Booking Through 365

Educate Emma: January Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:24:00 +0000

Okay, so maybe reading The Gemma Doyle Trilogy for the fifth time and exams took up more time than I expected. Maybe I'm going to be starting Educate Emma officially next week instead of last month. But it's still happening! It just took me a little while. Anyways, I thought a monthly overview would be a good way of keeping both you and I aware of how well I've kept up with my goals. Obviously in January I didn't do quite as well, but that is changing! I promise you.

Books: -2, since I never count my rereads.

Movies: -2. Yeah, this lady fails exceptionally.

Albums: -2. Do I have to say it again?

TV Seasons: 1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4.

Plays: 1: Oleanna by David Mamet, which leaves me with -1 for my goal.

Pretty bad, I will give you. But I'll accomplish all my cultural goals this month! If I don't, you can still buy an Edward Cullen doll to punish me.

Educate Emma: Theatre: Oleanna by David Mamet

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:07:00 +0000

Oleanna might have just been the perfect play to start off my Educate Emma feature. After all, plays that provoke such intense debates usually lead to reviews that inspire thoughts in both the blogger and her reader. And that's my entire mission this year, isn't it?

I have an intense love of studying gender politics and power play. Oleanna struck at my passion, as it's about a college student, Carol, and her pompous, condescending professor named John. While their dynamic seems to be fairly usual for the confines of their relationship, it turns intense when she files for sexual harassment to the tenure board.

Carol struggles with the course her professor teaches. She's the classic awkward schoolgirl who goes into shock when she finds out about the freedom college allows. She doesn't seem to have a fighting bone in her body. Carol is dumbfounded at the concept of giving her opinion or thinking for herself. The professor's arrogant attempts to prompt her into doing so within the first act leave her feeling idiotic. She's mousey, uncomfortable, and she's the perfect archetype of a lot of scared, blinded, ambitious girls in my life.

The professor is your classic male teacher drunk on the power of "informing" his students. His mission, it seems, is to be convoluted and sexist. He rants about the downfalls of education despite using his title as platform for that belief. He's not really interested in Carol's opinions at all, but he's not spoon feeding her the way secondary school did. It leaves Carol clutching at straws. Not to mention that his unhelpful and power motivated behavior hasn't led her to understand anything.

Carol soon develops power from calling the professor on his own biases, and that dynamic creates the true soul of the play.

What is truly interesting about Oleanna is how the slightest change in dynamic sends an entirely different message to the audience. Directors always have a significant amount of power in how they can change tone and staging, but Oleanna's intrigue resides in how transparent a director's message is in the subtlest of decisions. As I see it, there are two main points within the play a director could highlight: how gender roles and sexuality change power, and how power imbalances in the nightmare of post-secondary education leave little for learning. This director decided to focus on the latter. And while that latter point is one that has a lot of merit, there is not enough substance within the script to make it worthy of stripping a professor of their tenure. The former seems to be the one Mamet himself is more focused on, and while the performance's different direction doesn't contradict Mamet's, it's unable to pack the same punch.

In fact, the play is virtually sexless, since the professor declares his authority through powerful manipulation of a student rather than the sexual violation of a woman. If Carol could have made it sexier, she certainly doesn't, as her acting seems to be more of a fourteen year old playing at sexuality than a young adult.

Both actors did a great job of showing the clear contrast in mannerisms between the two characters, and the professor is rather excellent at making the education-oriented focus known. Carol's outburst in the first act feels false though, and there is not enough of an undercurrent of anger and resentment in her personality to make her emotional progression ring true in future acts.

Regardless, the play's most viscerally stunning points still poke through. None appear as well as the one presented in the actions of the last two minutes of the play. Mamet's script is raw, intense and powerful, and in those fleeting end moments, the staging reflects that message in its full form.

I can only wonder if it would have maintained that tone through if it were played differently.

The actual point: While the play did not focus on the questions I found the most interesting, it is solid piece that does inspire compelling thoughts. I doubt the performance left any audience members numb and unthinking.

Educate Emma: TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:48:00 +0000

It's no surprise by anyone's standards that I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's a well developed show about a strong female character who kicks non-sparkly, soulless vampire ass. It has tight pacing, witty dialogue, compelling characterization, and all the delicious camp of the nineties. Well, sometimes the camp is less delicious and more hysterically awful, but I found a masochistic appreciation of the silly after watching Doctor Who.

I love Buffy and her friends, but season four was by no means the best season. I think its mediocrity is second only to season one, where the cinematography and episode plots were more ridiculous than intriguing. This is the second season where the antagonist doesn't really pack a punch. The Master in season one was Buffy's worst nightmare, and the amazing internal emotional conflict Buffy had during season two made the show reach to new heights. The Mayor in season three at least was humorous. But Adam in season four is kind of...boring. Not because he isn't a reasonable threat, but simply because Buffy's emotional conflict with the character is nonexistent.

So in terms of plot, this season wasn't one of my favourites. As for characterization, I liked how the Scooby Gang's feelings of inadequacy were finally placed as a forefront theme to the season. Buffy's new love interest was fairly dull, however, Joss Whedon knows enough to make him somewhat interesting by placing him in a mysterious situation. Buffy and Willow both had to emotionally mature in their romantic relationships this season, so that was fun to see. I'm loving Anya's frank nature and Xander is getting less and less annoying as seasons go on. In fact, how he helped Buffy in the opener made me love him a bit.

Mostly, this season is only interesting because Whedon seemed to realize that there wasn't a lot going on in the storyline and decided "Hey! How about we try ALL OF THE ARTISTIC STYLES?" Episodes like Hush and Restless remind me of the show's versatility, and while the season itself is fairly forgettable, those two episodes acknowledge the series' ever growing artistic maturity.

Watching Buffy is rather a different experience from watching Doctor Who. Somehow I was able to stay away from most spoilers through Doctor Who, and the show has never been couple-focused, so I got to experience a lot of the main story lines unscathed. With Buffy, I know most of the character arcs and relationships, - although I have no idea how it ends, so if you tell me, expect a samurai sword to your neck - and because of this, it's more about the journey of dialogue, cinematography and characterization than main story arcs.

I'm finding more and more that my overall preference is watching TV shows in seasons and less the weekly episode format we regularly experience. I'm not sure why this is, but I think it probably has something to do with viewing the season's overall tone in a packed amount of time. Less of my own problems or thoughts get in the way of the show as an isolated experience. Any comments on watching in seasons vs. episodes?

Favourite episodes: Hush and Restless for their unusual artistic formats. Hush made me challenge my ideas of communication, while Restless has become my go-to episode to watch when I need to go all floaty and dissociative for writing. Primeval was also just a classic Buffy finale format, and I loved how the Scooby Gang ended up defeating the antagonist.

Least favourite episodes: Beer Bad was completely cringe worthy, but in that kind of camptastic way that makes Buffy such a cult classic experience for me. A New Man was also lacking. Not quite funny or heartfelt enough, and it kept me detached from the storyline.

Thoughts On the New Year and Educate Emma

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:10:00 +0000

Let's face it: I wasn't a very good blogger in 2011.

I was going through a lot, not particularly interested in trying to write things when I wasn't sure of what I wanted my blog to be, and lazy. I am always lazy.

However. I've read enough blogs, been around enough amazing people, and started determining my fiction process long enough to realize what I want my blog should look like.

This is largely because of one thing that happened in the YA universe this year. And that was the Darkness Too Visible post by Wall Street Journal that turned us all into balls of RAGE. It made me talk about all the issues of censorship that have been attacked by people much more eloquent than me.

And then it made me write.

It made me write for an hour. That was it. The writing made me think and realize why this lady had pressed all of my buttons, made me talk until 3 am with a close friend, and still was irritating me. I posted it thinking some of my friends would notice, I might get a little bit of interest from the rest of the YA world, and that would be it.

But the response. The comments. Being told that I was a great writer, that I was a smart reader, that I had the capacity and the words to make a difference. It affected me. This was the first time my words earned a large response, and it made me realize that what I wanted my words to do was make people think. I wanted discussion and insight and resonance. I was not interested in becoming a blogger celebrity or getting a lot of ARCs or even making a hoarde of author friends. Although these things would be nice, the #YASaves experience made me truly realize that what I wanted was intelligent discourse from the people who were intrigued by my thoughts. That's it.

That's a big realization for someone. It inspired me. Now, of course, there's the process of earning that kind of discourse, becoming a thought provoking blogger, creating a kind of platform that makes it seem like I have something to say. And I'm pretty sure I have an idea that will help me start.

I'm the kind of person who wants to know EVERYTHING. I am so hungry for information that I have a habit of becoming intrusive. Knowledge matters to me that much. And despite being reasonably well read, receiving a quality music education from my parents, owning the capacity to analyze a script, and being aware of my local theatre personalities, I am not as cultured as I would like.

I think the blog could help me with this. What I'm saying is that for this year, Booking Through 365 is going to include Watching and Listening.

I plan on reading a book a week, watching a movie a week, listening to an album a week, seeing a play a month, and watching a TV season a month. The reviews toward this long winded project are going to be a part of a 2012 feature called Educate Emma. This week I'm reading The Gemma Doyle Trilogy again, but after that, I'm devoting myself to this project.

