Kittenpie Reads KidLit

by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Amal is a pretty average girl living in Australia, though she is pretty new at her snooty prep school, and it's a bit strange after being at a school that was rooted in the Muslim community for years. Despite wanting to blend in at McLean, she decides over the holidays to start wearing the hijab as a step farther into living her faith as a fuller part of her life. This is not met without resistance, let's just say...

Her parents, to begin with, are concerned about the opposition they fear she will encounter, and worry that it may hold her back because of how she will be perceived by others. Their worries aren't unfounded, and she does indeed encounter some nasty moments along the way. Her principal is not on board, to begin with, though her parents convince her to allow the addition to the school uniform.

Her own biggest worries come with her return to school and the dog-eat-dog social world of high school. For one thing, she is already a target of mean girl Tia and her friends. For another, she has a major crush on school cutie Adam. She has some rock-solid friends, but they do have some issues of their own that they are wrestling with, making Amal's struggles to fit in as an identifiably Muslim girl in a very white school only one of the issues that this book covers.

Amal is smart and sassy, and determined not to be defined or limited by people's perceptions. She sets out to inform the people who make clueless comments about the differences and similarities between Islam and other major religions, and to point out stereotypes and assumptions where they rear their ugly heads. She wins some people over this way - including Adam, who suddenly presents a new problem, when she realizes that what part of her wants, another part does not, for she is level-headed enough to remember that her religious beliefs about intimacy are more important to her than what her heart is telling her she wants with him.

In the end, the book sets out to expose and correct a lot of ignorant beliefs and assumptions, and does a fine job of it. The characters are likeable, and have the reader with them the whole way. And best of all, the author manages to make several good points, and make them strongly, without sacrificing any of the fun in this moving book about growing up Muslim in Australia to her message.

Labels: 2005, family, friendship, girly, good stuff, growing up, issues, set abroad, teen

by Jennifer Donnelly

This is one of those books I had heard about for years, from many people whose opinions I respect immensely, but never seemed to get to, until just now. It's a period piece, which is not always my style, and it's a weighty read, which for a slower reader like myself can be off-putting when my reading pile is so very tall, but I"m glad I finally took the time to delve into it.

The book opens with Mattie Gokey working at a summer holiday spot in upstate New York, where a body has just been pulled from the lake. The victim had given Mattie some letters to destroy before she went out on the fatal boat ride, and now Mattie has some choices to make as she uncovers some truths in those letters. This story unfolds in chapters that alternate with the chapters about how Mattie came to work there, despite the wishes of her stern father and an engagement that should have seen her home.

Mattie, we learn, is a bright girl who should, in the opinion of her teacher and best friend, be bound for a scholarship she has won at Barnard College with the assistance of her inspiring (but, it turns out, scandalous) teacher. She wants it so badly she can taste it, yet the money to get there seems impossible and worse, her father won't give her permission to go and leave him and her younger sisters behind. She is already torn between wishes and responsibility when Royal gets in the mix, asking her to marry him, and she is pulled in yet another direction by his handsome, solid self. Add to this the trials of her dearest friend, who sees the dreams he longs for fiercely go up in smoke, and in the end, she learns a few hard truths about men and women, about love and duty and destiny.

Mattie is one of those great girl characters, the ones full of spunk and longing and fight, the ones who we root for the whole way, whose frustrations are our frustrations, and she is the core of what makes this book great. There's a lot here, though. A lot about girls and position, a lot about what we want and why, a lot about living in another time, when you were defined by what you looked like and were told not to fight it.

All this, the experience, the realness of it, and the depth of the characters make for a read that pulls you in and stays with you well after you've closed the cover. Highly recommended, and a Printz Honor Book, to boot.

Labels: 2003, family, friendship, growing up, historical fiction, issues, loved it, teen

by Melvin Burgess
***(This book has been published under both titles.)

Melvin Burgess is the kind of writer who manages to take on anything and make it compelling reading - really, the reason that I wanted to read this book. He can the write the impossible so that it's believable, the creepy so that it's chilling yet not unthinkable, and in this case, the big issue in a way that neither sensationalizes nor minimizes.

