Perks

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a book I had intended to read for a long time, but I guess I just thought it was too trendy or too cool or too something.  I was very wrong.  This is an incredibly sweet story.  I love this book.  While some have commented that Charlie, the main character, is too young to to really be 15, I don't think so.  There are some 15 year olds who are sweet and caring and sensitive. Charlie is one of them.  The story is told in letter form.  Charlie writes to someone we don't know or meet and writes from the heart, honestly.  And it is lovely.  What a wonderful book about growing up, the good and the bad.
Okay so I admit, I wrote this review when I was about 1 hour from the end of the audiobook.
Now that I finished it, what a joke. This is not the book I thought it was. The ending is just so not good. It is just so bad. Unbelievable and it ruined the book for me completely with its bizarre conclusion. I feel cheated and manipulated and foolish.

I'll Follow the Sun

is a Beatles song.  I'll Give You the Sun is a book.  A long book.  I read it because of the Printz buzz around it.  I actually bought the MP3 CD because it wasn't available at the time as a download.  The thing is, on a CD you can't speed up the playback... and at first, that was okay!
This is a very engaging book.  It is told from two POVs, twins, a brother and a sister.  Art factors big-time in the book as does sexuality.  I really liked this book, but I feel like the editors did it a disservice by not editing more.  It just went on a bit too long.  Way too long for me, but for the normal person, probably just a bit too long. I don't see this as winning the Printz and I can't see a lot of readers sticking with it.  I had broken up with so many books recently,  that I felt I had to finish it.  But in the end it went on so long that I found myself not caring what happened to the characters, and that is a shame.

So Many Songs

about trouble.  Here, here, here, and I am sure that there are more.   Those are all great songs, but non really compare to the greatness of the book Trouble by the incredible Gary D. Schmidt.
Incredible.  I know I seem to say that about a lot of books lately, but that's because I have just discovered some really incredible authors. These books are totally out of my usual go-to-i-like-this-kind-of-book box.  That's what reading and reading and reading did to me.  Before I started writing this blog, I never would have picked up a book like Here Lies the Librarian, Tiltawhirl John, Graceling, The Orange Houses and so many more.
In Trouble we meet the Smith family from Massachusetts, the very definition of WASPs.  But not in a stereotypical way.  Schmidt is an incredible author and I don't think he is capable of resorting to stereotyping in his writing.  I was sure that the family would be cold and heartless, but no, they really weren't.  They were real people.

I don't want to recap what happens, just read the goodreads summary, but right after that, read the book. Incredible.

If You're Still within the Sound of My Voice

So this is one of the best songs ever.  And Glen Campbell has had some great ones.  This is the last book in the Secret Language of Girls trilogy.  I read the first one a long time ago and the second one since I've been doing the blog.  I highly recommend this series, but read them in order.  The friendship of Marilyn and Kate has changed as much as the girls have changed individually.  This was a very satisfying end to the series, told with the usual wisdom by the talented Frances O'Roark Dowell.  My only criticism of Dowell is that she wrote more! 

Fish Story

When I was a little girl, I won a goldfish as my elementary school Fun Day. This little dude lasted a really long time! I know I still had him in eighth grade. I know that is weird. But I am sure that he wasn't replaced, like the goldfish in The Fourteenth Goldfish. My parents hated that fish! They couldn't wait for him to die! I'm not sure why, because I did take care of him. I know that my cats enjoyed looking at him, too.

But that is neither here nor there.

The title of The Fourteenth Goldfish refers to the whole goldfish drama that Ellie went through, or didn't have to go through, rather, over goldfish. When Ellie was in preschool she had a rather progressive teacher and at the end of the year she gave all of the students a goldfish. The thing was, goldfish aren't supposed to live very long and their death would teach the children about the circle of life. Ellie's goldfish didn't teach her that though, because her fish never died. Her parents kept replacing it! Very clever.

