…the very first look at Disney’s new Girl Meets World, featuring Cory and Topenga as parents. Heck yes!
family fiction
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
So obviously a book titled Love Letters to the Dead is going to be a pretty emotional one, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for all there is to find in here.
Through a series of letters written to dead people ranging from Kurt Cobain to Amelia Earhart to Elizabeth Bennet written over the course of a school year, Laurel explores some seriously heavy topics. Her parents divorced, her sister May died, her mom moved away, she switched schools… and that all happened before the book actually picks up. As Laurel writes these letters, working through the decomposition of her family, May’s death, and revealing snippets of the circumstances surrounding her death, she begins to heal and come through as herself rather than just a shell of May. She also experiences her first love, and I really appreciated Sky’s character for his role in Laurel’s healing process. He’s honest and caring and doesn’t try to take advantage of Laurel in her fragile state. He’s there when she needs him.
There were a few times I almost stopped reading. Too much sadness, too much belittling of the religious aunt, too much teen drinking, too much stuff. But I have to admit that I’m so glad I didn’t stop. Laurel is a very realistic teenage girl wrestling with things that most teenagers have to deal with in some way or another, and while she makes some decisions I wouldn’t want my students making, she definitely learns from her mistakes. She comes out a better person than she was going in. I admire Laurel – especially who Laurel becomes by the end of the book – for how she deals with things that have happened to her and makes a conscious choice to change the trajectory of her life.
By the time I was two-thirds done with Love Letters to the Dead, I liked it. When I finished it, I really liked it. After it had a few hours to settle and sink in, I loved it. In the vein of The Fault in Our Stars, it’s not a frilly, finish in a day and smile the whole way through kind of book, but it is a stick with you and make your heart feel full kind of a book. I have a feeling that Laurel and Sky will be with me for a while.
Love Letters to the Dead comes out this Tuesday, April 1st. Find it here on Amazon or at your favorite bookseller!
The Giver trailer is out today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNNugNe0Wo
I’m so impressed, which is surprising because The Giver is one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve been nervous about the movie just because I know how near and dear it is to my heart – I don’t think I could handle a low-budget cheesefest reminiscent of the first Twilight movie. It looks like I had nothing to worry about, though. What a relief!
AND there’s a super cool new website for the movie: receiveyourdestiny.org
Find out more about The World of The Giver and my love of Jonas as a heroic protagonist through my past posts!
Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg – I LOVE THIS ONE.
Elizabeth Eulberg is the author of four previous contemporary YA titles, and I’ve had her on my radar since I read Revenge of the Girl With a Great Personality (a super funny and actually sweet YA behind the scenes of children’s beauty pageants and the families of the girls who compete).
Eulberg has an ability to tell a great story full of poignant, really valuable moments that also make you laugh out loud. When I saw she had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it… especially when I saw it compared to When Harry Met Sally! I mean, come on. Who can resist that?
In Better Off Friends, we get to follow the friendship of Macallan, an eighth grade girl dealing with the still-recent death of her mom, and Levi, an eighth grade boy transplanted from California to Wisconsin. When Macallan is given the task of showing Levi around on their first day of school, she mostly just barely tolerates him until they realize they both love the same quirky British TV show. From there, Levi and Macallan become good friends over the course of the school year.
When high school hits, everybody thinks they’re dating, but they’re still just friends… best friends. The banter between the two of them, and the way they retreat into their own world throughout various situations in the book, is just nothing short of magical in quality. In addition to the alternating point of view between Levi and Macallan as they go back and tell their story, there are also snippets of their present day conversations in between chapters. Eulberg has written a couple of characters here that I would honestly want to hang out with if they were real; they are full of life and so much fun.
The book spans over about four and a half years, which seemed at first like it was moving too quickly, glossing over important things, but by the time I finished I realized the pacing had been perfect – watching Levi and Macallan basically grow up together over those years made the experience even more enjoyable.
Another great thing about Eulberg, and particularly Better Off Friends, is that she tells great stories for a range of YA audiences without profanity or glorified drinking/drug use and sexual situations. This book could be enjoyed by 7th and 8th graders looking forward to good, healthy friendships (and romance) in high school, high school students in the thick of it, college/early career readers reflecting on high school relationships, and moms hoping their kids have people like these in their lives as they navigate young adulthood.
As you can tell, I really, really loved this new title. So fun, smart, witty, and sweet!