This book is about junk - as in heroin - and a pair of kids who fall into using it. Well, one of them falls in, following the other, who rather jumps headlong into it as an adventure. Which is kind of how their relationship is, really - she leading blithely, he following, even though he is the one with the true problems at home. It's her thirst for something new that leads them to run away, to move out with some users, and to start themselves.

Once they start using, Burgess presents a pretty balanced picture about what the appeal is, the hold the cravings have over them, the unappealing things they do to keep that next score in sight, and the lies they tell themselves to make it seem okay. In the end, they do strive to clean up and return to a different life, and we see glimpses of where their stories will lead, some endings happier than others.

Over it all, though, is Burgess' writing, less showy here than in some of his books, but solid, unflinching, and a real enough voice to speak directly to teens and the questions they might have about this drug and the life that too often goes with it.

Labels: 1996, good stuff, growing up, issues, teen

by John Boyne
Doubleday
978 0 385 67597 0

Something is wrong at Noah's home, and he decides to run away. He's not being mistreated, it's made clear, but the nature is a mystery that some readers will guess at before it is revealed at the end.

In any case, he is now on the road and encounters some strange people and situations along the way, landing finally at a strange toyshop built under a most unusual tree. There, he meets an old man who seems to understand a great deal about him. By the end of a very odd and thought-provoking day of magical happenings and meandering discussion, Noah has learned enough to change his perspective and decide to return home, and the reader has learned enough to piece together the pieces of this fairy-tale-inspired story.

The ending is satisfying, if not as surprising as it might have hoped to be, and the read has a decidedly fairy-tale quality, as mentioned above. How well it all worked, though, I'm not certain. I think it is perhaps too old for most children, or too determinedly offbeat, but that is John Boyne's style, and to be honest, I didn't love his famous title The Boy in Striped Pajamas, either. I have to call this one a book that some will enjoy and some not, because I really believe it's a case where taste will dictate more than anything whether you walk away liking it or not.

Labels: 2010, family, growing up, issues, middle grades, Publisher Reviews, slightly weird stuff

Punk is a catchall title that covers subgenres widely ranging from Ramonescore to Grindcore to Queercore, and is hotly debated by its listeners, whether or not they live one "punk" lifestyle or another - and again, there are many. With punk being so hard to pin down, it should come as no surprise that while these two teen books both caught my eye for their otensible punk theme, they are wildly different.

So Punk Rock
by Micol Ostow
Flux
ISBN: 9780738714714

Ari is a serious music lover, and also in dire need of some cool points, especially since his best friend Jonas is one of those effortlessly charismatic types who overshadows him at every turn. In pursuit of rock stardom, they drag in a few other classmates along the way, act like jerks to each other at times, and of course, learn a few valuable lessons by the end - but not too much of the lesson stuff.

Ari also attends a Jewish day school with his friends, and references to their shared culture abound, from co-opting the term "kosher" to mean cool to mentions of bar mitzvahs, bagels, bubelehs, and the like. It's great fun, and makes the character come to life even as he pokes fun at his own stereotypical family and school settings.

The short graphic interludes and notebook drawings add another dimension to the novel and the character, and introduce David Ostow's art, as well. A great pick for a reluctant reader or a teen who wants some funny in a light, music-themed read.

Mosh Pit
by Kristyn Dunnion
Red Deer Press
ISBN: 9780889952928

Simone, a young lesbian punk is at the centre of this rough, raw story of living on the edge. She has a lingering loyalty to Cherry, her self-destructive, addicted best friend who she is in love with, despite her manipulation and recent alliance with a nasty, violent dealer. She is at the same time falling for Carol, a streetsmart tranny with a heart of gold, who also happens to be wise enough to know that Simone has a long way to go to be ready for a real relationship with her.

Simone does has a circle of tight friends like Hardcore Hank, Velvetine, and Diesel, who all help her at the worst times, including after she is badly beaten by a cop, and want the best for her. In the end, they save her and help her find a way back to okay after a horrific run-in with Cherry and her psycho boyfriend that nearly has her and her friend's little niece killed in a park. Seriously.

This is most emphatically not a book for the faint of heart, but a reader looking for a gritty read about offbeat characters that you can root for will find plenty of friendship and violence in equal measure here.