The Fourteenth Goldfish is written by Jennifer L. Holm who also wrote, Turtle in Paradise, which I absolutely loved.   This book is kind of like the Intergalatic Bed and Breakfast series in that it is science fiction, but it good, meaty, growing-up stuff within its pages as well!  TFG is a growing up story, and a funny one.  Ellie's grandfather is a scientist who has found the Fountain of Youth, in the form of a jellyfish.  Instead of being a guy in his late 70s, he is now a young teen again.  Is that good, or is it bad?  There is a lot to be learned in this book, about growing up and moving on, about being more than you thought you could be.  It's about fathers and daughters and loss and the circle of life.  It's about science and art and the in between.  But it is hilarious and not preachy and not predictable.  I really, really loved this book and will find it very easy to recommend!  I was excited to get this on netgalley and look forward to its release! 

How much misery has there been? Is there still?

Before We Were Free taught me a lot.  It is the story of Anita, living in the Dominican Republic near the end of the reign of Rafael Trujillo, whom I had never heard of, I am embarrassed to say.  This book won the Pura Belpré Award in 2004, instead of the Newbery, of course, no shock there.  That went to The Tale of Despereaux, which I have not read...but come on, not even a Newbery Honor to BWWF?  Olive's Ocean got an Honor that year....really?   And this didn't?  Feels like 1954 to me.  This was the first book I've ever read by Julia Álveraz but it won't be my last.  Incredible.

Blooming

It is spring.  Western Pennsylvania had a pretty cold and snowy winter, for Western Pennsylvania.  But today, it does really feel like spring.  Bloomability is not a real word, but it should be.  While the cover is quite ugly, the book is quite good.  What can you expect from Sharon Creech, though?  This lady makes magic every time she touches a pen to paper, or fingers to a keyboard, whatever way, it doesn't matter.  She has become one of my favorite writers.  What I think I particularly love about Ms. Creech is that she makes me love books that I usually wouldn't even think to read.  I remember first reading Love that Dog so many years ago.  I was NOT a poetry chick.  But wow.
The same thing goes for Bloomability.  It isn't set in the US!  I rarely enjoy books not set in the US, because I rarely read them, but still, when I do, I do not enjoy them at all.  Bloomability takes place in an international boarding school in Switzerland.  Here is some information about boarding schools in Switzerland!
Dinnie is a girl from the US who has a dad who is one of those adventurer-type dads.  The dad who is always looking for the a "great opportunity" and doesn't provide much stability to his family.  He is a good guy though, a free spirit and I love the way that Creech doesn't put him down.  He is always moving on for the next big thing and then his family follows after him.  Dinnie's older sister gets married when she is in high school, has a baby.  Her older brother is in and out of jail.  Dinnie's mom is a good lady, too.  But when the chance for a "great opportunity" opens up for Dinnie, she makes her take it, giving Dinnie and opportunity that she wouldn't have otherwise.  Dinnie's mom's sister is married to a man who has become the new headmaster at an American/International boarding school in Switzerland.  Dinnie can go to the school for free.
I am embarrassed that I didn't know that Italy and Switzerland were so close!  There is even a language called Swiss-Italian!
So this is a coming-of-age story, a respectful tale of difference families and lifestyles, a story of international relations on a personal scale, and just wow, a great little book.

Sister from another mother

Sisters/Hermanas was an audiobook that I bought and read from audible.  I knew it would be worth it because, of course, it is Gary Paulsen and everything he has written is worth it.  This is a thought-provoking, sad and memorable little book.  The audio is done first in English and then in Spanish.
It is story of two girls, one a prostitute, from Mexico, in the US illegally.  Another a rich caucasian girl living the "ideal" life.  Their differences are huge and their similarities are there when you look.  One of those books you need to read.

