realistic fiction – Peaceful Reader

2 Excellent YA Stories

I recently went on a YA craze so I could vote for Iowa Teen summer reads. I’ve waited all summer looking each time at the library for Eleanor and Park at my closest library and it was always checked out. I got lucky one day and found it sitting there waiting for me.

Eleanor and Park (2013) by Rainbow Rowell

What a fantastic read this is! Eleanor re-enters her family life after having spent the last year living with a family friend. She meets Park on the bus as she makes her way to her new school. Nobody else wants her to sit with them, that awful thing that happens on school buses across the nation when someone new comes to town and they are a little gawky, unusual, or overweight. She’s shunned by everyone but Park as their relationship begins with little more than head nods and small smiles. Eleanor hides her family life from him as much as possible and as a reader my heart went out to her as she attempted to feel comfortable in Park’s “normal” household, with two loving parents and food in the refrigerator. Their relationship blossoms and they are both changed by it. I loved this stark look at how a child from an abusive home and in poverty struggles to maintain just a small glimmer of hope through all that is her regular life. Every character in the story is one you will love (or hate) and you will want their lives to continue even as you turn the last page.

The Raven Boys (2012) by Maggie Stiefvater

I loved Stiefvater’s Shiver series so I’m not sure what took me so long to pick this one up off the shelf. I don’t think I even investigated what it was about yet when it appeared on my teen list to read for the summer I was anxious to read it. Once I started I had trouble putting it down. Work kept getting in the way! Blue is the daughter of the local psychic in Henrietta and their house is filled with a merry group of friends who also dabble in the magical arts. Her relationship with her mother is solid and happy until a group of Aglionby Academy boys enter into Blue’s life. The group of boys led by Gansey are all looking for a ley line that runs through Henrietta. Gansey knows who ever unlocks the ley line will hold it’s power and help him in the search for Glendower the Welsh king. I’m a fan of fantasy and enjoyed all parts of this intricately-woven tale. I wanted to sit at the table in Blue’s house and have my cards read by Maura, Persephone and Calla. I’m now very excited to read The Dream Thieves out September 17-just around the corner.

I would add both titles to my best of YA along with Ask the Passengers and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Have you read any these books? Which one resonated the most for you?

4 New Books to LOVE!

At the beginning of September I challenged myself to read through my big and beautiful, ever-growing pile of ARC’s from Little, Brown and Company. I aimed for ten and finished seven. Here I bring you the top 4 realistic fiction titles to look for.

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King: This was my absolute favorite story. I’m now a huge fan of A.S. King and her coming-of-age, coming-to-grips tale of Astrid Jones. She’s unusual and knows it yet longs for the shelter of a loving family and honest friends. She struggles with her own identity, familial disfunction, her sexuality, and what it means to be a good and true friend. This story is a marvel and Astrid is a character that I think about often. Buy this for your library or a teenager in need. Booklist Online has a very creative interview with A.S. King – read it, it will make you laugh. (ARC provided by Little, Brown, and Company, release date October, 2012)

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher; The Matthews family is broken in every way. Jaime, the youngest, narrates the story of this family’s critical loss. Rose, Jaime’s sister and twin to Jasmine, dies from a terrorist bomb in a local park. Jaime’s mother, trying to heal herself, attends a local grief group, meets someone else and leaves the family. In order to douse the overwhelming pain Jaime’s father drinks. Eventually Jaime, his sister, Jas, and father move to the country to get out of London and away from the Muslim’s. Jaime’s father blames all Muslim’s for the death of his daughter and he emotionally abandons his two living children while grieving for Rose. This book brings out the blanket racism that clouds good judgement as Jaime, in his little country school, befriends a local Muslim girl. This book by debut author Annabel Pitcher is beautifully written with rare wit about a topic that will have people talking. (ARC provided by LBC, August, 2012)

DJ Rising by Love Maia; Music is Marley’s world. With a scholarship to attend a prestigious school and a job busing tables at a hip restaurant he has his hands full just trying to make it on his own. In the midst of his own teenage life he juggles caring for his drug-addicted mother who never recovered from the death of her husband, Marley’s music-loving dad. Marley has two dreams: one is to DJ at a fancy club and the second is that the beautiful Lea Hall will talk to him. When his mother tries to recover, and the DJ world starts to suck Marley in, will he be able to accomplish any of his real goals as he learns to figure out what is most important? This book is well worth reading as you want Marley to triumph over the life he’s been handed and Maia’s lyrical writing make it a quick read. Soundtrack to come according to her website. (ARC provided by LBC, Feb., 2012)

