Bookami

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Synopsis: Ruby is a capable, independent girl who totally thinks she can handle living on her own in a run-down, rented farmhouse when her Mom disappears from the picture.  Child services has other ideas, though, and Ruby is forced to go live with her estranged older sister, Cora, and her wealthy entrepreneur husband.  This new life gives Ruby the possibility of a future she never could have dreamed of so why can't she just be grateful and make it work?

Review: So I think every bibliophile has one or two authors that can do no wrong.  Sarah Dessen is one of my two.  As a matter of fact, since I left my buying position at Borders I have not asked my friends to secure me an advance reading copy of any other book but Lock and Key.  I just couldn't wait. I read the book back in January, but have patiently waited until now to post anything because the book is not actually available to purchase until later this month.   It seemed kind of cruel to talk about a book that people couldn't actually read yet.  Of course, when the book does publish two weeks from now, I don't think Dessen's fans will be disappointed.  Ruby is a typical Dessen character.  She thinks she can handle everything on her own.  She doesn't need her mother.  It's not like her Mom has ever been all that reliable anyway.  She just needs to remain cool until she turns 18 and is legally an adult. Of course, Ruby doesn't count on the pipes bursting at the kitchen sink or the dryer breaking, forcing her to hang a clothesline in the kitchen where her nosy landlords, the Honeycutts, can see it.  The Honeycutts turn her in and big sister Cora is suddenly back in her life after 10 years.  A lot has changed for Cora in 10 years.  She's graduated from college, is a public defender, and is married to a wealthy internet entrepreneur named Jamie.  Ruby can't believe this is Cora's life, and she wants no part of it.  But then she meets Nate, the friendly, dependable boy next door, and her brother-in-law is just so nice.  Her new private school isn't as bad as she thought, and she even manages to find a job at the mall that she likes.  Soon Ruby learns that it's nice to be needed, and it's okay for her to need someone every once in a while too.  Now if only we could all be so wise at 17 and learn those most important life lessons.  I think that's what I love about Dessen's characters.  They're not perfect.  They don't all wear designer clothes, have great popularity, have the best boyfriends or even the best grades, but they are certainly all smart.  As teenagers they somehow manage to learn lessons that a lot of adults never comprehend.  Oh, to have a daughter and have her be like a Ruby or an Annabel from Just Listen or a Remy from This Lullaby.  And since I only have two sons, oh to have them date a Ruby or an Annabel or a Remy.  Wouldn't that be lucky? 

If you like this novel, you might also enjoy Joan Bauer's Hope Was Here.

Ridiculous/ Hilarious/ Terrible/ Cool: A Year in an American High School by Elisha Cooper

Synopsis: The author, Elisha Cooper, spent a year documenting the lives of 8 students, mostly seniors, at Walter Payton High School in Chicago. 

Review: When you spend your days reading YA novels like Gossip Girl and Gingerbread, you tend to view high school as a place where a bunch of shallow, back-stabbing, albeit totally together and well-coiffed, brats come together to compare notes.  Ridiculous/ Hilarious/ Terrible/ Cool reminds jaded adults like myself that this is so not the case.  This book reminded me that it's not easy to be a high school student, and it's particularly hard to be a senior.  Work, tests, college application essays, dance, theater, soccer, student council and other extra-curricular activities in and out of school - it's enough to give any adult anxiety, let alone 17-year-olds.  How do they do it?  And in the case of 6 of the 8 students observed in this book, how do they do it so well?

Daniel is the high school class president.  He's applying to Harvard, but knows that it might be tough because his ACT scores and grades aren't as high as they could be. He sells shoes part-time.  Emily is the captain of the soccer team.  She's won numerous awards for her talented playing, as well as being a scholar-athlete.  She's applying to Yale.  She's hopes an Ivy League degree will lead to making a lot of money and attain her power.  Maya dreams of being an actress and hopes to attend NYU.  Diana is on the Payton swim team.  She would love to be the first person in her family to attend college.  Her three older siblings didn't go to college.  Currently they don't even work.  Aisha is the only new student in her class, and the only Muslim, but she doesn't let it bother her too much.  Her parents are both engineers, and she's used to being the new kid and being alone. It's only another school year to her.  Beautiful Anais just wants to dance, and if she can stay injury free, it will be either Juilliard or Indiana for her.

