Funny How Things Change Review

Hey!

I've really fallen off the wagon here. Ouch. Well, I'm back now and I certainly missed my blog! I have about four books in the queue with my TBR pile still mounting and that silly novel... oh my. Luckily, this book is easy to gush about.


Funny How Things Change

by Melissa Wyatt




I saw Melissa Wyatt making the blog rounds doing many interviews about her new book and I knew I had to check it out. When I finally saw it at my local library I was so excited.

Remy isn't a dumb guy nor is he unambitious. He just knows that college is not the right path for him and mostly everyone in his life understands that. However, his girlfriend Lisa is right for him and she's moving away from the small town of Dwyer, West Virginia to attend college in Pennsylvania. Dwyer has always been Remy's home but when Lisa asks him to move with her one more time he finds himself saying yes. Now Remy has to figure out how to tell his dad and his old life goodbye while he and Lisa face the realities of living on their own in another state. Along the way he meets Dana, a college student who is doing a summer project in Dwyer and as they help each other navigate new territory Remy realizes that he might have to make some very difficult decisions.

Funny How Things Change is a slim book compared to most YA novels nowadays, just under 200 pages, but it is a rich, deep, concentrated read. The story lingered in my mind long after I closed the book for the final time. The prose throughout the novel is simple but rich with imagery and feeling. The reader really gets a complete view of Dwyer. Not only do we see the mountains and the dirt roads that exist there but we also get to know the history of the town and the people and most important we get to discover Dwyer's place in the world. I was impressed by how this town became a character just like Remy, Lisa and Dana.

Remy's personal emotional journal was well-crafted. I liked how the outside events and people in his life served as the catalyst for his self-growth but he did not come to any conclusions or decisions solely because of other people. Remy is a character that you can instantly love. He is not perfect but his self-awareness and his struggle make him someone you can really root for. Remy, as a character, is richly layered and completes a series of changes throughout the novel that make his final decision something personal that the reader can really accept from him. Third-person is not a common narrative in YA novels but this POV really complements the novel and there is no unnecessary distance between Remy and the reader. One of the problems with third person is that sometimes the reader comes to conclusions about the character before the character gets there. With this novel I felt connected with Remy the whole time. The reader will definitely take his journey right along with him, every step of the way. The secondary characters were also enjoyable, interesting and carefully nuanced. I loved the dialogue, a source of much of the humor in the novel as well as many important explanations.

The setting is portrayed masterfully throughout the novel. The mountains, the roads, the buildings and the people that comprise Dwyer as always present but not in an overshadowing way. Wyatt has a gift for description that is simple yet hearty enough for the reader to imagine everything that is happening in the scene. From the auto shop to Remy's trailer to Lisa's house to the creek running on Walker Mountain and the water tower that Dana paints so carefully I felt completely at ease with the setting even though Dwyer is unlike any place I've ever lived before. The setting breathes life into the story and is very important to Remy's life. I was very impressed by how everything was written.

Even though the book is relatively short it is a novel you read slowly so you can linger with the language and really see and hear everything in your head. There is a lot to digest but I enjoyed every moment of it. This is a sophisticated novel, one that might create a love story in your own life starring you and this book. Highly recommended. Go ahead and pick this one up today.

Dirty Liar Review

I saw this book in someone's Hardcover vs. Paperback post and somehow I knew I was meant to read it.

When I see Push books I know that they will be an edgy and raw read. I also think about how I lost some Push contest I entered when I was a senior in high school. Haha. Still bitter.

Dirty Liar by Brian James

Dirty Liar is the story of Benji, better known as Dogboy, and he prefers that name. Benji is a guy he doesn't really want to know. Dogboy is a cloak he can hide behind, just like his nondescript jeans and long hair. He leads a fairly normal life with a couple of buds he gets high with after school, a long-distance girlfriend and a new step-family to get used to. Nobody knows why Benji chose to leave his mother and his former life. If Benji has anything to do it nobody is ever going to know all of the dark secrets he keeps hidden inside of him.

The first thing you'll notice about this book is the unusual structure. Instead of quotation marks for dialogue James uses dashes and italics. He also has a tendency to connect sentences through ellipses. I'm not sure what the point of this is. In fact, it's probably one of the reason that I haven't really read one of his books before even though I've probably picked up all of them to look at while I was the library. But don't let that turn you off. It's a simple thing to get used to. Everything reads just like the usual structure for a novel. The only large drawback to this style is that it makes reading the narrative very slow. When you see a lot of sentences..connected like this..it slows down the words in your head..it can be slightly frustrating..but at the same time it really gives you a sense of Benji's state of mind.

The actual writing is poetic, raw and riveting. I felt so connected to Benji, so much so that I had to look away sometimes. Benji is a smart guy and I really enjoyed reading about his theories about people and behavior and why things are the way they are in his life. To me, his pain and bad feelings never felt forced or melodramatic or contrived. You get glimpses into Benji's life with his mother, a life of neglect from his mother and abuse from his mother's boyfriend Roy. These glimpses don't tell the full story but they allow you to fully understand the dept of Benji's suffering.

Benji's depression isn't easy to read. The novel doesn't have a lot of action so you spend a lot of time in Benji's head as he writes in his journal, lays in his bed, gets high or just fights against all the demons pushing in on him. However, the writing is so vibrant that it makes up for the lack of physicality on the page. What really brings this novel together is the undercurrent of hope that runs throughout and then comes rushing at you in the end. Benji has a girlfriend back where his mom lives who loves him and then there's a new girl in his life at his new school. The moments where Benji is fresh and flush from all these new feelings are times when I wanted to stand up and cheer for him. The ending brings this all together and I didn't find it rushed. The climax was well-plotted. Benji faces a lot of fear and confusion as does the rest of his family. They don't handle this perfectly but in the end it is clear that everything is coming together so that everyone can move forward. I really enjoyed reading that.

This is a dark, gritty but beautifully controlled and written book. I recommend it if you're looking for a different kind of book about an outcast who thinks he's given everyone permission to write him off but he actually hasn't. This is one book that takes a teenager's depression as seriously as they do. A very inspiring read for me, personally. I'm glad that I chose this one. Check it out!

I'm not quite sure why they chose Dirty Liar for the title though. I mean, I can see it but to me, it's a stretch.

Also, Dirty Liar is a companion novel to Perfect World. It's probably better to read Perfect World first, actually. I'll have to check that book out of the library soon.




Okay, now I have to write 1500 words in an hour. I joined the DFTBAuthors Writing Challenge and committed to 1500 words a day for a week. D'oh!

Artichoke's Heart Review

It's so strange and exciting when I see books that I've only seen on blogs in person at the bookstore. It's kind of like seeing a celebrity up close and personal! Anyone else feel that way? I'm strange. But today at B&N I was like, there's Along For the Ride! Wait, there's How to Buy a Love for Reading! Oh hey, LA Candy.

It was like we were long lost friends.


Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Rosemary Goode knows she's overweight but everyone else insists on telling her. Her mom buys a treadmill for Christmas. Her aunt always has a disparaging remark. The popular girls at school tease her and that's been going on since middle school when she wore a green puffy jacket to school and they dubbed her "Artichoke." Rosemary finds comfort in the junk food she has stashed in her room. The new year brings new challenges for Rosemary and as she commits herself to losing the weight Rosemary finds her life changing in more ways than one.

