soldiers – Peaceful Reader

This YA novel has a wonderful premise; young soldier returns from serving his country with his arm missing and meets a young high school student who is quirky, blunt, and is adjusting to life with diabetes. I liked that part. It was very interesting hearing Aiden’s side of the story in alternating chapters. His struggle with how to fit back into society as an one-armed 18-year-old who has had buddies die around him is no easy task. I’m happy when he and Kate meet because it seems like they could be friends-Kate’s high school boyfriend breaks up with her in the opening pages. They meet through Kate’s best friend Jen who happens to be Aiden’s cousin. Aiden is living with Jen’s family as his mother is newly remarried with small children and not enough room for him.

I thought Jen’s character was about as whiny as they come in high school or out. Everything is a problem for her and things do not match up. She is crushed that Shelton breaks up with her yet later she talks about how they really weren’t that close. She spends a lot of time angry about having diabetes which results in her not paying attention to her levels and what she eats. Because she hates having the disease she chooses to shield this knowledge from Aiden even after she sleeps with him.

My two favorite characters were Aunt Beth and Uncle Foster; Jen’s parents, as they go above and beyond to help Aiden get through life.

A good quote:

“I don’t want to remember this forever.
I don’t want to be without my arm.
I don’t want to do nothing for the rest of my life.
I don’t want to be pitied.” (Location 142)

I like this quote as it shares the turmoil that Aiden encounters every day. How do you put shoes on or open a jar, drive a stick shift car?

Half way through the story though I thought I might scream every time either Kate or Aiden would say some form of the word “distraction.” It could be a drinking game it is said so frequently. Case in point:

“I sort of want an excuse to see him again. For him to see my new hair and improved cheekbones. And maybe to distract me from the weight that’s been pushing on my chest since the doctor’s appointment.

I stuff my phone back into my pocket, biting my lip to hold in the beginnings of a ridiculous grin, and Shelton’s watching me. Watching me in a way that makes my heart jump. The problem is that I don’t know if that’s good, anymore because I’m definitely distracted by someone else. And God knows I’m in desperate need of distraction right now so I look back to my desk. Where it’s safe. For now. (Location 881)

And Aiden also repeats the word and the litany “I open my mouth to argue, but I suddenly feel pretty dumb for not thinking about it earlier. And I’m completely distracted…” (location 910) and it goes on and on-this distraction-I should have counted them. It sounds like a little thing but it is a character flaw for both that they only think in this one vein. It’s like a constant push me/pull me event. High school emotions are like that I understand yet this went beyond for me and I was forced to not care about either character. The name Aiden is also interchangeable written as Aidan in the text and I hope that is a change that was made before it came out officially (March/2014). I was also confused by the title as it is the Spring season for the whole book-summer is on it’s way-yet never arrives. My ARC came from Net Galley. Jolene Perry’s website.

Name recognition works because as I scanned the new book section at our library Clare Vanderpool’s name popped out at me like it had bright lights flashing around it. Remember the wonderful historical fiction Moon over Manifest? See my review here. She won the Newberry medal for her debut novel. Now she’s written another amazing story featuring two new characters, Jack Baker and Early Auden.

From the inside panel:

After his mother’s death at the end of WWII, Jack Baker is suddenly uprooted from his home in Kansas and placed in a boys’ boarding school in Maine. There he meets Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as an unending story and collects clippings about sightings about sightings of a black bear in the nearby mountains.

Feeling lost and adrift, Jack can’t help being drawn to Early, who refuses to believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the great Appalachian bear, timber rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as the Fish, who was lost in the war.

When Jack and Early find themselves alone at school, they set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for the great black bear. Along the way, they meet some truly strange characters, several of them dangerous, all lost in some way, and each a part of the pi story Early continues to reveal. Jack’s ability to be a steadfast friend to Early will be tested as the boys discover things they never knew about themselves and others.

Like Moon over Manifest Vanderpool combines plucky characters with an amazingly tale that contains both historical fiction with magical realism. My library copy was filled with sticky notes as I marveled over her magical way with words.

Quotes:

“Monday morning came like a cool Kansas shower on a hot, humid day. In other words, it was a relief. Because now at least I had a schedule. I knew that history came first, followed by Latin, English, and math.” {14}

“Finally, I pulled the Sweetie Pie along the dock with a scraping noise that sounded like a cat on a midnight prowl. Preston, Sam, Robbie Dean, and the others all watched with pained grimaces on their faces, waiting for the boat and the noise to come to a stop. I stood up and felt the evil Sweetie Pie pitch left, then right, and before I could say Jack Tar, I was upended in Wabenaki Bay.” {43}

“We walked a ways in silence. Early looked up at the night sky as the clouds cleared and found the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. We followed it into the darkness, in search of another great bear-this one on the Appalachian Trail. My feet were heavy, and the woods closed in around us. There was only darkness and danger in front of us. And now there were dogs and pirates behind us. Early’s quest had gone on long enough. It was time to turn back. I opened my mouth to say so, but Early spoke first.” {187-188}

I can tell you Early does not plan on turning back…

Vanderpool can turn a phrase, can’t she? I feel like there’s a little Bluegrass music playing in the background as Early and Jack explore the Appalachian Trail finding more than just adventure.

NY Times article about Navigating Early
Clare Vanderpool’s website.

Tag: soldiers

The Summer I found you by Jolene Perry

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool