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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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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The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

BookTalk

I used to be someone.

Someone named Jenna Fox.

That’s what they tell me. But I am more than a name. More than they tell me. More than the facts and statistics they fill me with. More than the video clips they make me watch.

More. But I’m not sure what…

Jenna Fox is recovering from a serious accident that left her in a coma. Upon waking, she has little or no memory of who she is. She meets her parents, but has no memories of them. Nothing about her surroundings is familiar, and then she learns that her family has relocated to a new area to have a fresh start after her accident. Despite being fed pieces of her life from her parents and watching countless DVDs that captured her life before the coma, she barely recognizes the girl she sees on the screen. As she explores deeper into who she is and flashes of images begin to appear in her mind, she starts to feel that those closest to her are hiding something…something big.

Review

I. Love. This. Book. But more importantly my students…Love. This. Book.

I booktalked The Adoration of Jenna Fox this year and had to immediately purchase 5 more copies of the book. Yes Librarians, you heard that right, 5 new copies rush-ordered via Amazon. Considering I service a library of about 400 students 6 copies of any book is a lot but I needed them…with a wait list. I personally ate it up in one morning simply dying to find out what happened. This book has it all: mystery, suspense, complex relationships, a discussion of a timely topic, and such a satisfying conclusion to it you’ll wish all YA books were so tidy.

 As the booktalk indicates we meet Jenna Fox after a major accident and she remembers nothing of her former life. Jenna spends her days watching video of her life pre-accident in hopes of triggering a real memory. You see, it all seems vaguely realistic…trying to help an amnesic recoup by replaying memories. But the girl on the tape, supported by a loving family, is not the life Jenna is living. Her mother is stressed, her father is living across the country because their family is in hiding, and her Catholic grandmother seems to dislike her. Just as odd, Jenna can recite poetry passages and history textbooks by heart…but doesn’t know if she had friends.

Jenna does begin to remember snatches of her history. For both the reader and Jenna the story her parents have told begins to wear thin. The logic of the story doesn’t fit together as it should. Momentum builds not just to the final reveal of Jenna’s personal story but to the horrific indications of what followed. By this point in the book the climax you’ve been waiting for only serves to bring other character’s stories into play emotionally. You’ll find satisfaction in Jenna’s full remembrance followed swiftly by emotional turmoil for others. It opens a whole other can of worms the author has been prepping you for without your knowledge. The suspense continues to the final pages of the novel. Asking the reader how far they would go to save a life.

This novel tackles medical ethics as well as a family dealing with an unforeseen tragedy and it’s aftermath. What plays out is realistic and emotional. As in real life hindsight is 20/20 and the characters in this book make their decisions out of love for their child. The chapters of the story are short and intermingled with memory breakthroughs that keep the plot running and the reader engaged.

Rating: 10/10

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After by Amy Efaw

BookTalk

What if you did it?…Could you have done it?…This can’t be happening to you…You get good grades, like, really good grades, 4.15 GPA good grades…And you’re the star of the soccer team, like, a super star. You’ve been playing varsity goalie since your freshman year. People stop you in the halls to congratulate you…people you don’t even know. You’re responsible, an indemand babysitter, a tutor, a soccer coach to little kids. This does not happen to people like you.

But now you’re in jail. With girls who have obviously done really bad things to get here. Things someone like you is incapable of doing…right?…But then there was THAT NIGHT…the blood…the pain…it all came from you. IT came out of you. IT was found in a dumpster. Did you do it?…Could you have done it?…What if you really did it?

Review

Oh My God, was the first thing I thought reading this book. As a reader you are just as hazy as the protagonist Devon for the first few pages of this book but long before Devon snaps back to reality the reader realizes the full horror of the situation.

In After Efaw tackles the subject of “Dumpster Babies”. A trend that the Author’s Note explains is nothing new. We’ve all seen the news stories run of women who dump their newborns in the trash after concealing a pregnancy for 9 months. The horror of the situation rarely allows a true look at what the mother may have been going through. No one wants to believe that a woman couldn’t realize that she was pregnant. I’ve sat through a few “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” episodes myself (what can I say, I’m a lover of train-wrecks) and always end up thinking “really, you were using the ‘rhythm method’ as birth control, didn’t have a period for 9 months, gained weight, and seriously never considered pregnancy as an explanation?!” Between trying to reconcile a missed pregnancy and killing a baby it seems almost impossible to understand the actions of these women.

