Teen Services @ the Homewood Public Library

Book Review - After by Amy Efaw

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:34:00 +0000

No one expected this from Devon, a straight-A soccer player destined for Division-I sports glory. And you could say that Devon didn't expect it either.

But now she's in juvenile hall, awaiting a judge's decision on whether or not she will be tried as a juvenile or as an adult for attempted murder and other charges, for putting her newborn baby in the dumpster behind her apartment.

Amy Efaw's compelling second novel, After, is the kind of book you can't put down, no matter how much some aspects of it disturb you. Was Devon aware that she was pregnant before giving birth? How could she not have been? Was she a manipulative liar, covering up her pregnancy, which went undetected by her mother, friends, classmates, everyone? The complexities of the story shed light on something most only know as a statistic and helped me, at least, see the issue from other angles. Devon is an utterly authentic character and reading the book, I completely felt sucked into her story, in such a way that I found the book really challenging to read at some points. By the end, I was relieved I had finished, if only to get on with my way less complicated life.

RIYL: harrowing tales, problem novels like Go Ask Alice, gritty stories about problems that real people face every day

Teens' Top Ten...REVEALED

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:20:00 +0000

More than 11,000 teen voters (a lot of them, evidently, were Nerdfighters) chose John Green's Paper Towns as their favorite book in the 2009 Teens' Top Ten! Here's the full list of the top ten.

The Homewood Library owns all of these titles, so come check 'em out!

Book Review - Going Bovine by Libba Bray

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:41:00 +0000

It's one of those mad cow disease road trip books, you know?

Ummm.
.
.
.
.
To say that Libba Bray's newest book, Going Bovine, is hard to categorize is an understatement. A meaty book, clocking in at just under 500 pages, it's the story of sixteen year old Cameron, an ordinary, kind of losery guy whose life has been pretty unremarkable ever since his near-drowning at the It's A Small World After All ride at Disney World when he was five. Unremarkable, that is, until he finds out he has mad cow disease. Mad cow disease, a.k.a. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, gives Cameron these crazy hallucinations that really weird him out. Once doctors diagnose him, he's hospitalized and given a short time to live.

But that's when things just start to get interesting. Before he knows it, he's breaking out of the hospital to find a Doctor X who can save the world, hanging out with a hot punky angel, and setting off on a roadtrip with a dwarf named Gonzo and a yard gnome come to life who might just be a Viking, named Balder. Cameron and his assortment of pals trek from Texas to New Orleans to Florida in one of the most entertaining and bizarre road trip novels I've ever read.

I finished it last night and I'm still not sure what else to say about it, except that it's hilarious, poignant at times, and reminiscent of the episodic odyssies you take in feverish dreams. Yeah, it's something like that.

RIYL: Libba Bray's other books, John Green, Don Quixote

Book Review - Stitches by David Small

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:13:00 +0000

People in the library and publishing worlds were pretty stunned last week when David Small's graphic novel Stitches was nominated for the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category, stunned because the book was published by an adult imprint/press. You may remember David Small as the Caldecott-winning illustrator of such classics as Imogene's Antlers. Well, forget all about that because Stitches is not to be confused with children's picture books.

This graphic novel memoir tells the grim and harrowing story of David Small's childhood and young adulthood. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, with parents that didn't engage with their children, and a brother who could've cared less about him. His father was a doctor and since David was a sickly child, his father performed radiation on him for his sicknesses-- an accepted practice at the time, but something doctors wouldn't think of in a million years, today. As a result, David developed a growth on his vocal chord, a growth that his father knew much about, all of which he kept hidden from David. As a teenager, David went into the hospital for surgery thinking he was getting a malignant growth removed, only to come out to learn that he had cancer AND that he could no longer speak. One of his vocal chords was removed.

I had a chance to hear David Small discuss his memoir at the annual ALA conference in July, and I'll never forget it. His story, a perfect fit for the graphic novel form, is unforgettable. A grim tale that ends with a lot of hope. As Mr. Small shared with us at ALA, writing and publishing the book brought him back in touch with his estranged brother.

