review: you look different in real life

You Look Different in Real Life was definitely one of my most anticipated books this year. I had high hopes, high expectations for this incredibly interesting story of a girl (along with four of her classmates) whose life has been, every five years, the subject of a documentary along the lines of the British Up docu-series. (As a side note, I love this series and highly recommend it; many of the films are on Netflix and well worth watching.)

Justine, who has always been the viewers' favorite, is sixteen and facing the third film (Five at Sixteen), but this time she's dreading the camera's intrusion in her life. She's not who she thought she'd be by now, and although she professes to hate the movies and cameras, she also doesn't want to disappoint. This idea of not being who she wanted to be by sixteen is oner that I wish had been explored more in-depth, instead of given only a few lines of space, because it's a really interesting idea to me. Who we are and who we want to be. And, when the whole thing is captured on film for the world to see, how much harder is it? I wanted more of that, which ended up being my big problem with the book; it's full of so much stuff that the really interesting bits ended up buried with the more dramatic plots were what took center stage.

Despite the fact that Justine is the narrator and main character, there are four other important characters in this book, and each of them has their own stories and journeys that the book follows. Unfortunately, many of these stories seemed superflous and not every character shone the way I think they were probably supposed to. Kiera especially seems to be the fifth wheel here; although the big thrust of the main plot comes from her actions, her character is never clearly defined and her storyline seems both too dramatic and too convenient to really have an impact. A few of the events and storylines felt a bit shoehorned in to me: Kiera's story, Felix's (incredibly obvious) twist, Justine's sudden need to film everything when just pages ago she'd hated the cameras. Like I said, there was a lot here, and much of it didn't seem to work.

Which isn't to say the book as a whole didn't work, or that I didn't like it. Because I did. Despite how convenient many of the plot points felt to me, the characters' commitment to each other, even though they didn't all get along day-to-day and even though there had been some pretty big rifts in their friendships, shone through. From the moment the camera crew is back in their lives there's a sort of under-the-surface solidarity between the five docu-stars, almost an us versus them attitude that went far in establishing these characters' lives and relationships. It's Rory (Justine's ex-best friend, who has been diagnosed with Autism since the last film) in particular that brings this unity to the forefront; she sticks with the other four even when it would be so much easier, for so many reasons, to just not. Her matter-of-fact way of stating things is incredibly refreshing in a story where there's so much that goes unsaid.

This is a solid contemporary YA, though not without its faults. To be perfectly honest I think that my issues with it may stem from the fact that it was just a bit more plot-driven than I wanted or was expecting, which is probably going to work for a lot of readers.

review: if he had been with me

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME
Laura Nowlin
Sourcebooks Fire

A few things to start off with, the first being that I really don't know how to review this book. It sits in extremes for me; there was a lot I loved, but there was also a fair amount that didn't sit well with me and at least one scene that I skipped over entirely. Secondly though, author Laura Nowlin is an incredible writer and I'll definitely be looking for whatever she publishes next.

If He Had Been With Me is a story stretched out over four years, of Autumn and Finny, who used to be best friends but aren't anymore. Though they were inseparable all through middle school, it's now high school and pretty-but-weird Autumn has formed a close knit group with other misfits while Finny (Finn, to everyone but Autumn) is athletic, preppy, and popular. Despite the closeness of their families and the fact that they spend every major holiday seated around the same kitchen table, Autumn and Finny don't seem to have much in common anymore. Finny's dating a popular girl while Autumn has a long-term boyfriend, king of the misfits. Of course, it's obvious to the reader, if not to Autumn herself (the book is from her POV) that she belongs with, and is in love with, her boy-next-door, Finny. And though it's inevitable that Autumn eventually comes to this conclusion on her own, she spends an inordinately long amount of the book with Jamie, being in love with him. Or at least trying to convince herself that she's in love with him. The two have plans to get married, buy a house, have kids, and though Jamie's all in, it's obvious that Autumn is only in because she regards her feelings for Finny as a fantasy that can never come true; in real life, good-enough is all you get, she reasons.

Autumn is not a very happy person. (I could get into more detail about this but it would ruin certain aspects of the book and its plot, I think.)

