Top Titles of 2013: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

I read a lot of books in 2013 and didn't get a chance to blog about them. Over the next while I'll be sharing with you my favorites.

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

It’s impossible to change who you are, but sometimes, if you just listen to the voice inside you, the song will save your life.

After a failed attempt to assimilate with the high school masses, 16-year-old Elise Dumbowski contemplates suicide. Only to have that backfire as well.  Alone and lonely, she stumbles upon an underground dance club while walking around one night to clear her head.  At the club she finds more than friendship.  Standing behind the turntables, she finds her passion, talent, and ultimately, herself.

This book had me at hello. Elise’s dry humour and pragmatic approach to life are a winning combination.  Her voice is honest, funny and rings 100% authentic. She is a character that will connect with teen readers, wherever their place in the high school hierarchy.  A thoughtfully drawn cast of secondary characters including parents and siblings who aren’t invisible,  classmates who range from cruel to well-meaning to un-noticed and dance club kids rounds out this character-driven novel.

Insightful writing that encapsulates big ideas in simple ways drives the novel forward and keeps the reader looking to Elise as a source for humor and honesty. I was struck by passages like:

 “...Sometimes when you are worn down, day after day, relentlessly, with no reprieve for years piled on years, sometimes you lose everything but the ability to cry.” (p.12) 

“Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don’t know yourself very well, you might even believe they’re right.” (p. 241) 

“But you know better than anyone else how the Internet sees everything and nothing, all at the same time.” (p. 262)

And the music! Not only do the songs and bands mentioned throughout the novel make you want to put together an iTunes playlist to put yourself in the club with Elise (even when you don’t know the song or the artist), but a list “Recommended Listening” is included after the acknowledgments that gives a full listing of title and artist to get interested readers started.

If I had to file one small complaint it would be "LOVE" is spelled out in pink on the cover.  It totally doesn't fit the book (I mean, it's about learning to love yourself, yes, but the pink LOVE makes it look like a cheesy romance), and may turn off some prospective readers.

There's some language and brief sexy times, making this generally a choice for teens 14+.

This Song Will Save Your Life was recognized as a 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults selection.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review: All You Never Wanted by Adele Griffin

All You Never Wanted by Adele Griffin



Even when you can afford anything that money can buy, you can't have everything.  After living for years in a single-parent household where it was always a struggle to make ends meet, sisters Thea and Alex find themselves in the lap of luxury.  But all is not well.  From the outside, Alex appears to have it all: a pretty face, popularity, a gorgeous boyfriend, and acceptance at UMASS.  Younger sister Thea wants it all, and has the ambition to ensure that it does.  Underneath the glamorous facade, however, each sister is battling her own demons.

Mo' money, mo' problems.  Add in a twisted sibling rivalry in which compulsive lying, anorexia and social phobia play a part, and you've got yourself a fast-paced and entertaining read with some definite depth.  Told in the alternating voices of sisters Thea and Alex, Griffin has created a work of contemporary realistic fiction that is equal parts voyeuristic and suspenseful.  Each sister has benefited from their mother's remarriage, but the sudden change in circumstances has also taken them from a simpler life to one filled with unexpected challenges that have changed their self-perceptions and expectations.  Gritty. Honest. Hard to put down.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review: Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos

Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos



Rachel's older brother Micah has become addicted to methamphetamines and run away from home.  She watched silently as his addiction developed, but after receiving an email from an anonymous friend she has decided that she can longer ignore what is happening.  She must face reality and try to find her brother and bring him home.  With that goal in mind, she sets off with his bandmate, Tyler, to search for him.  Along the way, she is forced to confront truths about herself, her relationship with her brother, and the reality that she may be searching for someone so lost, he may not be found.

Books about addiction must inevitably walk the fine line between providing a responsible account of the effects of drug use without coming off like an afterschool special.  While there are several points throughout the novel that it appears Arcos is about to tread into preachy territory, she manages to maintain the balance between informative and overly educational.  As any concerned sister would, Rachel browses the internet for information about meth.  She also attends high school where, inevitably, a conversation about the dangers drugs occurs in the midst of a history class.  Thankfully, Arcos doesn't dwell too long in these scenes, allowing them to stand as fairly normal ways that information about drug use and addiction would occur in a normal teenager's life.  Similarly, when Rachel reflects on her relationship with her cheating ex-boyfriend, she realizes how in failing to stand up for herself and allowing her boyfriend to dictate the terms of the relationship  she lost a part of herself.  Written differently, this story may come off too message-y, but in Arcos' hands, it comes off as sincere and meaningful.  Out of Reach is a well-crafted story about a girl coming to terms with her own bad decisions as she struggles in vain to rescue her brother from his.  It's not the best story about addiction or even the best writing, but there aren't any obvious flaws or missteps.

My biggest complaint about this book is that the cover art does not in any way convey the story.  Rachel is a teen girl, but the novel covers her search for her brother during one long day in Mission Beach, CA  In the summer.  A snow hat, puffer coat and jeans make no sense.  A cover that doesn't connect with the story inside is such a waste.  I hope this is remedied for the paperback edition.