I've wanted to experience other genres and become more educated about the arts for YEARS. I've just never thought to give myself an external motivator. And this is perfect. There are two rules:

1. I'm aiming for 50 books, movies, albums and 12 TV seasons + plays. I'll be writing 3-5 posts a week for these goals and various opinion posts I have planned, but if I don't consume all of these media every week, I'll simply have to make it up some other time. I am refusing to get too far behind, and if I do, I don't know, you can punish me by buying an Edward Cullen action figure or something.

EDIT: I've been ignoring my mother's offerings to go see plays long enough for me to forget about the thriving art scene in my community. I have WAY too many opportunities to see plays. Only viewing 12 in a year is a pathetically realistic goal. I already see a play a month with my local theatre thanks to their school program. I'm raising the play quota from one play a month to two, although depending on how well I organize my time with Fringe, that may still be a goal that's too attainable. No matter, this rise should push me a little harder to see the local theatre scene more, and if not, I can always increase the quota. If the promise of good art makes me do my homework earlier, then all the better.

2. I want to take one comment culture request per month. If I get enough comments for each media sector, I might make it one request per art outlet. I really wanted my friends to finally have an outlet to beg me to read things, so I'm obedient within a short time frame. I figured this would also help me move farther from being an exclusively YA blog and become a more well rounded reader, music enthusiast and audience member. However, this means that I'm NOT accepting requests from places like twitter or Facebook. (Friends, did you hear me? BLOG ONLY.) This will make it easier for me to record and keep track of everything. And because I'm selfish, it hopefully means that I more often experience the little explosion of heart happiness I get whenever I receive a comment.

I am very excited, because this project is going to force me to relax and do things outside of school. It also means that I'll focus on reviews and opinion posts, and memes will be banished altogether. The only thing I'm concerned about is creating a review format for TV, plays, movies and music. I love how breaking down my book reviews keeps me active and focused, but I'm not sure how I should break down all these different creative forms. Do you have any suggestions, or should I begin to review products from these artistic outlets and figure out the best formatting individually? If you can, let me know. I'd really appreciate it.

I'm very excited for this year, and I hope to become more cultured and blog more regularly due to Educate Emma. What are your 2012 blogging goals?

What About Mentors? prompted from Book 23 of '11 DIY U by Anya Kamenetz

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:57:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education is my new book about the future of higher education. It’s a story about the communities of visionaries who are tackling the enormous challenges of cost, access, and quality in higher ed, using new technologies to bring us a revolution in higher learning that is affordable, accessible, and learner-centered."

Introduction: I've been super behind on reviews. I still am, but I wanted to start the year off fresh, and decided I really didn't have anything major to say about the rest of the books I read for this year. Except DIY U. This book is a thoughtful lesson on the current American education system and our social ideals regarding schooling. It's fascinating, covers all the bases, and realistic of the kind of possibilities education can currently evolve into. I highly recommend it for anyone intrigued by post secondary education and its waiting revolution.

However, it's been so long since I've read it that writing a decent review on the matter seemed impossible. Instead, I wanted to share this opinion piece I wrote that was prompted by DIY U. Please comment if you have any thoughts, as I'd love to hear them.

Discussion Part of Post:

DIY U illustrates the sort of educational utopia I one day wish to live in.

But the most interesting thing about this potential utopia was how Kamentez visualizes technology taking over in place of teachers for things like grading multiple choice tests and giving lectures. All of the drudge work and assessment of students' capabilities would go to technology. Teachers' time would be spent on each student to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Prioritizing a teacher's experience like this would give an individualized, infinitely more intuitive educational experience.

Which got me thinking. Wouldn't this kind of teacher-student relationship echo a traditional mentorship: where students ask questions only professionals know the answers to, and those said professionals have the time to care about each student on a deeper level?

Doesn't this kind of relationship sound brilliant? And why don't more children, teens and young adults have these sorts of interactions now?

Yes, I understand that kind of contact seems like a far off dream currently. It's made clear by the current educational format described in Kamenetz's book that teachers do not usually have the time to have these connections with students - and who can blame them with all the grading and generalizing they have to do to maintain a hold on their classes?

But why don't these kinds of mentors seem to exist outside of academia?

I've had the great fortune to be immersed in these kinds of interactions for the majority of my life. Being a lifelong homeschooler, I've been taught that the most important skill you can ever learn is one you already have as a human being on this earth: the hunger to learn. Once you have that drive, all you have to do is find experts and resources to teach you how.

My mother was always very motivated to give me great teacher-student relationships outside of the conventional classroom. I've had a wonderful singing teacher who made me a lot more self aware and showed me the value of standing up for yourself. I have an incredibly spiritually rewarding relationship with the yoga teacher I've had since I was nine. Being a martial artist, my aikido dojo is the best demonstration of organic learning that there is to see. It's the perfect example of a community being taught by a person who is brilliant at what they do, as well as the people that expert trusts. The community encourages peer to peer relationships, so we can learn from those who are more advanced than us in our studies.

And obviously, as I've grown up, the responsibility of discovering new mentors has been mine. I have relationships with two of my very favorite librarians that have challenged and nurtured me over the past two years. Thanks to those two brilliant and forward thinking women, I now have much better leadership and organizational skills.

My important learning connections haven't just been limited to the organic, 3D world. I've also been able to have wonderful, intellectual stimulating conversations with the fantastic writing couple of Audry Taylor and David Wise. I've had enough conversations between the two to challenge, confirm and change my opinions all for the better. Not to mention all the new concepts I've been introduced to! There's also the lovely Jules, whose thoughts on feminist theory, gender expression and sexuality have often made a bad day turn wonderful.

I've been so incredibly nurtured by all of these relationships. I'd be entirely different without them. It makes me wonder why these sorts of connections aren't considered necessary, even mandatory, for the typical teenager's life.

Lots of parenting gurus will insist on the importance of a parental presence in an adolescent's life. This is clearly true. Still, I haven't seen a mainstream resource for teens that is concerned with mentorships.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It's also takes a village to shape an independent thinker's mindset. Why is it that in this age, that method of adult-child interaction is lost? Mentors can provide experienced insight that a teen can respect. They offer a different perspective than parents, and they also give teens another safe resource to discuss things that parents may just not understand.

These adults are super valuable. And aside from Harry and Dumbledore, we're really not seeing their importance.

I desperately want people my age to learn the skills of manipulating talented adults into wanting to adopt you - ahem, I mean, to learn the skills of finding mentors. Mainly, this desire exists because in my ideal educationally oriented world, teachers are mentors to all. That desire may be a frou-frou concept, but I hope technology can one day make it possible. And until then, that maybe adults and teenagers alike can be aware of each generation's desperate need to learn from each other.

What are your thoughts on mentoring? Know any sustainable ideas to make this mentorship business a reality? Let me know in the comments.

Book 31 of '11 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:17:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"When it was published in 1955, Lolita immediately became a cause célèbre because of the freedom and sophistication with which it handled the unusual erotic predilections of its protagonist. But Vladimir Nabokov's wise, ironic, elegant masterpiece owes its stature as one of the twentieth century's novels of record not to the controversy its material aroused but to its author's use of that material to tell a love story almost shocking in its beauty and tenderness. Awe and exhilaration–along with heartbreak and mordant wit–abound in this account of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America, but most of all, it is a meditation on love–love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation."

Characters: I've read a lot of reviews that are seemingly, subtly apologetic to Humbert Humbert, his sexual urges and his inevitable decline into things that are hard to name. And it also seems to be universally understood - even by the dust jacket of this novel - that Lolita is a love story. Lolita neither convinced me of it being a love story, nor did it make me pity the hopeless protagonist of a story. But it did enthrall me with its perception of enigmas, sexuality and human experience.

Humbert Humbert is a coward and a narcissist. He's classically repressed in a way that labels him as European without having to find out his place of birth. Humbert isn't exactly three dimensional, but he's as real as any person I've experienced in real life. He seems to convince himself that his temporary avoidance of early adolescent girls was noble. He talks about his movie star good looks and feels that Lolita intentionally, almost maliciously manipulated him at times. But Humbert is also a twister of anger, angst and self hatred. Is he likable? Absolutely not. Is he easy to relate to? It's a little too easy to experience Humbert's narcissism and unrequited desire and feel as if you're capable of the atrocities he commits.

What I love about Humbert's character though, has little to do with hating or relating to him, and everything to do with how all he is seems to be an illusion. He's trapped in his mind and desires, is quick to justify his actions, but there are times at which you see even he realizing that he's fooled himself. From the way he talks about Lolita in their first encounters to the final chase that has very little point, Humbert really has no meaning or character he hasn't created himself. It makes for an undervalued unreliable narrator experience that adds a whole new dimension to the novel.

As for Lolita, for a character that is such a part of pop culture, I wasn't expecting her to be so hard to capture. That's the appeal of Lolita, though. She's the ultimate American child, determined on being an adult, desperate to get her way, in love with objects and ideas that end up being hollow. Lolita isn't really anything at all. Any kind of attraction Humbert experiences for his lover has little to do with any trait or piece of her. Lolita has been a figment of his imagination that he's projected onto a little girl, and that little girl grows up. My definition of love would be wanting happiness for someone even if they aren't with you. True love acts selflessly, even when it thinks selfishly. Humbert has no real care for anyone but himself. I suspect the only real thing he ever felt for Lolita was the heartbreak of harming something permanently and recognizing it fully after the fact.