Rosemary was a character that I could really root for. She was obviously smart and talented, yet insecure. Even through her insecurity she had some fresh and funny moments when she would use her wit to fight back at those who were trying to bring her down. I appreciated this. Rosemary wasn't simply an apologetic fat girl. She had a spark and ultimately, that's what helps her begin her journey to lose weight.

What really worked for this book was the southern setting and the realization of all the people and places that made up Rosie's world. I could really feel Tennessee shining through the pages. I loved how I got to read about the change in seasons. The weather provided a backdrop that helped illustrate Rosie's emotions. The dialect in the dialogue was never fake or forced. Everyone sounded different yet still retained that southern accent. I really admired that. Personalities were highlighted by the dialogue. It helped keep the novel moving and also provided a lot of humor.

What didn't work so well for this book was that there was a lot happening at once. That is true in life but I wasn't sure I liked how it all came together. The one plot element I could have done without is the fact that Rosie enters a research study to see how short-term counseling affects weight-loss. I just wasn't impressed by that arc, especially since it seemed to get lost in the middle of the book. Other more significant things happens which are very intriguing and could have made a book in themselves. The most important part is that the characters stayed consistent, there weren't a lot of them and they were engaging. The characters will keep you reading even if the plot seems to be a bit busy.

Also, the tense in this story was weird. About halfway through I had to go back and see if it switched from present to past tense. Actually, there's both, making the book read like it's told from some very recent future. To me it was written as if the current chapter happened to the narrator last week or two hours ago. I found it jarring in some places and some places everything matched up and read smoothly so I could let that go.

This is a quiet, unassuming book with a bright brown and pink candy cover that attracted me to it immediately. I believe Rosemary is a character you should read about. She can really speak to you about growing up, body images, mother-daughter relationships and first love. There are a lot of good elements to this book and most of all I did enjoy reading it and it's a quick read that's not entirely fluffy but it's also never becomes totally depressing. It was a wonderful in-between book for me to enjoy when I needed a break from the really dark stuff. So add it to your To-Be-Read pile and give it a try. Save it for a cozy rainy day when you want to curl up with a good book you can lose yourself in for a couple of hours with no worries.

Unraveling Review

Before I get to the review, confession time: I am addicted to taking books out of the library.

Yes, it is bad. And no, this addiction isn't entirely free. See, the problem is that I go to the library almost every single day. And I take out a book every time I go. Usually more than one book. But see I already have all these books out. And I can't POSSIBLY read them all. And then I forget to return them. And then I get fined 25 cents a day. And then I return them and let the money owed on my account pile up to around 10 bucks before I pay it off. And the cycle continues, over and over again.

I have literally had some books for like nine weeks.

I have over 30 library books checked out right now.

I just can't stop. HELP ME!

Phew, good to get that off my chest. Feel free to start organizing the intervention because God knows I need it.

Ironically, Unraveling is a book I own. I need to read those library books!

On to the review.

Unraveling by Michelle Baldini

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and Lynn Biederman

Amanda Himmelfarb doesn't mean to cause trouble, it just seems to follow her around. Of course, having her overbearing mother constantly in her business doesn't help either. Amanda and her mother, nicknamed "The Captain" are constantly fighting and it's wearing Amanda down. If only Amanda could find the perfect boyfriend, the one person who would understand her and love her like she's yearning to be loved. Amanda thought she found that with last year's summer crush, Paul, but she actually might have a better chance with Rick, who is currently dating the most popular girl in school. There is only one way to be Rick's girlfriend and Amanda is willing to do whatever it takes.


That description sucks but I don't really want to spoil it. The book is so much more than a girl trying to get a guy. In fact it's not even about that at all.


This is a book I never would have chosen from the cover. I don't know why, but I really don't like the cover. To me it looks like some messed up version of Cinderella book. And completely turns me off. I can't explain why I don't like it so much. I just find it annoying! But this is a case where judging a book by its cover is BAD BAD BAD. This novel is wonderful.


I picked it up because of a review I read somewhere else but I really had no expectations going into it. Once I started reading, I was hooking. This is such an honest and painfully raw story. I felt like the book opened up the world and dumped me into Amanda's brain. At the same time, I knew I was reading the story of many girls, teenagers who actually exist today and who are doing the things that Amanda does and feeling the same way. Beyond that, I was reading the story of a mother who was just as lost as her daughter. Together, the whole family was trapped in a net of emotions and events from the past and just wouldn't let them go. Unraveling, at it's core, is a powerful family novel about learning, strength and forgiveness.


Amanda is such a vibrant, intelligent, at times pathetic, at times wonderful, all-around-not-so-bad-girl-struggling-to-be-good character that it's hard not to root for her even when she's being a complete bonehead. The novel is nicely punctuated by her poems that really get to the heart of the various episodes in Amanda's life. The rest of her family are wonderfully realized on the page-- I especially thought Amanda's relationship with her little sister Melody was well-written and reminded me of my own little sister. I should write her a poem too!

Dear Sister

A poem by Summer

I love you
And I want to talk to you
Please do not contact me only
When you want to ask for money.

There was a lot of humor in this book but also a lot of awkward moments which had me cringing and also moments full of high tension, anger and sadness. The dialogue was sparkling throughout the book. The parts that hit me hardest where the fights between Amanda's mom and dad and then Amanda's reaction afterward. I thought that was well done.


I really admired the pacing of the book. So much happens to Amanda but it is a relatively quick read and just over 220 pages. I never felt like the book was rushing and I was happy to move along at a steady clip. Time moves smoothly and then we're right back in the action. I could tell the book had been picked clean of anything unnecessary and it really showed. Every scene contributed to the story and was a joy to read.

I wondered if at times the book was being too preachy. This love-starved girl looking for love in all the wrong places-- is it too obvious? Are the literature recommendations too much? (Amanda and her BFF, Paige, love to read and some favorites are mentioned.) The reader can easily understand where Amanda's mother is coming from but Amanda cannot. I wondered if the book was trying too hard to get it's point across. My conclusion to my questions is just a simple "no." Part of the joy of reading the book was being able to be inside of Amanda's head but also outside of it and able to see what was really going on. It made her confusion even more heartbreaking and all of her revelations about herself more urgent. I feel like this book existed in so many layers that different readers will interpret it on different levels. That is definitely why they recommend it as a mother-daughter book club selection on the back. I feel like it was meant to be read that way and you can find a lot of talking points from these pages.


I always write these reviews in post-book euphoria, like yay! I actually finished something! This is a book that will stick with me even after the glossy high fades. Highly enjoyable read with a lot to say. I find it to be an important take on mother-daughter relationships, self-esteem and the cycle of physical and emotional abuse. You should check this book out. Highly recommended.


Now I need to call my mom!

Out of the Pocket Review

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. Thanks President Obama! I still have to come out to my friends about this YA book stuff. But until then, I have plenty of reading. One reason I enjoy GLBT YA fic so much is because you can find a lot of sensitive, intelligent male protagonists there and I love books about boys. This month we should all make an effort to expand our minds into GLBT fiction because, gay or straight, all the feelings are the same. Plus, why do we even need the subcategory? The hell with it, let's just read good books. We'll work on that. Onto my review.


Out of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg

The title Out of the Pocket is perfect once you know what a pocket is. I know next to nothing about football because I only watch it when the Steelers are about to win the Superbowl. When the quarterback pocket concept was explained to me I thought, wow, that title is great.


Bobby Framingham is one of the best high school quarterbacks in California and coming into his senior year he's anxious to show those college scouts just what he's all about. But there's something else that he's not sure if he should share. Bobby knows he's gay and lately it's been eating at him more and more. When Bobby finally decides to come out to his best friend he sets off a chain of events that change his game, his future and maybe even much more than that...


The best word I can use to describe this book is surprising. I was surprised by how much I liked the main character, Bobby. He was at times confident but clueless, talented yet stifled, cool guy in school then terribly awkward. I was surprised at what happens in this book. Awful things happens and then many wonderful things as well. I was surprised at the amount of laughter in this book. It was like Robin Williams showed up and was like, laughter is the best medicine. I was laughing, the characters were laughing. I was surprised at the innocence of the story. Bobby knows he's gay yet he hasn't done anything with a guy or a girl. I really liked that. There are around three kisses described in the story and most of them are disasters. That's as far as the sex goes. Even Bobby's fantasies were PG. Hardly any swearing that I can remember. Most of all, I was surprised by all the good things that happened. In a book with a plot where things could go south for Bobby really quickly there was always a bright side, suggesting that maybe people aren't as bad as we imagine. At first I was thinking, is this too idealistic? Or am I just too critical?


Bobby is an all-around nice guy who is committed to his team, his sport and has a soft spot for the stray puppy misfits of his high school. It was great to see him on the field, struggling and triumphing. Even though Bobby is a very good quarterback he still has to work on his game, which is nice to hear. He's definitely not perfect. One of Bobby's flaws is maybe he's a little too trusting or talks too much. Still, why should he be quiet about who he is? Bobby is an honest guy and I think he just expected others to be just as honest as he is. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Through everything Bobby stays true to himself, which is a powerful thing. He takes the good advice that others give him and really internalizes it and puts it into action. It was great, being in Bobby's head. I could really feel him on the page, all his doubts, fears, frustrations, sadness, joy, victory, powerful emotions. There are many moments in the story where I identified with Bobby's uncertainties about the future and thought, yes, that's exactly what it's like.


I said before that I only really like to read sports books about basketball but I opened my heart to football, especially since this wasn't strictly a sports book. The book has a fair amount of football action. I found most of it easy to follow although I am still unclear what a "tier" is but I think it's the equivalent a basketball play. Oh yeah, that's also why they invented Google. Well, I'm lazy so I just read on. What made the football action easy to read is that it was all connected to what Bobby was thinking and feeling so it wasn't a detached play-by-play of the game. In fact, I don't think any game was described in excruciating detail. I paid close attention to what was included and what wasn't. I was also interested in reading how Konigsberg handled writing about a football team which I imagine has a lot of players. He kept most of the focus on a few seniors, friends and not-so-friends of Bobby, along with everyone's sidekick Rocky, the sophomore kicker. Still, there was a real sense of chaos and bodies in the locker room when the whole team was around even when only a few people were actually talking.


The real focus of this novel was not only coming out but relationships. There was Bobby's relationship with his best friends, with his team, with his coach, with sports reporters, with one reporter in particular and his parents. I thought each of these relationships were skillfully portrayed and I especially enjoyed seeing how close Bobby was to his mom and dad. Bobby and his dad shared some particularly heartwarming and heartbreaking moments. The secondary characters were all well-written and distinctive. I especially enjoyed Carrie because she was totally weird and funny. I felt just as amused by her as Bobby was. Rahim and Austin were great friends in very different ways. Also, the scenes with the sports reporters felt very real to me, probably influenced by Konigsberg's background as a sports reporter. However, I was always wondering why they didn't give Bobby some kind of media training or why they let him talk to the reporters all by himself.


Like I said, I was surprised by all the laughter in the novel. Really, there is a lot of humor in the dialogue and often laughter is used in the story to break up a tense situation. The book is definitely not as dark as it could be which is refreshing because hope is a powerful thing. I enjoyed reading about it.


One of my fave parts: "I closed my eyes and let the water pour over my back, wishing I knew what to say to defuse the tension. I really wasn't interested in ogling my teammates naked, thanks very much. I'd been to a summer retreat with these guys, where everyone acted gross for a week and there were no doors on the toilets. I felt no lust for my teammates. I just wanted to win a damn football game."

No doors on the toilet? That doesn't sound like a retreat, that sounds traumatizing.


There are still many questions about Bobby's future when the book ends. Personally, I would love a sequel to see the long-term impact of Bobby's decision and also to spend some more time with Bobby! Still, I felt very satisfied, especially after Bobby takes his revenge.


As Paula Abdul would say, this book is a TOUCHDOWN! Go check it out. I think you'll be as pleased with it as I am. Highly recommended.


PS- Along with learning what a pocket is, I learned about outsports.com and there's a baseball player named Sandy Koufax and apparently he's kind of a big deal.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary Review

I saw this book in a lot of In My Mailbox posts so I thought I'd check it out.


The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd

Dade Hamilton is just passing the time until he starts college in his boring Iowa town. Everyone is always the same and nobody knows that Dade is gay. Or at least they don't know for sure. Dade has been sleeping with his classmate Pablo for a couple of years but Pablo is too busy with his girlfriend to give Dade any extra time. While Dade copes with his loneliness he meets a small-time drug dealer named Alex and suddenly, his summer veers onto a very different course.

Quiet, lyrical, thoughtful, honest and sometimes surprising-- those are the words I'd use to describe this book. I feel like we really see the evolution of Dade over the summer and what's funny is that Dade sees it too and even he is impressed with himself. When the book starts Dade is (to steal a quote from Xander on Buffy) "a font of nothing" or rather the kind of guy who keeps to himself and blends into the background. He tries to hang around Pablo but he can't really stand Pablo's jock buddies anyway. Dade spends a lot of time hanging around the house, listening to his music, thinking.

It's the little things that make up Dade's journey. He hangs out with his parents and watches them fall apart. He goes to work and sidesteps the fury and uncertainty of twins Jessica and Fessica. He befriends a new girl on the street who is also gay and becomes ones of his biggest confidants. He travels with Alex who takes him to places he never meant to go. These moments and decisions and discoveries drive the plot so that we really get inside Dade's head and see all these outside influences and experiences that help shape him into the young man he's learning himself to be. There's no heart stopping action or anything like that but it's the words that will keep you reading.

What I loved most about this book is the world that Burd created. Yes, it's contemporary, it's the US, it's Iowa but there was also a rich setting that helped propel the story. Burd created all these nifty bands and song titles that create a silent soundtrack for the story. There was also the kidnapping case of Jenny Moore, a local girl who disappears. Her story inundated the news and by association she also flooded the lives of Dade and his friends. I really like these kind of background details in any novel, weaving in all these different elements to tell one story. I thought it made the book very sophisticated and creative.