Efaw does a spectacular job of showing the mother’s point of view. What happened during the 9 months leading up to the birth and the birth itself are painstakingly revealed as the character of Devon is able to deal with them. This means that for the first third of the book you are extremely frustrated. After page 5 as the reader you know what has happened and you want the instant knowledge of the details. The beauty of this plot (and the frustration) come from not learning them right away. To know Devon’s whole story immediately would not allow the reader to see Devon’s point of view. Because Devon has issues…issues I ended up understanding…issues I wanted Devon to overcome and rehabilitate. I really didn’t want to see Devon go to jail for life. Amazing but true, by the end you’ll not only feel for Devon, you’ll understand psychologically why some women do things like this.

This is a heavy book, be warned of that. It’s one of those books that’s good, but takes some emotion to get through. Know that it’s worth the journey.

Rating: 9/10

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Bruiser by Neal Shumsterman

BookTalk

On the outside he was The Bruiser, Voted Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty. A big, lumbering, withdrawn kid from the wrong side of the tracks. A kid who looked like he could take you down with one punch just for talking to him.

On the inside he does the impossible. He takes away all pain. He absorbs all physical and emotional anger, frustration, and bruises from those he cares about.

Brewster has begun dating Bronte. Bronte has always had a soft spot for strays and what begins as a mission quickly becomes real romance. Bronte’s twin Tennyson doesn’t like this development at all. With their parents on the brink of divorce, lacross championships to win, and girlfriends to keep, Tennyson has enough on his plate without worrying about a loser like Brewster ‘The Bruiser’ dating his sister.

But Bronte fights for the relationship and Tennyson begins to find a soft spot for Brewster. And unfortunately, Brewster finds room in his heart for the twins. A tale told from the alternating perspectives of these three characters, you’ll watch as they learn Brewster’s secrets slowly…and realize their implications when it’s almost too late…

Review

I was excited for this book. It’s such an interesting idea…watching someone who could take all pain away from another become intertwined with other people for the first time in his adult life. This is bound to end badly right?…you have to love a book where you can see the train wreck coming from a mile away. The family Brewster becomes involved in has it’s crisis…however they’re all pretty standard: divorce, teenage relationship dramatics, general stress. It appears as though Brewster’s life with his Uncle’s alcoholism and the random beatings of Brewster’s brother Cody (which obviously become absorbed by Brewster) are a bad thing. And a move to this seemingly normal suburban family would be a good thing. This is just what Shumsterman wants you to see in the beginning.

What the novel eventually manifests as its central topic, is the discussion of our ability to walk away from a painkiller. Brewster unwittingly becomes a buffer for anyone he cares about. Wanna play harder in a game? Have Brewster come watch, he’ll take all the hits for you. Girlfriend hurt your feelings? Sit next to Brewster he’ll take the pain away and leave you with contentment. The characters figure out the connection between their emotional happiness and Brewster’s ability much slower than the reader. They focus on the standard abuse of Brewster’s Uncle rather than see how their lives are ruining Brewster’s in a far greater capacity. In the end the reader wonders which situation was worse for Brewster and if anyone can give to Brewster what he naturally allows other people to have…Happiness.

Shumsterman wants the story to culminate with the question of: If we never feel pain how will we recognize happiness? I think the question has merit but isn’t one that Shumsterman asked early enough to really answer. The characters take so long in realizing Brewster’s ability and what their lives have done to him that adding this philosophical question to the plot kind of feels like it was simply tacked on. A stronger ending might have resulted from allowing the characters to truly deal with their drug-like addiction to Brewster’s ability. I much preferred when the character of Tennyson realizes that he’s not strong enough to walk away from Brewster’s gift. I wanted everyone to deal with that…I wanted vindication for Brewster! But in my eyes it never happened. Well, obviously something happens, the book ends, but I wish it would have been more of a breakthrough for the characters.

I did enjoyed the book. The format of various character views as well as varied writing formats (Brewster shares his story in free verse) kept the delivery fresh. This also helped Shumsterman pace the plot so the reader has revelations way before the characters. The knowledge of what this family is doing to Brewster is what drives the reader on…You’re waiting for everyone to realize what they’re doing and to fix the situation. But, like I said, I didn’t really feel that that happened in this story. I don’t know that in the end the characters are really ready to look out for Brewster’s best interests…I don’t think they learned their lesson at all. But maybe that’s the point.

Rating

8/10

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