Labels: friendship, growing up, issues, music theme, teen

by Narinder Dhami

After reading Todd Strasser's novel/indictment about school shootings, and in preparing to read an adult novel on the topic, I came across this book, and was surprised to find that it was British. Since we tend to think of school shootings as an american phenomenon, I was curious to see how it would be handled differently here.

The book alternates between the actual action of what is happening in the school and the reasons why Mia believes that her twin brother might be the one holding the gun, including a look back over their lives, beginning as very young children looking after themselves while their mentally ill mother lay in bed during the depressed phases of her bipolar cycles.

Mia is nearly certain that her twin is trying to both pay back a girl who bullied her and make her mother sit up and take notice of how her refusal to seek help is affecting the family. They are, after all, living on the brink, and Mia does not feel that she has the strength to deal with it, while she watches her brother become ever more distant and scornful.

During the school shooting, Mia is so certain it's her brother that rather than evacuate the school with her classmates, she runs toward the classroom held hostage, hoping to talk him down, only to find herself playing cat and mouse with the gunman, who she hears rather than sees until the last second.

This story has a twist ending that took me completely by surprise, and which I will not give away, but I will say that the British tradition of psychological thrillers and mysteries is definitely alive and well, even in teen fiction...

Labels: 2009, family, issues, teen

by Patricia McCormick

A book about a girl tricked into leaving her parents and sold into human slavery in the sex trade is, as you might imagine, not a topic for the young or faint of heart. This definitely belongs in the teen range with its content, though I do think an older child, say a grade 6 with some sophisticated reading habits, could handle it, because while Lakshmi is in a horrific situation, the writing of it is handled gently.

The story is told slowly, so that the circumstances that led to her mother allowing her to leave the home become clear, and the mother is not painted as someone who has easily abandoned her child to the mercy of others. The manipulations used by the various traders along the way are revealed, so the reader can see how people are tricked by them. Lakshmi's introduction into the sex trade, even, is handled carefully, never using shock value or graphic description, but couching it more in the language of the child the Lakshmi is, since she is telling her own story here.

This is a worthwhile read for an older child or a teen who can handle it, who is interested in what is happening in the wider world, because this is very real, but of course, it is a topic that makes this book one to recommend carefully to the right child. for all that I picked it up worried that I would be horrified, I was pleased to find that McCormick has managed admirably the tricky balance of cushioning the brutality and horror without downplaying the truth of what happens to girls in this situation.

Labels: 2006, good stuff, growing up, issues, middle grades, set abroad, teen

by Ned Vizzini

Craig is suffering from clinical depression, and feeling the tiredness, the inability to eat, the insomnia, and the disheartened emotional state that go with it. Like being a teenager isn't sucky enough, especially when your best (and maybe only) friend is with the girl you're in love with and you have to watch them together all the time.

Then one night, it just all seems too much, and he seriously contemplates suicide. The suicide hotline tells him to go to the nearest emergency room, where he then goes to an adult psychiatric wing and stays for several days. While there he talks to other patients and to doctors, and learns some things about himself, his medications, his friends and that girl, and other people's problems. He starts to feel connected again, more like himself, and feel like here are some changes he has to make to keep the positive momentum going. By the time he gets out, he's ready to try the world again, ending on a positive, or at least cautiously optimistic, note.

At the end of the book it notes that Vizzini spent five days in a psychiatric hospital as a young man, and started writing this book one week later. That did not come as a complete surprise, as everything about life on a psych ward rang true in this book - something I know from visiting a close relative there on more than one occasion.

It all adds up to a really great teen novel - one with parts about finding yourself, about growing up, about stuff that teen boys think about, and that throws in a real experience, though hopefully one not too many teens will have to live themselves.

Labels: 2006, family, friendship, good stuff, growing up, issues, teen

by Elin Kelsey

This book starts from the premise that most books about the environment are depressing - heavy, doomsaying, guilt-inducing, and laying the onus squarely on the reader to fix it. Yikes. From there, it promises to inform and inspire hope rather than horror.