* * * * *
five out of five stars
RIYL: Art Spiegelman's Maus and Gipi

Book Review - Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Everyone knows about Rosa Parks, but have you heard of Claudette Colvin? At age 15, Claudette refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. This happened nine months BEFORE Rosa Parks did the same. Philip Hoose's brilliant National Book Award-nominated nonfiction book Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice, shares the story of a lesser-known hero of the civil rights movement. For refusing to give up her seat, Claudette was handcuffed, forcibly removed from the bus, and arrested. Around the same time that Claudette was arrested and stood trial, the NAACP had been trying to plan the right time, place, and person, to test the bus segregation. However, Claudette wasn't quite the person they had in mind. She was from a lower-class family and soon after her arrest, became pregnant by an older man. While we all know from history classes that Rosa Parks became the symbol of ending bus segregation, Hoose sheds light on a teenager whose story and brave challenge preceded the more famous one, and who made further contributions to the civil rights movement in a lesser-known but important case.

* * * *
four out of five stars
RIYL: true stories about teens who stood up for their beliefs and made a difference

Book Review - Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Three girls, one day, one fight, one book. Rita Williams-Garcia's National Book Award nominee, Jumped, is a short book with a lot of impact. Peek into one day in the life of three high school girls: one athlete, one struggling student, one artistic diva. Leticia busts her acrylic nail in gym class; Dominique would love to bust a nail on court, but she's gotta earn the grades before coach'll put her back in; Trina envisions eyes following her [butt's] every move, and all eyes will be on her by the end. Between the short chapters and changing views, and the fact that it's a slight 160 pages, you can read through this one in an afternoon.

* * *
three out of five stars

RIYL: Kimani Tru books, other titles from Rita Williams-Garcia, books by Coe Booth

and this year's nominees for the National Book Award are....

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:06:00 +0000

I'm a few days late at posting this, but this year's nominees for the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category are:

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Stitches by David Small
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

You can currently find all of them at the Homewood Library, except for Lips Touch, which should arrive shortly. Also, check back for reviews of all 5 titles!

The National Book awards will be announced at the 60th National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony on November 18.

Book Review - Crash Into Me by Albert Borris

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Owen. Frank. Audrey. Jin-Ae. Four teens that would not know each other if not for the one thing they have in common, the one thing they've all tried to do, the one thing that's bringing them together for a road trip across the country. Their common interest: ending their own lives. Brought together online by their sad and honest confessions, they set off on a road trip one summer to visit the resting places of celebrities who've committed suicide: Anne Sexton, Kurt Cobain, Ernest Hemingway, and more. Their final, final destination: Death Valley.

Narrated by Owen, whose depression stems from his older brother's death when he was just a kid, this is an exhilarating road trip novel that is hard to put down. Poignant, intensely sad, and amazingly revelatory, it's a book you won't soon forget.

* * * *
(four out of five stars)

RIYL: Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, Ellen Hopkins' books

Book Review - Andromeda Klein

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Finally, punk musician Frank Portman's follow-up to his acclaimed first book King Dork has hit the shelves at the Homewood Library, and I've had the chance to read it. Andromeda Klein follows the titular character, a magic-obsessed high school junior, as she tries to understand her best friend's death, fight the "Friends of the Library" at the International House of Bookcakes (her nickname for the library where she works as a shelver), and navigates the sometimes treacherous terrain of high school, made even more treacherous because of her interest in the occult. This is the kind of book you might have to read carefully, as there's a lot of namedropping and nicknaming to keep up with, but it all comes together at the end. If you've ever belonged to a secret club, spent hours poring over tarot cards, or have been curious about either, this just might be the book for you.

* * * *
(four out of five stars)

RIYL: magic + magic history, King Dork

Also, Frank Portman is also releasing music to go along with the book!