The language in the book is very authentic, not only with the dialogue, but the narration too. I really liked how Dade could be so innocent at times and just full of feeling. Burd was able to capture the feelings that anyone has for a first love whether straight or gay. Sometimes I just had to wince while reading because Dade's feelings were so raw and real. The dialogue is also wonderful and the main source for humor in the book. I especially liked reading how Alex talked with his friends and Lucy, Dade's lesbian friend, always tossed off a hilarious sarcastic zinger. Also, those mean girls said some really mean things.

This book is more than a coming out story. In fact, that part is a small section of the story. This is more of a general coming-of-age novel, classic teen finding himself in the world. For a sophisticated, amusing and pleasant read, I would recommend this one.

In fact, I think reading this book was worth it only because it contains the phrase "douche cougar." I don't know why but after I read that I laughed and I'm still laughing. I can't wait until I have the opportunity to use it.





PS- Today, I learned that Bobby Caldwell is white. I'm so surprised! haha. "What You Won't Do For Love" is the jam! I just assumed... all these years of hearing him on my parents' old soul radio stations and now the ones I listen to on my own... he got me! Just like KC and Sunshine Band!

Intensely Alice Review

I am literally in the middle of five different books. I need to calm down. I did manage to finish one though. So many books are pending.

Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

It's the summer before Alice's senior year in high school and she plans on hanging out with her friends and working at the Melody Inn like she usually does. Summer starts off with an exciting trip to Chicago for her cousin's wedding and a visit with her boyfriend Patrick at the University of Chicago. The rest of the summer proves to be fun and challenging time as well as unexpectedly difficult.

Hard book to summarize in a paragraph because these Alice books are more of a portrait of things that happen to Alice instead of an over-arching plot that shoots you straight to the finish line. Usually, Naylor tackles some big issue and frames it in the context of Alice and her friends' different reactions to it. This is a series that you follow from beginning to end because you feel some connection to Alice, her introspective nature and her ordinary life.

Alice is our narrator, most likely on the periphery of all of the major things that happen and not too sure about herself or what she believes in. She's not the smartest, not the most talented, not the most athletic, not the prettiest or wittiest. She's an average, every girl kind of character. What I like most about Alice is that she's willing to listen and consider every opinion. She's pretty much nice to everyone. She's accepting but not too naive. I like that she hasn't grown up too fast and her friends are pretty stable too.

This book depicts a pretty quiet summer for the most part. The first big decision Alice faces is whether or not to have sex with her boyfriend while she's visiting him. I enjoyed the honest, carefully depicted struggle as Alice tries to decide through thought and circumstance what she wants to happen between her and Patrick. What happens between them is probably the best outcome which is usually how the Alice books operate. Naylor doesn't shy away from realistic depictions of sex, both thinking about sex and the actual physical acts. I feel that she writes about sex skillfully and appropriately for teens. In fact, sex was not as big of an issue in this book as it has been in the past, though there was one kind of graphic scene.

The big issue in this book is religion. Alice doesn't really know where she stands on the topic but she carefully listens to each side of the argument. It's a good thing Alice likes journalism so much because she's a really good observer. The book is driven by dialogue and relationships more than anything else. It was fun to see Alice getting along with her girlfriends and branching out with talking to other people, such as an intimate conversation with her stepmother.

If you're a follower of the Alice series, this will be the same Alice that you've always known. Each book she grows a little older and matures a little further but inside she's still the same all-around good girl that we look forward to. The writing, as usual, is heartfelt and realistic. If you haven't tried the Alice series yet I suggest you start from the beginning. Middle school Alice is good at any age and it goes from there.

I even own the Alice movie. I also recommend that. It's pretty funny. I love Lucas Grabeel and Alyson Stoner and Luke Perry so that helped!

Box Out by John Coy

I decided it's Boy Week on my blog! All my reviews this week have been about boys. I really like reading YA books with male protagonists because I find them really interesting and my WIP has a male protag. So I need some perspective. Especially from male authors because they are closer to the source than I am. I like boys!


Box Out by John Coy

Liam Bergstorm knows he hit the big time when he gets moved up to the varsity basketball team. As a sophomore he is awed by this opportunity and willing to work hard in order to increase his playing time. He quickly finds that there is more to being on the team than playing ball well. Coach Kloss expects the team to pray in the locker room and go to fellowship meetings before school. At first, Liam tries to shrug it off but the more he learns about what's going on the more he questions whether or not Coach Kloss is right.

This book didn't immediately grab me. After the first couple of chapters I considered putting it down but something made me keep going and I'm glad I did. The story is important. I did enjoy seeing Liam evolve from Bergie on varsity into his own version of Liam Bergstrom. John Coy tackles a variety of important issues. There's the separation of church and state, teen challenging adult authority, racial issues, what it means to be a real team, small town politics, change vs. the way it's always been and basically the challenge of finding out who you really are. I appreciated all of that. I definitely liked the book more when I started getting into these issues. The plot pulled me forward, especially the second half of the book which was a lot more fun and engaging than the second half.

I didn't connect with Liam as a main character. For the whole novel I felt fairly disconnected from him. Maybe it had to do with the third-person narrative but I've read plenty of books written in the third-person that kept me intimately connected with the narrator. It was hard to get into Liam's head especially in the beginning. I felt like I was looking down on his life instead of being caught up and intimately involved in everything.

This is a book about a basketball team and while it may be classified as something other than a sports novel it does revolve around sports. I didn't think the basketball action scenes were the best I've read, but I do like how the atmosphere of the basketball game was always aptly described. The team dynamics were well portrayed in game and practice scenes and that's very important to the story.

I did like the other characters in the novel, especially the girls on the girls' basketball team. They had a lot of spunk and their vibrancy for life really brought some energy to the novel and the narration. That's one reason why the book picks up in the second half when Liam is working with the girls. Liam deals with a realistic situation concerning his long-distance girlfriend which I really enjoyed. Liam's parents were realistic and distinctive. I liked how they simultaneously confused him and encouraged him.

The emotional intensity in this book could have been higher. That is my main reservation. But overall, it's a finely crafted novel with a lot to say and it's a quick read. Out of all the boy books I've read this book I feel like this one will appeal to boys the most. If you're in the mood for a book like this definitely give it a try.

David Inside Out review

Check out my new layout! Isn't it pretty? Kelsey at Just Blinded Book Reviews made it. I am so happy. Thanks Kelsey!


David Inside Out by Lee Bantle

David Dahlgreen leads a pretty good life. He runs on the cross-country team, he does okay in school and there's even a girl in his life who likes him a lot. The only problem is that he has a crush on one of his cross country teammates, Sean. And the crazy thing is that Sean might like him back.

I absolutely adored this book. Once I started reading it, there was no stopping me. I squirmed all through my eight hours on the job waiting for the chance to pick it up again. From the first chapter I was hooked. The thing that kept me reading was David's voice in the book. He just sounded like this genuine, nice, confused, horny, sweet guy. It was very real. There was David jumping off the page and I just wanted to know more and more about him.

The book is fairly short so the plot moves along at a fast pace that I enjoyed. Sometimes I felt like the story was a series of vignettes of David's life because these cute, quirky things would happen to him that seemed like an aside to the main plot. I enjoyed that because David's story could get pretty dark. I was happy that Bantle was able to inject some happiness and fun into David's life despite all of the hurtful things that happened to him.

At the heart of this coming out story is a love story and it really rings true. What really drew me to David is how passionate he is about everything. His feelings were so familiar and it would be familiar to anyone who's ever had a first big crush whether they are straight or gay. I felt really connected to David as he struggled his way through everything and really began to accept the person he really wanted to be.

All of the characters featured in the story were distinctive and they all served a purpose. It was interesting that David's sort-of best friend Eddie is also gay. That really tied the book up in the end and makes the last page especially poignant. I really liked David's sort-of girlfriend Kick because she was cute and sassy but she definitely wasn't perfect and I liked how she handled David's situation. Sean, the perfect crush, is not the perfect boyfriend and I really identified with how his struggle was different from David's. The dialogue is really funny, one of my favorite parts of the novel. There is a lot of it so it really helps to move the story along.

The best part of the book is that David is such a boy. One of the aspects of being a boy is that he thinks about sex a lot. I think all of the sex in the book is tastefully done and it's sort of exciting because David is so excited about it. It's not graphic but it does gear this book towards older teens. It's an essential part of the story but it doesn't overtake the story at all.

This is a well-written, honest, funny, touching novel that's more than a coming-out story. It's a great book for anyone who has ever felt unsure about who they were and had the courage to really take a good look in the mirror and try to figure it out. There's a lot of emotion packed into this book and I dare you to read it and not feel something good. Check this book out today! Highly recommended.

After the Moment review

After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Weyr





Leigh Hunter leads a quietly charmed life. He's smart, athletic and popular almost without trying. His girlfriend is one of the hottest girls in school. His mother pretty much stays out of his way but they still have a good relationship. His father is a complicated man that helps Leigh examine the type of man he wants to be. The major challenge in Leigh's life is figuring out what colleges he will be applying to next year. Then Leigh has a tough decision to make and the direction of his life is forever changed when he falls in love with Maia Moreland.

This is a rather lovely book about a smart, sensitive guy who is growing up right on the page. It took me a couple of chapters to get used to the book. The writing is very layered and sophisticated. I felt like the tone of the novel is more geared toward an "adult" book rather than YA just because the strong third person narrative is slightly removed from Leigh's 17-year-old life. However, the writing really carries the book. I was impressed with how self-aware Leigh was, how we were able to get into his head and see the kind of guy he was. Yes, he is a very good guy and he knows that but he's not perfect and he also knows that. He's sometimes selfish or brash or moody. The whole time Leigh recognizes these different aspects of his personality and he asks himself why is he this way, why can't he say what he's truly thinking, why do words fail him, how is he going to control his own destiny? The struggles of growing up, both mentally and physically, are right there on the pages and we as the reader are so connected to him that I felt myself struggling right along beside him and asking myself the same questions. It's truly a compelling read.

I was reading something today where an author said he would like to see more YA books written at a high-school level. I wasn't quite sure what he meant but thinking about After the Moment, I think that he may be talking writing level. I have to say I agree with him because I enjoy the challenge I get from the writing while still being able to enjoy a novel in my favorite genre of books. I read this book slowly but at the same time it was so satisfying that I could not put it down. I think it's important for readers to be introduced to this type of writing in YA literature.

Leigh's story begins in the months after 9/11 and he's lives in New York. It's interesting to have this kind of backdrop for the story and I really enjoyed the subplot of how the war impacts (and doesn't impact) Leigh's life. Although the time period is pretty well established there isn't any pop culture references to 2002 really, unless they are fairly vague. I enjoyed how firmly entrenched I was in Leigh's world. It really helped me understood how everything unfolded for him.

The adults in the story were referenced by name just as the teenagers were but it was still easy to tell all of the characters apart. I enjoyed the dialogue that was realistic, almost contrary to the narrative with how simple and young it was for Leigh and all of his friends. The plot unfurled in an unhurried way but it wasn't slow because there was always so much going on in Leigh's head, even if there wasn't much going on in terms of action. The story is told mostly through flashback as Leigh sees his former girlfriend Maia again at a party. The events that do happen are shocking and heartbreaking and everything in the book builds to this so you really care about everyone involved. Even though it was easy to care about these characters, it was not always easy to understand them because Leigh didn't understand them and all we had was his perspective. Still, that made the book more interesting.

If you pick up this book and you find yourself turned off in the beginning or you're not immediately grabbed I advise you to stick with it. This book is definitely worth the read just to get inside the man of one young man who might represent the challenges that other guys like him and it's important to see this kind of perspective. You might be surprised.

My main gripe with the book is that Leigh's name was spelled Leigh instead of Lee. Leigh is more girly than Lee but at the same time I can see why she chose that spelling.

Check this book out!

Such a Pretty Girl Review

Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Weiss

Meredith's father is a equal opportunity molester. He'll sexually abuse little boys, girls and even his own daughter. Three years ago, Meredith sat up in court and told her story in order to put her father away in prison. Now, her father is being released and despite all of the court restrictions and legal documents, Meredith's father is coming home.

This was a surprisingly fast read although it is a dark and scary book. The book only covers a few days but you get the full sense of the terrifying things that happened to Meredith before and after her father's arrest. Meredith sees her father as a monster and there is no evidence to the contrary. There is no telling how many kids he has harmed. The community shuns him and Meredith by association, even though she is just as much of a victim. Perhaps the scariest character in this novel is Meredith's mother. She's obsessed with keeping her husband, Meredith's father, happy and willing to turn a blind eye to whatever he is doing to Meredith. Even after the trial, she refuses to believe the truth that her husband is a sex offender and leaves Meredith alone with him just so the abuse can start all over again.

It certainly seems like there is no hope, no help for Meredith, trapped in this life with her father, only 15, there's no real for her to get out. Also trapped is Meredith's boyfriend, Andy, who is paralyzed from the waist down and also an alcoholic. He lives in a dark condo near Meredith where his mother prays for his recovery night and day. Meredith has Andy as a source of support but it is not a permanent solution.

The thing that will keep you reading this story where everything that happens to Meredith is so frustrating and wrong and unthinkable is Meredith's strength. She is fully aware during the story and you get a real sense of all of her conflicting thoughts and feelings. Somehow she is able to navigate through all the horrors in her life and then pushes the story along.

The flashbacks are scattered throughout the story and very useful to seeing how this all started for Meredith and to help explain how her past has shaped her state of mind in the present. One unusual aspect about the flashbacks was that they were written in present tense, just like the rest of the story, but set off in italics it really works and adds to the sense of urgency of the whole novel.

The characters and unflinchingly real. There are no heroes on white horses coming to share Meredith. The adults surrounding her have their own flaws, including inaction. Meredith keeps her own with all of them. Some of the banter is quite sophisticated. Then again, Meredith is a girl who is much older than her years.

This is an important book because it does not sugarcoat or gloss over anything that happens to Meredith. Her situation may seem extreme or unrealistic but it's something that happens way more often than it should. Such a Pretty Girl highlights these horrible circumstances but also gives us hope. If you want to experience a deeply felt novel, I suggest you read this one.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

This has nothing to do with the review but I won an ARC of Love You Hate You Miss You from Elizabeth Scott on her blog. I am so excited. I'm gonna read it as soon as I get it! Thank you Elizabeth!






Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott


I'm not sure what I was expecting but as soon as I read the first page of Living Dead Girl I knew that I wasn't going to get anything I could imagine. I started reading the book and after the first few chapters I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go on while I was still compulsively turning pages and devouring every word.