Beyond Humbert, Lolita is only an interesting specimen because of how well worn her story is. A sexier Ophelia, if you will. The dangerous thing about Lolita is how she discovers her sexuality with no real regard for her own self or pleasure within that experience. She quickly learns how to deal with the twisted father/daughter sort of dynamic between her and Humbert. Her survival strategy is playing with sex, toying with jealousy, and who can blame her? Lolita is not a highly mature mistress with hidden, evil agendas. She's a girl using the best kind of currency she has. Lolita seems to never learn anything beyond that kind of currency. But it's not as if life handed her the opportunity to experience herself beyond what people desired her to be.

In fact, my favourite quote of the book sums up Lolita and Humbert's relationship perfectly. In a flash of internal monologue, Humbert acknowledges Lolita's reality: "He broke my heart. You merely broke my life."

Ultimately, Lolita has nothing to do with Lolita. There's a blurb at the back of the book from the New York Times that says this novel is the only believable love story. If it is, it's the only believable love story because there's absolutely no love involved. 5 flowers.

Writing: It's hard to accurately explain Nabokov's prose. It's not quite lyrical, but it's delicious with its sardonic wit and word play. It's brilliant and fluid and I had a hard time believing that English wasn't Nabokov's first language for the entirety of the book. There's a certain kind of distant sterility that combines with Nabokov's stunning description. It makes it impossible for the book to be written by anyone else.

The word nymphet in and of itself is fascinating, with all of its victim shaming, "bad girl" undertones. The term nymphet reflects plenty about the people who use it. That word is just one example of how Nabokov illustrates his point in a way that makes a reader's skin crawl. I loved it. 5 flowers.

Plot: Pacing left a lot to be desired at parts, due to the story moving so slowly quite often. The overall flow of events feels organic, though. The book's dark wit is what makes it readable, and how it makes a reader laugh at such corrupt events is why it's so scandalous for me, less so the use of sexuality. Admittedly, near the end it felt campy in a way that was trying to be literary, and I was too tired to do anything but roll my eyes and muse over the ghosts of Humbert's mind. 4 flowers.

End: The book may be about fifty pages too long, it may drag, it may seem pointless, but the beginning and the end are sheer perfection. 5 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: I disagree with Lolita being a love story, nor does the description really tell you anything important. 2 and a half flowers.

Cover: Dull. Pointless. Doesn't make me want to read it whatsoever. 2 flowers.

Overall: This is not the kind of book you read when you love human experience and don't understand the appeal of enigmas or manic pixie dream girls. This is the kind of book you read in a period of self loathing and you want to float on the edge of reality or feel things no one likes to talk about. Read it, it's gorgeous. It'll make you think. But be very selective at the time period that you decide to embrace Humbert's world. 4 and a half flowers.

Book 32 of '11 The Difference Between You and Me by Madeline George

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:01:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"How do you choose between what you believe in and who you love?

Jesse cuts her hair with a Swiss Army Knife. She wears massive green fisherman's boots every day. She's the founding (and only) member of NOLAW, the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos.

Emily is the vice president of student council. She has an internship with a local big business. She loves her boyfriend.

At least she thinks she does. But there's no denying her feelings for Jesse. When they meet up every Tuesday in the bathroom of the local library, the physical connection they share is undeniable.

Jesse doesn't want to keep their relationship a secret; Emily does. But when they find themselves on opposite sides of a heated school issue, both girls are forced to choose between their convictions and their attachments to one another."

I received this book for review.

First of all, I'd like to note that I'm really behind on reviews and I fail as a blogger. HOWEVER, there are going to be some serious changes around here in terms of content and design. Be prepared.

Most importantly, however, I'm going to lead by saying that if you take nothing else from this review, you need to go out and buy this book, share it with your friends, and then start revolutions.

Characters: Jesse is that edgy, outspoken, person that I usually adore as a side character. But personalities like her's usually don't get the main attention in YA books, and that change was subtle, but refreshing. Jesse grew as more than just the token rebel character very quickly. She's still trying to forge her political voice, and she has it really bad for a girl with entirely different morals from her own. While I went through periods of being frustrated with Jesse for compromising her narrative to be with Emily, it's not to understand the place she's in. After all, most teenagers are used to their hormones ruling over logic. In fact, her love for Emily is almost heartbreaking in parts, due to its strong resonance. Jesse's character strikes the perfect balance between being strong and predetermined, while still maintaining enough wiggle room to make her character arc obvious, but engaging to watch evolve.

As for Emily, I think most of us know a girl like her. She's perfectly polished, socially involved, and she honestly thinks that not only does she has to have a good reputation in order for others to feel better, but that high school actually matters. She's more than willing to contort any of her actions into something ultimately noble or important, but she's incapable of seeing herself truthfully. Needless to say, I wasn't really a big fan of the kind of person Emily is, but I could see Jesse's attraction to her, and I really appreciated the chapters in her point of view. It encapsulated her refusal to accept herself in a way Jesse never would be able to articulate.

The thing that really pushes this story to a higher level, though, are the side characters. I fell in love with Jesse's parents, adored Wyatt's sarcasm and love of playing roles - who, by the way, might be the first gay, conservative character I've read in YA. Kudos, George - , cherished the quirky, go-getter, Joan of Arc loving Esther, resented Snediker, and went through countless other emotional processes with other personalities. Actually, one of my favourite scenes was the interaction with Jesse and Emily's boyfriend, Mike.

George sated my all consuming hunger for queer teen characters with problems beyond coming out, and gave me several more subplot characters to love. This is a brilliant cast of characters, and while maybe the stories attached to them aren't particularly original, they're intriguing, and some even provide a groundbreaking teen perspective in YA. 5 flowers.

Writing: George has a knack for internal monologue and description. She doesn't have lush prose, but her analogies communicate the perfect imagery, and it triggers powerful emotions in readers. My only peeve was that towards the end a lot of the characters' dialogue seemed to sound pretty similar. Also, while I loved Esther's points about Joan of Arc and revolutions, I'm not sure they were completely deserving of an entirely new point of view when there were already two very different ones. 4 flowers.

Plot: Maureen Johnson has a blurb on the back of this book, and there's something very MJ about this novel that I can't exactly put my finger on. Now looking back, it might have been the way the plot was dealt with.

I really loved the socially aware aspect of the novel, and how every character - even Emily - was concerned about making a major impact on the world and creating a better place for everyone to reside in. After every chapter in the middle of the book, I would have the unspeakable urge to go out and DO something about all the injustices in the world. It usually takes a lot for a book to make me want to act on issues beyond just interpreting the contents within the book, and that emotion on my part spoke volumes.

I just really loved the highly relevant political topic that's the central focus of the book. The pacing was fantastic, while the plot balanced about a billion different subplots without making me feel overwhelmed. That's a pretty impressive feat all by itself. 5 flowers.

Ending: The ending briefly reminded me of Maureen Johnson's Bermudez Triangle. That's pretty funny, since I did not love the conclusion in MJ's novel, I thought the resolution here worked for the book. I was extremely happy with Jesse's full emotional arc, and ultimately the book showed it's possible to put all your dreams into action. 5 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: Well written, but a bit misleading, considering the story mainly is Jesse's. I would've liked a brief mention of some of the side characters, too.

Cover: I love the title's graphics, and I agree with the idea of showing how polar opposite Jesse is to Emily and vice versa. However, it feels rather gender normative and misleading. Maybe I'm the only one with that impression. 3 flowers.

Overall: This book is the sort you want to have so you're prepared when life crashes around you. It's the book you read until the wee hours of the morning that comforts you and inspires you to change the world. It has characters you empathize with and they make you feel warm, safe and ready to conquer the universe again. Please pick this up, it's a great contemporary YA book, and you won't regret it. 4 and a half flowers.

Book 30 of '11 Morning Rising by Samantha Boyette

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:12:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"In the ever present dusk of Inbetween, Kara Hart wakes up dirty and alone with the memory of a girl named Dylan. She remembers meeting Dylan and how her heart beat when Dylan touched her face, but nothing else. When Kara is sent to Demitar, the evil ruler of Inbetween, the truth is revealed. She is Dylan’s Guardian and neither of them are who they thought they were.

Set in a darker version our own world, Morning Rising follows Kara as she tries to save Dylan from Demitar’s clutches. She is given three days to find Dylan and get her out of Inbetween before she belongs to Demitar forever. Memories must be regained and powers restored if they have a chance of escaping. Each memory and sighting of Dylan helps Kara remember the love they once shared. If only she can help Dylan remember before it’s too late.

I received this book for review.

Characters: It took me a little while, but ultimately I ended up loving not only Dylan and Kara's relationship, but who they are as separate individuals. Kara is not only incredibly loyal and trustworthy, but she's brave and intelligent. Her love for Dylan is all encompassing and the lengths she goes to ensure Dylan is safe makes her interesting and admirable. Dylan is the epitome of a "bad girl". She's wild, free, charismatic and hard to ignore. At first I was a bit concerned that Dylan was going to appear a victim and damsel in distress for the entire novel, but towards the end she became just as strong and capable as I had hoped. The romance between these two is so sweet, true and full of chemistry that is makes a great read just to see how everything evolves.