Out of Reach was one of five finalists for this year's National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review: The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour



With high school graduation out of the way, the only thing standing between Colby and Bev's European adventures is their week-long tour with Bev's grrl band, the Disenchantments.  Then, just hours into their drive to the first show, Bev drops a bomb: she's not going.  She's starting college in the fall.  Crestfallen and betrayed, Colby doesn't understand what happened.  They'd been planning this trip since 8th grade.  They're best friends. And because of the trip, he didn't even bother applying for college, and now has no idea what to do.  But the show must go on!  The tour dates are booked. Colby's uncle's van is their transportation.  And it's not like he has anything else to do.  And so the adventure begins...

What I LOVED:

• Richly drawn characters that you "know" and love...and hate...and love
• Sexual tension between a guy and a girl who are "just best friends"
• ROAD TRIP! In the Pacific Northwest!
• the music: Sleator-Kinney, The Supremes, Heart, The Runaways
• WANDERLUST!
• riot grrls
• the quirkiness secondary characters (and sisters) Alexa (her notebook! the magic 8 ball!) and Meg (the question game! her wisdom!)
• the weird, wonderful and memorable people they meet along the way

And there's pretty much nothing that I didn't love, so I guess that's it.  A fast, fun, and satisfying read, The Disenchantments manages to be heartwarming and nostalgic without being frivolous.  Beneath the "will they or won't they?" cover story and "band on tour" fun lies a deeper story about the meaning of friendship and truths about ourselves that we struggle to face.

Highly recommended for: high schoolers heading out into the world (even if it'll be a few years), riot grrls, wannabe riot grrls, those who wish to wander and anyone in a reading rut.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Friday Flashback: Thirteen Reasons Why

Books don't have to be new to be deserving of a review! On Fridays I flashback to some of my favorite books of all-time.

Thirteen Reasons Why (Th1rteen R3asons Why) by Jay Asher



Seriously?  How has it taken me this long to do a Friday Flashback post about Thirteen Reasons Why? I don't know.  I must apologize for this oversight. I'm sorry.  I wrote a post about the book two and a half years ago, but I didn't review it.  So here we go!

There are thirteen reasons why Hannah Baker decided to kill herself.  Clay Jensen is one of them. And he has no idea why.  He never did anything to Hannah, except have a crush on her.  To understand what happened, he must listen to a series cassette tapes, left in a box on his front porch.  The tapes were recorded by Hannah prior to her suicide. Each tape is addressed to a different person and explains how that person contributed to Hannah's decision to end her life.  Clay spends a long night listening to the tapes, trying to come to grips with what Hannah has done and what he, and others did to contribute to Hannah's pain.

When I first read this book (at the recommendation of a librarian friend) it was a few months after the hardcover release, and the "buzz" was fairly limited to librarians and folks in the "YA" know.  I was blown away.  I found myself riveted to the sections of text that are Hannah's audio, unable to put the book down.  When Clay's "voice" broke in, I was right there with him, shouting "No! You didn't have to!" and "But, couldn't you...?" or "Why didn't you...?" right along with Clay.  I was confused.  I was angry.  I was disappointed.  Not by the book, but AT the book.  I have been known, in the past, to become deeply invested in the characters in a book.  And this one takes the cake.  Even though I knew that Hannah had already killed herself after recording the tapes, I found myself hoping she would change her mind.

Two summers ago, after it hit the New York Times Bestseller List, articles about the book were hitting mainstream publications and hold lists at libraries were out the wazoo, my book club decided to read Thirteen Reasons Why.  I decided that instead of doing a re-read of the print novel, I would listen to the audio book.  I'd heard that it was exceptionally good and that they had used two voice actors to read so that there was a clear distinction between Hannah's voice on the tapes and Clay's voice/thoughts.  Holy wow!  This book was meant to be an audio book.  I listened to the entire NINE!HOUR! audio book in one sitting (while in the car on the way to vacation).  I highly recommend "reading" it as an audio book.

Ooh!  And there's a great interactive website that supports the book, with cool things like the map that Clay follows, discussion questions, and recordings of the tapes.  Definitely check that out.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Friday Flashback: Forever by Judy Blume

Books don't have to be new to be deserving of a review! On Fridays I flashback to some of my favorite books of all-time.

Forever . . .by Judy Blume



First, let me apologize for the absolutely hideous cover art going on up there.  What is that?  I think that cover is worse than the cover of the copy I checked out of the library years ago:

My favorite cover is the one below.  Contemporary...Sets the tone for a little romance...Keeps it real.

Anyway, this post isn't supposed to be about book covers.  It's supposed to be about the content of Judy Blume's coming-of-age-novel, Forever... So here goes...

First love.  When you're in it, you're sure it will last forever.  And so it goes for Katherine and Michael, who meet at a New Year's Eve party.  Forever... chronicles the relationship from start to (spoiler alert!) finish, detailing the most intimate moments and realistically portraying the highs and lows of teenage love.  Almost 50 years after the original 1975 publication, the characters - their fears, their emotions, their decisions - and the story (aside from the 18 year olds being able to legally consume alcohol) still ring true.  It is truly a timeless classic.