Living Dead Girl is Alice's story, but that's not her name. She was kidnapped when she was 10 years old and another girl was born in her place, the Alice that fulfills her kidnapper's every need. When she was 10 her biggest concern was whether or not to share her new lip gloss. Now Alice steals to eat and waits for the moment that Ray will murder her.

The prose is stark, sparse, told from Alice's point-of-view, a dead, hollow narrative that I have never experienced in a novel. I could hear her voice in my head and feel her pain and desperation. The violence in this novel is not graphically described but the imagery is strong enough to make you flinch and squirm anyway.

Most disturbing is the way Alice has evolved during her captivity with Ray. This is no longer a regular girl and how could she be? She is intricately connected to Ray and you see just how well he has molded her in his image and for his pleasure. The real beauty of this story is how self-aware Alice is about how she is yet powerless to stop it and something beyond resigned to her situation-- really the only way to describe it is in Alice's words: "Living dead girl."

The reason this book is so hard to read is because there's no humor, there's no lightness and even as I kept reading and searching I couldn't find anything resembling hope. Yet I recommend this book because the voice is unlike anything I've experienced before and I was utterly captivated by it. I can't imagine writing a book like this. You will definitely be haunted by Alice's story.

Give it a try but be prepared to have a very emotional reaction to what you're reading.

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

I never would have picked up this book if it wasn't for the review on MssJos's blog. So I have to thank her because this novel is awesome.

It's the kind of book I wouldn't pick just by appearance in the library. I think the cover makes the book a little sexier than it is but at the same time I'm like, what's that about? Even the inside blurb is weird and strangely vague. Makes it sound almost like a sports novel and baseball is not my thing. I only like to read sports novels about basketball (How closed minded of me!).

Yes, I've definitely passed on this book for a couple of years and I'm sorry that I did.

In some ways Boy Toy is what you'd expect but mostly it's completely different from what you can imagine. Talk about bringing characters to the brink. Author Barry Lyga is fearless.

I think to give a proper sort of summary you have to get a bit spoilery. Five years ago, Josh Medel's life changed when he was molested by his 7th grade history teacher when he was 12. Now, age 18, a senior in high school, he's been trying to keep it together by maintaining a low profile in his small town, focusing on his sport baseball and on his grades so that he can get into his dream Ivy League school. There are only a few weeks of school left so it seems like everything should be ending but Josh's recovery is just beginning. Rachel, his former best friend, is ready to learn the truth, whether Josh likes it or not and in learning how to trust Rachel and others around him, Josh discovers a truth about himself.

And there's baseball. And best friends. And parents. And secrets.

The book is long. It's 416 pages but it is utterly captivating. Josh's voice just leaps off the page. You are instantly in his head from page one. The book occurs in the present and also in Josh's 12-year-old past. It's amazing how Lyga writes from the point of view of Josh describing himself at 12-years-old with this dual consciousness yet you know both versions of Josh are wrong about many things. The immediacy of Josh on the page was what drew me further into the story. It commanded me to keep turning the page. Sometimes I had to stop and catch my breath, think about what was happening, go over in my mind. I could feel every word in my brain.

I love books like that.

Josh isn't the only excellent character in this novel. Every character is carefully crafted and completely real and complex. For such a long novel there aren't many characters and it really shows with the time devoted to each one so that the reader is really able to get to know them. Even the predator, Josh's teacher Eve, is given time to become real and in the end, well, there's something else there. You could almost feel a little sorry for her.

The best part about this book is that it takes it's time, drawing you in, explaining things, getting to know the characters. Every section is carefully written. The pacing is excellent. The build up is breath-taking. The ending is just what you always feared but at the end it's what you needed. I felt a sense of satisfaction once I finished the book, sadness too, and lots of pride for Josh and everything he was able to achieve.

The sex in this book is never gratuitous or overly graphic. It's disturbing but for other reasons than how it is described. I wouldn't let that deter you from the novel. You'll be so caught up in Josh's story that quickly you'll be moving on to the next thing. The sex is nothing if not-- using that strange literary term-- earned.

Above all, Boy Toy has excellent writing. His dialogue is particularly strong. There's humor wrapped up in all of this, lines that made me laugh out loud. It was a delicate mix that I really appreciated.

Here's a tip! For more than half the book I was reading Josh's best friend Zik's name as Zeke... but it's actually short for Isaac! Get it? The end of Isaac? Haha, I'm dumb.

I could tell you more about this book and what goes on there. I feel like I've barely begun to scratch the surface. But you need to try this out for yourself. It's a challenging read but in an important way. So I hope you give Boy Toy a chance.

My favorite part (page 228-229):

"See, forgiveness doesn't happen all at once. It's not an event-- it's a process. Forgiveness happens while you're asleep, while you're dreaming, while you're in line at the coffee shop, while you're showering, eating, farting, jerking off. It happens in the back of your mind, and then one day you realize that you don't hate the person anymore, that your anger has gone away somewhere. And you understand. You've forgiven them. You don't know how or why. It sneaked up on you. It happened in the small spaces between thoughts and in the seconds between ideas and blinks. That's where forgiveness happens. Because anger and hatred, when left unfed, bleed away like air from a punctured tire, over time and days and years.

Forgiveness is stealth.

At least, that's what I hope."

Highly recommended! Now in paperback!

Dopesick Review

Dopesick by Walter Dean Myers



Lil J is in more trouble than he can handle when a drug deal with his associate Rico goes wrong and before he knows it, he's running for his life after Rico shoots the cop. Shot in the arm, tired and scared, Lil J ducks into an abandoned crackhouse looking for sanctuary. What he finds is a young man named Kelly with a TV and a remote that can show Lil J his past, present and future. Lil J begins to tell Kelly his story as they wait for night to pass and Kelly keeps pushing Lil J asking, why why why?

The novel is a conversation, it's a moment, it's a time machine, it's a lot of different things happening all at once connected by sparse prose, true-to-life speech that becomes it's own kind of poetry.

Dopesick basically occurs over one night but it is not about one night, it's about a lifetime, many lifetimes and the choices we make based on our situation, our beliefs and the reality of the community around us and how it shapes our lives. There is also an underlying theme of personal responsibility and how Lil J ended up in this place is a result of his own actions and choices.

Lil J is 17 and his life has been hard. He's poor, his mom is always drunk and sick, his dad is gone, his baby mama's mother won't let him see his own son, the schools gave up on him and along with being dopesick he is broke-sick. Lil J knows that more money can break this cycle so he's always hustling, looking for a job, or trying to look except when the drugs get in the way and other distractions take him down. The problem is Lil J may be more of a user than he's willing to admit.

This is a gritty look at the life of some teenagers and it could be anywhere, not just Harlem. What I liked about this book was that it focused on Lil J but it was also a meta-view about how beliefs just ingrained inside of you can lead you to make the decisions you make. The belief that you were born to be a certain way or maybe a self-fulfilling prophecy, how this can lead to a slippery slope into a life you never meant to have. That was the universal message for me, that could apply to anyone's situation.

