by Ned Vizzini
I didn’t know that this was the first book that he wrote. I loved the quirky stories of his teen years and seeing perhaps the nostalgic look back on high school. I think we always kind of look back on who we were in the most positive light. Vizzini sees himself as staying true to himself and the friends he had. I kind of wonder if we all do that and we just choose to forget the times we faltered or betrayed ourselves.
But I’m glad that there are people like Vizzini out there writing about a more realistic portrayal of life and teen life. There are times when we all get down and need some help and sometimes the best lesson you can learn is that everyone at one point or another needs help.
by Joshua Braff
I often wonder how autobiographical some books are. Did the author use this experience as an opportunity to heal parts of his childhood? Did a little digging and he’s the second of four siblings. Older brother, Adam, himself, younger sister and youngest brother. Seems pretty familiar. Parents remarried and his father was an attorney who did stage work…
But all I can really say is what a horrible father. And quite a selfish mother as well. I can understand her trying to escape and gain a sense of self, but it seems like she did it at the expense of her children. She’d run off to all these conferences and enjoy this life of purpose, but meanwhile, she would just dump her children with their abusive father so she could go off and enjoy her interests. And it wasn’t even like she gave them any tools to deal with him. Just off she went.
I liked the way the book ended. You don’t really know where that boy is running, but you get the sense that he’s not running for anyone else but himself this time. I liked how his older brother had to tell him that it was his time to go and that he had to go alone. Sometimes you can’t save anyone else but yourself. But I think what was different about what he did and what his mother did was that he admitted it. And it was never his responsibility to save his brother. It was just fact that it was his time to move on. But he did try and help Jacob find his own way.
“‘I get to go alone.’”
“I look down at the floor, trying not to cry, trying to see who I am without this parachute I’ve stitched. And it’s vicious I’m afraid, this lonesome I taste.”
by Chris Crutcher
Wow, what an intense book. I have to admit, I’m glad they have a new cover out for it. I didn’t really get how the main character is a Japanese-black-white teen, but the cover picture is a pure white guy. I mean at least they got it right with the C on the letter jacket (unless they decided to portray Mike), but in the end TJ doesn’t even get a letter. Anyway, small technicality, but I’m glad that they have updated the cover to be a little more correct.
It’s pretty unbelievable the amount of hate in this world. And it’s great to see books being published that talk about race and hate and abuse in such an upfront and honest way. You can see how Crutcher’s experience as a social worker has really led to some profound insight that people might never really be exposed to, except in the darkest of places. I wonder how much of this is his own personal means of therapy. That maybe somehow he writes of the horrors he’s witnessed to try and pay something forward. I wish these books were more popular, I don’t even know if they’re on the shelf at work.
It was pretty heartbreaking how Heidi wanted to try and scrub away her color. How someone would feel so small that they were threatened by the existence of a little girl. And then try and kill her. But I think a lot of this stuff can’t be made up, it happens everyday.
“My parents have always encouraged me to be loud when I run into racism, but I can’t count on racism being loud when it runs into me.”
by J.K. Madigan
I liked Blake’s point of view. I didn’t think he was that funny, but I liked how he tried to use his humor to get him through some tough situations. I thought that overall he was a pretty honest character who suffered some honest and real situations. I think it’s quite common to fall into other people’s lives and try and save them or try and help them out of their fucked up situations. I think Marissa was lost and couldn’t really accept the help from the people who were healthy enough to help her. She kept wanting her mother to do everything.