She goes on to talk about a lot of factors that affect the environment and a lot of the problems that we are seeing. A lot of the information centres around our lifestyles and how they impact the world, showing the ripple effects that we have on the planet.

As promised, though, she looks at many sides of each issue, as well as areas where research is showing new promise for future improvements. In some cases, this this means she shows the flaws in things we believe are answers, but she always points out several pros and cons, making the book more about information and choices than about lessons.

The book is text-heavy and densely packed with information, as it is a non-fiction book for kids in middle grades (I'd say grades 4-8), but the tone is light and conversational, making it a surprisingly easy read.

A great gift for a curious or environmentally conscious kid, or a starting point for doing a project or making a change, I recommend this one as a great way to start learning about earth and what we can do to help her out.

Labels: 2010, Canadian, issues, non-fiction, Publisher Reviews

by Tim O'Donnell
ill. Mike Deas

Orca has started a new set of graphic novels that include a little teaching in an adventure format - and not just teaching on topics that we adults wish they knew more about. There is one about survival skills, and another about soccer which star the same kids, while this tale of media use and awareness is the second adventure for a group who first taught kids about skateboarding. Which I really have to get my hands on, because it sounds really cool, and I wouldn't mind learning myself!

What I'm loving, though, is even with a topic like this one, which is more fact-based and obviously less kinetic, the story has a base in action and fighting bad guys that would help it appeal to even the most learning-averse. The graphic format helps keep it light and lets labels with tiny blurbs do some of the talking where a traditional text would have to do more describing. It really works.

I think media literacy is more important for kids every day - it's something we really need to be teaching them so that they can start to navigate the millions of messages bombarding them every day, not to mention do their school work and research with a critical eye.

To be able to give them a good start on understanding, a place from which to start getting curious and asking questions, without boring them into avoidance is fantastic. I think every kid should read this or something like it, and explore the accompanying website for more information, and some fun games and free stuff.

If you know a kid in grades 3-6, make sure they get this, whether as a gift or a library pick.

Labels: 2009, action/adventure, Canadian, early chapters, good stuff, graphic novel, issues, middle grades

by Gene Luen Yang

This teen graphic novel was recommended to me by a bookstore clerk, who saw that I had picked it up and told me it was good stuff. He wasn't wrong.

The book features three stories that seem separate, yet address the same theme of fitting in and knowing who you are. The first story is from the Chinese legends of the Monkey King, the second is about a young boy who is growing up as a Chinese-American, and the third is about a white American boy whose annoying, over-the-top stereotype of a Chinese cousin is visiting and ruining his life at school.

The blend of fantasy and reality here works well, though it did have me for a while wondering why we had these three separate stories and where we were going. It resolves nicely, though, and at the end, the three stories suddenly entwine in an interesting and unforeseen way to drive the point home, without becoming all message-y.

Being a graphic, this is a quick read, and it's fun, but it's a solid book, too, with things to say about racism, accepting yourself, and growing up. While it's about a boy from Chinese heritage, it's applicable to a huge number of kids growing up in North America right now from different places, and I bet a lot of them would identify with parts of it. To me, that makes it a great thing to have on the shelf, so people get a better sense of what they or someone else might be facing.

and of course you can't talk graphic novel without talking about the drawing style. it's cartoon-y, of course, but a more conventionally western style of comics, not manga-style. it's got bold lines, yet manages a good amount of detail. To be honest, while I'm not a big graphic novel reader, I really liked the look and the way this novel worked.
-loved the style

Labels: 2006, friendship, good stuff, graphic novel, growing up, issues, slightly weird stuff, teen

This is a book about death and coping with grief that somehow manages not to be teribly sad, though it makes you feel bad for Annie. Mostly, it rings true, and introduces a young girl wrestling with something huge and winning, through her own spirit and the help of a wise friend. Beautifully written, with heart and humour as well as empathy, it's not only a wonderful read, but could be a great choice for someone who knows this struggle more intimately.

If you'd like to read a little for yourself to get a feel for this book and character, check out an excerpt, here.

Labels: 2009, family, friendship, growing up, issues, loved it, middle grades, Publisher Reviews, siblings

by Natale Ghent

Sue Sioux Smith is your basic teenage nihilist, stumbling through high school and verging on trouble, when she stumbles right into something - someone, really, who makes her open her eyes.