Kelly is the secondary character in this story, someone we never really get to know. I had my theories about him but they never quite panned out and the ending just left me more intrigued about what was really going on. Kelly pushes Lil J to answer the real questions, to look deep inside of himself and just talk to find the right solution. Unfortunately in this book there are no easy answers and I found myself asking questions right until the end. Everything that happens is open to interpretation. I have my own thoughts but I don't want to spoil you more than I already have.

For all of the drug use, the violence and the other adult aspects of Lil J's life the book is surprisingly clean. I don't remember any really bad words and nothing is described in a graphic way (which is why I'm still trying to imagine what "skin-popping" is like).

I looked at the book jacket cover about halfway through the book (because when it's Walter Dean Myers you don't really have to know what it's about before you pick it up!) and it says, "Walter Dean Myers weaves elements of magical realism into a harrowing story about drug use, violence, alternate perceptions of reality, and second chances."

What struck me about that sentence was magical realism, which is an element of literature that's very interesting to me. Wikipedia says, "Magic realism, or magical realism, is an artistic genre in which magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or even "normal" setting."

The magical realism in this book is very subtle but the great thing about magical realism is that you don't think twice about whatever that "magical" component may be because the world of the story just accepts it so you do too. I think this was achieved in Dopesick.

Now this book may not be everyone's cup of tea. It's not full of action or plot or descriptions or things like that but it's a reflection of Lil J's life, of your life, of the life of people you may never know or someone who lives right down the block. It's a quick read but it will stay with you and keep you thinking about Lil J's life and your own life and the choices you make.

Highly recommended. For something different you need to give this a try.

My Life as a Rhombus Review

Note to Self: Do not return the book to the library until you've written the review. LOL


My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson


Rhonda Lee has one more year in high school and she has her head on straight. There is no room for distraction as she works her way towards a full scholarship at her dream school Georgia Tech. Rhonda is a smart girl with an affinity for math and she uses her talents to tutor kids after school. Despite her strict "no high schoolers" rule Rhonda is forced to tutor Sarah Gamble, a pretty, popular girl at her prep school whom Rhonda's despises. As Rhonda spends more time with Sarah she soon realizes that they share the same secret. Sarah's pregnant just like Rhonda was three years ago.

This book is exactly the type of book I love to read. First of all I'm a big fan of "problem" novels and teenage pregnancy is a huge issue. But this novel is about much more than a couple of teenage pregnancies. It's about friendship, love, honesty, forgiveness, father-daughter relationships and there's a few other themes you could glean from the pages. The writing is crisp abd inviting. The characters and dialogue are vibrant and believable. The geometry framing of the novel just blew my mind. Trigonometry started to come back to me! Congruent angles and all of that.

Most of all, the book is about suburban black teenagers which I really enjoy, coming from that type of background. But this is a book anyone can relate to, no matter where you come from. This is evidenced by the fact the book is written by a man who has never been pregnant or a teenage girl. Rhonda's voice is so strong through out the novel, so authentic, and that's what really drew me in. You can see all the sides of Rhonda, the cracks her facade before she even realizes it. The multilayeredness of the narrative is impressive and enriching.

Rhonda's various relationships were the heart and soul of the story. It was heartbreaking to learn how Rhonda's relationship with her dad changed after her pregnancy and you could tell there was a lot of love between them even though her dad was lacking with the physical affection. The way this changed throughout the book was one plot point that kept me turning the pages. Rhonda and Sarah become fast friends, bonded by circumstance, but Sarah's brother David really steals the show as Rhonda develops some serious feelings for him and finds that they are reciprocated. The romance between Rhonda and David and tender but most importantly, honest. Rhonda experiences a lot of temptation when she falls for David and this is a main component of her inner struggles.

Teenage pregnancy is no stranger to YA literature and it's always interesting to see how it plays out. This novel provides an compelling view of abortion and how it could affect someones view of the future. There is no preaching in this book and personal opinions about abortion are expressed only though the characters. I thought the book did a great job as coming off a neutral but at the same time it didn't shy away from the thoughts and feelings that could occur for a young woman in this situation. I really appreciated this sensitive portrayal.

Not only was the book sad and heartfelt and touching but it was also funny and I found myself rooting for quite a few people except for Sarah Gamble's mother. I really recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a fine example of YA lit across all cultures and topics. I'm really happy I got a chance to read it.

The paperback version I read has a great discussion section in the back so make sure to check that out. I wanted to quote something but I returned the book! So you'll just have to go read it.

Purge by Sarah Daer Littman

Here's another book review:

Purge by Sarah Daer Littman

Janie Ryman can hardly believe her life when she ends up a Golden Slopes, a psychiatric in-patient treatment facility. For two years, Janie has been bulimic and it finally catches up with her one night at her sister's wedding. Inside Golden Slopes Janie describes the conflict between the Barfers (bulimics) and the Starvers (anorexics) and how they all co-exist among the Generally Psycho (others). Janie has a lot to learn about her eating disorder and herself but at Golden Slopes she finds her way to the path of recovery.

This was a surprisingly funny book. It had a lot of laughs and energy, especially at the beginning.
Towards the end, the book loses some momentum but at the same time you have to keep going because you really want to know what happened. It's told in the first person from Janie's point of view, punctuated by her journal entries which are used to further illustrate her emotion and what happened in her past to land her at Golden Slopes. Writing about recovering from an eating disorder is always a tricky thing and I felt like it was handled well in the book. Janie's obsession with purging as a substitute for dealing with emotions and other things is very believable. There is not much stilted preaching about what an eating disorder can do to your body, though there is some. I think the book does a good job of dealing with the warped thinking that a person with an eating disorder might have.

It's an honest book. However, it did not keep my full attention the whole time like I wanted it to. The ending was sort of anticlimactic and rushed which made it unsatisfying. I was glad when I finally got to learn what happened at the wedding but I did not like the way that information was delivered. It was kind of hard to keep track of all the characters.

Overall, the writing was nice and the characters were all very witty. Recommended if you like books about eating disorders. I would also recommend Perfect by Natasha Friend for another good book about someone suffering from bulimia.

Night Hoops Review

Night Hoops by Carl Deuker

Nick Abbott is a player and he knows it. He bleeds basketball and he's ready for the chance to prove it on the court as part of the Bothell High varsity basketball team. Once the basketball court is laid down in his back year Nick is out there every day, practicing and focusing on his game. It's a necessary distraction from all the fighting in his house and the commotion with the new neighbors across the street. The family has a boy Nick's age, Trent Dawson, who is not the type of person his parents want him associating with. However, Nick learns that Trent is also a player and in order to keep his basketball team together he has to help Trent try to help himself.

I really adored this book from start to finish. Nick Abbott is an instantly likable character who leaps off the page. After the first page I knew I was reading an authentic, well-written novel. I was so inside Nick's head that I cringed and covered my eyes whenever he made his stupid mistakes in basketball practice. I really felt his confusion, loneliness, doubt and triumph.

The book had a cheerful cast of characters including Trent, Nick's family, and some of his teammates. The author does an excellent job portraying the basketball team without overwhelming the reader with too many names and little things to remember about everyone. He uses the varsity team coach to pull everything together and the atmosphere of the locker room tells the reader everything they need to know about how the team is feeling and functioning.