But WAIT!  You know a classic coming-of-age story that realistically portrays a monogamous, committed teenage relationship isn't getting off the hook that easy, right? Because instead of (spoiler alert!) them having unprotected sex and Katherine winding up pregnant, Blume has Katherine and Michael take the novel approach of (spoiler alert!) talking to each about having sex and planning ahead to be safe.  And then they have sex.  On the page! And no one dies, becomes infected with a venereal disease or winds up pregnant. And so OF COURSE! all this together creates outraged parents and other adults can not accept that such a book was/is appropriate for teens.  It was an instructional manual for how to have SEX! And get away with it. Teens just can't go around making well thought-out emotionally mature and responsible decisions and not have to pay the consequences of having sex! And somehow, despite the vast number of provocative and controversial books on the market, it remains one of the top 20 most challenged books, as recorded by ALA.  Crazy, right?

Ooh! And if you have the time and the inclination, Roger Sutton did an interview with Judy Blume for School Library Journal like a billion years ago (1996), and it's a great piece.  Roger's on the war path, Judy's defensive, it's great family fun.

I personally didn't get around to reading Forever... until I was already in my mid-twenties, but I wish I had read it when I was in high school, because it could've given me some perspective on that whole "first love" thing.  And my friends and I totally would've passed it around and read passages out loud and had just a ton of fun together with it.  So if you have a teenage girl on your holiday shopping list, think about gifting her Judy Blume's Forever... Or if you ARE a teenage girl, read it! Heck, if you're a teenage boy, you should probably read it too.  My friend James read it and it totally blew his mind.  He's a married man and he just could not fathom the thoughts in Katherine's head.  It gave him some perspective.  And made him wish to never have a daughter.  But now he has a daughter.  And someday, when she's a teenager, hopefully she'll read Forever...

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Friday Flashback: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Books don't have to be new to be deserving of a review! On Fridays I flashback to some of my favorite books of all-time.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson



No one is speaking to Melinda.  Sure, they talk about her, but they don't talk to her.  Not after she called the cops and broke up the party.  Not that anyone cared enough to find out why.  That's fine; she isn't speaking to them either.  She hasn't really spoken to anyone: her friends, her parents, her teachers.  It's not that she's angry, though she is.  She just can't.  When she tries, her throat clenches up and her mouth goes dry.  Her freshman year in high school wasn't supposed to be like this.  As the months go by and first marking period turns into second and then third, her isolation persists and the only place where Melinda finds comfort and solace is in her art.  Through it, she can express herself in ways that words cannot.  She knows that things could be better if she could only find the words, if she could build up the courage to speak.

Melinda may not be talking, but through her internal narrative the reader understands exactly what she's thinking and feeling.  She's bitter.  And broken.  She's sarcastic.  And witty.  She sees right through all of the pandering and pretending that is so rampant in high school.  Without saying a word, her character's voice is stronger and more compelling than almost any I've ever read.  I laughed out loud.  I shed a tear.  I shook my head in disbelief and clenched my fists in anger.  Laurie Halse Anderson has captured the inner-workings of a teen's mind and heart and given the reader something to really enjoy.

Sometimes, trying to figure out which book to review next can be a challenge (particularly when it's for a feature where you review favorite older titles).  Deciding to review this week's Friday Flashback title was a given.  How could I justify writing one more post to this blog without reviewing the title that started it all for me: Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak?  Unless you count R.L. Stine's Fear Street series (and I don't), Speak was the first YA novel that I ever read.  At the age of 22.  Back in 2002.  I was working in the Barnes & Noble Children's Department in Princeton, NJ and my friend Andrea (who is now a children's librarian), encouraged me to read a novel from our newly designated "Teen" section.  I'd shelved tons of copies of Speak and the cover looked cool.  Andrea had read and loved it and told me just go ahead and read it.  So I did.  And I loved it.  It started me down the path to YA Lit and becoming a librarian.  Thanks, Andrea!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review in a Few: As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

In the middle of nowhere Montana, en route to summer camp via a train, Ry learns that “a statistically improbable number of things have gone wrong,” and camp has been cancelled.  When Ry steps off the train in an attempt to get cell phone service and contact home, the train leaves without him.  So begins his adventure where a statistically improbable number of things to go wrong for him as he tries to get back home.

At 352 pages, Ry's journey home has more twists and turns over a few day's time than statistically probable.  Some points of the story drag, leaving the reader to wonder if Ry will ever get home.  The inclusion of occasional illustrations of Ry's journey are both a welcome addition, but also so sporadic that it feels incomplete.  Brief chapters telling the "related stories" of the simultaneous happenings in his grandfather's, parents' and dogs' lives keep the story moving and the peril building and add a little something to the overall narrative.  The dogs' story, told through illustrations and dog thoughts are especially enjoyable.  An overall satisfying story and something to recommend to older middle schoolers and high schoolers in the mood for a road (water, airplane, train, foot) trip.

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth
by Lynne Rae Perkins
Published by Harper Teen
Copy borrowed from my middle school library.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.