Anthony and Zef are the strugglers of the bunch.  Anthony, a junior, hardly ever goes to class.  He sits in his same spot in the cafeteria pining over The Girl.  He'd like to get it together enough to play football for the school, but he just can't seem to get focused.  Zef, also a junior, stays up all night working on his music.  Consequently, he can't stay awake in class. He's well liked by his classmates, but something has to change if he desires to become a senior at Payton.

Walter Payton High School is a good high school.  Teens from all over Chicago apply to become students, and with the motto "We nurture leaders," it's no wonder so many kids want to go to this new school.  It's also no wonder that so many of the students observed succeeded in accomplishing their goals, or at least most of them.  Having said this, make no mistake, Walter Payton is still an urban high school.  The infamous Cabrini Green Housing Projects loom to the West of the school. It is diverse with a third of the students being black, a third white and a third Latino, and with a small percentage of Asian students.  Expectations are high, and security is tight.  It's not easy to succeed at Walter Payton. What these six seniors accomplished is pretty impressive.  As for the juniors, Anthony and Zef, they have another year to get it together, and the reader has no doubt that they will.  This book definitely fills one with hope for future generations. 

Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson

Synopsis: British teen, Scarlett Wakefield, is totally gobsmacked when she gets invited to a posh party and the boy of her dreams, Dan McAndrew, begins to kiss her, but then Dan suffocates in her arms.  No one is sure exactly what happened to Dan, but Scarlett is forced to leave her sophisticated, private school, St. Tabby's, for Wakefield Hall Collegiate, the prep school that her grandmother runs.  Scarlett would love to forget what happened, but a mysterious note sets her on the path to clearing her name.

Review: With a great title and a fabulous cover, I was hoping that Kiss Me, Kill Me would be a contemporary version of Great & Terrible Beauty or The Luxe.  It's not.  While the language is very posh and trendy, and the premise of Dan dying from an allergic reaction when he kissed Scarlett is straight out of the headlines, removing Scarlett from the "smart set" at St. Tabby's makes the novel much less glam.  It also eliminated what could have been some great confrontational, nail-biting scenes between Scarlett and Plum Saybourne, the reigning queen of St. Tabby's. It's not near as interesting to hear about how Scarlett doesn't get along with her grandmother and aunt.  Also, Scarlett's only friend at Wakefield Hall, Taylor, is just like her - a tomboy with a lot of guts.  Finally, the mystery aspect of this novel is a bit weak.  Supposedly, Dan failed to have his EpiPen in his pocket, but later we learn that someone took it.  Now why would someone want to murder sweet, sexy Dan?   Which leads me to my final thought on this novel.  Why is the reader not informed that this book is part of a series?  The only reference to there being more Scarlett Wakefield books is during the author's acknowledgments.  What teen reads those?  It's kind of annoying to have spent $15.99 on this novel and have the ending be so left in the air.  This mystery should have been published as a paperback original with the sequel to follow within six months.

For readers who like the idea of a posh, elegant thriller, try The Luxe by Ann Godbersen.  While set in late 19th century New York City, it is extremely glamorous and cunning.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Synopsis: In this companion novel to Stargirl, Stargirl has left behind Arizona and Leo, her first love.  Stargirl is finding it difficult to start over.  She thinks of nothing but Leo, but then she meets some of her neighbors and discovers some of the magic of her new home, and once again Stargirl learns to be at peace with herself.

Review: I actually finished this novel about two weeks ago, and at first I wasn't sure I was going to have anything to say about it.  It's sweet, lyrical and the cast of characters is charming and likeable enough, but it was just one of those novels where not a whole heck of a lot happens.  Stargirl is back to being home-schooled, she still carries around her pet rat Cinnamon, appreciates the beauty of nature, and she easily makes friends with young and old alike.   But as I continued to mull the book over in my head, I realized it did raise one question for me - is Stargirl really a nonconformist? 