Check it out here on Amazon or at your favorite bookseller.
And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard
I was intrigued by the synopsis for And We Stay immediately – it had a mysterious, almost ghosty feel to it, plus I liked the idea of incorporating Emily Dickinson along with a character named Emily who writes poetry. It’s like an English major and YA fanatic’s dream come true.
There were several things I liked about this story.
One, Emily Beam is an interesting protagonist. In the beginning I almost had a feeling like I couldn’t trust her, but then I figured out she was just as confused as I was. She was clearly trying to get over something tragic, and watching her work through it using her poetry and her blooming friendship with K.T. was fascinating.
That leads me to the poetry. Emily’s poetry really was Dickins-esque. I loved every word related to the two Emilys and the way their poetry was woven into the story. Emily Beam’s poetry grows and develops throughout the novel, and since it’s written in third person instead of first person, the poetry gives us valuable insight into Emily Beam’s thought process. Really, really, superbly, well done.
There’s a great cast of supporting characters here. From Emily Beam’s old English teacher to her ex-boyfriend’s sister to her French teacher, her roommate, and other students at Amherst School for Girls. They’re all believable. Flawed, not stereotypical, and perfect for this story. At several points throughout the story I wanted to find and strangle Emily’s parents, but beyond that, the characters were great.
And what a setting… I mean, you can’t get more fun and sort of creepy than Emily Dickinson’s old stomping grounds. The facts that were woven into this were interesting and added so much to the story.
I also respect the way Jenny Hubbard handled some very heavy topics. From a shooting in a high school library to teen pregnancy to abortion, Hubbard never treats the heavy topics like they’re no big deal. And, as a woman who is whole-heartedly pro-life, I actually appreciate the real, raw, brutally honest way that Hubbard treats abortion. I almost stopped reading when it became clear that Emily Beam had an abortion after Paul died, but I kept reading because of how realistically she portrayed the emotional torment that results from an abortion.
There were a few things that kept me from giving And We Stay my total and complete backing, most of which has to do with personal preference, honestly. For example, I really have a strong preference for first person narratives. I love getting to hear every thought of the protagonist. It makes me feel connected to them in a way that a third person narrative can’t do for me.
Another thing was the quick verb tense shifts. While this led, in part, to the mysterious sort of confusing in a good way feel to the book, Emily’s story would shift from past to present so subtly that you had to really pay attention to make sure you didn’t miss anything important.
Most importantly, while I know and understand that Emily Dickinson’s Christianity remains up for debate based on various poems and letters and statements and actions, I wish Hubbard hadn’t hit the religion so hard in this. It didn’t feel like it was left with a very hopeful tone faith-wise, so I wish it hadn’t been there quite so much. Maybe it hit me more significantly because I’m very sensitive to that, especially in YA titles, but I felt like the whole story would have been even better with less emphasis on the faith crisis, both of Emily Beam and Emily Dickinson.
All of that being said, I really enjoyed And We Stay. Especially for anyone interested in seeing a literary figure like Emily Dickinson explored as the background for a modern day story, I highly recommend this! Find it here on Amazon or at your local retailer.
Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg
Ever wanted a humorous and realistic view into the heart of the beauty pageant world? This book is for you. In this, Lexli is a tired of seeing her mom waste what little money they have on pageants for her seven year old terror of a sister… that she doesn’t even want to be a part of anymore. She’s tired of seeing the guy she has a crush on go out with the wrong girl. She’s tired of not being listened to, period, and she has a plan.
While it might not seem like your typical comedy, Revenge of the Girl with a Great Personality is a smartly written story that I couldn’t put down!
Pretty Face by Mary Hogan
I admit that as a reader I can get caught up in what’s newly released, what’s coming out when, and making sure my review copies actually get reviewed. Sometimes, though, I still make time to just browse the shelves at the library or my favorite book store, which is where I find gems like Mary Hogan’s Pretty Face.
In this story, high school girl Hayley feels “oversized” for the California beach life, causing her to feel awkward and unsure of herself. She’s that girl with the pretty face that nobody wants to date. And while the cover would make you feel like it’s a book all about weight loss or weight obsession, it’s really not. It’s more about one teenage girl’s journey from horribly self-conscious to confidence.
When her parents send her off to Italy for the summer, which would of course be catastrophic to the social lives of most American teenage girls, Hayley finds a refreshing new beginning. I really liked Hayley’s journey in Italy, and as if I didn’t already want to go to Italy bad enough, it definitely made me wish I’d been sent there for a summer in high school!