An old woman gets her out of a jam in a case of mistaken identity, but when she runs into her again, it seems that the woman really is confused about who she is. She is not interested in getting involved, but she is a good kid at heart, a kind person, and feels herself compelled to help this woman once she sees how she lives and how vulnerable she is.

She hides what she's doing - it seems a little weird, it's not cool, and she doesn't think people will really understand - until it seems that her new person - friend? project? - needs more help than she can give on her own.

In the end, without being a cheesy happy ending, she finds she's been put in touch with parts of herself that she had pushed aside, and she sees things in a new light. There is no real moral, even the so-called resolution is problematic, but it rings truer than a tidier ending, because what Sioux finds is that life is not so neat, but it's still worth diving in. Helping, too, doesn't always work out like you hoped, but still feels good, and totally worthwhile.

I mean, she even changes her term project from death to helping. Woah.

Labels: 2009, Canadian, friendship, good stuff, growing up, issues, teen

by Kim Kane

Olive is an odd-looking young girl who lives with a single mom who is single-mindedly chasing a career goal, and putting in too many hours to really be there for Olive at the moment. She doesn't quite fit in among the ruthless social structure at her girls' school, either, but has a best friend who shares her love of long baths, dress-up, and good snacks. The friend helps, gives her someone with whom to stave off the lonely hours, and a sense of belonging. So when her friend falls prey to the lure of the popular girls and is eager to be brought into their fold even at the expense of her friendship with Olive, Olive is cut adrift.

With too many free hours to start contemplating life, Olive's ever-present curiosity about her father grows unbounded. He is know to her only known by name and old stories of how the family lived as hippies when she was a baby, plus one old photo, so there is plenty of scope for her imaginings. And then one day, the day she is dealt the final parting insult by her former best friend and the top girls, she discovers her twin. Pip.

This twin moves in with her, goes to school with her, provides her with company, and eggs her on, getting her to do some things she wouldn't do on her own, and even getting her into some small trouble at school. (The twin, it is never explicitly said, is imaginary.) In fact, the twin so emboldens Olive that the two of them together hatch a plan to find their father, using clues to figure out last place he was known to be and plotting out how to get there.

And they do it. They skip school, lie to their mother, and board a train for a town a little ways away down the coast of Autralia. What they find, though, is not what Olive dreams of, but a man who has built a life with no room in it for her. The book ends with Olive having the answers she needs to move forward, even if they are not as she hoped - realistic, yet not depressing, for other things have turned up well in the meantime.

Her mother's aspiration has been met, and she will have more time, as well as seeing how desperately Olive needs her around. Olive has found a new friend at school during all of this, a girl with similar sense of humour and lack of interest in the school's hierarchy, so she can let Pip fade away, disappearing from her mirror and leaving her one.

The language in this book is lovely, capturing the beauty of the wild coastline and a less-structured life with a strong sense of the wistful. Longing is palpable, befitting Olive's emotional state through most of the book. And as someone who had her own unanswered questions about her absent father at this same age, I know it to be true. In fact, I had a friend with whom I plotted a trip out west to my father's last-known whereabouts as well - but it's a longer trip than Olive made, and my friend and I just plotted and dreamed, both too practical to really convince ourselves to go. Still, I know the pull of wanting to just know, and I found it pitched well here.

And for concerned parents - the dangers inherent in such a trip are not ignored by Olive entirely. She has been focused on the puzzle and the planning, not thinking of that until she has set out, but when she starts to think of that and second-guess her decision on the way, it seems too late to turn back, and she goes ahead, cautiously.

I found this book haunting and lovely, yet grounded in emotions that I recognized - a read for a thoughtful child, or one a little more mature.

Labels: 2009, family, friendship, growing up, issues, loved it, middle grades, Publisher Reviews, set abroad

by Eric Walters.

The sequel to: We All Fall Down.