Book Review - TTYL by Lauren Myracle

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0000

In honor of Banned Books Week, which runs through this Saturday, I read one of the books from this year's list of the top ten banned books in the United States, TTYL by Lauren Myracle. This is not the first year that Myracle's Internet Girls series has appeared on the list. Written entirely in IM conversations, the first book in the series follows Maddie (mad maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl) through the beginning of tenth grade. The three best friends want to make sure that nothing gets in the way of their friendship -- they've heard that high school drama can break up close friendships -- but of course that's exactly what happens, as the threesome take on their individual challenges, whether it's boy troubles, teacher troubles, or friend troubles.

Since it is written in IM speak, this is one of those books where you're zipping through the pages and wanting to read the next one, before you even realize it. Maddie, Angela, and Zoe, are super honest and as familiar as your own friends. There's plenty of laugh-out-loud and cringe-worthy moments in this one, but the girls will have you rooting for them and their friendship through the last page.

* * * *
Four out of five stars
RIYL: other Lauren Myracle books, E. Lockhart, Sarah Dessen

Book Review - The Sweetheart of Prosper County

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:38:00 +0000

At the no-Jesus Christmas parade in her small Texas town, 15-year-old Austin Gray decides she's had enough of being the butt of Dean Ottmer's jokes. Next year, if she has any say in it, she'll be the one in the velvet dress atop a parade car. Reminiscent of Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen, Jill S. Alexander's debut novel The Sweetheart of Prosper County, is another book with a rural setting featuring characters with a whole lot of heart.

With her new goal in mind, Austin sets out to start making marks on her checklist, and the first thing on it is acquiring an animal-- a chicken named Charles Dickens. In order to get in with the FFA (Future Farmers of America) in-crowd, she'll need to step out of her comfort zone, and in many more ways than just acquiring a feathered friend. Along the way, she discovers her similarities with her deceased father and learns to stand up to the malicious Dean Ottmer.

RIYL: Catherine Gilbert Murdock or Sara Zarr's books, and/or getting a taste of the South
* * * *
four out of five stars

Banned Books Week begins Saturday!

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Banned Books Week runs from this Saturday, Sept. 26 - October 3rd. Stop by the Homewood Library to check out our display of banned books and to enter in a contest to win I [heart] Banned Books tote bags and bracelets. See how many banned books you can read during Banned Books Week (and no, it's not cheating to read picture books -- they are banned more than you would think!).

Celebrate Banned Books Week next Friday, Oct. 2, by stopping by our first ever Ban(ne)d Books Night, with a performance by local band Weekend on a Wednesday, readings from banned books, refreshments, contests and more. 7-10 pm. Anyone in grades 7-12 is welcome.

And in the meantime, check out this Banned Books Week video, courtesy of the ALA:

Coming soon....Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:51:00 +0000

We've ordered the library copy of Leviathan, have you reserved your copy yet?

Book Review - Twenty Boy Summer

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:54:00 +0000

If you're back in school and already wishing it were summer (or if the weather's got you fooled into thinking maybe it is still summer), pick up Twenty Boy Summer by debut author Sarah Ockler. This hot title has been checked out constantly this summer, but with the arrival of fall, maybe it will be on the shelf a bit more.

Anna, Matt, and Matt's sister Frankie have been friends and neighbors forever. But after Anna's birthday party, Matt surprises her with a kiss, and it looks like maybe two of them have always had stronger feelings for each other. Sneaking around, Matt and Anna find time for moments between just the two of them. They'll tell Frankie, when the time is right, but for now it's a secret. But their plans are shattered when, in an instant, everything changes. With Matt gone, Anna's left with the secret, but can she really tell her best friend that she's been secretly dating her brother for the past month?

Flash forward to a year later. Anna still hasn't told Frankie, and she's been invited to go out to California with Frankie and her parents, who are practically extended family to Anna. Frankie's changed a lot since her brother's death, and she's got a plan for how they'll spend three weeks on the beach in Cali: twenty boy summer. But is Anna ready to move on? Can she let herself fall for someone that's not Matt and never will be? And what can she do about the secret she's kept from her best friend for a whole year?

