My Life in…

The premise was good and the writing was good. I liked the characters overall. This just didn’t make much of an impact on me otherwise. I think that was just me though and that other people will really enjoy this book.

Reviewed from ARC received from Candlewick at ALA Midwinter

The Secret Year is most successful when dealing with Cole’s memory of their relationship and Julia’s journal. I was less compelled by the resulting class war between the rich kids on the hill and the kids from the river. It seemed a bit tacked on at the end, as most of the beginning focuses on the journal. Teens who like books about dead kids will like this one but it wasn’t anything special.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Penguin at ALA Midwinter

This was a fun read. Seth’s podcasts are interesting (even if it does occasionally invoke the too much music history knowledge for a teenager problem) and I enjoyed his banter with his friends and love interests. The relationships between the characters were a little obvious, but fun to read about.

Reviewed from ARC received at ALA from HarperCollins.

SPOILERS * SPOILERS * SPOILERS

At the beginning of the novel, things are up in the air for Belly. Suzanne has died and her sort-of relationship she began with Conrad in the previous book has ended. Belly feels adrift as this is the first summer she has spent at home and not at the beach house in Cousins. When she receives a phone call from Jeremiah that Conrad has disappeared, she immediately agrees to join him in his quest to find his brother. Their journey leads them back to the beach house as they try to convince Conrad to go back to school and take his midterms. Her complicated relationship with both boys, all the character’s responses to Suzanne’s death and the future of the beach house are all key points in this lovely story.

I don’t have much to add. This is just a rich and lovely story about family and friends and love and life and death. I nominated the first book for the Cybils, and so far, this one has my vote as well!

Reviewed from ARC provided by Simon and Schuster at ALA (after I begged just a little bit!)

Edited 5/19/10 – Because I should probably have the character’s name correct. Thanks Mary for the heads up.

I read Shakespeare Bats Cleanup when it first came out, so I didn’t really remember much other than I enjoyed it. I felt the same way about this one. Many verse novels read like prose with line breaks, but Koertge’s background as a poet leads him to write poems that seem simple on the surface but really use the form well. Kevin’s experiments with different types of poetry leads to a more varied novel, even if not all of his poems are equally successful. Kevin’s relationship with his father was a bit more interesting than his relationship with the two girls and I enjoyed the poems that focused on that the most. Overall a strong read for a sensitive teen reader.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Candlewick

This book is more of a return to the first book which seemed to be more about Janie and what she was going to. Fade was more about trying to solve the case of the teachers and the drug and alcohol induced underage orgy. Gone lacks the intensity of Fade, but Janie’s personal journey is interesting especially as we’ve gotten to know her and Cabel so well. The stakes are still high, but more personal. The story is still written in the fast paced, spare style that will attract reluctant readers although they will have to read the first two books in the series to enjoy this one.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Simon and Schuster at their librarians’ preview.

will grayson (who writes halfway in verse and doesn’t use capital letters) is neither a wallflower or overshadowed by his best friend, but he has an online boyfriend Isaac whom he’d really like to meet, an annoying friend Maura who likes him but doesn’t seem to get the hint that he’s not interested, and a case of depression that makes life hard.

When Will Grayson is kicked out of a concert for having a fake ID that has the wrong age, and will grayson tries to meet up with Isaac with less than successful results, their lives intersect in a very interesting way.

While I will admit that initially I was much more interested in Will Grayson than his lowercase counterpart, the story did win me over. Tiny is an incredible character and I liked how well drawn his friendship with Will Grayson was (close but flawed on both sides). This is another solid effort by John Green and David Levithan.

Reviewed from (shiny!) ARC provided by Penguin at ALA Midwinter

I thought it was interesting that this was the second book I’ve read this month that had a technology rehab setup, though in Tangled, the concept is mocked and in the end, not very essential to the story. For Very, it’s not the disconnection from technology that is as important as her counseling sessions with Keisha that help her get to the root of some of her problems. I liked these parts of the book best. At first it seemed like Very was just yet another one of Rachel Cohn’s impossibly hip narrators, but without the liability of a Cyd Charisse or a Nick or Norah. But once Very begins to open up, her vulnerability shows and you can see more of the character and less of the hip references and technological gadgetry. Very won me over in the end. I wonder if teen readers will be turned off by the idea that technology can be bad for you, but hope that they’ll get to the heart of the message that it’s not about the technology, but what the technology is allowing you to hide.

Is it a little embarrassing to admit that while I was intrigued by the premise of the book when I read about it in one of the review journals, what pushed me over the edge of reading it was that Malia Obama read it? I hope she liked this as much as I did. This book had lovely characterizations of the sisters and their fathers. Jiro, in particular, really won me over as the guy who didn’t really intend to have a child but ends up being rather effective in this role. The Mr. Bronson character did bother me, not only because he was such a jerk, but because it was never really clear what their mother would have seen in him in the first place. He has raised other kids, but why hasn’t it occurred to him until recently that Maddie is his responsibility? He is fighting for custody, but it’s unclear what prompted this. I would agree with him that their mother isn’t the best role model, but at the same time, he clearly isn’t doing that great of a job either. Other than that, this book is just nice writing and a warm family story.

Based on the jacket copy, I was surprised at how little of the story actually takes place at the resort; most of the action takes place in the months after the trip. The characters themselves are unevenly interesting. I was most drawn in by Owen’s story but I bet there are plenty of teen readers who would sympathize with any of the other characters. The success of this novel is the accurate portrayal of aspects of teen life: how divorce affects siblings, how teen romance can get very complicated, especially when there is a death involved, how teens can connect on the internet in a very different way than in person, how depression can manifest itself in someone who on the surface looks very perfect, how friendships can have a lot more meaning than sex.

I think the Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things is still my favorite Carolyn Mackler book, but I loved this one as well. I think the cover makes light of the book a bit though, and wonder if teens who enjoyed books Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles would pick this one up.