The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney; At first glance this could appear to be a fluff YA chick read but there is much deeper stuff below the surface. Budget cuts leave Julius P. Heil High without a football coach or a team causing several affluent families to take their young players to private schools. With so many young men gone the girls start looking at the second and third tier of eligible guys. The theatre geeks, the band boys, and the stoner dudes suddenly all have a place at the table. Through this new adventure Kelly begins to see her old band-friend, Hunter, in a new light; he could be truly crush-worthy if the plastic girls (the “Spandexers”) can keep their hands off him. I enjoyed this story as it explores high school stereotypes and told through Kelly’s and Hunter’s alternating chapters. Hunter is a boy I would have loved and you will cheer for him as he finds his true voice. Flynn Meaney is also the author of Bloodthirsty. (ARC provided by LBC, August, 2012)

These four easily captured my attention. I have several others still to review including an elementary fiction title and four picture books and I am happy to share these exciting titles. The common denominator is identity which is something teens struggle with whether gay, straight, male, female, rich, or poor and these titles raise awareness for this angst.

Thank you Zoe!! You make my day with your monthly emails.

Jennifer L. Holm did my homework!

Maryland Newsline image-and article

Well, not really but she made it easy. When asked, as part of my UNI Children’s Literature class this summer, to pick an author out of a list of many interesting authors I picked her. Even though she’s been on my radar I haven’t read anything of hers and it was time.

Jennifer had what sounds like an idyllic childhood. Her father was a pediatric doctor and her mother was a nurse. She had four sporty brothers and she did her best to keep up with them. She read voraciously even, as one neighbor noted, she raked the yard. It seems that she easily carried her passions into her desire to write. Each of her young female characters are gutsy and refuse to be pigeon-holed into the idea of women in their time period.

1. Our Only May Amelia (1999) It isn’t easy being a pioneer in the state of Washington in 1899, but it’s particularly hard when you are the only girl ever born in the new settlement. With seven older brothers and a love of adventure, May Amelia Jackson just can’t seem to abide her family’s insistence that she behave like a Proper Young Lady. Not when there’s fishing to be done, sheep to be herded, and real live murderers to be captured! May is sure she could manage better if only there were at least one other girl living along the banks of the Nasel River. An now that Mama’s going to have a baby, maybe there’s hope...(from author website)
This is a quick read filled with fun adventures.Getting to know her brothers, neighbors and relatives was part of the joy of this story. May Amelia is a character I will remember. This book was transformed into a play by the Seattle Children’s Theatre-would love to have seen it.

2. Turtle In Paradise (2010) Life isn’t like the movies, and eleven-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple. She’s smart and tough and seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it’s 1935, and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle’s mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn’t like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida, to stay with relatives she’s never met.
Florida’s like nothing Turtle has ever seen. It’s hot and strange, full of wild green peeping out between houses, ragtag boy cousins, and secret treasure. Before she knows what’s happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she has spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways. (from author website)
While Turtle is another very high-spirited character compared to May Amelia she is very different and world-wise. I loved the beach setting and the very unique Key West culture and language. Her boy cousins and their baby business was hysterical!

3. Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf (2007) Ginny has ten items on her big to-do list for 7th grade. None of them, however, include turning her hair pink. Or getting sent to detention for throwing frogs in class. Or losing the lead role in the ballet recital to her ex-best friend. Or the thousand other things that can go wrong between September and June. But it looks like it is shaping up to be that kind of a year. (from author’s website)
See this is how you know an author is multi-talented…dropping into a whole new genre and doing it well! This is part realistic fiction, part journal and a great peek at middle school. Ginny is brave and bold and can clearly state that her dad died and she’s looking for a new one. This book is filled with fun notes between Ginny and her mom, movie receipts, drug store necessities, homework assignments and all this great middle grade angst.

Babymouse (2005 and beyond) This is a pink comic book (not just for girls though) about a funny little girl mouse who’s in elementary school. I’d like to read the whole set but haven’t yet; the one I read (Heartbreaker) is about going to the Valentine’s Day dance. Babymouse can’t find anyone to take her even though her best friend is available. I have Groovy Girl hooked on these now. This series, to me, defined Jennifer L. Holm as an above average creative force; the mouse put me over the moon!