The side characters didn't get a lot of page time. But I did enjoy them, especially Baron, and I hope I get to see more of them in future novels. And boy do I hope there are future novels. It's really worth reading. 4 and a half flowers.

Writing: This book really does make you feel like you're suddenly surrounded by a whole new world. The story starts fast but still gives you time to stop being confused. Boyette does really well with tone, and it was one of my favourite aspects of this book. It makes it feel very fantasy and also provides needed immediacy and high stakes to the story. 5 flowers.

Plot: The world seems to be a bit simplified, but I hope to learn more in future books and the structure is great. Pacing was well done and I'm excited to read more. 4 and a half flowers.

End: I was very freaked out with how Boyette faked me out! But I felt much better at the end once everything happened wonderfully. 5 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: I think it serves its purpose very well, and piques my interest with the lesbian romance! 5 flowers.

Cover: Not really my favourite, as it doesn't visualize anything from the story. However, it does look professional and very YA. 3 flowers.

Overall: This is a great book for anyone interested in seeing a great fantasy world, awesome characters with strong personalities and a wonderful lesbian romance that is a big part, but not the entirety, of the novel, pick this up! It's 99 cents on the Kindle and Nook! 4 and a half flowers.

Book 28 of '11 Beauty by Robin McKinley

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:02:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are beautiful. But what she lacks in looks she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty declares she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will."

Characters: It's been a day since I've completed this novel, and I still can't decide how I feel about Beauty as a character. Surely she's intelligent, resourceful and has a strong narrative voice, but it's hard to see Beauty hold true, vibrant emotions until her imprisonment with the Beast. How she takes a back seat in a large part of the book is most likely the reason I didn't adore her character.

Beauty's family is, oddly enough, a strong, healthy unit. As opposed to original versions of this fairy tale, Beauty's sisters are just as, if not more according to Beauty, lovely and kind. Beauty's father does treat Beauty in a slighter higher regard than his other children, but he is not mean, cruel, or obvious about it. There's nothing cruel or ugly about these relationships, and while this is unusual for a retelling, I found it a little boring. The beginning of the story was like reading a schedule template they have in organizational books. You're cozily immersed in another person's daily life, but there's no compelling reason to care about what's happening. The characters are pleasant and there's no depth beyond that, and you are obliged to wait till the plot thickens. It was a blank way to begin the story and lasted too long for me to thoroughly enjoy.

As for the Beast, his personality is almost non existent. He's very gentlemanly, which was such a bizarre trait to experience as someone who grew up with the easily angered but lovable Disney movie Beast. Despite Beauty being imprisoned, the Beast is very respectful in all other choices - which I know isn't saying a lot, but hey, it shows his personality. When the Beast asks Beauty every night if she'll marry him and she refuses, he seems to take it easily enough. The only time we see him in a rage in behind a door, getting angry at Beauty's servants for trying to force her to wear clothing she didn't want. There's nothing truly beastly about the Beast besides his appearance. This was a disappointment. He's a pleasant character, but there was not the complexity I was hoping for in his character. The Disney movie did a better job of showing the Beast's character development.

McKinley did do a good job of the evolution of the Beauty and the Beast's relationship. It was easy to see Beauty gradually falling in love with him. However, her immediate pity of him once she's in the castle seemed to add a new level to the Stockholm Syndrome aspect of her character.

I didn't hate these cast of characters and I didn't love them either. They were interesting enough to hold my attention, but not enough to adore the novel. 3 and a half flowers.

Writing: I felt myself falling into the tone of the writing style with little effort. There's a great historical, ethereal fantasy vibe to the book that I loved. It fit the original fairy tales well. Only thing I didn't enjoy about the writing was how often McKinley would interrupt herself and do it in the exact same way the next sentence. Four and a half flowers.

Plot: It takes an eternity for the book to get into the meat of the story, and once it gets there it goes too fast. However, my favourite aspect of reading this novel was how it made me think about how the original tale almost doesn't truly depict its moral. What is Beauty actually being challenged to see in the Beast's personality that isn't already evident in his wealth? I understand this tactic, which reminds me of how Elizabeth fell in love with Pemberley before Mr. Darcy. Beauty needs to have a comfortable amount of space from the Beast to make him seem reasonable, which only a lot of physical room can provide. However, it would be a totally different situation if Beauty was on equal economical footing as the Beast. She wouldn't even receive luxury in exchange for her life's opportunities. Seeing a retelling that attacks this angle would be interesting. I'll wait for it. 3 flowers.

End: Upsettingly quick. I needed more time to hear more about a lot of the aspects only mentioned in the last ten pages of the book. 2 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: Concise and clear. Doesn't make me want to read the book, but does its job well. 3 flowers.

Cover: This girl is not the Beauty in my head. Nor is the rose anything like the one in the book. 2 flowers.

Overall: While I seem very critical in this review, I actually enjoyed the mood this book put me in and the thoughts it made me entertain. If you have an opinionated girl around the ages of 8-12 in your life, she'll probably enjoy this book. 4 flowers.

Book 21 of '11 The Steampunk Bible by Jeff Vandermeer with SJ Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

Steampunk — a grafting of Victorian aesthetic and punk rock attitude onto various forms of science-fiction culture — is a phenomenon that has come to influence film, literature, art, music, fashion, and more. The Steampunk Bible is the first compendium about the movement, tracing its roots in the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells through its most recent expression in movies such as Sherlock Holmes. Its adherents celebrate the inventor as an artist and hero, re-envisioning and crafting retro technologies including antiquated airships and robots. A burgeoning DIY community has brought a distinctive Victorian-fantasy style to their crafts and art. Steampunk evokes a sense of adventure and discovery, and embraces extinct technologies as a way of talking about the future. This ultimate manual will appeal to aficionados and novices alike as author Jeff VanderMeer takes the reader on a wild ride through the clockwork corridors of Steampunk history.

The Steampunk Bible may be more than a little pretentious, but the community it illustrates is vast, intuitive and exciting. I think most modern writers and bloggers these days know about Steampunk and its infusion of futuristic science rooted in Victorian and Edwardian times. Most non-practitioners of the community seem to find the clothes gorgeous, but know very little beyond the basic concept and the fancy accessories. The Steampunk Bible gets to the heart of the community and branches out as the book goes on - with some gorgeous photographs for equal measure.

Its writing is clear, direct and precise and makes it easy to understand such a complicated world view and aesthetic. It also demonstrates the mission statement of "true" steampunkers: that DIY grass roots activism is even more important than the clothes of the Steampunk world. And all crazy ideas, aestheticism and theories must be heavily rooted in science, else Steampunk is just fantasy with a pretty package. The evolution of the Steampunk world is in these pages, and I'd recommend reading the book if you're amongst those of us who are confused as to what Steampunk means to the publishing world.

My one big qualm about this book is how often I rolled my eyes at how strict the author seemed to be about who fit into the community and who doesn't. I understand having rules and regulations around a movement, but man, do we have to be this pompous about it? I thought the world already had enough run of the mill hipsters. However, the pretension didn't diminish my love of the book. In fact, it sort of acted as a kind of unintentional humor that made it easier as a reader to step out of the Steampunk world and still view the community as fun and creative at its heart - as opposed to being hellbent on keeping its movement pure.

Overall, if you want to know more about Steampunk, or if you're simply in a writer's block and desperately want some new genre ideas to play with, please read this book. Or better yet, buy it, as its gorgeous artwork is worth it as a reference piece. The book will surely make you want to grab your laptop - or preferably a quill - and start writing about new and exotic narratives in history. 4 and a half flowers.

Book 20 of '11 Ask Elizabeth by Elizabeth Berkley

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:12:00 +0000

Amazon Description:

"Ask Elizabeth is the complete guide to teen life; the last and only self-help book they'll ever need. Inspired by the many workshops Elizabeth Berkley has conducted with over 30,000 teen girls across the country, Ask Elizabeth brings the spirit of these conversations to life on the page.

Much like a private diary, the book will be a personal resource that girls can turn to when they seek answers to teen life's toughest questions.

The content contains real and practical advice, anecdotes and wisdom in answer to the most asked questions from girls who participate in Elizabeth's workshops such as: what do you do when you look in the mirror and don't like what you see? or How do you get over a broken heart? Elizabeth, along with a panel of experts, and teen girls themselves advise readers in matters of body image, personal relationships, dating, and much more."

Review: I'll come right out and say it: Ask Elizabeth is an absolutely gorgeous book...and that's the best thing this book has going for it. That's not to say that Berkley's advice is bad or unrealistic, but none of it is anything girls haven't heard before.

What may be unusual, however, is that Berkley's voice is conversational in an appealing way - she's like your best friend's older sister who has decided you're cool enough to hear all her best kept secrets. The book works well that way. Except, I found myself wishing that I heard more of Berkley's voice and less of the frequent and unnecessary quotes from teens. The letters from girls who had interesting stories were valuable, but I found the two page spread per chapter with quotes from teenage girls to be frivolous. When everyone's personal experience begins to sound the same, you know you may have too many stories on your hands.

