12.23.08
Trouble – Gary D. Schmidt
by Gary Schmidt
Henry Smith’s father says, If you build your house away from Trouble, Trouble will never find you.
But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry’s older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin’s preparatory school. THe tragedy sparks racial tensions in the school – and in the town where Henry’s family has lived for generations
Caught between anger and grief, Henry does the only thing he feels he can: he sets off for Mt. Katahdin, which he and Franklin had planned to climb together. One July morning, he leaves for Maine with his best friend and the lovable stray, Black Dog, in tow. But when they encounter Chay Chouan on the road, fleeing demons of his own, Henry learns that turning a blind eye to Trouble only brings Trouble closer
- from the front flap
That is a very good summary. I tried to think up my own, but I couldn’t think of anything better than that one.
Pages: 297
My Review: This book was really, really, really good. All the characters were well developed, and the plot was brilliant. Really brilliant. My only complaint was that it went rather slowly. It took me a week to pick up the book after I’d read the first chapter, and I didn’t get hooked until the fourth. And even then, I could easily put it down.
There’s a lot of description and telling in this book. But it evens out, and I can’t help liking the tone very much. It’s hard to describe, but it lets Henry tell almost, with more revelation than if Henry had been narrating (first person should only tells you what the person narrating is aware of) and more feeling than many first person books.
12.18.08
Let it Snow – Maureen Johnson, John Green, Lauren Myracle
Let it Snow!
-
Three related holiday stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle:
Beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you only see in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House throught four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks
-from the back
I adored this book. Yes, it was kind of predictable, but it was very sweet and romantic, and also, I am very excited for the holidays. (See the snow!) This was a lovely holiday book.
I felt like I could relate to all the characters – Jubilee, Tobin, Addie, and all their friends. All three stories are connected, and I thought that was so cool – the way they all had something to do with each other, but they had no idea that they did. And how everyone -yes, everyone – has their own stories. That was one of the coolest parts.
07.19.08
Favorite Books
It occured to me that I was publishing book reviews— but I hadn’t mentioned any of my favorites! So because I really haven’t read any books I feel like reviewing lately (I like to keep my reviewing positive), I decided to do that today. They’re not all in order, but I’ve done my best to sort them out.
by Shannon Hale
Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee is the Crown Princess of Kildenree. As the first born, she is meant to rule after her mother and father die… or at least she thought so.
But things change.
Her brother becomes the heir to the throne. Unbeknownest to Ani’s father, Ani’s mother betrothed her to the prince of Bayern, a neighboring country. Ani is only told after her father dies. So shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Ani sets out to meet the man she is to marry, armed with only a few guards, her lady-in-waiting, and her ability to speak with birds and her horse, Falada.
I really love this book. It is just my favorite book, period. No questions asked.
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins. I didn’t like this book the first time I read it, but the second time I really, really liked it. I think it was a little mature for me, the first time.
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I think it’s my favorite of all her books. At least, it’s my favorite out of the ones I’ve read.
by Jacqueline Woodson
It’s January 1971, and Frannie is living with her parents and deaf older brother, Sean. They live on the other side of the highway, the ‘black’ side. So when a white boy suddenly appeared in Frannie’s classroom, and her classmates take to calling him ‘Jesus boy’, she’s surprised. And when Samantha, her best friend, takes to believing Jesus boy is the real Jesus, come back, Frannie decides to investigate.
I really like this book. Told in Frannie’s light, easy narrative, it’s sweet and light and funny. Yet beneath it there’s a more serious matter. Maybe I like it because the religious issues in the book kind of match what I agree with. I picked it up because it won Newbery Honor, and I didn’t expect to like it very much. Turns out, I did. And a lot, too.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Actually, I’m not sure if this is really an absolute favorite. But then, even if it isn’t, it should be on your to read list if you haven’t read it already. This book is lovely.
Jane Austen’s books. I have a feeling that my favorite JA book at this particular moment is Sense and Sensibility, but I also love the rest. I am very good at flipflopping between them, because they are all. so. good.
by Juliet Marillier
Jena lives with her four sisters close to the Transylvania woods, a place of mystery and magic. The five of them find a portal that allow them to go to a dancing glen in the forest on every full moon, where they dance the night away with strang, magical creatures.
But Jena’s cousin, Costi, was drowned in the forest, in a pond. And now his brother, Cezar, wants to revenge him, by cutting down the forest… and killing Jena’s secret friends. To make matters worse, Jena is sure her older sister, Tati, is falling in love with a Night Person, which is forbidden. Can Jena figure out what to do and who to trust, before it’s too late?
Personally, I found this book fantastic. I liked it immediately. I don’t know about you, but books usually have to dwell on me for a while before I like them. Almost all of my favorite books have endured times of indifference from me. Plus, the cover is lovely.
On Pointe by Lorie Ann Grover. This isn’t the best book that I’ve read that’s written in verse, yet it’s my favorite that’s been written in verse. It just rings true.
Strays Like Us by Richard Peck. To be honest, it’s been a long time since I read this book, and I don’t think I’d like it as much as I did before. Still, I can’t help but remember this book.
So this is about all I’ll post for now.
Verity
07.12.08
Undercover-Beth Kephart
by Beth Kephart
Elisa is a ghostwriter: she writes love notes for the boys in her school. It’s accepted, understood by her—her job to write notes for the girls and pass them off as by the boys without revealing herself.
But when Theo Moses asks for verses to court Lila, the most popular girl in school—someone who reminds Elisa of everything she isn’t— and Elisa agrees, life changes. Elisa stops writing for other people; she’s too busy writing for Theo. And when Elisa falls for Theo herself, it gets even more complicated.
At home, Elisa’s father, the only person she believes understands her, has left on a long business trip. Elisa retreats, like the undercover writer she is, to a deserted pond in the woods where she teaches herself to skate and gives herself confidence. Confidence she will need against Lila, who grows jealous of Elisa’s friendship with Theo.
I admit I wasn’t really taken into this book until later. I read about half and then I dropped it for a while. Not because the book was bad, but because I had others to read too, and I had just limited my reading amount.
So I picked it up again, yesterday. It reminds me a little of Waiting for Normal by Leslie Conner in the way that it didn’t get engrossing for me until the end.
But at the end—I really enjoyed the end. It’s not every book that manages to bore me for a while and then suddenly make a rebound, but this book managed it. This book was fun and beautiful and—yes, sad, too. It was sad in the way same way that some things are impossible.
I also loved Elisa’s poems, scattered throughout the book, both beautiful and compelling. Bittersweet. Elisa is a frank, honest and real-to-life girl, one who is normal. One reason I liked it, I think, is that in her way, Elisa is like me. I liked the open, not happily-ever-after ending, accompanied by a dash of hope, nevertheless. This is a lovely, sweetly written book.
