What a Mess

Criminal the book isn't a mess.  But Nikki's life is.  I think about how lucky I am to have been born into a family unlike Nikki's.  My growing up wasn't perfect, no one's life is perfect.  But so many people have so much to overcome.  Nikki's mom is a drug addicted woman who really never took care of her.  She's been in and out of jail.  Nikki's dad was never in the picture, Nikki's stepdad is in prison.  Nikki gets hooked up with an abusive gang member, Dee, who uses her as his get away driver in a murder.  Now Nikki is a criminal, too.  Told from Nikki's POV, again, it is hard not to have sympathy for this girl who has made so many horrible choices.  McVoy can seriously write.  I liked that the ending was up in the air, but not totally up in the air.  It was satisfying.  What a struggle.  I pray for all those who are like Nikki and for those who are victims of people like Nikki as well. 

Another Winner

As I have said before, Terra Elan McVoy is one of those writers that just blows my mind.  All of McVoy's characters are so different and her storylines are so complex and fresh, it just amazes me that the same person who wrote Pure also wrote Criminal and The Summer of Firsts and Lasts and now, In Deep. 
Brynn, from McVoy's First and Lasts, is a competitive swimmer and she gives it all she has and all she is.  It is her obsession.  Her way of being in control of her body and everything in her life.  She doesn't have much time or interest in friends or family.  Her father was a fire fighter, killed on the job and her mother has remarried to a nice guy, but she really doesn't care for him or her mom, one way or another.  She sees her mother as weak, someone who couldn't make it on her own, after the death of her husband.  She sees most everyone as weak.  She is a complex character, who is not unsympathetic, as much as she tries to be.  Pushing herself the way that she does can only end in disaster.  When college swimmers come to practice with her team over the summer things get complicated.  Brynn is on the verge of losing the control she so needs.  Told from her perspective, it's easy to get angry at her, but hard to dislike her.  Great, great book.  McVoy has another winner.  Due out later this year. 

Getting Lost in a Book

Being Friends with Boys is Terra Elan McVoy's fourth book.  Pure was wonderful.  I loved After the Kiss.  The Summer of Firsts and Lasts was terrific.  I find it really amazing when an author can craft all of these worlds, all of these different people and they aren't all the same.  It is like McVoy has a ton of people in her mind and she just brings them to life.  Even though her books are super long, I love them and will continue to read them as they come out.
This is one of those books that you can just get lost in its world.  It has a "lesson" but its not in your face.  Being Friends with Boys is the story of Char who is, well, friends with boys.  She plays in a boy band, she confides in her guy friends, studies with them, has a boy best friend.  It can be complicated, but getting to meet her girl friends, you can't blame Char for favoring guy friends over girls.  Char begins as the manager of the band Sad Jackal, made up of her guy friends Trip, Oliver and Abe.  As school begins, things begin to get complicated, Trip is out of the band.  He and Oliver had a falling out.  Char and Trip try to remain friends, but it becomes very difficult when Sad Jackal takes on new members and Char begins to date guys.  The book is all about relationships and real life and it is quite entertaining and lovable.  

Summer Story

The Summer of Firsts and Lasts is, obviously, another summer book.  It has the most amazing, albeit distracting, cover.  It's the story of summer camp, which I have never gone to actually. Reading this really doesn't make me want to go to summer camp.  I am not the camp type.  I am not the share-a-bathroom type.  I am not the get-out-of-your-comfort-zone type.  Well I don't know...maybe I am now.  But I definitely wasn't when I was in high school.
This is the story of three sister, Calla, Violet and Daisy.  Word or warning, they have lots of nicknames for each other and at times I was confused!
The girls have been going to camp for a long time.  This is Calla's fourth year and she is now working in the office.  She'll be headed off to Smith in the fall.  Violet will be a senior and I think Daisy is going to be a sophomore or junior in the fall.  Calla is UBER CAMP GIRL!  In love with all things camp.  Violet is more the skeptic and borderline rebel, and Daisy is introspective and a bit of a loner.  The three weeks they spend together at camp is full of well, firsts and lasts.  The ending took a turn that I didn't see coming at all.  But it really made the book a success.  First heartbreak, first sexual experience, etc.  It's a long book, more than 400 pages, but it is a good one, especially for summer.

All kinds of pure

Book publishers can be really smart about some things. One wicked-smart thing is putting an excerpt from another book by the same author in the back of a book. That's how I found out about Pure. After I finished After the Kiss, which I did enjoy, but not enough that I was going to run out and read another book by McVoy right away. But as soon as I read the excerpt from Pure in the back of After I put that book on hold at the library.

Even though I have a giant stack of books to read I just couldn't start in on a new one the way I usually do after I finished Pure. I needed to just think about it. It was one of the best books I've read this year. If you aren't familiar with The Silver Ring thing, it might help to quickly google it before you read this book. Tabitha has a tight knit group of friends: her best friend, Morgan, best friends Cara and Naeomi and Pree, who is kinda the tag a long new friend. Tab, Morgan, Cara and Naeomi have all participated in a Silver Ring Thing-esque thing when they were in eighth grade during which they promised God and themselves and their families that they would remain sexually pure until marriage. When one of the girls goes back on this promise it threatens the whole group. Some of the questions raised in the book are what exactly is sexual immorality? What does forgiveness look like between friends, between a person and God? Should faith be talked about in school? What about the differences between churches and denominations? Between entire religions? Does one have to see everything as black and white or are their shades of gray? Being a very, what some would call liberal, but I just call 'followin' Jesus', Christian, I was delighted by the theological messages in this book. I shouldn't then go around and and start judging, but I'd bet my Judy Garland Fan Club Membership that this book wouldn't be found in a Christian school, even though though it should be. I loved the comparisons between Morgan's church and Tab's church, and their respective youth group leaders. I loved that the book mentioned the Tab's pastor's sermons. I loved, of course, that one of the pastors at Tab's church was a woman! I loved the complexity of the issues and I loved the ending. This book was one of the most realistic, right on portrayals of faith and doubt and the diverse Christian community. There are so many teens asking these very same questions, experiencing these very same things. Fantastic book for Christians of all denominations and non- Christians alike.

Kisses We Remember

After the Kiss was a big book. Nearly 400 pages. Still it seemed to move much more slowly than I thought it would and hoped it would. When I finished it, though, I realized that it took longer because it was all written in poetry. It just takes awhile to go through books written like that, well it takes ME awhile anyway. This book is told from the point of view of two girls and the one gal doesn't use capital letters and I'm the kind of person who uses capital letters in my text messaging so I found that a bit annoying and it was hard for me to follow. Still I thought After was a good book, worth reading. The voices of the teens were authentic, even though both girls seemed wiser than the average 17 year old, or maybe the average 17 year old is just wiser than I am when it comes to love. Becca and Camile both live in suburbs of Atlanta and they never really get to know each other at all but they have a lot in common. The most obvious commonality is Alec. Alec and Becca are a hot item. Camile is a new girl in town. Camile's new boyfriend is Alec. But but the problem is, Becca doesn't know that. I have spent my time in every role in this triangle of disaster and I appreciated the the author's realistic portrayal of the emotions that each member of the love triangle experiences. I almost appreciated them too much as I found myself a bit sad in places, remembering. I need a funny book next, with a touch of serial killer thrown in for good measure. The latest from Dexter is up next!