There is a lot to love...(warning, some spoilers)

There's a lot to love about One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva.  First of all, if you aren't Armenian or Armenian-American, you will learn about the Armenian culture.  You will also learn about the Armenian Genocide, which everyone should know about, but not enough people do.  I watched My Big, Fat Greek Wedding this weekend, when I happened to be reading this book and I was thinking about the Armenians' feelings toward the Turks when the grandmother in MBFGW was accusing everyone of being a Turk and cursing them.  I love a book that teaches something, especially when it isn't done in an obvious or heavy-handed way.  It just makes the book so much more interesting and worthwhile. 
You will also learn about Rufus Wainwright, but I am probably one of the few people left in the world who had heard his name, but was unfamiliar with his music.  Not anymore, thanks to One Man Guy, as now I have listened and his music is awesome! 
SPOILER COMING UP.  Another thing I loved, loved, loved about this book is that faith is involved and not in the stereotypical, Christian-bashing kinda way that some YA books present faith.  The main character, Alek, goes to church with his family and he and his family are not homophobic!  Yes, indeed!  Just like that one guy...you know, Jesus, who wasn't homophobic either!  I loved, loved that Barakvia made Alek's parents realistic, just like all of the characters in this book.  No stereotypes here at all. 
One Man Guy is truly funny, original, realistic and beautiful.  What a great, great book.  One of the best that I have read this year.  I hope that Barakiva continues to write for teens.  And I hope that Alek and Ethan live happily ever after! 

Mockingbirds

One of the best books I read last year was Sure Signs of Crazy, in which Harper Lee's classic, To Kill a Mockingbird plays a major role in the life of the main character.   Because I had such a great affection for Sure Signs, I was attracted to I Kill the Mockingbird.  Also, the cover is pretty fantastic.  I got the eARC from netgalley and for that I am most grateful.
I Kill the Mockingbird was a very different book.  Very original.  I'm not entirely sure I caught all of the meaning in it, but I am entirely sure I enjoyed it.
The main character, Lucy, is heading into high school, along with her best friends Elena and Michael.  Inspired by their recently deceased teacher, the three of them decide to experiment with summer reading.  They decide to hide as many copies of To Kill a Mockingbird as possible.  To create some buzz, to start something new, to inspire people to read the book, to become literary terrorists, I am not entirely sure why.  But it is all very captivating and different and cool and new.
There's so much more to this book, also.  Lucy's mom has just had an awful battle with cancer and has survived.  Lucy and Michael are testing the waters as far as what it means to move from friends to "more than friends" and all of them are concerned about moving from middle school to high school in the fall.
A beautiful, sweet little book.   Highly recommended.

Character-driven Dystopian

I saw someone on goodreads describe The Age of Miracles in this way.  That's why I don't really call this blog a book review site.  It isn't.  I can't review books well at all.  The reader who posted that was right on...this book is about the slowing of the earth's rotation and the way that life changes and all of that, but it is even more so about Julia, a wonderful, wonderful, real character.  Even though the world is changing drastically around her, she must suffer through all of that, PLUS the normal misery of being twelve and thirteen.  I thought at first this was kind of a Last Survivors deal but no, it is a totally different type of book.  Loved the ending.  Loved the writing.  Loved it.  Thanks, Char, for the recommendation.

Horror Story

Yeah, Because I am Furniture is a horror story, for real.  It is realistic horror.  And horror like this happens every day and that makes it even more horrific.  Anke's father is super abusive.  A true monster.  But there is more Anke.  I just love her.  She is fighter and real and just a true hero.  Powerful book.  Very. 

Worst Cover Ever

Man.  I mean I thought that there were some bad Gary Paulsen covers before, but the one for Tiltawhirl John has to be the worst.  Even the font is terrible.  Terrible.  Terrible.
But the book is great.  I have always been fascinated by carnies and the carnival.
I don't know how much of this is true to what Gary Paulsen experienced when he ran away and joined the circus as a teen, but it all reads just like real life.  Fascinating.  Excellent.
HORRIBLE COVER.