The design of this book though, is absolutely stunning. I could rave on about it forever. The layout is logical, the images and design are all beautiful and they fit as a cohesive piece. The book is worth buying just to keep out on your coffee table to peruse through when you're bored and need someone to reiterate all the things you know about self esteem in a pretty, pretty voice. In fact, I'm contemplating doing that myself just so I can have a friend to accompany me along with the raw cookie dough in the dark days.

Overall: If you're female, need some nice moral support with a pretty cover on it, and you think you'll be able to respect anything written by the woman who played the main character of what's known as the worst movie of all time, pick this up! It's worth the perusal, I promise.

Book 19 of '11 Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:26:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid—she's a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been living on land and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type—the instant they "bond," it's for life.

When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned."

Characters: Lily is such a fun character. Sure, she's very oblivious, occasionally to the point of stupidity, but she has a fantastic attitude and she's just adorable. Usually with my YA romance, I tend to either despise the heroine or have a non opinion about her. It was relaxing actually liking a romance protagonist for once.

As for Quince, it's hard not to love this guy. He's loyal, witty, surprisingly sensitive, and has it really bad for Lily. He is excruciatingly annoying, but that's a part of his appeal. Seeing him evolve from a jackass to a compelling human being was enjoyable, especially when I could scream at Lily for not seeing how he obviously feels about her.

I wish Brody's character was delved into a little bit more, but he does his job in the story. Lily's proximity to him on a daily basis made her love for him seem more natural as well. Even if she still didn't fully understand his personality.

The side characters do provide great support for the main characters. They were fleshed out enough for me to not feel like there were needless characters, but not enough that all was revealed in the first novel. Mainly though, this story is about Quince and Lily, and boy is their relationship honest, realistic - albeit a little too sappy in parts for me personally - and romantic. Four and a half flowers.

Writing: Childs has a strong voice in Lily's character. I was surprised that the mermaid lingo enhanced the strength of Lily's narrative instead of just annoying me. The book is fun and difficult to put down. I finished Forgive My Fins in two days. 4 and a half flowers.

Plot: I love the premise of this book! The pacing was strange to me though. It felt too choppy at times. There is a lot of high stake bumps in the road with slower transition times, so it often took me a few dozen pages to truly settle into the scenery. When I did, however, it was a grand ride with a lot of adventure and tension.

My only serious qualm with the plot was the big turn of event scene. The believability just didn't make sense and the character was too quick at believing Lily was a mermaid for me to find the tension realistic. Besides that, the plot and humor that came with it was charming. 4 flowers.

End: It made my heart melt a little. I have to read the sequel. 4 and a half flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: I really like how the voice in this description fits the tone of the novel. 5 flowers.

Cover: It's too similar to every other YA cover on the shelf. I wish I saw more mermaid-style elements. 3 flowers.

Overall: If you need a break from the daily stresses of life and want some strong, funny, emotionally wrought romance, PLEASE pick this up. It's exceptionally well crafted. 4 flowers.

Book 18 of '11 Normal Gets You Nowhere by Kelly Cutrone

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 20:21:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"When Kelly Cutrone’s first book, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside, was first published, young people flocked to this new voice—finally, someone was telling it like it is, in language they spoke. It quickly became a New York Times bestseller, and fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone became more than a personality, she became a beloved guru, mentor, and fairy godmother.

Now she’s back with another no-holds-barred book to awaken our souls and kick our asses into gear. With Normal Gets You Nowhere, she invites us to get our freak on. History is full of successful, world-changing people who did not fit in. Think Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, John Lennon, and Rosa Parks. Instead of changing themselves to accommodate the status quo or what others thought they should be, these people hung a light on their differences—and changed humanity in the process.

“I know you don’t feel normal, so why are you trying to act it and prove to everyone you are?” Cutrone says. So much of what we say or don’t say, and what we do or don’t do, is dictated by what others have told us, or what people may think of us. This is not how we should be living, by measuring ourselves against the mundane. An invitation to rethink who you are, what you value, and what you want from life, Normal Gets You Nowhere goes beyond how to reinvent yourself and create your own brand, and investigates what it means to live in this world as a tuned-in, caring individual with a passion for making a difference. There’s already an army of super talented uberfreaks changing the world–isn’t it time you joined it time you joined them?"

My Opinion: If Kelly Cutrone has anything, it's personality. Her writing voice is very strong, very abrasive, and hard to ignore. She has plenty to say and a lot of it is worthy advice. She makes a great case for being the odd individuals we're all meant to be - even if her narrative of white, female, working, upper middle class NYC resident is hilarious at times. The parts about spiritual awareness and mentors had me laughing, and this is coming from a girl who's been taking yoga since she was eight.

Nevertheless, Cutrone's main message - that individualism is key and everyone has the right to discover themselves - is one of importance. The tidbits of her life that we get to read about are genuinely intriguing and Cutrone just seems like the kind of powerhouse I'd love to meet.

The book is disappointingly short though. I suppose with the success of Cutrone's first book, a sequel had to be produced quickly. It needs a few more chapters to reach its full potential. I was just beginning to get comfortable with the tone and content.

Overall: Fun and useful, despite how many times I rolled my eyes at Cutrone's spiritual enlightenment. If you like strong personality with your self help, this is the book for you. Four flowers.

This is usually where I would put my flower rating, but since my memory stick isn't fitting in my new computer's port, I'll have to postpone the fancy graphics until next week.

August Break

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:05:00 +0000

Hey Guys,

I apologize for not being on the computer all month! I've been really ill and my computer also decided to die. So...you'll probably not hear from me too much until September when I'm all set up with a beautiful new computer. Get ready to see lots of reviews from this blog over here when my technology recovers!

Thanks,
Emma

Book 17 of '11 After Obsession by Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"Aimee and Alan have secrets. Both teens have unusual pasts, and abilities they prefer to keep hidden. But when they meet each other for the first time, in a cold Maine town, they can’t stop their secrets from spilling out. Strange things have been happening lately, and they both feel strongly that something, or someone, is haunting them. They’re wrong. Despite their unusual history and powers, it’s neither Aimee nor Alan who is truly haunted. It’s Alan’s cousin Courtney who, in a desperate plea to find her missing father, has invited a demon into her life—and into her body. Only together can Aimee and Alan exorcise the ghost. And they have to move quickly, before it devours not just Courtney, but everything around her…. Filled with heart-pounding romance, paranormal activity, and rich teen characters to love—and introducing an exciting new YA voice in Steven Wedel—this novel is exactly what Carrie Jones fans have been waiting for. Meet your next obsession."

Characters: Aimee and Alan end up being two lovely, fun and wholesome characters for readers to read about. They're both fleshed out, flawed and interesting personalities, but I believe teens who don't like reading will get the most out of their characters. The depth isn't there, but their relationship is fun to see develop. I think Wedel and Jones do a great job of letting Aimee and Alan's romance happen quickly, but organically.

It's heart warming to read about Aimee and Alan's positive, supportive family situations - even though they are flawed. Seeing the two As help build better families also gave me the warm fuzzies. All of the side characters were great support to the main characters.

The characters aren't anything to write home about, but they do make for a quick, enjoyable read. 4 flowers.

Writing: Wedel and Jones' writing styles are very simplistic, but they get the message across which is one of the reasons why this book is my number one pick for skeptical readers. The blatant avoidance of swear words - and the main characters calling out those who swore - seemed out of character and got annoying. Ultimately, it works for the novel. 4 flowers.

Plot: It's hard to place the plot in After Obsession. There is a clear end goal but how it is reached is fairly intangible. It was still compelling to see how Jones and Wedel wove it, but it fell short for me. I wanted to see more depth in the world they created as well as clearer steps to defeat the River Man. 3 and a half flowers.

End: Predictable. Satisfying. 4 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: This is the description I found on Goodreads, so I'm not sure if it's on the ARC. I find it very thorough and intriguing, though. 4 and a half flowers.

Cover: I can't stand this cover. Maria Disidoro - a fantastic blogger and one of my closest friends - made a great point about this in her own review of the book. The proportion of the hand is all wrong, the arm is unusually short. The whole thing looks like it's been photo shopped. 1 flower.

Overall: If there is a teen girl you know between the ages of 11-15 who thinks reading is boring, please, PLEASE pick this book up. This book is perfect for that kind of reader. 4 flowers.

Book 16 of '11 Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:08:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal’s life.

Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he’s infected the girlfriends he’s had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It’s Cal’s job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .

Bursting with the sharp intelligence and sly humor that are fast becoming his trademark, Scott Westerfeld’s novel is an utterly original take on an archetype of horror."

Characters: Cal Thompson is the kind of male protagonist I love reading about in YA fiction. He's intelligent, funny, and his life story is really interesting. His narrative is freaking fantastic. The way Westerfeld illustrates it is not only entertaining and fascinating, but a little gross. That's the appeal of this book.

Not a lot of time is spent on characters in Peeps. I will say that I felt lead on surrounding the amount of importance Morgan's character had in the novel. I kept on expecting her to have this awesome villainous scene, and she never got any real page time. This was disappointing, when I had gotten excited about her.

Lace was a light and fun love interest for Cal. Although I have a habit of getting annoyed by characters who expect the protag to tell them everything about a complex underground universe, Lace was still charming and funny.