Jennifer lives in Northern California with her husband and two children, Millie and Will. She loved Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series and now I have this on my radar to read.

Babymouse has her own website-must introduce my students to this!

Listening Library

Andrew Clements is a prolific writer. It seems like he puts out a new book every year and they are always winning state awards. I read Frindle years ago, loved it and recommend it and all his others to many classroom teachers as great read-alouds but I had not kept up with any of his books myself. His books are constantly checked out by students as well so I never felt like I had to work hard at recommending them. Realistic fiction is not my first choice to read and school stories are like what I live everyday so I hadn’t bothered.
Last week when I was browsing quietly at the public library I stopped to look at books on CD and the one that called my name was No Talking! by Mr Clements himself. I put all three CD’s into the Volvo’s player before I backed out and by the time I was home I was enjoying myself. Keith Nobbs does a good job of portraying both male and female’s, young and old. It’s an interesting story. A fifth grade boy, Dave Packer is reading information about Ghandi for a report. Dave is intrigued by Ghandi’s use of silent meditation and Dave decides to give it a try for just one day. In that first day he listens to another classmate, Lynsey, babble on and on and he yells at her (un-Ghandi-like but he is in fifth grade after all). Competitive by nature, both agree to a challenge, thinking the other will automatically lose! What follows is a look into what happens when students step out of their norm and how much learning can occur at school beyond the general subjects. The students surprise themselves!!
Highly recommended for 3rd-5th grade. I loved the references to Ghandi and thought it could lead to good discussion about him and what he stood for!!
This was very enjoyable to listen and I plan on catching up on all my A. Clements school stories by listening in my car.
Click here for Andrew Clement’s website.

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Love is a mixed topic; either you are a believer or not…and perhaps there are certain degrees on each side. Gray areas if you will but Remy Starr, our heroine in This Lullaby is very much a “love is a sham”-kinda person! She is also a just graduated senior on her way to Stanford at the end of summer.
Her mother is preparing for wedding number five when the book opens. Remy keeps the Starr family together while her mother, a Romance Writer(the Barbara Starr), writes and swoons and her brother, Christopher is busy trying to have a regular life.
Remy, finalizing wedding details with the groom, is bumped into by Dexter, a new-in-town musician, looking at well, tires. He repeats their first encounter later that night at Bendo, the local club:

We arrived at the booth in a pack; me, Dexter the musician, and Chloe. I was out of breath, she looked confused but he just slid in next to Jess, offering his hand. “Hi,” he said. “I’m with them.”
Jess looked at me, but I was too tired to do anything but plop into the booth and suck down a gulp of my beer. “Well,” she said, “I’m with them. But I’m not with you. How is that possible?”
“Well,” he said, its actually an interesting story.” No one said anything for a minute. Finally I groaned and said “God, you guys, now he’s going to tell it.”
“See,” he began leaning back into the booth, “I was at this car dealership today, and I saw this girl…”

Dexter continues to relay exactly how he feels about Remy and how that feeling is so, so grand! Remy’s crew of friends giggle and Remy is slumped, embarrassed but this quick repartee between Sarah Dessen’s well-structured characters is just what makes her books so fun and readable. This is not an easy love story just as Remy is not an easy character. She’s complicated, she’s experienced things beyond normal, her world view is a bit skewed but somehow she feels comfortable with long-limbed, shoes-untied bumbling Dexter, once she gives him a chance.

This book is has some wonderful across the spectrum views about love and is very funny-like-laugh-out-loud-funny! I sat by the pool yesterday and read, and I was the only mom, who was reading and laughing at the same time. This is my second Dessen book this summer, I reviewed Someone like you here, and now I’ve gone and purchased her first one, That Summer to round out Kaylee’s collection. I like that Dessen’s books appeal to a wide audience, high school through adults. I asked my 14-year-old son if he would read this book…after a long pause, he said sheepishly, “maybe”.

Enjoy Sarah Dessen’s website/blog here.
Sarah’s social networking page is here-Sarah-land.

Grief for children

An old expired library friend of mine once said something about award books (this one is on the Iowa Children’s Choice list) always being so dreary and this title reflects just that! Oh, sure there is hope at the end and the story is good but the sadness is bang right there in the first three pages.