Find a spot in the sun and soak up what's left of the summer weather with "Twenty Boy Summer," the kind of book you can devour in an afternoon. Sarah Ockler is a new author to watch, and fans of Sarah Dessen, Susane Colasanti, and Deb Caletti, should check this one out.

* * * 1/2
(three and a half stars)

Book Review - Nation by Terry Pratchett

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:20:00 +0000

I'm making my way through the Printz honors of 2009, and I have to say that this might be one of my favorites. Terry Pratchett is best known for his Discworld books and supposedly his hardcore fans might be disappointed with Nation just because it's not a Discworld book. But, if you're like me and you're not a huge fantasy reader, this just might be the best way to dip into Terry Pratchett's world. Nation starts with a catastrophe. A tsunami kills an entire island village while Mau, it's sole survivor is off becoming a man. He returns to find utter devastation -- everyone he knows is dead -- and a ship. Daphne, a royal heir, is also shipwrecked on the island. The baffling collision of their two worlds -- the small island nation and the British empire -- provides for many interesting encounters between Daphne and Mau, who have no choice but to get to know each other, in spite of their language barriers and a world of differences. As other survivors from nearby islands make their way to Mau's island, the novel builds towards another collision of differing factions, this time with Daphne and Mau on the same side.

By the time I finished Nation, I had fallen completely under the spell of Terry Pratchett. His writing is clever and entertaining, and in the right moments, completely tender and heartfelt. As I closed the book, I had to marvel at his talent, and I almost wanted to start all over at the beginning and enjoy it again.

* * * * *
Five out of five stars

RIYL: Terry Pratchett, survival stories, just plain old great books

Vote your choice!

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Voting is underway for this year's Teens' Top Ten, the only reading list with titles nominated and voted on by teens. Vote for your favorite book from the last year. The winners will be announced in a webcast at www.ala.org/teenstopten during Teen Read Week, Oct. 18-24.

Teen Book Review: Stephenie Meyer

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:04:00 +0000

Mary A. shares her thoughts on Stephenie Meyer's books:

"I enjoyed all 4 Twilight Books. Stephenie Meyer has a way of hooking her readers on her books but sometimes she explains way too much. I feel like Breaking Dawn could've been shorter and better planned. She should've just made five books. Overall, the saga was decent. I liked the Harry Potter series a lot better because it was longer and better planned, plus, I had to wait for the last 2 books for awhile, so that made it better. I liked Twilight and Eclipse a lot better than New Moon and Breaking Dawn, but she tried and she made a successful sagga. I read her other book The Host and that was also very enjoyable."

Eeek, long time no update

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:02:00 +0000

We've been swamped with the craziness that is summer reading and a construction project at the same time. Friday, July 31, is the last day for teen summer reading, and we're ending it with a Local Band Night featuring three local bands. One's so new that they don't have a name yet (though hopefully they'll have thought of one by Friday!) and the other two are established local bands Weekend on a Wednesday and That's What She Said. Hope to see you Friday! Doors at 7 pm.

Book Review - "Along for the Ride" by Sarah Dessen

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Anyone who reads this blog will know that I'm a pretty big Sarah Dessen fan. I read her blog every day and it's quite possible that she is the reason I became a teen librarian. Anyway, Along for the Ride is her latest and I bought it at a bookstore the day it came out.

It's the summer before Auden heads off to college at Defriesne, a prestigious university assumed to be not too far away from her hometown in North Carolina. She planned to spend it at her home -- she's been living with her mom, a well-known and well-admired professor at the U since her parent's divorce -- prepping for her fall classes, but an email from her dad's new wife and new mother changes everything. Auden opts out of the expected and enters the unexpected -- moving into her dad's beachside house in Colby with the stepmom and new little sister, Thisbe.