I don't think she is.  What societal rules doesn't she accept?  She thinks stealing is wrong.  She would never be unkind to an animal or another person.  She is constantly helping others.  She loves her parents.  She has plenty of friends, just not many her own age.  In this novel alone she makes friends with five-year-old Dootsie, meanie Alvina, blue-eyed thief Perry Delloplane and even agoraphobic Betty Lou.  I mean if you can make friends with an agoraphobic, with whom can't you make friends?  I'll admit that Stargirl maybe doesn't dress the way most girls her age do, but is that really nonconformist?  Going naked would be nonconformist, but Stargirl certainly doesn't do that.  Stargirl is sweet, loving and innocent, but she's not all that different from many teens that I know.  She wants to be liked and loved for who she is, but isn't that something most people desire? 

So, if you were looking for the magic of Stargirl, I don't think you are quite going to find it.  While Love, Stargirl is eloquent and very true to Stargirl's character, there is nothing for Stargirl to fight against in this novel.  Her neighbors embrace her for the gentle, kindly person that she is.  She is liked and loved, and while there is nothing wrong with this, it somehow makes her seem more average and a bit less sparkly than she was the first time we were introduced to her in the Arizona desert.

While a bit younger, if you liked this book, you might also enjoy Each Little Bird that Sings by Deborah Wiles.  It too has a cast of quirky, friendly, small-town characaters.

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron

Synopsis: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You tells the story of 18-year-old New Yorker, James Dunfour Sveck, an almost adult trying to make sense of his mind, his heart, his family, and this maddening world.

Review: I generally hate when quotes on the back of a book invoke the great novels of our time, as did James Howe's praise on this one with Catcher in the Rye.  It almost guarantees that I'm going to be disappointed with the new novel, but in this case, Howe is spot on.  Peter Cameron has given us a novel every bit as sophisticated, charming, and melancholy as Catcher in the Rye, but also one that is a bit more hopeful.

Culturally, James Sveck is certainly a man of this world.  He loves to read Shakespeare and Trollope, has a compulsive need to use precise English, and desires to spend many hours in great museums like the National Gallery or the Getty.  Socially, though, James has completely alienated himself from this world.  He dislikes most people, particularly ones his own age.  His dream would be to buy a little house somewhere in the Midwest and do nothing but read, never having to come in contact with another soul.  In other words, he's generally the type of person I would dislike, but that's why this novel is so amazing.  It makes a very social, happy person like myself understand how some people can feel so utterly alone and lost and overwhelmed by the every day unknown.

"What if she was meant to be, or could have been, someone important in my life?  I think that's what scares me: the randomness of everything.  That the people who could be important to you might just pass you by.  Or you pass them by. How did you know?  Should I turn around and talk to the Mexican boy?  Maybe he was lonely like me, maybe he read Denton Welch.  I felt that by walking away I was abandoning him, that I spent my entire life, day after day, abandoning people."   

James is right.  In many ways he has abandoned the world by keeping all people at a distance. He's terrified of being accepted.  Even his grandmother, who he adores for her love of decorum, notes, "I don't understand you, James.  You're so intent on making your life impossible.  It doesn't bode well.  Life is difficult enough, you know."  James does know, but he still can't stop himself from feeling sad.  He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, but by carrying that weight, he endears himself to the reader.  The world is a scary, confusing, random place.  Everyone I know feels that way.  James is always going to feel that way.  He just has to learn to embrace that confusion, and by the end of the novel, he has gotten closer to such acceptance.  "I'm only eighteen.  How do I know what I will want in my life?  How do I know what things I will need?"  I'm 35, and I still don't know what things I will need, but I can say that I do want to keep this book on my shelf for many years to come.

Couple of random thoughts:

1. It's great to see that this book was published as a young adult novel.  It gives credence to the amazing amounts of fine literature available in this category. 