Summary

While Cara spends the night with her best friend Marlee, her home is destroyed by a fire. When she arrives at the hospital, she discovers her mother, Julia and her little sister, Jane have been killed in the fire. Her father is filled with grief, works late and expects Cara to survive on her own. This 148-page book tells the story of her grief and how she and her father learn to survive together. I enjoyed the friendship between Marlee and Cara until Marlee lets Cara know that she has grieved enough. Marlee wants her “old Cara” back. After getting over her initial shock, Cara finds baking as a way to connect with her mom and eventually with her father. Cara and Marlee’s families are Jewish so many holidays and customs are explained throughout the book and there is a glossary at the back. I did notice the author has a new book out and I look forward to reading it
Recommended for 3rd and 4th grade.

Brenda A. Ferber’s website

Iowa Children’s Choice Awards

Home again, home again, skippity skip!

Love being home after being away. Upon entering my beloved home though I noticed a pet smell that has permeated our home from this new puppy we love! Hmmm-any solutions?? Light more candles, you say-I can do that.

I had a huge stack of mail waiting for me, including several packages! Love packages! One was my new calling cards from Laura Beth @ Happy Girl Greetings!!! Yeahhhh-birthday gift to myself! They are lovely and make me think of Beatrix Potter for some reason, even though there are no small woodland creatures on the card. What they do have on it is my pertinent school and blog information as well as a beautiful antique engraving of two girls-well, ta da- easier to show the card then try to explain it!!!! Isn’t it lovely??

Back to my packages: two more packages contained books:
1. Umbrella Summer
2. Jantzen’s Gift (free, but not an ARC)
3. A script book for my husband even though addressed to me-yes, I was a little let down!

The third package was a birthday greeting from my step-mother, even though she already bought me a dress and sandals. Love her too! Maybe more than my new business cards.

Now to my reading. I finished two more books in Ely after I finished Hungry by Michael Grant.
I read an easy one first: Nory Ryan’s Song by Patricia Reilly Giff. She is a great author who has quite a variety of books. My book club partner at school and I decided to feature Giff in one of student clubs this year. This is the second time I’ve read this book and I liked it even more this time. Nory’s story covers the time in Ireland’s history leading up to the potato famine. I loved how her family tried to stick together and how horrible it is to watch the community crumble around them as food becomes more and more scarce. The language is wonderful and the story is a fast read-perfect combination for a fifth-grade book club offering. I still have eleven by Giff to read as well. If you have not read any Patricia Reilly Giff, give her a try.
Click here for a list of other PRG titles.

The second book I finished was purely for fun. I’ve been reading post after post from other bloggers about Sarah Dessen’s books. I knew I had purchased some of her books for my step-daughter, Kaylee so I asked her if I could (pretty please) borrow them back from her book shelf for awhile. I started with Someone like me and I loved it! What great characters and unique twisting story line Dessen created.
The book describes the friendship between Halley and Scarlett, best friends since forever. Now they are teens and life for them is about boys. We come into the story after Scarlett has dated Michael, a sweet rambling young man. The romance ends when Michael is killed on his motorcycle and Halley is summoned home from some leadership camp she didn’t want to be at anyway. In every conversation these two characters have you are made of aware of their close connection, which makes it really endearing. I loved the likeable scumbag character, Macon; the boy Halley begins to date. The interactions between Halley, Macon and Scarlett are well-written as well as minor typical high school characters like Ginny Tabor. We’ve all known our own version of Ginny, know-it-all, always-causing-trouble, busy-body .
This book made me think of the few fabulous women I’ve been “best” friends with over the years as well as some of my endearing but troubled young boyfriends. Read this book as the book tag says “anyone who’s had a best friend-or a first love-will understand” and I did on both accounts. Sarah Dessen has a great website/blog!

M. Sindy Felin's Touching Snow

I purchased this book for my school library after reading about it on some random blog (wishing now I had kept track of just which blog). Even though the content is more middle school I thought I had fifth graders whowould handle the subject matter.

What is the subject matter your asking? Child abuse and the plight of immigrant families are the overriding themes of this well-written novel. The author does a brilliant job of writing in the voice of an eighth-grade young girl.