First, the first book, which I read before I started this site:
We All Fall Down was published in 2006, and was the first children's or teens' book I saw that dealt directly with the events of 9/11 - five years after the fact, and I grabbed it right away. It seemed we were ready, and thought our children were, too. The book unfolds as Will joins his dad in the South Tower of the World Trade Centre for a horrifically-timed take-your-kid-to-work day. Will's dad is the classic workaholic, and Will harbours more than a touch of resentment about it, but as he sees his father jump into action as his floor's fire warden after the North Tower is struck, he begins to see him in a new light. His quick action saves lives, as he clears the floor of nearly everyone, ignoring the announcements that everything is alright, but this keeps Will and his father above the impact site when their tower is hit. What follows is their journey - painful, difficult, but full of moments of tiny heroisms - as they make their way down the stairwells.

The writing here is believable, the description of the trip down the stairs fully imagined in great and plausible detail. On the way, Will's feelings about his father change, and their relationship reforms, though this is not belaboured. My only complaint about the book was the very ending, which came across as just a touch cheesy, but I also see why it was necessary for it to end as it did. On the whole, I was impressed by Walters' treatment of a really difficult day - he managed to avoid the traps of getting too wrapped up in sentiment, or of making it too action-movie-style, thus putting together a fairly balanced, respectful telling of one imagined story from that day.

Where the first book ends, United We Stand picks up - on September 12th, 2001. As important and surreal and emotional as the actual day of 9/11 was, the few days afterwards were nearly as bad and strange and laden with fears and tears as the shock began to wear off, and here Walters works towards showing how the event did not end in a single day for the people of New York or, in fact, for people anywhere.

Will and his father wake to the aftereffects, which include not only cuts and lungs full of the dust of the WTC collapse, but also some psychological effects that don't show up right away. Will's mother, too, shows us how the panic of the day before has taken its toll on her, and also provides some information on stages of grieving for Will to use in beginning to understand himself and his friend James and their reactions.

Early in the day, Will's mother suggests they visit James' family, who are still waiting for news of his firefighter father, who Will had seen and was pretty sure was not coming home. James and his mother show us two very different ways of handling their grief and the slow loss of hope as the rescue mission began to move towards recovery as the day wore on.

It is, again, a difficult topic, and tricky to tell a story that is thoroughly thought through and realistic while being both respectful and interesting. While some of what happens may not be entirely plausible, it is well-written to make it seem as if it is, so being able to see the plot devices isn't annoying here. In the end, there is again a touch of the cheese about the last little bit, but it is not too heavy-handed, and confined to the ending, where it was, I think, maybe a little necessary, as with the first book.

On the whole, I thought this sequel handled the grief and shock of Sept. 12th really well, and I would recommend this pair to anyone curious about that day or looking for a good teen book with action, friendship, and growing up.

Labels: 2009, Canadian, friendship, good stuff, issues, Publisher Reviews, teen

by Brian James

Named for the type of acid the character are tripping on over its two-night span, this book follows a small group of Philly boys getting their party on, and sticking around with the one who's narrating as his night goes a little south.

This book doesn't seem like it's just for shock value, a big issues book, though it does talk about the drugs a bit and lets the narrator ponder more than a little about who he really is, what he wants, and why he hides parts of that from certain people, even among his group of friends.

Instead, it gives strong, believable descriptions of what an acid trip is like and how your body reacts to it, how the narrator feels at different points over the night as he rides out the effects of the chemicals and some weed he adds in, and then the next day. He talks a bit about what kind of kid he is, too, which some will identify with, and others may find interesting or may just dismiss.

The second night, he is not reacting well, gets into a huge, ugly argument with friends, and takes off on his own for a night of no fun, just hanging on to survive until the drugs leave his system. By the time morning comes, he is in rough shape, and the appearance of the girl of his dreams is the only thing that lifts him out of the gutter and the beginnings of self-pity.

The thing about this bad night of his is that it's not written to be some sort of comeuppance or morality thing. It just is what happened with too much chemical and not enough positive stuff to think about - which I think is important, because there is nothing a teenager is going to want to read less than a lesson on how he asked for it and no good came of his drug use. That, they've heard. Instead, the book answers some of those questions about what it's like to use drugs without making it either glamourous and fantastic or horrible and a sure dead end. It's got balance.