Scoot....Scoot (Warning: Spoilers)

Some of the characters that Greg draws can be seen "scooting" in his cartoons.  I like that word.  I must use it more often.  I can't remember if there were any scooters in The Ugly Truth, but I do remember that this was a very enjoyable addition to the series.  Rowley and Greg are not friends through most of this book and that is sad, but the good news is, they patch things up at the end.  I was just talking to a woman who is reading The Third Wheel right now and we were discussing Greg's and Rowley's friendship.  Greg knows he needs Rowley, probably more than Rowley needs him, but they are the cutest friends!  Greg learns a lot of ugly truths in this book, as his Grammie has "THE TALK" with him and tells him of the horrors of getting old.  The best part was the wedding toast at Uncle Gary's fourth wedding.  Hilarious!  I wonder if Uncle Gary will get married again before the series is over.

Just Didn't Wow Me

So I do love Gary Paulsen, that is clear, but Masters of Disaster is one of those boys-only books, maybe.  On the audio, and maybe in the book, I can't remember, Paulsen says that the book started out as a series in the magazine Boys' Life.  I can totally see this being super popular for boys.  It just didn't wow me, but maybe that's because I'm not a tween boy!  Still, funny and a good one to recommend.  Three friends decide that a great way to embrace their manhood and boldly go where no one else has gone before, and become popular with girls, is to embark upon some crazy stunts.  I don't know what they would say to the girls if they ever became popular with them, because they still are in that cute, awkward stage where girls seem to both mystify and scare them, and that's part of what makes this book so appealing.  Funny, and true to life.

Scary Dolls, Again!

The Doll Bones is another scary doll book! But I am not sure if this doll is haunted or not.  I just don't know if the magic was real magic-magic, I do think it might be.  This is a growing up story.  A death of childhood kinda thing...but it is hopeful.  And just magical.  This is a possible Newbery, too.  Three kids, on the verge of beings teens.  Two girls and guy and a journey to put a dead girl's soul to rest.  It made me wonder if the legends in the book are true.  But I can't find anything about it when I google!

Preacher's Pet

Yeah, I know that isn't the song.  But anyway, A Fine White Dust is the story of Pete who falls for the Man.  The Preacher Man, a traveling preacher who comes into his town and just does something to Pete.  Pete is the only one in his family who is serious about God.  And the Man brings up a passion for the Lord even more fervent, in Pete.  And while Pete loves the Lord, it seems that it's the Man that Pete finds most fascinating.  This is a good, good, honest story.  About growing up, self-discovery, faith, all of that good stuff, told so well by Cynthia Rylant, who always makes me think.  A good, solid, short story, no excess words.  Just really well done.

Simply the Best

or at least one of the very best I have ever read.  Coaltown Jesus is theology done right.  Walker asks for help from God when his brother dies and he and his mom are having a tough time of it.  He asks God to help his mom, who runs a nursing home and is just so beaten down by the death of her eldest son, I think the death was drug-related, but when Jesus actually show up, he ends up helping both Walker and his mom.  Amazing, amazing book.  Wonderful.  Wonderful.  I can't say enough.  This was the first book I read by Ron Koertge but it won't be my last.

How I Love Cars...

And how I loved The Car by Paulsen.  When you know a little bit about Paulsen's life, you can really see it come through in his writing.  Terry has been neglected by his parents and when they both just up and leave, each thinking that the other is at home with Terry, Terry's life really has just begun.  In the garage is a kit car, a Bearcat, which I really didn't know anything about until I read this book and Terry puts it together and heads west, maybe to see an uncle he once met who seemed kinda nice.  On the way he meets an old hippie, who had a bad run in Vietnam and the two of them meet up with another vet and man, Terry really learns about real life now.  Just a great, great, great book.

Something Special

Okay for Now as a book that I tried to read many times before but I just couldn't get into it.  This time I had to read it for work and I was dreading it so much because of all of my failed attempts.  Once I made it through the first chapter, however, I fell in love with Doug and the whole book.  It is set in the tiny town of Marysvile, NY in 1968 and 1969.  Doug is the youngest son of a sweet mom and an abusive dad.  He also has two older brothers, one at war in Vietnam and another a trouble maker who reminded me a lot of the older brother in Troublemaker.  There is just so much in this book.  It is about families and growing up and finding yourself and it is very much about the times in which the book is set.  A fantastic story.