The characters are not what make Peeps such an enthralling read, but they were aesthetically pleasing vessels for the story to play out through. 4 flowers.

Writing: Westerfeld's juxtaposition between well written, plot heavy chapters and conversational science lessons about parasites made it very difficult to put down. Throughout Peeps, readers begin to vividly imagine the world of parasites, which is not a level of the food chain we think about often. It may be disgusting, but it's also very intelligent. Parasites work as exceptionally good metaphors for human consciousness. 5 flowers.

Plot: Here is where Peeps shines. How Westerfeld weaves the back story on his vampires made me laugh in excitement. He makes former myths relevant to his own world building, and the cleverness made me gobble the book up in only two days. It's so intelligent that it takes a lot of energy to follow along, but it's so enthralling you can't help but turn the pages. 5 flowers.

End: The last action scene verged on campy for me, but the last chapter is written wonderfully and the ending is satisfying. 4 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: An archetype of horror? Really? That's dramatizing the scare factor of this book a few degrees. I wish they mention something about Lace. 3 and a half flowers.

Cover: There are other much better covers for Peeps, but the one on my used copy has faces on them, and I don't like it at all. 3 and a half flowers.

Overall: If you want an incredibly intelligent and funny take on the overused vampire trope, you HAVE to pick this book up. 4 and half flowers.

Book 22 of '11 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowlin

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:05:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him..."

SPOILERS FOR DEATHLY HALLOWS. But it's been four years. Get over it. This is probably an unnecessary warning anyways, as I'm sure I was the only person who hadn't read the seventh book yet.

Characters: Even as someone who grew up with Series of Unfortunate Events and Trixie Belden instead of the HP series, it's difficult not to love the Golden Trio. Harry's completely raw emotional state - which was excruciatingly annoying in the fifth book - is something I've come to appreciate and relate to heavily. Hermione's intelligence and empathy has always made me love her. While I still have a hard time determining what Ron's actual point of existence is, beyond being a writing tool, he certainly is the comic relief of the series. And he was bloody fantastic in Philosopher's Stone.

But I have to say I enjoyed them all in this book more than ever before. Maybe I'm just a sucker for angsty, all or nothing style plots, but you really see the strength of their friendship here. I loved watching them find bits and pieces of humor in such dire circumstances. And that kiss between Ron and Hermione? I'm not even a real supporter of HR/R and yet I squeed because of how Hermione that interaction was.

Not to mention that aha! Dumbledore really gains complexity in Deathly Hallows. I was more than a little in love with reading about his faults and flaws. Rowling does an exceptional job of showing him as a brilliant, flawed wizard and I had such a wonderful experience trying to figure out Dumbledore along with Harry.

If you bring up Harry Potter to me at ALL, I will not shut up about the amazing, gorgeous, brilliant relationship between Harry and Voldemort. I think it's Rowling's best accomplishment with this world. Seeing the parallels between their pasts and personalities, as well as the contrasts has been without a doubt my absolute favourite part of the series. Like the prophecy? I think I've talked about a million people's ears off with how spectacular I find that concept. Seeing Harry really access that relationship and use it to the best of his abilities made both the reader and the inner critic inside of me very happy. Harry's reasoning behind each and every one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, falling into Voldemort's mind and the dynamic in their last encounter fully realized why I love this layer of the HP series most of all - the relationship between the two adversaries shows readers that while we cannot control the majority of what happens to us, ultimately, we do control how we live and who we decide to be. Seeing Voldemort's fears and emotional downfalls with love is so encapsulating to a reader after learning to be fearful of him from the wizarding world.

Speaking of powerful lessons the HP series brings to the table : the emotional power that Snape's evolution as a character brings to Deathly Hallows is heartbreaking and beautiful. His progression confirmed why I found him to be one of the most compelling characters. It's very obvious why he is one of the best loved characters in the fandom.

And I don't mean to forget the side characters either. I loved seeing Neville pop onto the scene, Fred and George were heartbreakingly hilarious, and I couldn't help but grin when Ginny defends Harry from other female attention in the very thicket of the war.

I think the character arches in Deathly Hallows have been my favourite out of the entire series. 4 and a half flowers.

Writing: Jo's writing tends to be very simplistic, but it does have the habit of being beautiful. I prefer descriptive styles though, so while it isn't my taste, I do think it fits the story well. 4 flowers.

Plot: Plot is by far the aspect of Harry's story that JK Rowling succeeds the most at. I adored the amount of intelligence and complexity that could be found in DH. The twists and turns surprised me - even after thinking I had all the important parts spoiled for me much earlier on. The pacing may be a little ragged, with a lot of angsty camping trip and little climatic action, but I begun to notice that I like a lot of build up and a great climax in my fantasy reading. Absolutely brilliant. 5 flowers.

End: I know there has been huge controversy surrounding the epilogue, but it did give me the warm fuzzies. And I must not be the only person who saw that Rowling gave herself a very obvious plot beginning to go to if she wanted to create another story in the wizarding universe. The epilogue was way too simplistic, and I would have preferred seeing a brief overview of Harry going through the trials and tribulations of helping piece back the wizarding world again, but I would be lying if I said reading about Harry and Ginny's, Ron and Hermione's children hadn't been satisfying. 3 and half flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: I think the writers of the description have done the best job of evading giving the readers any important information, that I have ever seen. But it's the last book in the HP series, so I suppose they did their job. 3 and half flowers.

Cover: While I love the concept for this cover, I despise the actual illustrations of the Golden Trio. They look nothing like the Harry, Hermione and Ron in my head. 3 flowers.

Overall: Besides the epilogue, a stunningly amazing end to a wonderful, intelligent series. Harry Potter will never be the character who changed my life and shaped my world view, but his story is enough to give any wannabe writer hope that this kind of story exists, and despair that they'll never be able to create this kind of world ever again. I thank Rowling for making one the most intelligent, intriguing and gorgeous stories in the history of literature.

Now I am going to dress up as an anonymous Death Eater, let my friend secure an owl to my shoulder, watch the first part of the movie and then go out to the midnight showing. Please excuse me while I go experience the most powerful fandom known to the world. I hope you will too. 4 and half flowers.

Book 15 of '11 The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 01:13:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny’s backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he’s found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart.

This time, there are no instructions.

Characters: I enjoyed Ginny's character a heck of a lot more in this sequel. I think it's because she finally began the process of finding her voice after the end of 13LBE. I loved experiencing more of the dynamic between Ginny and Richard, which I didn't get enough of in the first book. The progression of Keith's character made me really fall in love with Maureen's writing style - and belief in pursuing the story right for her characters, for the first time. Even if I didn't always like the person he seemed to be playing. I was also thrilled by how Aunt Peg's personality maintained the crazy fun continuity it had in the first novel.

I also loved the new additions to the story and thought Maureen did a great job with them. I loved watching my emotions towards Oliver evolve. Reading this book was a lot like visiting old friends again, and then finding out you like them even more now than you did before. Johnson does the best job I've seen in all of YA literature of demonstrating that sometimes life changes - and sometimes that's more than okay. 4 and a half flowers.

Writing: LLBE picks up right where 13LBE left off. The book doesn't miss a single beat, but you can tell Johnson has definitely matured as an author. Whatever you can say about Johnson's books, she certainly knows how to write descriptions that seem organic to the characters, even as a writer you usually uses third person. 4 and a half flowers.

Plot: The pacing is a lot more rushed than the first book. LLBE feels more like a short, satisfying epilogue to the original book than a new story in its entirety. But it does work for the vibe of the series. Everything was tight, logical and interesting. 4 and a half flowers.

End: I loved how Peg ended the last envelope. I also loved the conclusion Ginny came to by the end of the novel. It all fit the story perfectly. 5 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: Not my favourite, but it sums everything up well. 4 flowers.

Cover: Why does Johnson always have the worst covers? I hate faces on my covers. Hate em. 2 and a half flowers.

Overall: If you loved 13 Little Blue Envelopes, you'll probably love the sequel. It's more a mini adventure than a full blown excursion, but it ties everything up brilliantly. 4 and a half flowers.

Book 14 of '11 Liar by Justine Larabalestier

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:49:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"Meet the narrator who leaves readers reeling. Dare to believe her?Micah is a liar. That's the one thing she won't lie about. Over the years, she's duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents. But when her boyfriend Zach dies under brutal circumstances, Micah sets out to tell the truth. At first the truth comes easily-because it is a lie. Other truths are so unbelievable, so outside the realm of normal, they must be a lie. And the honest truth is buried so deep in Micah's mind even she doesn't know if it's real.

The ultimate unreliable narrator takes readers on a thrill ride in this highly acclaimed novel. Prepare to grasp for truth until the very last page."

Characters: Reading about Micah made me recall my own lying behavior. I ended up relating to Micah a bit more than what would be comfortable. She was a fascinating character to read about. There's nothing likable about her, but her psyche is what keeps a reader gripping the pages. There is so much ambiguity thanks to Micah, our unreliable narrator, it almost seems unfair to discuss the rest of the characters.