I feel like the ending was too abrupt. We never really find out what happens to Marissa or her mother. But I guess that’s how life is sometimes, people just fall out of our lives and we never really know what happens to them. Facebook and other digital forms of communication make it a little easier, but still, I feel like sometimes, once people are gone, they’re gone for good. And all we can do is hold on to the time that was spent together.
by Abby McDonald
Wasn’t anything special, but I enjoyed the book. Sometimes when we take things to the extreme, it’s a cover up for something else. I have noticed that a lot in my own behavior. If I get super obsessed with something, it’s usually to keep myself from over thinking or dealing with something else. And I guess that’s how Jenna became an environmentalist, she was filling the lonely void she felt when she began high school. But eventually you have to deal with the things that you’re trying hard to avoid and going up to BC ended up being that perfect opportunity for her. Plus, sometimes seeing someone who’s a bit more extreme than you can always exaggerate your own actions.
by Sara Zarr
I really like what she decides to write about. Her books aren’t fluffy, they aren’t shallow, yet at the same time she hasn’t crossed into this sick territory where everything is extreme. I think she writes about realities that could affect any one of us at some point in our lives. I hope she continues to write and that more and more people pick up her books. None of them are so overwhelming to make the bestsellers lists, but they’re solid and good. Sweethearts I think is her best so far.
I really like how in this story she challenges faith. I remember when I was younger I just believed. I got confirmed and went to church and sang my little heart out. I even went to extra youth groups (although looking back that might have been more of a social decision). But when my mom died, all those assumptions, all that supposed faith, were challenged. And I kind of never went back.
I remember once my cousin Max told me that he didn’t go to church because of faith, he went because of community. And at the time I thought it was ironic that you had to pretend to believe in order to be a part of something. It makes me wonder, how much else do we pretend to support or believe so that we belong?
“I wish I understood what happened between then and now. I wish there was a way to put your finger on the map of life and trace backwards, to figure out exactly when things had changed so much…”
“That life is never really private, that it’s something other people look at and wonder about and make their conclusions based on what really might just be the tip of the iceberg.”
by Carl Hiaasen
His kid books are so great, it kind of makes me wonder what his adult books are like. And I think that whoever does his covers does a great job. The covers are simple, humorous and strongly hint to the content of the book. I love the colorfulness and the simple graphics. The adult book covers have similar characteristics (especially the typeface of his name), but they lack the strong, simplistic graphics that I really appreciate in his kid books.
Hoot was pretty enjoyable and I feel like Hiaasen has kind of found himself a formula. Boy learns of some wrong doing to the environment and becomes the hero in small ways by saving the environment from some ridiculous bad guy. I do think at times the books and the protagonists are a little too righteous and perfect. The good guy is always good and the bad guy is always bad. But I guess for 9-12 year olds, that kind of black and white contrast might be necessary.
by Wendelin Van Draanen
I really like her books. She also wrote Flipped, which was cute and entertaining. Her books remind me of Sarah Dessen’s books, characters who are intelligent and have substance, but are going through something tough or challenging. I have to say though that the hardcover cover (on the left) is pretty bad and I think too kiddy. I like the paperback version (on the right) much much more. Adds a little more tact to the whole thing. I think it’s bad enough to be caught reading a book called Confessions of a Serial Kisser, but then to get stuck holding onto something so horrid looking takes the cake.
I remember how I didn’t really deal with a lot of the conflicting thoughts and confusion I experienced after my mom died. I felt like I had to keep everything together, remain that somewhat ‘perfect’ daughter and just keep my shit in line. I spent a lot of energy and time acting like I was okay and for awhile I pulled it off. I think it wasn’t until I got to college that I realized, hey, I never really dealt with all that pain and in reality, the huge fear that I could lose another beloved family member, or even worse, I too one day might lose my partner in life. And I think I clung on a little too tightly to people and things that you can never really ever have forever anyway. Life is a cycle and some thing revolve with you, while other things you just have to let go and move on from. And maybe that’s something I just now have gotten around to learning.
What I liked the most about the book and the main character, Evangeline, is that she learned that she wasn’t perfect. That being on a high horse doesn’t make you immune to the muck on the ground. It still gets kicked up from time to time. And I liked how she learned to get to know herself and to get to know the people around her and that a crimson kiss is all in the build-up, not just in the rush of it all.