The book begins in a startling way, with Karina telling us what it feels like to walk the halls of her school after killing her step-father. I think everyone should read this book; just as I believe all humans should work in the service industry…it is important to know how the world works; really works and this book describes how child abuse works in many families!! Karina has two sisters; Enid and Delta and all three suffer beatings from their large Haitian step-father. Here the three sisters discuss how they are going to save each other as adults:

“We should all make a pact and swear that when we get married, we’ll never let our husbands treat our kids like Daddy does. We should prick our fingers and press them together and become blood sisters and swear.” (Karina says)
“We’re already sisters, Katu,” said Enid.
“Oh, yeah, I know,” I said. “but we should swear anyway.”
“How would we ever stop someone like Daddy?” Delta asked.
I shrugged. “It’s just an idea.”…
…”I think that’s a very good idea, Katu.” whispered Enid. It was all the encouragement I needed. “All you’d have to do is call for help. We could have a signal, like…like…”
“Like the eagle has landed,” said Enid.
“No!” yelled Delta as she jumped up suddenly and began twirling around and flapping her arms like a bird. “Your guardian angel has landed!”
“Yeah, something like that,” I continued.

The girls are just looking for someone to save them; saving themselves has proven to difficult. The pattern is that one girl gets a “beat-up” from Daddy and then they are forced to lie about it to any authority figure, with the girls taking the blame. It isn’t like anybody has a gun to their head to cover for “Daddy” but they know the routine. Mama needs “the Daddy” to be there in the house to pay the bills and even though, the mother is upset with the severity of the beatings, she feels the kids need his discipline to stay in line. Daddy works as a taxi driver and Mama works at a factory; often overtime to make ends meet. In any kind of abuse there is always an unwritten code to not get the offending parent in trouble and this family has the system down.

Here is another quote describing this vicious circle:

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Gaston,” said Mr. Levinson as her reached over and patted her arm. “We will do everything we can to get your family back together.”
I could not believe what I was hearing. Yeah, I knew what I had just told Father Sanon and Mr. Levinson. (the lie that she beat her sister, Enid) But if they couldn’t tell I was lying, then they were major retards. Why did I keep thinking some adult somewhere was finally going to start acting like one? Why did I think that Aunt Merlude would know what else to do when she found Enid half dead besides collapsing into a babbling heap of drool? Why did I think Uncle Jude would drive us all to the police station and rat out his brother instead of dunking Enid in a scalding salt bath, then letting the Daddy crash at his apartment? Why did I think that Mr. Levinson would listen to me tell him how I’d beaten Enid so badly she was still limping this many weeks later, then nod his head and pat my arm and say “Bullshit, Karina“?

Yes, there is a small amount of swearing, some kissing between Karina and a girlfriend, which will probably freak some people out. It fits with the story though and as the reader, I came away cheering for Karina, Delta and Enid for making their lives work amidst all the chaos. This is a wonderfully well-written tale about a harsh topic that had me racing to the end to see if any guardian angels show up to help.

Check out The Brown Bookshelf review.

The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy

My friend, Tina, from books are my thing, made me check this book out last week from our local library. She said, “Even though the cover is very unattractive, the story is great,” and it was!! Funny thing...at one point, during my reading, I made a mental note that the dialogue was a not that good..then, when I got to the end, I had a huge “aha” moment, which I will not share because I don’t want to be a spoiler!!

The story centers around Joan, who has just moved to a suburb of San Fransisco from Connecticut, with her family. Joan is sent out to “explore the neighborhood” one day while her mom is unpacking stuff and she meets a neighbor girl unlike any other. Her new friend goes by the name of Fox and appears to live in the forest area between Joan’s house and the rest of the world. Fox (aka Sarah) lives with her wise single father, Gus, who is a writer (and a tattooed motorcycle rider.) Joan’s father, on the other hand, is bitter and angry and takes it out on his family with sarcastic comments. Neither family situation is perfect, however, for Fox misses the mother who left her when she was seven.

Luckily, Fox and Joan end up in the same class and, toward the end of the year, enter a story-writing contest together, with one story they have created about “wild girls”. The girls’ story wins and they are invited to become part of a special writer’s workshop taught by a unique teacher, Verla Volante, at Berkeley. This opens up a whole new world for Sarah and Joan as they trek each week into the wild city and meet a bunch of “loose nuts” that help them understand their own unique qualities. This book is a wonderful romp with a great cast of characters, and lots of story-telling tips along the way!!
Pat Murphy’s website
Tina’s review
Sarah Laurence’s review
love the cover art on her copy-why did they change it????