Even Micah's depiction of Zach, the boy she supposedly love, often varies. Sometimes she sees him with in a brutal, unrelenting light, and others she sees him as her savior in solitude. I wonder if this inconsistency was something Larbalestier added to make the reader speculate over Micah's reliability, or if it was one of the natural aspects of their odd romantic relationship. The same thing occurred with Micah's descriptions of her parents. I still don't know for sure about Micah's relationships- or even have any other proof for speculation of their falsehood - and that issue in a nutshell is why I was so disappointed with Larbalestier's approach with this book.

One very wonderful thing about Micah's personality is that the reader gets a very clear, brutal perspective of each one of the supporting characters. I enjoyed reading about Sarah specifically because of Micah's sharp, clear and mean perception of her.

As for Micah's family and her actual relationship with Zach, I am still groping for some understanding of what was true and false.

I enjoyed the side characters Larbalestier crafted and Micah is a brilliantly formed character. But I still don't feel like I even remotely understand Micah's compulsion for lying - and that's why I picked up the book in the first place. 4 flowers.

Writing: I honestly think this is the best book I have ever read where an author's narrative voice completely transformed into their protagonist's. I flipped to the back page frequently, wondering how Larbalestier could have created such a fully realized character in Micah. I'm more than pleased with Larbalestier's brilliance. 5 flowers.

Plot: My ultimate problem with Liar is how little insight the reader actual gets into Micah's psyche. The book - although I loved the physical structure, which had no chapters and there were a lot of intrusions about Micah telling you when she had in fact lied - consisted mostly of - and then this happened. And then I did this. And here is the back story. No where did I get to see why Micah lies . Maybe giving the reader some perspective by letting the reader see Micah unravel would have defeated the point of the concept of the novel. But while I adore intelligent reads, I'm not going to spin myself in circles unless I have insight into the protagonist's mind in the first place. 3 and a half flowers.

End: Larbalestier had me in her palm until the Big Reveal came about. When it happened, I felt scammed and disappointed. Yes, it could be genius. I was hungrily waiting from that point to the end to see Larbalestier give us context to Micah. But there is no little information to go on and Micah is always composed in her recollections that by the time I closed the novel, my mind hadn't been blown. It had only been frustrated into submission. 3 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: I actually love this description. 5 flowers.

Cover: I know all the whitewashing drama that came with Liar. But even with this properly African American model, she looks nothing like the Micah in my mind. 3 flowers.

Overall: There is absolutely no doubting that Larbalestier can write. The world she crafts here is filled with complexity and intelligence. But there is NOTHING in this book that provides solid evidence for ANYTHING, and that overwhelming instability left me disappointed. 3 and a half flowers.

Book 13 of '11 Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens by Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Taken from Zest Books' Site:

"Written especially for LGBT teens, Queer takes you on an awesome and enlightening journey through the sometimes scary, sometimes silly, and always fabulous world that is queer life.

Queer includes advice on:
• coming out to friends and family
• navigating your social and dating life
• dealing with queerphobia
• standing up for your rights
• learning about safe sex
• and more!

Queer also includes personal stories from the authors, as well as facts about landmark events in queer history. Sassy, engaging, and honest, Queer is a must-have for all teens who think they might be queer—or know someone who is."

I received a review copy from Zest Books.

QUEER was such a thorough guide to the LGBT world that I found myself really impressed. And I'm a girl who is regularly immersed in LGBTQ culture. The book was organized in fun, concise parts about everything from how to find your queer posse to how to find a gal/guy you want to date. It even covered every remote parental scenario I can think of in the coming out section, which is an unheard of feat. I found the comic segments to be really enjoyable. Kathy and Marke's mini stories surrounding the current sub-topic made the book more fun. I loved how they addressed creating a positive queer community around you and how to break up with someone and handle being dumped smoothly - which is something I don't usually see in ANY book for teens . They did a great job of not isolating the trans community in this book as well.

A lot of times with YA non-fiction written by adults, the tone feels too preachy and lacks the realism to help teens handle real situations. QUEER - while very conscious of its responsibility to give teens healthy advice - is realistic in its approach with sex and coming out. That's something so rare in the YA non-fiction shelves at my library that it's worth mentioning.

My only complaints would be how Belge and Bieschke constantly seemed to be using gay and lesbian stereotypes as points of reference with the LGBT community. I suppose this is helpful for questioning teens with little access or understanding of/to the queer world, but I found it insulting after one too many times of stereotyping. While LGBT cliches might be rooted in one reality, it is not how all gay and trans people act, and I wish more of an emphasis was put on that.

I also wish that the topic of labeling had been discussed more. Belge and Bieschke do a good job on introducing new labels like genderqueer and asexual into the "queer" mix, but I wish there had been a couple of words near the beginning about how the label you put on your sexuality can adapt and evolve and how that is totally okay. Labels seem to be a big issue in the queer community, and I felt like that topic wasn't addressed as much as I would have liked.

Beyond that, QUEER is the best guide to teen sexuality I've read in ages. Zest Books is one of those publishers where every book is exceptionally well made, with not only just great content, but wonderful design and paper quality. It's one of those books I'm proud to own. And if I come across any teens who are in a questioning crisis, it'll be the first book I recommend. With thorough, comprehensive content and a fun to read design, how can you go wrong? 4 and a half flowers.

Book 12 of '11 Bumped by Megan McCafferty

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:31:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"WHEN A VIRUS makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents must pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they search for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Characters: Harmony had a very strong personality from the beginning of Bumped. It's rare that I delight in reading about a naive narrator, but Harmony's vigor, determination and intelligence made me come to enjoy her character. I did not like how selfish she became closer to the end of the novel. I had a hard time understanding why she couldn't empathize with Melody at this point in the book when she had been able to before. We'll see in the sequel if I'm able to forgive her. However, Harmony's tender, honest love for God, as well as seeing her come more into her own, was wonderful to see.

Melody had less of a vocal presence in the book. Which makes sense due to how her parents conditioned her to be perfect. I like Melody, it just took me the entirety of the book to figure out where I stood with her. Her presence was more to show the reader the world of bumping than to get a sense of her character in Bumped. I hope to see that change in the next book.

As for the rest of the characters, I loved the satirical edge of the book. In parts, I laughed and wondered if I should be, and I think that shows how wonderful this piece of satire is. I'm still not sure what to make of Jon Doe. I have a feeling I'll enjoy trying to figure him out in future books. I didn't enjoy how much focus on put on his morals, though. I loved Zen. He had the kind of personality a lot of YA authors strive for in their best friend love interests and falter with, but McCafferty didn't.

Harmony is by far the most fleshed out character in this ensemble. I hope Melody's evolves further. 4 flowers.

Writing: I loved the language McCafferty used to get the message of the book across. The casual nature surrounding teen sex - exclusively procreation, not for pleasure - made my skin crawl. It's very easy to imagine a world like Bumped occurring in the near future. 4 and a half flowers.

Plot: It's great when an author writes with the assumption that their audience is intelligent. It isn't great when an author assumes a reader will know everything about their world that they know. I found myself feeling through the dark a couple of unnecessary times with Bumped and its world. Info dumping is not a good tool, but I like to know the basics of a dystopian world after reading 100 pages. I wish McCafferty had spent more time informing her audience.

The plot paced quite well, and I was never bored. I'm only interested in what will happen in the next book. 4 flowers.

End: A little fed up with the cliffhanger ending, but I liked the literary writing loop. 3 and a half flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: I find this description to be very thorough, which is rare. 5 flowers.

Cover: I like the semi sinister look this cover has when you look at it for a little while. It's too simplistic for me, though. 4 flowers.

Overall: If you like dystopian but want a fluffier, padded edge to your next read, try this one! 4 flowers.

Book 10 of '11 Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:22:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"'Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.' Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she's been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power and the courage to fight her own inner demons?"

Characters: Hunger is such a short book, it's very difficult to get a real inkling of Lisa's personality. As it often seems to happen with "issue" books, I found myself acknowledging Lisa as more of a vessel of the writer's message more than anything. Lisa's friends and family life gives us little to no indicator of why Lisa is having so many problems with her eating. In fact, we never actually find out any reasons why Lisa is struggling with food. This made the book lose a certain amount of legitimacy for me.

Lisa's perspective on her friend Tammy was my favourite aspect of this novel. It's here that I felt I really got to see the narrative of a person with anorexia and their thoughts surrounding their idols. I saw Lisa's opinion of Tammy change, and that section of the novel was the time where I felt I understood who Lisa was and her behavior surrounding food. Kessler also does the best job I've seen in any book surrounding eating disorders in legitimatizing the denial in the anorexic. I haven't seen an author give a better explanation for why someone with an eating disorder would think they don't have one.

Death's character was my favourite part of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse aspect of the book - which was disappointingly understated. His sarcastic, clever nature made me love his personality. I really wished I could have seen more of the dynamics between the four horsemen in the first place. 3 and a half flowers.

Writing: Some of Kessler's descriptions were quite gritty and beautiful. But her dialogue failed to illustrate the amount of tension between Lisa and her friends and family. The feel of the book is more along the lines of a short story. 3 and a half flowers.

Plot: The great premise of this story let me down. I wish Kessler had done more with the four horsemen premise. The cultures that Kessler could have very easily contrasted - Lisa's experiences with third world hunger forced upon generations and her own society's drive to look malnourished - were never touched upon. All the points that could have provided a new narrative about anorexia were lost. 2 flowers.

