remember the stories of your childhood? Tales of magic and creatures who lived among us? When do we stop believing in them? When do we lose the faith? What happened if little red riding hood and the wolf showed up in your backyard? Better yet, what if Queen Mary did appear after three “Bloody Mary’s” spoken into a mirror at midnight?

I’ll tell you what would happen…Everyone would call you crazy

Then we’d hype you up on antipsychotic medications and send you to a shrink. At least that’s what happens to 16 year old Jacob. Jacob grew up on his Grandfather’s tales of the freakish. You see, his Grandfather claimed to have grown up on an isolated Island in Wales, “Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar Children”. Jacob was fed stories and photographs of the levitating girl, the invisible man, and the girl who ate with the back of her head. Yep, a full set of teeth under her glorious curls.

But when Jacob’s Grandfather dies Jacob sees the killer, and the killer is decidedly not a normal human. Across the seas, Jacob will search to find the root of his childhood stories, and to find the history of his Grandfather. And there is no way to prepare Jacob for the reality that all of his childhood tales are true…

Review

This book had me at hello. I mean, look at that cover…how can you not want to simply tear into this book. And that freaky victorian-art deco-gothic-horror vibe continues throughout the story with photos. Yep, it’s a multi-media type read. Riggs scoured photography collections featuring the old and freaky so all the photos within Miss Peregrine’s pages are real! Super cool.

But wait…it doesn’t stop there. Riggs’s writing style conjures up instant images with his word choice. The first time Jacob enters Miss Peregrine’s decrepit home well written. There are walls fuzzy with mold, walls splattered with food burst from jars, rooms with trees growing due to exposure. For me this was by far one of the creepiest parts of the novel.

That being said, maybe it’s just me…but I wasn’t all that scared. If I had to judge a book by it’s cover (haha) I was expecting a ‘scary story’ and I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or not that this didn’t turn out to be the point. Surprisingly, this novel was run-through with themes including WWII, father relationships, and the contemplation of the choice between a single safe, perfect day of the extraordinary (Ground-Hog-Day style) or a life time of ordinary. Jacob is beginning to realize that a 70 year old family hurt has passed down from the holocaust to bombings, to an abandoned son, to a stress disorder. It’s amazing to see how big a role the sins of the father play in this novel. So family issues…check…scary scenes…miss.

As for the famous creepy kids of Jacob’s youth? Peculiar is truly the best word for them. After the reader becomes aquatinted with the group they seem surprisingly ordinary and yet extraordinary at the same time. While I’m not saying that if a levitating girl and an invisible boy popped up in the middle of my day I wouldn’t be freaked out…Riggs presents it all with a normalcy that is usually found in magical realism novels or tall tale movies like Big Fish.

I’m not gonna lie, I was really hoping for creepy…maybe a little sleeping with the light on…if that’s what you’re looking for this isn’t the title for you. However, what you will find is a delightfully written tale with surprising twists and turns of language that make the reader feel like you’re there. But Warning: this seems as though it’s not a stand-alone book. You follow the final frantic chase to one big cliff. I was a little disappointed in this I think that simplifying the story could have resulted in a strong stand-alone. Not sure that this is a cliff I’m gonna jump to the next book…we shall see what the teaser summaries result in.

Rating: 6/10

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Vacations from Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski

I am on Vacation…So it’s Beach Week here on the blog.

Granted I live less than a mile from the ocean in Southern Florida, so really every week is beach week for me, but there is just something special about being on vacation at a beach. Even if you’re a year round beach bum a week’s worth of no work and all play is still pretty awesome. So in honor of my time at the shore every post this week is vacation or beach related. For those of you grumbling about my beach fortune don’t worry…This week starts with a group of vacation stories you might rather avoid…

BookTalk

“You know that prickly feeling you get on the back of your neck? The one hat makes you scared to turn around? Pay attention to that, Holmes. That is a Me-NO-Likee signal creeping up from the lizard part of your brain – some primal DEFCON center of your gray matter left over from the very first ancestors that hasn’t been destroyed by gated communities, all-night convenience stores…,and a half dozen fake Ghost Chaser shows on late-night cable. I’m just saying that lizard part exists for a reason. I know that now.

“So if you’re walking down that unfamiliar path and the mist rises up out of nowhere and slips its hands over your body, turning you around until you don’t know where you are anymore, and the trees seem to be whispering to you? Or you think you see something in the dark that shouldn’t exist, that you tell yourself can’t possibly exist except in creepy campfire stories? Listen to the lizard, Holmes, and do yourself a favor.