The plot is jam-packed with basketball, family troubles, mystery, embarrassment and bad behavior but it is all weaved together artfully and keeps the story moving. There is a real sense of growth with Nick, Trent and the entire basketball team. The end will have you cheering like you were actually there. All of the scenes on the court are full of heart-stopping excitement, masterfully described so that a layperson with no background in basketball can enjoy it as well as those who are more familiar with the sport. It's a difficult task to vary sentences and describe shots so that it all sounds different each time but Deuker rises to the occasion through many basketball games and scores a slam dunk.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this book if you're looking for a strong YA novel from an authentic male point of view, especially if you want to read a sports novel. It's not scandalous, but it is very solid. The basketball scenes might bore people who aren't into basketball though but I still think you should give it a try.

The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin

It took me a while to get through this book, not because it wasn't good but because it was LONG. But I finished it today so here's my review.

The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin

Brian Hammett's life hasn't been the same since his girlfriend Amanda Daine was gunned down last summer along with her mother and little brother. Now Amanda's dad is on trial and Brian tries to put the whole thing out of his mind by focusing on his basketball game and leading his team, the Warriors, to a championship victory. However, Brian can't shake the nagging feeling he's had ever since he noticed a jogger in his cul-de-sac on the day of the morning. An intense school project and the unlawful arrest of his best friend keep Brian thinking about justice and what he can do personally to make sure that Amanda's murderer is caught.

This book is jam-packed with plot so it's hard to summarize it in one neat little paragraph. This is a suspense novel but it is so much more. It's also a sports novel, a psychological novel, sort of a romance novel, an adventure novel, a murder mystery, a law novel, a history novel... there are so many aspects to the story that it's no wonder the book spans over 300 pages.

The main character Brian is complex, instantly likeable, a real leader through and through, someone you can root for. His journey is wrapped up in the personal well-being of his teammates and even the entire town. He has a lot of responsibility and seeing him struggle with all that is demanded of him is the heart of the story.

Brian has to work on a history project with outsider Todd about Leo Frank, a man who was accused of murdering a 13 year old girl and charged guilty when he was actually innocent. It's a witchhunt of sorts that occurs in Atlanta, Georgia in 1913. This historical mystery runs in parallel to the Daine murder trial that is happening in the present. Alphin devotes a lot of time to explaining this case through the eyes of Brian and Todd, who have to tell the class what lessons we can learn from this moment in time. The Leo Frank case is the catalyst for Brian to re-examine his own role in finding Amanda's killer.

The characterization, the dialogue, the action is very realistic and enjoyable. The teammates, the school, parents and other authority figures are different, well-rounded and familiar in all the best ways. The basketball scenes are a highlight of this book, very cinematic and easy to understand for the sports-challenged but also vivid for those who are familiar with basketball. I just adored them, especially since the games matched the mental anguish that Brian is experiencing at the time.

There is a compelling sub-plot with Julius, Brian's best friend who is growing up a black man in a predominantly white neighborhood. He's arrested for no reason in some other white neighborhood and it really shakes him up. I think the author does a fine job exploring Julius' realization of the role race has in this world and also how his white classmates have trouble understanding his new attitude. It's very interesting to watch it play out.

Like I said before, the book is long. I feel like the beginning drags because it's basically a day by day look at Brian's life over several days and the reader is sort of beat over the head by the "perfect shot" theme of the book. Also, some of the discussions about Leo Frank get a little lengthy. It feels like scenes that the author wrote that are really great to read but in the end should have been left on the cutting room floor. However, by the middle of the book things are moving nicely and the end is just a speeding train. I think the book could have been paced more evenly but the extra stuff is not bad.

There's so much to talk about in this book I can barely put it all into words. What I can suggest is that you this book a try. I promise that most likely you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Basketball (or Something Like it) by Nora Baskin

Basketball (or Something Like it) by Nora Baskin

I don't feel like trying to write a formal review. This was a cute story about four sixth graders named Hank, Jeremy, Nathan and Annabel who are all involved with the crazy, "competitive" sixth grade travel team. The parents are obsessed with having their own kid as a starter and all the kids learn about team work is wearing matching basketball shoes somehow makes you a team.

It's a very funny story. I think parents should read it to see how ridiculous they can look. The POV is really weird but whatever, you can overlook that for the humor and the good feeling behind the story. The way the four main characters come together is kind of contrived but they make a good team. It's a shame that we didn't get to experience their foursome for longer in the book. But hey, it's a short book. Give it to your middle school aged siblings if they are into sports. There are a few swear words but nothing worse than damn and ass.


Okay, on to the next book!

Thaw by Monica Roe

Well not like... ever in my life. But ever on this blog. So yaaaaaaaaaaay!




Thaw by Monica Roe




Thaw is the chilly story of Dane Rafferty, a star skier, model son, budding intellectual, laid-back boyfriend and a new victim of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Dane thought nothing could knock him off his skis until this inexplicable disease takes him down. Now, Dane finds himself completely paralyzed. However the disease reverses itself and 75% of patients make a full recovery. Now all Dane can do is wait and work his way out of paralysis as his body repairs itself little by little.



Dane recovers at a rehabilitation center in Florida filled with crazy characters including many people who are much worse off than Dane, far away from his family and friends in upstate New York. Dane has always been strong and he figures he can power his way through this new crisis in his life but soon he realizes that his recovery will be far from easy.

This story sparkles with descriptive language, witty dialogue, cutthroat emotion and the strong physical sense of a world so different from most of our own experiences. Author Monica Roe works as a physical therapist and her first hand knowledge of the recovery process for people with neurological disorders so that the therapy session, triumphs and set-backs feel very real. There is something to appeal to every reader such as medical drama, romance, gritty sports competitions and nature discoveries.

Even with the first person point of view Dane is not an easy character to like. As soon as he can talk he is barking orders at his well-meaning nurse, Letitia and rudely refusing to listen to his tough physical therapist Anya. It isn't until occupational therapist Joel enters the scene that the reader sees Dane might have an ounce of caring in his body, though he tries hard not to show it.

As the novel evolves day by day we see Dane's struggles and also get a glimpse into Dane's life before the accident, when he was on top of the world, king of his domain. Dane is a highly talented and intelligent guy but he doesn't have much time for people and their messy emotions. As he has to rely on others to do the simplest of daily activities, Dane's tolerance level begins to change.

The book relies on it's intriguing cast of characters along with Dane's believable narration to pull the reader through this difficult journey of recovery, healing and self-discovery. The dynamic between Dane and Joel is one of the highlights of the book especially with Joel being such a fun person in the midst of all the pain and struggle around him. Sometimes the dialogue in the book doesn't ring true, although it is fun to read. Dane finds a sparring partner in 16-year-old Carrisa, the daughter of a coma patient on the floor. Right off the bat, she can match him wit-by-wit but it seems a little too convenient for Dane to find someone else his age who speaks exactly like he does.

Another highlight of the book is the nature apparent throughout the story. Dane's rehab institution is surrounded by wildlife and Dane looks fondly on the adventures he had skiing and hiking and fishing back in upstate New York. It was enjoyable to read about different species and star constellations. There was just this constant sense of place that really helped to drive the story.

Thaw is the perfect title for this novel as we see Dane's frozen existence melt and change in more ways than one. For a down-to-earth story about a jaded young man who has a long journey ahead you should check this book out.