2. If you appreciate this book or review, you might also enjoy John Green's Looking for Alaska.                           

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Synopsis: As she is leaving school one day, Naomi Porter falls down the steps and hits her head.  When she regains consciousness, she discovers that she can't remember the last four years of her life.

Review: Gabrielle Zevin has done it again.  Just like in Elsewhere, she has managed to detail the teen condition in a fresh, funny, and thoughtful way.  After the fall, Naomi Porter can't remember anything after sixth grade.  She doesn't remember her parents' divorce, her baby sister, her boyfriend, or her best friend.  She doesn't remember how to drive, high school French, or what her home looks like.  Naomi doesn't wallow, though.  When she comes home from the hospital, she immediately starts exploring her room for keys to her identity. Sadly she doesn't find much of interest and ponders, "I wondered if the former Naomi Porter had been, in all likelihood, a complete and total jerk, someone that I probably wouldn't have even wanted to know."  Note that she's already thinking in terms of her "former" self.  Naomi seems to grasp that this situation, while challenging, has possibilities too.  Naomi has been given a re-do.

Obviously with the possibility of starting over, comes the opportunity for new mistakes, and Naomi makes her share.  She's horrible to her best friend, Will.  She lies to her Dad and takes off to California for the weekend.  She repeatedly calls her mother a slut and acts like her baby sister doesn't exist. She even lies to everyone about when her memory does come back.  But Naomi gets a lot right with this re-do too.  She dumps her jock boyfriend, who she had been going out with for the wrong reasons.  She takes a roll in the school play, and makes peace with her father over his new marriage.  "But then again, maybe 'I will' is nicer.  It has the future in it. 'I do' just has the present." That's the great thing about Naomi's character.  She's always moving forward.

And speaking of moving forward, I hope the cover for the paperback edition changes to reflect that this novel is a hopeful one.  Yes, the fact that Naomi at a week old was found outside of a church in Russia in an old typewriter case makes the current cover appropriate, but it's so dark.  If I hadn't read Elsewhere and loved it, I'm not sure I would have picked this book up.  The cover is so drab.  Why not have a coin flipping in the air against a lovely blue sky?  "It began with a coin toss" is the third sentence of the novel, and "Isn't it funny that all those months ago we flipped a coin so that we wouldn't have to take this very same walk" is a question on the second to last page.  Using just such an image seems like a no brainer to me, and it would look great on the shelf next to Elsewhere.

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Synopsis: Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years in fourteen different foster homes. Some homes were good, some were bad, one was awful, but somehow Ashley managed to survive and eventually be adopted by a loving family, who gave her the support she needed to become an advocate for foster care reform.

Review: I don't really know that you can review the story of someone's life.  After all, who am I to question how Rhodes-Courter voices her heartbreaking, but uplifting story?  What I can say is that anyone who cares about children should read this memoir.  I have two children of my own, and even after staying up until four in the morning reading this book, I found that I wanted to have a little extra patience with them today and every day.  I certainly can't understand how someone could physically hurt a child the way the Mosses hurt Ashley and the other children in their care, but this book reminds the reader that sometimes being apathetic or thoughtless can cause just as much damage as a physical slap.  Apathy was the crime of most of the people who were supposed to care for Ashley.  Most of them weren't really bad people, but they didn't do the job they were supposed to do.  Ashley appropriately quotes Moliere: "It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable."  While it is certainly unspeakable that such a young woman has to educate so many adults about this life lesson, it is also remarkable that Ashley's story ends happily enough that she has the fortitude to be just such an educator.

Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass

Synopsis: High school junior, Tessa Reynolds, suffers a head injury at the hands of a dodgeball only to discover that her version of heaven looks a lot like the mall where both her parents work and where she has spent many hours of her life.  By reviewing various purchases that she has made at the mall, Tessa relives her life so far, discovering some things about herself that she would rather not know.