“Run. Run like Hell’s after you.

“Because it just might be.” (pg. 116-117 ePub edition)

Review

This is a collection of short stories about what happens when your vacation goes wrong. Because really, who wants to hear about a trip where someone sat on a beautiful beach? I only want to hear about that trip if I was on the trip, or I’m about to go on that trip. However, if I am sitting on my couch…amongst my laundry and a carpet that needs vacuumed…I want a vacation where something goes wrong. Like, vampires-on-your-cruise wrong, a curse-in-the-French-countryside wrong, spell-gone-wrong, wrong. Types of wrong that will make that summer sunburn look like…well…a day at the beach.

These stories were fluffy and fun. The perfect combination of teeny-bopper hair flipping and sleep with the light on scary. Not all the tales were scary scary stories, but all do contain a twist you may not have seen coming. I was personally taken by surprise in the first story Cruisin’ by Sarah Mlynowski. It’s the perfect tale to start this collection off, seemingly fluffy with a game-changing plot move 3 pages from the end. The story gave me a smile and a chilly surprise. The rest of the collection didn’t disappoint. Law of Suspects by Maureen Johnson in the middle upped the horror factor with a cursed story and a lonely French manor. Then Libba Bray drives it home with the most classically paranormal/scary story Nowhere is Safe. A gothically creepy, superstition-ridden romp in an Eastern European hill town. Very few survive that blood bath…be prepared.

In the end this was a great beach read…or couch read depending on your summer plans. For those choosing a ‘staycation’ over the traditional summer travel, know that you’ll experience very little envy from these travelogues. In fact you may feel a little smug, safe in your house…alive. Now, if only someone could come fold the laundry…

Rating: 7/10

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My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

BookTalk

Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for Kate. Anna gives her health for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At birth Anna gave stem cells at 13 Anna is expected to give a kidney. As this final surgical effort to save Kate is being planned Anna hires a lawyer to sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out.

There seems to be no easy answer, and readers are likely to be sympathetic to all sides of the case. This is a real page-turner and frighteningly thought-provoking. The story shows evidence of thorough research and the unexpected twist at the end will surprise everyone.

Review

It’s been quite a while since I’ve read this book. And I’ll let you know: I really liked it. But it was too long ago actually give my personal reaction in relation to the story. So this isn’t so much of a review as the reasons why I love this book in my library.

I suggest it to my students for their outside reading projects all the time. The writing isn’t amazing, but it reads fast, tackles hot-topic-issues, always makes you cry…and…most importantly…is completely different from the movie!

AhHa! I am an evil Librarian 😉

It forces students to read the book. But, trickery aside, what’s great is that everyone I’ve given this title to has finished the book. Like, really read it, really finished it. And every student has come back to me with a tear in their eye and rave reviews. It’s high school library gold. So the discussion of literary value aside, I’ll take this title for its ability to actually entice students to read…and enjoy it.

This is a sure-fire teen suggestion that they’ll like and be able to write a paper on.

Rating: 8/10

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Going Bovine by Libba Bray

BookTalk

“As a kid, I imagined lots of different scenarios for my life. I would be an astronaut. Maybe a cartoonist. A famous explorer or rock star. Never once did I see myself standing under the window of a house belonging to some druggie named Carbine, waiting for his yard gnome to steal his stash so I could get a cab back to a cheap motel where my friend, a neurotic, death-obsessed dwarf, was waiting for me so we could get on the road to an undefined place and a mysterious Dr. X, who would cure me of mad cow disease and stop a band of dark energy from destroying the universe.” pg. 203

Cameron is a bit of a loner…well, maybe a loser. At 16 he’s floating through life, C+ student, a stoner, and the closest friend he may have is a dwarf he doesn’t know that he likes. Things are about to change. After some muscle twitches and a few visions of toasters bursting into flames Cameron is diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, A.K.A. Mad Cow disease. While in the hospital a punk-rock-princess Angel sends Cameron on a Quixotic journey. With the help of Cameron’s dwarf friend Gonzo, they’re searching for Dr. X. Find the good Dr. and they’ll cure Cameron, find a gift for Gonzo…and save the world…sort of…