An insomniac looking to explore her temporary hometown, Auden keeps running into Eli, who she learns is a former biker who hasn't been riding since the accident that killed his best friend. They strike up the kind of friendship only two insomniacs can have -- meeting nightly at the Gas/Gro, then letting the evening take them to whatever's open that late. But then something more develops (a Sarah Dessen book is not complete without a romance) as Eli leads Auden to do all those thing she missed by being an overworked brainiac in high school.

But a person can't just change overnight (pun not intended). When a familiar scenario startles Auden in her new environs, she reverts back to her old ways, distancing herself from the one person she'd become real close with in Colby. But there's still time left in the summer for things to change, and a beachside fake prom.

Like all of Sarah Dessen's books, this one offers a world you wouldn't mind stepping into, that's familiar to your own, but somehow a little better.

* * * *
Four out of five stars

RIYL: Susan Colasanti, Sara Zarr, Elizabeth Scott, contemporary realistic fiction

Trio of Book Reviews!

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
It's the summer before Alice's last year of high school, and it starts off just like all the others, with the gang hanging out at Mark Stedmeister's pool. But this summer turns out to be full of surprises, both exhilarating, challenging, and devastating. Alice's cousin Carol is getting married in Chicago, which just happens to be where Patrick is starting school (at MY alma mater, the University of Chicago), so Alice visits him on campus. Lester busts out of town for a week, allowing Alice and her friends to stay at his place, and of course, this doesn't go exactly as planned. And at the end of the summer, something happens that no one expected, that changes the gang forever. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor does it again with the latest Alice book, a compulsively readable book for fans of the series, and one that could certainly pique interest for those that don't know every detail about Alice McKinley...yet. YA FIC NAY

Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti
Watching the evening news, do you ever wonder about the grisly lead stories, the ones where a seemingly normal person does something you can't even comprehend. Do you wonder, who was this person, and what kind of family did he/she have? Well, this is one of those ripped-from-the-headlines stories, told from the perspective of the headline-maker's daughter, Jordan. Jordan's parents have been divorced for awhile. Her mother runs a bed and breakfast, and her dad's your average eye doctor... until he meets Gayle. Jordan notices that her dad's become completely unlike himself ever since he met Gayle, and not in a good way. Gayle has taken his life by storm, and Jordan's unsettled. As his behavior becomes more erratic, one wild, stormy night changes everything. Jordan's life will never be the same. Fans of Deb Caletti's other work will appreciate her realistic, nuanced take on a story like this -- though it's not my personal favorite of hers. Recommended also to fans of Sarah Dessen's books. YA FIC CAL

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
I'd been hearing a lot of buzz about this one, so I devoured it last night watching the Red Sox-Yankees game. Thirteen year old Kyra has grown up in an isolated, polygamist community, where no one questions the authority of the Prophet, even as he leads his community's members to do what anyone else would consider, horrible, reproachable things. But Kyra has recently started to come into her own, first when Joshua, a guy around her age, shows interest in her, and in her trips to the library bookmobile. (Her community had a cleansing years ago when they burned every book there, except for the Bible.) She has passing thoughts about wanting to leave, but they become more serious when the Prophet comes to visit her family. She has been chosen to marry Hyrum, her sixty year old uncle. The rest of the book oscillates between Kyra thinking she can escape, and realizing how difficult, and potentially suicidal it could be. The gripping end will keep you on the edge of your seat, or at the very least, up past your bedtime. The writing is spare, at times poetic, and completely true to the thirteen year old narrator. Recommended for those who read Sister Wife and are fascinated by the reality of polygamous compounds existing in certain areas of the United States right now. YA FIC WIL

Book Review - The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:53:00 +0000

If you liked The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks but weren't totally intrigued by the covers of E. Lockhart's other books, try them anyway! I'll admit I found the covers of the Ruby Oliver books a little girly for my taste, but over the weekend, I took the plunge and found out I have a new favorite author = E. Lockhart.