Review: Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall is a teen girl's version of It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas  Carol.  Written in verse, it chronicles the life of slightly over-weight, misunderstood, but still not so nice Tessa Reynolds.  Tessa's parents both work at the mall, which means it is her home away from home so to speak.  By reliving some life events that took place at the mall or reviewing purchases she made there, Tessa is forced to find the answer to the big question.  Now, if she only knew what the big question was.

Tessa certainly faces many of the issues that all kids face.  She's a bit over-weight, which is tough since her anal-retentive, harsh Mom works at the makeup counter at Lord & Taylors.  She doesn't have many friends, and the ones she does have are only willing to do things with her if none of their other friends are around.  She's not the brightest girl in school so she isn't beloved by her teachers.  All in all, Tessa has few talents.  So you would think I would feel sorry for her, right?  But I didn't.  Tessa just isn't all that likeable.  She's actually kind of mean.  In the fourth grade her science project is to see if an egg can bounce if left in vinegar for a week.  She realizes that her egg is not going to bounce but another boy in the class has done the same project, and his egg looks rubbery enough to work:

"I glance once at the door, / then I lift the egg out of his bowl / and switch it with mine. / I have long ago accepted the fact / that I am the kind of person / who does things like this, / so in a very real way, / it doesn't even feel wrong."

How does a girl in the fourth grade accept such a character flaw about herself?  The whole book is filled with examples of her doing dishonest, attention-grabbing acts.  Her friend Eliza drops her barrette, and Tessa drops it in a trash can so that she can be the hero who finds it.  Of course, the trash gets emptied and the barrette is lost.  She memorizes the answers to a test that all seventh graders must take, getting herself placed in honors classes the next year. In high school she lies to this guy Lucas about his girlfriend making out with a guy who works at Spencer's so she can try to go out with him.  And because the novel is filled with acts like this, how is the reader supposed to believe that Tessa has learned anything from her near death adventure in the mall?

Tessa knows from her earliest years that, "good people don't lie and cheat and steal."  At the end of the novel she notes:

"Someone forgot / to teach me / there are consequences / for my actions, / even if I never get caught." / He smiles. "You even blame someone else / for not teaching you about consequences."   

If 12 pages before the novel ends, she is still blaming other people for her actions, she hasn't learned a whole heck of a lot.  Maybe she is a better person, but since the reader isn't shown even the tiniest glimpse of this new life, we'll never know.  I think that is the ultimate flaw with this novel.  In movies like It's a Wonderful Life or novels like A Christmas Carol, the audience is allowed a peak of George Bailey's or Ebenezer Scrooge's changed life.  We don't get to view the new and improved Tessa, and the novel is weaker for it.                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The Luxe by Ann Godbersen

Synopsis: It's Manhattan 1899, and while we're all led to believe that those were simpler times, nothing is simple for the Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana.  These two beautiful, young women are the reigning darlings of high society, sought after by the richest and most handsome of men, as well as the gossip mongers.  When a family secret threatens to destroy their way of life, the Holland sisters find that friends and lovers can quickly become enemies.

Review: The Luxe is an utterly delicious historical novel with a very contemporary feel. Much like a Gossip Girl or Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novel,  I couldn't stop turning the pages, and I couldn't decide which character I wanted to be more.

Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Holland is the girl everyone wants to be.  As the eldest sister from one of New York's first families, she is beautiful, perfectly mannered, and the constant talk of the town.  Appearance and propriety are everything, and Elizabeth is a master at portraying just the right good-girl image to her public.  But not everything glitters about Elizabeth.  She has a secret, delectable lover hidden right under society's nose.  If she gets caught, it will mean ruin for the Holland name.

Pretty Diana Holland is sixteen, and she believes that her sister, mother and all their female society friends are nothing but "bloodless mannequins."  She dreams of being a heroine in a romance novel and wants nothing to do with girls or men of her class, or that is until she falls for her sister's dashing soon-to-be husband, Henry Schoonmaker.