Review

Wow, I just finished this book and all I can say is that it was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read. Simultaneously I feel as though…I may not be smart enough to ‘get’ this book…That I should have read Don Quixote…That I really did ‘get’ this book and it was wonderful!…That I should have stopped reading this book 30 pages in…This book made my head hurt…I should probably read this book again…Maybe I should smoke pot then read this book…Maybe I should read it again after reading Don Quixote…I need to YouTube the “Small World” ride…

There, you’re just as confused as me right now…This book was horrible and this book was awesome…

Going Bovine is a controversial book. Yet, it won the Printz. As you can tell I’m a little all over the place when it comes to my reaction to reading it. But if I’m choosing a team…I vote Team-I-Liked-This-Book. It’s a dark tale that mirror’s Quixote’s journey. I’d probably have lots of very literary things to say about the two books’ connections had I ever read Don Quixote…as you can tell from my wildly confusing opening…I haven’t…I’m a bad Librarian.

So that leaves me with the emotional reaction to the book. Know that the book is funny; it’s a dark comedy. Cameron is dying. His wild journey with friends is interspersed with clips from his time in the hospital. The hospital scenes serve as a reality touch-stone, badly needed in this acid-trip of a story. These hits of reality remind the reader that Cameron really is dying. Believe me, once you get sucked into Cameron’s crazy road trip you’ll see the need for the doses of death. You see, Cameron is a person who never really lived in his life and yet is given this chance to have an amazing adventure before his death. As a reader you’ll see Cameron grow and develop in ways your heart will ache to wish he had experience in real life…not just in this dream.

The plot is a crazy blend of philosophy and physics. Displaying messages about everything from how to live your life to the existence of parallel universes. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know that I was smart enough for this book…I think I needed footnotes. Understanding all of the plot points aside, the message of this tale is really to live your life in the moment, take advantage of all it has to offer. I suppose, it’s not really about what your journey is…but that you take it. Not knowing how a Superconducting Super Collider works will not hinder your understanding of the take-away message.

Honestly, I’m still not positive I shouldn’t have read this on some type of illegal substance. Cameron himself spends quite a bit of time high…so it all might have been clearer to me. I’m not revealing any spoilers about the ending. But if you read it and you make it through, you may agree with me that the worth of this tale wasn’t about what actually happened in the story…but instead about the feeling you had when it was over. That you should be happy in whatever life you lead, and that you should live that life to the fullest.

Rating: 9/10

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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

BookTalk

Clay Jensen comes home from school and finds a package waiting for him…He’s excited…Nothing like an unexpected package – with no return addresss – to make your day. What Clay finds inside is a shoebox full of cassette tapes. What he hears when he inserts the first tape is the voice of Hannah Baker. Hannah, the girl he’d had a crush on, went to school with, and worked with at the movie theater. The girl who had changed, drastically, in the past few months.

Hannah Baker, the girl who committed suicide.

Clay soon realizes that these tapes aren’t just a suicide note, instead, these are thirteen reasons — thirteen people, to be exact — who created a snowball-effect of events that led Hannah to believe that suicide was her only option. But why is Clay on that list? How could he possibly be one of the reasons that she killed herself? You’ll learn along with Clay that it’s impossible to stop the future or rewind the past…

Review

The single saddest thing about this book is its cover! It catches female teen eyes like an Anthropologie display, but boys ignore it as soon as they see it. And it’s a travisty, really. This book is told from Clay Jensen’s point of view. True, you get a female voice through Hannah’s tapes but the action plays out based on a male perspecive. The book could have major crossover appeal if only guys weren’t so visual.

That aside, this is a great novel. What makes it so strong is that nothing too tragic happens to Hannah. The events and people she outlines as having led her to her final decision of suicide are seemingly normal teenage slights. The problem being…teenagers can be cruel. It’s violations caused by friends and the rumors based in untruths piling up over the course of years that become Hannah’s crushing weight. It’s enough to make anyone look back over their high school experience and wonder if they ever saw people clearly…not just through the lens of accepted gossip.

Another thing I love about this book is that it’s interactive. Readers can go to Asher’s site (http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com) and listen to Hannah’s Tapes or even visit her Blog. If you think it’s a creepy/devastating prospect to read about Clay uncovering the reasons in the tapes…try listening to a real voice reading them. It adds an extra layer of realism that will not only drive the emotion of the story home, but remind readers that this story could be true. This book is timely in it’s subject given the recent press of teenage suicides caused by all too common bullying. The artistry of the book is that Hannah’s bullying is not extreme. She wasn’t ostracized or humiliated in a public place. Asher manages to restrain himself from employing all too common YA theatrics and drama. Instead, in real time with Clay the reader will learn how all of our actions and even our inaction can privately wound another person.