Sometimes, it's a good idea to make a list of things. Like, when you're going to the grocery store and you don't want to forget an item. Or, let's say you are packing for a trip and want to remember underwear. But if you're going to make a list of every boy you've ever had feelings for, liked, kissed, etc..., well, Ruby Oliver might advise you to, um, NOT.

You see, Ruby made such a list, of more than a dozen guys, from the guy she liked in early elementary school, to the guy who once grabbed her boob at the movies, to her most recent boyfriend--now, her ex, Jackson. But her list somehow got into the hands of a former friend, and now everyone at Tate Prep has their idea of what the names on the list mean, and they have a new name for Ruby Oliver, and it isn't a nice one. So you can imagine why Ruby might be having panic attacks in the bathroom, and why she might want to go to a shrink twice a week.

The Boyfriend List is a hilarious book-- two parts Georgia Nicolson, one part Megan McCafferty, one part John Green -- that makes you think about who your friends, and boyfriend(s) really are. It's also spawned two sequels: The Boy Book and the upcoming Treasure Map of Boys.

* * * *
(four out of five stars)

Book Review - Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film About the Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:22:00 +0000

Sometimes, all you need for a great book are some hilarious characters, funny yet plausible scenarios, and potty humor. That's what Steven Goldman's first novel, Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film About the Grapes of Wrath offers, and it was more than enough to keep me cracking up on the train. Mitchell Wells is a kind of cute, kind of nerdy, guy who passes most of his time with his baseball jock best friend David, his constantly flirting with older guys sister Carrie, and Carrie's best friend M.C. But everything's kind of thrown for a loop when David comes out to Mitchell. What does it mean?

We never really get into what it means for anyone besides Mitchell because, let's face it, Mitchell's just a little bit hung up on his own problems. Like, when will the class hottie Danielle ever notice him. And if he's really going to get into trouble for the Claymation film supposedly about "The Grapes of Wrath" that he, in classic last-minute fashion, turned in for his English class in place of the paper. (Let's just say he never got past the first few pages of the Steinbeck classic, but that the film is hi-larious.)

This breezy, funny novel will hold appeal for fans of John Green, Barry Lyga, and Tim Tharp. (Also, yes, the cover is kind of lame, but the book is NOT!)

* * * 1/2
(three and a half/five stars)

Book Review - The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christoper Paul Curtis

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:28:00 +0000

I had the amazing opportunity to hear Christopher Paul Curtis speak last Friday; he gave the annual Zena Sutherland lecture at the Chicago Public Library. Sitting in the audience, I realized I was maybe the only one there who hadn't read any of his books. So I rectified that immediately, reading his first novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 in one sitting yesterday.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret -- historical fiction can be funny and casual and anecdotal all at the same time. In some ways, the beginning of the book reminded me of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. You've got your main character, Kenny (read: Greg), being somewhat tortured and threatened by his big brother, Byron (read: Rodrick). The author completely sucks you into the world of these characters (1963 Flint, Michigan) by showing you their day-t0-day life, whether its toiling in school, snowball fights, or dinosaur wars. The real heart of the book is explored more in its second half, which follows the weird Watson family as they pile into their car and head south, to Birmingham, Alabama. And it's there that Kenny really starts to grow up. His mom told him and Byron that things were different down south for African-Americans, but it doesn't fully hit him until he hears the sound. A bomb hitting a church full of African-American children. What happens next is something only a very deft writer can accomplish, but it's the lump-in-your-throat kind of ending that really tugs at your heartstrings, the same way the beginning had you laughing out loud.

Christopher Paul Curtis was awarded the Newbery Honor, as well as the Coretta Scott King honor, for this, his first book, and it's easy to see why.