Nouveau-riche Penelope Hayes is a "deft player of society's games."  Elizabeth believes Penelope to be her closest friend, but Penelope is only interested in what connections Elizabeth can help her make.  When Elizabeth becomes engaged to Henry Schoonmaker, Penelope's mystery beau, Penelope plots her revenge as carefully as she would plan a party.

Lina Broud has been a servant in the Holland household since she was a girl.  She and Elizabeth were at one time playmates, but that ended the moment Elizabeth debuted.  When Lina discovers that Elizabeth is the lover of her long-time secret crush, she vows to change her life and destroy Elizabeth in the process.

Like the much discussed Tiffany engagement ring in the novel, Godbersen's debut sparkles.  I found her phrasing to be rich and flowing without being dated.  For instance, when Elizabeth is describing her friendship with Penelope.  "She had quickly discovered that she liked being around Penelope--everything seemed sharper and fizzier in the company of young Miss Hayes."  Hmmm, this is also how I felt the first time I tried champagne.  The initial image we have of the much loved Mr. Schoonmaker is also complex and concise. "Even among the dashing and rich, Henry Schoonmaker stood out for being so beautiful and so slippery at once." 

This novel made me feel as if I was thirteen again and sneaking my mother's copy of Judith Krantz's I'll Take Manhattan into my book bag.  The Luxe truly is a guilty, luxurious pleasure.  Thankfully, we only have to wait until June for what promises to be a divine and wicked sequel.

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Synopsis: Jennifer Harris is a fat, self-loathing, lonely 9 year old girl whose only friend is the other class outcast, Cameron Quick.  When Cameron disappears without even a good-bye, Jennifer feels as if she has lost the only person who will ever understand her.  Now, Jennifer is 17, and she has transformed herself into a pretty, thin, popular, dating Jenna Vaughn with no one knowing about her past self. And then, Cameron returns.

Review: I think whether you like this novel will depend on whether you are a glass half-empty or a glass half-full sort of person.  If you are the glass half-empty sort, you'll love this novel for all of it's drama and angst.  Jenna has been thinking about this one sad and scary event that happened at Cameron's house on her 9th birthday.  She never tells anyone what happened that day, but it has defined her whole life.  It's what made her turn into Jenna who, while fabulous on the surface, is a distant, cold teen who never talks to her Mom, step-Dad or friends about anything important.  She lives her life as if no one but Cameron will ever care to listen to her thoughts and feelings.  Even at 9 she is quick to dismiss her mother.  "She said not to worry, I still had her.  As if having her had anything to do with anything.  I'd always had her, I wanted to say, and what good had it done me?"  Sure, Jenna's Mom may have rose colored glasses on when it comes to recognizing that Jenna might need more than the occasional hug or meal cooked for her, but Jenna also uses this to her advantage.  She doesn't really want to be noticed for who she is. She'd much rather fly under the radar when it comes to dealing with her emotions.

If you are a glass half-full sort like myself, you might find Jenna's character to be a bit of internal cry baby.  The event that takes place at Cameron's house on her 9th birthday is frightening, but it's kind of a non-event for Jenna.  She's the one who is brave and clever and manages to get both her and Cameron out of the situation.  She gets to go home.  It's Cameron that has to deal with the fallout.  I found it hard to believe that this one event could so totally define her in a negative way.  I know that certainly Cameron disappearing so soon after this event adds a greater sadness to it, but she's the hero in the story.  Can't she see that on that day she saved Cameron?  She saved him when no one else had ever done so.  It's why 8 years later he decides that he needs to see her again.

I will say that Zarr's portrait of high school life is pretty darn accurate or at least, as I can remember.  There is Steph, the pretty, popular girl, who is not as shallow as you might think. Ethan, the less than sensitive boyfriend, but not quite a total jerk.  Katy, the jealous, insecure friend, who you want to smack upside the head.  And Freshman Dave, shy and unassuming now, but wait until he gets to be a senior. 

There are many readers who will identify completely with Jenna and her emotional relationship with Cameron, but for those readers who don't or didn't spend their high school years letting one event color the entire experience, Jenna might be a bit too melancholy for their liking.