The other thing about this book is that you really see a normal, not-so-bad kid not always following his best instincts because they are not cool, but wishing he could. So while he joins in the bragging about girls and such, he actually has a major crush on a nice girl for all the right reasons, and is sort of waiting for someone like her before he has sex - he just doesn't want to admit that and face potential ridicule. And while he does okay in school and all, he doesn't want to be seen to be too interested or care too much, because it's not cool to. Instead, he talks about how he and his friends keep having to up the ante, moving from one sort of harmless trouble to the next level, when sometimes he wishes they could go back to doing small, goofy things for fun instead of having to see them as boring and chasing the next little high of small-time trouble.

By the end, he has not necessarily decided to turn over a new leaf and reject all of that as a result of some epiphany, but he is finding himself longing for simpler things and more truth, and maybe a shot at making that nice girl his, cutting the b.s. It's an interesting ride because unlike many books, not much is resolved, but some possibilities of what comes after are left wide open. And while I kind of hate not knowing, I think it might play better with a teen than a tidy ending, especially since things still are wide open at that age.

Labels: 2002, friendship, growing up, issues, lukewarm, teen

Labels: 2006, good stuff, issues, slightly weird stuff, suspense, teen

Labels: 2000, good stuff, issues, teen

by Jerry Spinelli.

This latest book by multi-award-winner Spinelli hits some of the same notes as his other big titles, but somehow, I felt missed by a bit.

As with many of his stories, his characters are damaged - David has lost his mother and is both angry and trying to find a way to get her back, while Primrose has no father and a mother she is embarrassed and angry about. The two find each other and develop a kind of strange relationship, each angering and needling the other, each easily offended, yet somehow needing someone. They come together and apart often, according to their latest level of hurt, and in the end, take a journey together that heals in some ways, but not as much as the homecoming.

I like the way he gives his characters realistic responses, and I found that the prickliness of the two felt right, like them just bonding happily would have been false, and I am always happy to see the happyish ending, where things are not all sunshine and roses yet, but where you can see everyone moving towards a better future. I think he handles these things well, and enjoy them, even if they are beginning to seem like what he always does.

So what did I think missed? I think I found the book a bit disjointed in the writing, making it harder for me to get into, like the author was trying to be clever by making us guess what was going on for a while before revealing things. Perhaps this is meant to draw the reader in, but I found it more of an obstacle than a compelling lure.

And I think there were some things that seemed like they were supposed to be significant in some way that were left untouched in the end - like the eggs. Yes, they were a theme, present in the opening egg hunt scene, in descriptions of the sun and its rising, in the egging of Primrose's room, and in the fragility of the characters, though this is not pointed out directly. But what was with the egging? It is clear that it is part of her life as an outcast, but is never really addressed, which I think would have been helpful.

Overall, it's fine, and fans of Spinelli will probably not be disappointed, but I just felt it wasn't his best. Instead? I loved Crash, would recommend Maniac Magee, of course, and found Loser an interesting study.

Labels: 2007, enh, family, friendship, issues, middle grades

by Gabrielle Zevin.

Right off the bat, I was amused by the contradiction in the title. And the flap was intriguing.

So we have Naomi, who lost a coin toss, went back into the school to grab a camera and lock up, and on the way out, lands at the bottom of the school steps with a head injury and amnesia going back some four years. Meaning she has forgotten a lot - all of high school, some major family and life events, much about her relationships with others in the school. She's sort of starting over, and starting over knowing she's a bit of a curiosity in the school. In high school. Ouch.

It's a tough book to talk about without giving some of the twists and turns and discoveries away, and I think they are worth leaving for you to discover, so I will instead, just note that as she learns things and navigates her way forward through that and her re-entry into school, she finds herself interested in some different things and people, learns more than she initially might expect, and does some real growing up along the way.

By the end, she is in some ways where she started, and in other, important ways, in a very different place. I like the ending, it does wind up how I would hope, and i think the person she ends up as is a much more likeable person, all told.

I really liked this one, and kept wanting to know what came next, always a good sign. I'm not telling you a lot, here, but I will tell you I think it's a great read.

Labels: 2007, family, friendship, growing up, issues, love story, loved it, teen