This is one that’s worth reading if for no other reason than to see the setting jump off the page.
Another Little Piece of My Heart – blog tour, giveaway, and deleted scene!
A couple of weeks ago, I told you all about Tracey Martin’s new release, Another Little Piece of My Heart. I loved it. Click the book cover (which is super cute, by the way) to learn more bout it.
Today, I’m excited to be a part of her book release blog tour and share with a deleted scene with you AND a chance to win a gift card, a signed copy of the book, and some book swag. Yay!
First, the deleted scene from Jared’s POV:
“Dude, I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
Mike’s shaking his head at me from the doorway. Ignoring the disbelief in his voice, I toss my empty Coke can in his recycle bin and grab my guitar. “You’ve said that like five times now. I’m doing this. Let’s go.”
Let’s go before the event is over. Let’s go before Mike’s asshole roommate, Zach, shows up. Let’s go before I decide trying to win my ex-girlfriend back using the very same method that made her hate me is not the best decision I ever made.
Let’s fucking go.
Mike unlocks his car, and I carefully strap in my guitar case on the back seat. Smacking a mosquito, I climb in the front. Let’s go before I contract Lyme Disease or Triple E.
Neither of us say much on the drive to Eliot Beach. I don’t know what Mike’s thinking as he plays with the radio, but my mind is so far away I can barely hear the music. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Connecticut… My memories ping pong back and forth until I’m dizzy with them.
For the past two years, my last memory of Claire was the way her lip trembled that day in the mall, her brown eyes wide and almost eerily unseeing. Her face vacant and distressed. It didn’t make for a good last memory, not for a girl whose smile used to make my heart stop, and whose one-liners used to make me wonder how I’d duped her into thinking I was smart enough to hang out with her, and whose lips on my skin…
I should stop there. She’s not mine to kiss anymore, and if I follow that line of thought, I’ll just get depressed.
Point is, that scene didn’t make for a good last memory, but I’m the one who made it my last memory. Until a few weeks ago, that is, when I ran into her in the strangest, most unlikely place in the entire country. How does that happen? What kind of twisted deity arranged for that?
I hadn’t wanted a second chance. I’d told myself I’d moved on. But her constant presence was too much.
I didn’t deserve a second chance. So I told myself she was better off. But the way she played that day in the park was too irresistible. I knew then I had to have her back anyway. She’s either my muse or some demon sent to torment me.
So here I am, either about to do something really romantic or something incredibly stupid. With my luck, probably stupid. If I hadn’t been an idiot two years ago, I might not have lost all that time.
My stomach twists thinking about it, and I consider that downing that Coke so fast was not a good move. I close my eyes, concentrating on my new song and playing air guitar with my seatbelt. It helps relax me, but it’s not performing the song tonight that’s making my insides roll like the waves.
Finally, Mike parks under a streetlamp by the house where Claire’s family is staying. I force myself to breathe. I inhale the scent of the beach through the open car window and realize I’m about to spin my thumb ring off.
Mike realizes it too. “You sure you—”
“Yes, damn it.” I pry my fingers away from the ring and open the door. “Don’t ask me that again.”
But he asks me that again when we reach the coffee shop, too.
I shoot him a nasty look, and he laughs, and now I know he’s just trying to bug me. “Come on.” I push him into the crowd.
The shop is packed, laughing and whispering people spilling onto the boardwalk. Over the ocean, the sky is already turning dark and the temperature is dropping as fast as the light is fading. But inside the store, it’s barely brighter.
The show’s begun and the lights have been dimmed. I follow Mike to the counter, grateful that no one’s paying any attention to the guy the with the guitar case for a change. That’s because some other guy with a guitar is already performing, regaling everybody with my least favorite Dylan song. I tune him out, just like I always try to tune out Dylan whenever anyone puts on his music.
After signing some paper and buying some over-priced coffee, I worm my way to the back. Mike’s head is swiveling around, searching for Claire and company, I guess. I let him look out for friends. I have to look out for my guitar. There’s not enough room for all of us.
“Found them,” he whispers at last, just as the guy on the makeshift stage finishes. Mike motions with his cup to the other side of the room, and I push hair out of my eyes, squinting through the mass of bodies that block my view.
It’s Claire that I find first. Of course. It could be that crazy orange hair—what the hell was she thinking dyeing it orange of all colors?—but I think it’s just that my gaze will hone in on her no matter what. Especially with that hair, she’s like a flame. I can’t not stare.