Recommended to: fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, anyone who's interested in learning more about the 1960s, and fans of Walter Dean Myers and Jacqueline Woodson

Book Review - If I Stay by Gayle Forman

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:06:00 +0000

It's rare that a tearjerker is this good, but that's a testament to what Gayle Forman achieved with this book, If I Stay, her second novel. Mia's a high school senior, an accomplished cellist, and the girlfriend of the lead singer/guitarist of the band Rising Star that's just gotten their huge break. A tiny snow storm--okay, a snowflake-- in Oregon means a day off from school, which gets Mia, her mom, her dad, and her younger brother Teddy out of the house. They're on the way to Mia's parent's friend's house when absolute tragedy strikes. In an instant, Mia's mom and dad are deceased, her brother is injured and Mia--well, Mia's suddenly an on-looker, looking down on this horrible scene and trying to understand what just happened. Is she dead? Is she alive?

It turns out that Mia is in fact in a coma, hanging on the precipice between life and death, and it also turns out that it's her decision: if she stays. Does she want to stay in a world that took away her incredible mother and father?

As Mia shares, in that perfect, anecdotal story kind of way, more about her family and her life, you start to realize everything she's lost, and I'm probably not alone in saying, it hits you in a very real place. Her parents are unique, idiosyncratic people, and their absence will make life enormously hard for Mia, if she chooses it.

I don't want to give away the ending, but I hope it's clear at this point how much I absolutely loved this book. Good luck finding it on the shelf. It made its debut on the NYTimes Bestseller list, and you can make your holds online.

Book Review Blitz

noreply@blogger.com (missbarnes) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:01:00 +0000

I've gotten behind in my book reviews - so much reading! - so here's a quick run-down of some recommended reads I've just cleared off my pile, meaning you can find 'em in the library now!

Me, The Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine YA FIC VAL
This brief British novel presents an interesting questions: what would you do if you happened upon an urn in a taxi cab office, and you felt a voice calling out to you from it? Sixteen year old Londoner Lucas Swain finds himself in such a position, and finding a home for the deceased Violet helps him solve a few mysteries of his own. A slight novel that you can tear through in a few hours.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson YA FIC AND
Laurie Halse Anderon's much-anticipated latest book is intense and not for the faint of heart. High school senior Lia has been anorexic for years, in and out of hospitalization, with little overall change. But when her best friend who also suffered from an eating disorder, is found dead in a motel room, everything starts to change. Lia's wracked with guilt over the fact that the night of Cassie's death, she didn't pick up her phone, and now Cassie's haunting her. With poetic writing, Laurie Halse Anderson takes readers to places they may not have been since Speak. The author has a pretty large fan base, but this one is also recommended to fans of Ellen Hopkins.

Marcelo and the Real World by Francisco X. Stork YA FIC STO Like Wintergirls, Marcelo and the Real World is poised, in my opinion, to be on everyone's short list for the Printz come 2010. Unlike Wintergirls, this one's a little easier to digest. Marcelo's a special case, a teenager that most would say falls on the autism spectrum. He's been attending a special school, Paterson, where he gets to care for the ponies, and he's awaiting his senior year of high school. But it turns out his father has other plans for him. He'd like Marcelo to work in his law office in Boston, to join the "real world" for the summer, and as long as Marcelo cooperates, he can choose if he wishes to attend Paterson for his senior year, or go to public school. Marcelo couldn't be less keen on the idea; the real world baffles him. He's expected to understand everyone's euphemisms and allusions and body language, and get around the city by himself. Working at the law office in the mail room, he meets Jasmine, a beautiful young woman from Vermont, and things look up when a male intern offers something like friendship. But things in the real world are never so simple, and Marcelo finds himself in situations where he's got to make the tough decisions. This is a brilliant, touching, fascinating book. Not to be missed.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney JH KIN
And, to end things on a lighter note, I finally read the most recent DOAWK. Yeah, weird acronym. The latest (mis)adventures of Greg Heffley are covered in Kinney's third book in the series. From his New Year's resolutions -- to help everyone else be a better person, since he's already pretty much perfect -- to failures in team sports, you'll be laughing through this whole book. Personally, it's my second favorite in the series, after the first one. Again, a light read that will make you laugh out loud... a lot.