My one problem with the book was the addition of Clay becoming worried about another potential suicide risk within his school. I don’t think the book needed such a literal example of the lesson Clay learns from Hannah. It was a little after-school-special for my taste…but didn’t diminish my love of this book in the slightest. It’s a must read.

Rating: 9/10

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Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King

Review

I’m in the minority. You should probably read Please Ignore Vera Dietz…Everyone else thinks you should…But I didn’t love it. I’m not going to booktalk it. I am disappointed. I could possibly be the only person on the internet brave enough to say so.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a Printz Award Honor book. I had such high hopes! I love the Printz, rarely do the picks for this award fail me. On top of its award status, other readers loved this book…five-star-loved this book. And I’m with them to a point…

I did find Vera to be funny. She’s a self-deprecating, dry humored kinda gal and I like that. Right from the start of the book I found her to be realistic and funny. I enjoyed listening to her voice. Vera is a smart kid, intelligent and aware of herself. She’s just lost her best friend Charlie during a night when the local pet store also burned down. And the story centers on Vera’s trouble dealing with life after his death. Charlie has been blamed for the fire and from the beginning of the novel the reader knows, that Vera knows, that Charlie didn’t do it. Charlie asked for Vera’s help, he’s left evidence to reveal the truth to her. Because of this Vera is being chased by her own demons (talking, Charlie shaped demons) to reveal the truth of that night.

This is where I think I lost my enjoyment of the story. Perhaps I misunderstood the point of this novel, I focused too much on the secrets surrounding the death of Charlie. I was distracted with the ‘knowing the truth’ part. I assumed the truth would be worth the wait…a suprise of some kind. It’s Not. The truth surrounding Charlie’s death is not the major break through of this novel. Be warned. When you pick this title up forget about the secret, forget about the thing Vera’s supposed to find in the tree, Save Yourself! Find enjoyment and satisfaction in this book! 

This book is all about Vera growing up and facing her demons. She has more than the ghost of Charlie on her plate. Vera’s mother abandoned her at the age of 12 cutting off almost all contact with Vera. Add to this tragedy the facts that Vera’s parents were teens when they became pregnant and married, her father suffered from alcoholism, and her mother was a stripper at a local joint for the first year of Vera’s life. Much of the emotional play of the novel is due to these filters, even how she handles Charlie’s death and the night of the fire. We watch as Vera basically crashes and burns a few months after Charlie’s death. She’s drinking, dating the wrong type of guy, and attempting to go completely ignored at school. Vera is realistically messed up and realistically finds her way out. This is why the novel is a Printz Honor.

My problem with it all was that the author had me waiting for a big reveal (it never comes), and while I liked Vera in the beginning I found her kinda odd by the end of the story. I’m not sure I’d be friends with her, and I’m not convinced I was totally rooting for her. A lot of people out there connected to this book. I didn’t. I could have stopped halfway through and been just fine. I’d love for someone to convince me otherwise…restore my blind faith in the Printz…but this one just wasn’t my favorite.

Rating: 5/10

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If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Booktalk

“I see Dad first…as I walk toward him, the pavement grows slick and there are gray chunks of what looks like cauliflower. I know what I’m seeing right away but it somehow does not immediately connect back to my father. What springs into my mind are those news reports about tornadoes or fires, how they’ll ravage one house but leave the one next door intact. Pieces of my father’s brain are on the asphalt…I find Mom next. There’s almost no blood on her, but her lips are already blue and the whites of her eyes are completely red, like a ghoul from a low-budget monster movie…I run back toward the ditch where I came from and I see a hand sticking out. ‘Teddy! I’m right here!’…’Reach up. I’ll pull you out.’ But when I get closer…It’s my hand.”

The county over-reacted, it wasn’t snowy enough for a snow day, but once a snow day is called, there’s no turning back. Mia and her family take advantage of the free day by going to visit friends and instead find themselves in a head-on collision, with Mia as the only survivor…barely. You see, Mia is trapped in a coma somewhere between life and death. Over the next few hours Mia will view the aftermath of this tragedy. She’ll watch and listen to all of her friends and family pray for her, talk to her, and give her permission to move on. On the verge of death Mia must find if she’s strong enough to Stay.