But she doesn’t seem to notice me. She’s not noticing much if I had to guess. Her face is strained. She looks nervous. I can’t tell from here, but I’d bet she’s gripping her case strap with white knuckles.
Poor Claire. I used to tell her all the time she shouldn’t be nervous about performing because damn, she’s good. But I don’t think she ever believed me.
If she’d let me, I’d make her believe it. But I’m not sure she will.
My hand runs to the Buddha charm hanging around my neck, a tiny silver thing that she once gave me for my birthday. Although I’d stopped wearing it because it was too painful after we split, I kept the charm in my guitar case this whole time. When I finally put it back on tonight, I was thinking I needed the Zen. From the looks of it, though, Claire might need it more than me.
That’s it. I have to go to her now. I have to say something.
I pick up my case, ready to risk clocking a bunch of innocent people with it in order to cross the shop, but then the guy at the mic calls out her name. Too late.
As usual for me.
I settle back against the counter instead, drinking coffee I don’t really want.
“You coming?” Mike asks while Claire gets settled up front.
There’s only one seat open at the table since she got up, so I shrug. Not worth assaulting people to get to it. “I’m good.”
As soon as Mike moves away, I return my attention to Claire. She’s tuning her guitar and saying something to the owner. Even from this distance, I can feel the spark in her—the heat and the life—and I wonder if other people can too. It’s this crazy way she lights up a room that make my lips dry, as though needing her to wet them for me. Her wide nervous eyes and that smile filled with self-doubt only add to her presence. It makes her charming too. And it’s making me crazy.
Some girls think they’re the hottest things on the planet, and I’ve met way more than my share of them. But they have no idea.
She is, without question, the hottest thing on the planet, and she doesn’t even know it. And if she did, she wouldn’t care. That’s part of what makes it so true.
Claire’s talking, and I have to refocus to hear her. “But I did have an ex who wrote more than one unflattering song about me. So this is the song I wrote about the experience.”
I cringe and drink more. If that’s the worst she has to say about that whole ordeal, she’s being too nice. I’m guessing “Romeo Must Die” is one of the least angry songs she wrote in retaliation. Not sure I want to hear the others.
Then she starts to play, and even though I’ve watched videos of her performing this song online, watching her live is amazing. She’s changed so much. Gotten so much better.
And right there I decide she’s the hottest, most talented girl on the planet, too. I might be a bit biased, but screw it. I’m allowed to be. She sounds damn good. Someone else can play critic.
I can’t drag my gaze away until she finishes, and then I assess the audience. They’re smiling and staring at her like I was. That’s my girl, I start to think, except she’s not.
“Um, yeah. New song,” Claire’s saying. “Let’s hope I don’t forget it like I’m forgetting what I’m saying, you know? It’s called ‘That Girl.’”
I lean forward with interest until I hear her lyrics. The words wrap around my chest like a rope, pulling me toward her and crushing the life from me at the same time. I’m not sure what to think, what to make of this plea that she’s singing. But it’s directed at me. I can sense that through and through.
At one point I almost catch her eye but she quickly looks away, and for a half beat, she fumbles. I hear the rhythm crash like the breakers on the rocks. Then she recovers, almost seamlessly.
I don’t, and I close my eyes.
“So why can’t I make you see?
That girl is gone
This girl is here
That girl’s a ghost
This girl is near
That girl hurt you
This girl hurts too
This girl’s sorry for what she did to you”
As her clear, silky voice fades, the room bursts into applause, but I can’t move. Why is she apologizing? I’m the one who’s supposed to apologize. She did that years ago. I’m the one who refused to listen.
I’m the one. And she’s the one. It’s my job to make her see, not the other way around.
For the first time tonight, I feel a little less crazy about what I’m going to do. Not any less nervous because there’s probably never a time when telling the girl you love that you need her in your life is not going to be vomit-inducing, but less crazy. Hopeful even.
I remain by the counter, finishing my coffee for several more performers, but I don’t hear a damn thing until my name. When the owner calls out “Jared Steele,” sounding hilariously confused, I’m ready. Inside, I know I’ve been ready for longer than I care to admit. Claire’s been stuck in my head and heart like the catchiest damn tune ever, so it’s time to make good on this unexpected second chance.
What music hurt, it must also be able to heal.