End: Incredibly abrupt. Hunger needed about a hundred more pages to tie everything up. 2 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: It's a little too cliche, but it makes the necessary point. 4 flowers.

Cover: Gorgeous now that I understand its meaning. 4 and a half flowers.

Overall: This fantastic premise really fell short. But I might try Rage, the sequel to Hunger, to see if Kessler can improve. If you want a book that has a fantastic depiction of mental illness, read Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. 3 flowers.

Interview with Melissa Kantor

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:53:00 +0000

I met the lovely Melissa Kantor at Teen Author Carnival last year, and she was probably the sweetest author I met in NYC. She was so kind as to offer to do an interview with me about The Darlings Are Forever. Here is the Q and A that followed. You can read all about Melissa here.

1. What inspired you to write The Darlings Are Forever?

I really wanted to write a book where friendship was CENTRAL. A long time ago I got a wonderful fan letter from a reader who said that my first book, Confessions of a Not It Girl, seems to be about whether the main character will get together with her crush but it's really about whether or not she and her best friend will work out their problems. That was a powerful reading of the book for me. I often make the mistake of thinking of best friends as being the background of life, but really they're the most important thing!

2. Have you ever had a social circle similar to the the Darlings?

When I was in my twenties, I had a group of friends and we used to meet for dinner once a week. We were all single and living in Manhattan and we had cool jobs and fun apartments and reasonably exciting lives. It was the closest thing my life ever came to being a Sex and the City episode. I wanted to capture the fun of those dinners, the way best friends are a place where you can let your hair down and just be yourself.

3. Did you have to do any research for Victoria's character of a up and coming politician's daughter?

One of my very best friends in the entire world is a politician's daughter--her father was once a presidential candidate. She was tremendously helpful to me as I wrote The Darlings Are Forever. It was she who explained to me how to have Victoria's dad, a total political unknown, become a frontrunner in a major campaign.

4. What do you think is the most important value in a friendship?

I think a really good friend sees your faults generously. It's not that she thinks you're perfect (imagine the pressure of that!), it's that she sees the best in you. Like if you're bossy, your best friend would describe you as having leadership skills. I don't think you want a best friend who's naive about you ("I don't think you're bossy!"). I think you want a best friend who's defensive about you and who isn't looking for you to fail.

5. If you had to recommend one place in NYC for tourists to go, what would it be?

It's a seasonal recommendation, so if you're in NYC in the winter, it won't work, but if you're in NYC during the warmer months, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a rooftop garden, and I'd highly recommend going up there at around sunset and looking out over Central Park and the New York City skyline. I can't think of a more perfect, romantic New York spot. Also, if you've got the time and the energy, take the subway to Brooklyn and then turn around and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to Chinatown for lunch or dinner. Best views of Manhattan ever!

Thank you so much for chatting with me about your book, Melissa!

My review of The Darlings Are Forever can be found here.

Book 9 of 11' The Darlings Are Forever by Melissa Kantor

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:04:00 +0000

Dust Jacket Description:

"Jane, Victoria, and Natalya. Together, they are the Darlings. Best friends forever. They have matching necklaces, their own table at Ga Ga Noodle, and even a shared motto: May you always do what you’re afraid of doing.

When the friends begin freshman year at three different high schools in distant corners of New York City, they promise to live by their motto and stay as close as ever. The Darlings know they can get through anything as long as they have each other. But doing scary new things is a lot easier with your friends beside you. And now that the girls aren’t spending all their time together, everything they took for granted about their friendship starts to feel less certain. They can’t help but wonder, will they really be the Darlings forever?"

Characters: I really loved the relationship between all three of the girls. I feel like I haven't seen a really tight knit group of girls where each girl is equally represented. That equality in narratives really made this book feel fresh, despite the typical premise.

Each girl had a really distinct voice. Jane's bubbly passion made me instantly enjoy her character. Natalya's struggle with her culture and to fit in with the popular girls didn't feel cliched. I suspect this had to do with the backdrop of NYC to make the posh expectations of Natayla's boarding school seem real. But I think it was Victoria's father's political campaign - the real center of the action - that gave this MG/YA crossover its appeal.

The side characters were realistic and enjoyable. I thought Kantor did a great job with each girl's family and romantic issues alike. This book really encompasses the fourteen year old girl experience in a way I would want my female tween cousin to read about. 4 and a half flowers.

Writing: It's so rare to hear three very distinct voices in one book. The Darlings' third person writing style really helped sculpt each girl's narrative. 5 flowers.

Plot: I thought there was a great mix of plot and character focus. Each girl had a lot of conflict in their lives, so as a reader I was never bored. My one qualm would be that the big plot changer didn't make as much sense as I wanted it to. If it had been in another setting, it would have been a lot more logical. 4 flowers.

End: Not surprising, but satisfying. I only wish Natalya's romantic problems had been resolved. 4 flowers.

Dust Jacket Description: This description sums up the premise perfectly, but I wish it gave more of an insight into what each girl is actually like. 3 and a half flowers.

Cover: Usually covers with girls on them annoy me, but I think this will appeal to the target audience. I wish it was flashier, though. 3 and a half flowers.

Overall: If you want a smart, light, friendship themed book to give to a girl between 11-14 that you know, you have to pick this up. 4 flowers.

There Are Whole Lives In These Bookshelves

noreply@blogger.com (Emma) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:52:00 +0000

Dear Ms Gurdon,

Your article about YA literature has become a huge topic of conversation with the YA community filled with bloggers, authors, librarians, teachers and publisher professionals alike.

When I saw one of my friends post your article on Facebook, I immediately clicked on the link and began to process your words in a two hour conversation with one of my best friends. Even after rehashing the main flaw in your argument - that if a parent disagrees with the subject matter within a book their child is reading, it is their responsibility to discuss and possibly restrict THEIR child from reading that book, not all children - I still felt like I had something to say on this matter. I think I just figured out why this article is leaving me, and possibly the rest of the YA community, blue in the face.

You speak of the book industry's outrage against book banning as if it's preposterous:

"...she meant those who think it's appropriate to guide what young people read. In the book trade, this is known as "banning." In the parenting trade, however, we call this "judgment" or "taste." It is a dereliction of duty not to make distinctions in every other aspect of a young person's life between more and less desirable options. Yet let a gatekeeper object to a book and the industry pulls up its petticoats and shrieks "censorship!"

If you were to look up the definition of what a censor is, you'd see "an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds." So while your article colours publishers' outrage about banning as overly dramatic, you're the one who fails to understand the concept of censorship.

But even that is beside my point. Several sentences in your essay seem to make the argument that YA literature is making teens become more destructive then they would be without the narratives in these books in the first place: "Yet it is also possible—indeed, likely—that books focusing on pathologies help normalize them and, in the case of self-harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures."

With all due respect Ms. Gurdon, if you honestly believe that the darkness is too visible in teen literature, then you have never truly seen the teen perspective.

I have seen YA books expose darkness, reveal depth, find flaws, give hope, change minds, break hearts and then repair them. Good literature rips open all the private parts of us - the parts people like you have deemed too dark, inappropriate, grotesque or abnormal for teens to be feeling - and then they stitch it all back together again before we even realize they're not talking about us. They're talking about their characters.

You must not have met the anorexic, the self injurer, the rape or bully victim, the child who has to deal with their parent's alcoholism, the teen with a gay or mentally ill parent, the teen who is discovering their sexuality, learning about their culture, recently been victim of a hate crime, fallen in love with the wrong person, the right person at the wrong time, the traumatized, the abused, the scarred.

And what I find most insulting of all is that you think their voices will hurt teens who are only being exposed to their words.

Teenagers, contrary to popular belief, are not stupid. And I have not seen a YA writer in all of history who would want to leave their readers thinking that self injury - the example you give in your essay - is a good coping mechanism. We have minds with thoughts in our heads, as the friend I discussed your article with said last night. We can easily understand that authors are trying to prevent us from going down unhealthy paths, or redirect the path we're going down already.

And I fiercely believe with every part of me that the teen you mention - the one with a healthy home and school life who is entirely different from the scarred protagonist of the YA book they opened - will only be less judgmental, more open, educated and informed by the time they close the very same novel.

YA literature is creating a generation of less judgmental, more respectful and understanding adults right at this very moment, and you're too scared of the dark reading material that you didn't have as an adolescent to even notice.

Being exposed to a different narrative doesn't form your worldview to fit inside that different narrative. It does make you less scared of those with opinions and come from different backgrounds than you.

So I'll leave you with this: there are whole lives in these bookshelves. Readers see the insides of characters' minds, they see them make decisions, right or wrong, choose pathways, create relationships, start building their perspectives of the world around them. When they close the book, it's their time to pick and choose what fits their perception of the world, and put the nonsense back on the shelf.

If you begin to censor those lives, there are fewer opinions to pick from, worlds to discover, dark places to find in ink filled pages, people to fall in love with and find in this world of flesh and bone. There are less narratives to understand and embrace.

The darkness won't be visible at all anymore. And neither will the light.

PS: That aforementioned two hour conversation I had with one of my best friends can be summed up in three minutes. You can click this link if you want to hear two teenagers drivel over censorship, one intelligently, the other in a 1am haze of inarticulate sensation. I'm the bossy one at the beginning of the sound clip.