Review

There seem to be a lot of YA books about death. As morbid as they sound I find that instead of being depressing they tend to focus on how we live our lives. Nothing makes you look closer at how you live your life than pondering your death. If I Stay follows in this theme, making the reader look closer at their own life and how they live it.

I thought that this was an interesting subject and I liked that the author stuck to just the coma. Forman doesn’t go into what happens at the end of the coma or how Mia’s family and friends react to the outcome. This is purely about the struggle between whether Mia stays or goes. There’s not a ton of religious discussion about what happens after death, or the ramifications of Mia choosing death when she could very well have chosen life. This is really more about a girl dealing with a life altering tragedy. She’s lost her entire nuclear family and sustained physical injuries that are not going to be easy to overcome. Mia’s debate is about whether she can live her life in such an altered state or not.

I think that this is something a lot of readers can relate to. An unexpected change in our lives forcing us to live in a way we never expected. The question of taking the easy road of not dealing with the change, hiding from it, or running away versus meeting it head on and trying to find the good in the situation. Don’t get me wrong, Mia’s situation is grave but it’s one the reader is always sure she has control over.

Forman takes us through Mia’s memories of the friends and family who are at the hospital with her as well as the family that she’s lost. By the end of the book you know Mia pretty well. The telling of this tale is purely from Mia’s perspective. Between the bedside confessions of her loved ones and the stories Mia relates, it’s obvious that until this point in her life, life had been easy. Her family and friends supportive and loving. And, her ability as well as desire to play the cello are unique and special. It’s heartbreaking to see what she’s lost and what she stands to lose in death.

My one complaint was that I didn’t really feel the love between the boyfriend and Mia. I was told it was a deep love, very mature and serious for their ages (18 and 19) but I didn’t really feel it. This becomes a problem in the last part of the novel, if you read the book you’ll see why. It’s what kept me from rave reviews of the title. This book is interesting, but not as touching as I had expected. I didn’t shed a tear.

Rating: 7/10

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before i fall by Lauren Oliver

I’ll admit, I didn’t like this book in the beginning. Samantha and her friends are complete and total mean girls. Not the Tina Fey, funny, socially satirical, Mean Girls. No, Oliver’s mean girls are realistically annoying; examples of pure teenage self-centeredness. After watching a day of their narcissism, bullying, and general lack of empathy for other humans…let’s just say I was not so sad to see that drunken car careen off the wet road into a tree…I mean really, the final straw was letting the seventeen-year-old who claimed to “not feel drunk” after a bottle of vodka drive the car…I could have stopped the book right there…

But then Samantha wakes up. It’s the same day, same dialogue, same chain of events…but she knows what happens at the end of the day. It’s a day she’ll live again and again. Readers will watch as Samantha goes through stages of grief: Disbelief, Anger, Sadness and finally Understanding. Oliver gives her character the unique experience of learning her place in the world. Samantha will become painfully aware that every action causes an effect in others lives. The book centers around the themes of The Butterfly effect (though the Ashton Kutcher movie is never referenced, odd given the amount of cultural references Oliver manages to drop within the pages) as well as the idea that what we leave behind in this world after our death is only our memories. Again, after the first 50 pages you’ll know why this is of such concern to Samantha…her memories will not be good.

No spoilers here, there are many ways this story could have ended. As a reader you’ll probably narrow it down to a strong 2 or 3 variations. But, by the time you and Samantha reach the end of her final day, you’ll both understand why this was the right way to go. This book is a little slow to start, but in the end it has a strong message and a smart, poignant finish.

BookTalk

Samantha Kingston is popular. She has it all…The best of best friends, the hottest boyfriend in the school, total and complete power over the student body. Freshman quake in their shoes during a mere conversation with her. It’s easy to see in a single day that popularity pays off…who cares if to get the best parking spot you had to smash that other girl’s bumper?…Why not send that loser a fake rose message, she knows she’s a psycho right? Flirt with the hot young teacher, hike up your skirt a little more, blow off your family, find a dark room with your boyfriend, drink the vodka, and party hard…To look at this one single day you’d have to admit popularity has a certain delicious flavor. But what if this day was your last? How would you feel about the memories you leave?

This single day is Samantha’s last day on earth. One she’ll live again and again, revealing hard truths about herself and untangling the mysteries surrounding her life, and her death. If This is the end, the question is: Will she finally discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing?

Grades: 9-11

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