——————————————————————————————
Now, check out the rafflecopter giveaway for the prizes! I hope you win!
Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott
Ok, there are lots of things going on here beyond the surface love story.
Most disturbing is the question of what you would do if a pregnant woman died, but there was a chance to save the baby by keeping the woman’s body alive through machines. She’s not there anymore, really. No brain function. No response to her family members. Most of us would say, of course, you have to save the baby. It’s awful that the woman is gone, but any woman would want her baby saved if it was possible. But, how would that affect the rest of the family? What if the woman had other kids, and they knew she was alive but not really?
This is the tortured world of Emma that instantly sucked me in as soon as I started reading. It was impossible not to put yourself in her shoes and imagine the hurt and confusion mixed with the possibility of life.
Of course, if that was ALL this book was about, it would be the most depressing book ever. So you throw in the cute bad boy, Caleb, who understands death and loss more than any of Emma’s friends, and you’ve got yourself a sweet romantic development. And with a great supporting cast of characters, including Emma’s best friend and her stepdad, there’s never a dull moment in Emma’s world.
Heartbeat is a good story full of life, hope, and love. I recommend it for high school and up… but be prepared for it to spark some questions and discussions in your family!
A Bookish Beginning to the New Year…
Last year, I gave you lots of book recs for Christmas gifts, and from the feedback I got it seemed like you guys really appreciated the help. I’m sorry my list is so late this year. Where did all the time go? How is it 2014 already?
Anyway, let’s consider these ideas for good ways to get your year started off with great stories.
For the upper HS/College aged student who would love to travel: Gayle Forman’s books, Just One Day and Just One Year, center around a girl traveling during the summer after her high school graduation and the guy she happens to meet while in England. That description doesn’t do it justice AT ALL, so just trust me. If you’re only getting one of them, get Just One Day.
For the high school/college girl who loves all things British: Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. This series of books makes me laugh out loud constantly. It centers around Georgia Nicholson, a high school girl with a crazy sense of humor, a crazy family, a crazy cat named Angus, and a crazy crush on a very cool, very hot guy. This series goes on for ten books, and all ten are equally as hilarious. In fact, I love them so much that I once used every bit of my birthday money to buy them all in matching editions. True story.
For anybody who likes to think and be inspired: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card was just made into a movie about month ago. The movie was good. The book is infinitely better. People need to read the book. In a lot of ways, Ender reminded me of Jonas from The Giver – both boys are young when they take on the responsibility of changing their worlds for the better, and I’m a sucker for a story showing a young adult making a difference. What impresses me about Ender’s Game, too, is a completely unexpected and really beautiful display of compassion and empathy at the end.
For those who like a good dystopian trilogy: The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth. There are lots of things I like about this. The whole dystopian, perfect society that’s actually completely horrible mostly because of the government thing is really well done in Roth’s trilogy. I also love the protagonist, Tris, because she’s smart and is beyond driven to do the right thing in all situations, causing you at times to want to yell at her through the pages of the book because you actually WANT her to think about herself a little bit. Tris’s love interest, Four, is incredible and totally book-crush worthy. And, without giving anything away, the ending of the trilogy solidified for me a few things about Veronica Roth: she’s super brave, she clearly has faith, and she’s one amazing writer. I put the last book down full of emotions from the book and full of respect for Roth.mpathy at the end. That’s all I can say without giving it away, but know that it’s good. Really good. And it’s not an easy read – I’d even say it’s not necessarily a YA book, but people would argue with me – so it’s good for readers aged 8th grade and up through adulthood, really.
For high school and college girls, period, because we live in crazy times: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. In Speak, the protagonist lives through the repercussions of breaking up a big summer party resulting in several upperclassmen getting busted. How did she break up the big party? By calling the police due to something horrible that happened, though we don’t find out what happened until the end of the book. It’s a powerful and important book about the power of your voice and the necessity of speaking out against awful actions.
For the teen (or adult for that matter) interested in classic rock and the Woodstock-era: Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick. I really, really loved this. I’ve been a fan of Sonnenblick for a long time, and this might just be my new favorite of his. In it, the main character is transported back in time to experience the Woodstock festival, where he learns crazy things about his family and befriends Jimi Hendrix. Really. It’s not at all cheesy, either, in the way it’s done… totally realistic historical fiction with a smudge of mysterious time-travel.
I’d love to hear what’s on your to-read list for 2014!
Pimples, Popularity, and Protagonists 