This is an incredible sort of book. The writing is amazing, the characters are so, so well done, and the whole thing has a very hazy, beautiful but inevitably tragic feel to it. The book's strange attitude toward sex (it wasn't entirely casual, but it wasn't really not-casual either, so I'm having a hard time landing on an accurate word for how this book handled the issue) bothered me, and I found myself skipping certain scenes, one in particular. This is not a book about sex, but it did play a role in the story. In addition to this, Autumn's insistence that she's in love with both Finny and her boyfriend Jamie bothered me. It reminded me of all the reasons I hated the movie Doctor Zhivago. For much of the book Autumn remains oblivious to her own feelings toward Finny, and this got old, especially the longer she stayed in her lukewarm relationship with Jamie. Autumn is a needy character, but for some reason it took quite a while before I realized just how needy.

Though part of the ending is obvious from the beginning (almost from the title, really), but another part of the ending came as a shock. For those who've read the book, yes, it was definitely foreshadowed, but I found it hard to believe that such a sweetly beautiful book would actually take that route. I root for happy endings, and this one shook me. Though it's possible to view the ending in a hopeful way it's hard for me to move beyond Autumn's actions and reasoning. So like I said, this was a difficult book for me. It's a well-written and beautiful story with love as the huge, overarching theme. But there were aspects of the book that bothered me -- it wasn't enough to make me abandon the book, but definitely enough to affect my feelings toward it -- and the ending felt both obvious and incredibly, incredibly depressing. (And in at least one respect, unrealistic.)

review: this is what happy looks like

THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE
Jennifer E. Smith
Poppy

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight was a really good book, but I wasn't floored by it the way so many others seem to have been. I liked it a lot, but didn't love it. Still, when I first saw This is What Happy Looks Like on Goodreads with a comparison to You've Got Mail, I put it at the top of my must-buy list. (YGM is my faaaavorite movie of all times ever.)

And let me tell you: for me, This is What Happy Looks Like blows The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight out of the water. The story (told in alternating third-person perspectives) of a girl in small-town Maine ending up an accidental e-pen pal to a boy whose identity she doesn't know is great. Of course there are plenty of opportunities for internet safety speeches here, but the book doesn't take that direction because this is a book about sweet and unexpected love. Ellie and Graham follow the You've Got Mail rules of not revealing anything personal in their letters (although Ellie does accidentally let the name of her town slip), which means that when Graham shows up in Ellie's hometown to shoot his new movie she has no idea that this is the boy she's been emailing. And Graham has no idea that for Ellie, being in the spotlight seems like the worst thing in the world. The secret of Ellie's camera-shy personality is one that in other books could have come across as overly dramatic or heavy-handed, but here is handled exactly perfectly well. Her reasons, when they come to light, aren't as deep and dark as they could have been and fit in well with the rest of the book, with her and her mother's reaction to Graham's fame.

I've said multiple times that a book has to be more than just "cute" or "entertaining" to make me really fall for it, and based on that and how utterly sweet this story is, you'd think this would be an easily forgettable book for me. But it's not. This is What Happy Looks Like is the best sort of romance; it's sweet and funny. The characters are loveable. The more unrealistic aspects are more than made up for by the fact that the emotions felt by these characters are so utterly relatable. These are the most universal of feelings: love, friendship, infatuation. And This is What Happy Looks Like relies on these themes/feelings (along, of course, with Jennifer E. Smith's great writing) to make the unrealistic premise work really, really well. It's a sweet, adorable, wholesome romance that I totally fell into. In short: I loved this book. It's the best sort of YA romance and if this review doesn't seem to do it justice it's just because beyond omg so cute so good awwwwhhh!!! there's really no better way to describe or explain how I feel about this book.

(Also you can note that this is the first five-star book I've read in all of 2013. Step it up, year.)

review: eleanor & park

ELEANOR & PARK
Rainbow Rowell
St. Martin's Griffin

I'd heard wonderful things about Eleanor & Park. Heard that it was great and beautiful and painfully good, really. But I tend to regard these books that get rave reviews with a certain amount of suspicion; still, reliable fellow bloggers loved this book so I thought -- hoped -- that I would, too.

It didn't quite turn out that way. Eleanor & Park is well-written, no doubt about it. It's an angsty, awkward story of first love set in the 80s. And it is beautiful, at least in parts. The slow-then-quick falling of Eleanor and Park into love adds to the general feeling of desperate, inevitable angst. But Eleanor & Park is not only a love story; it's also the story of Eleanor's horrible home life. The stepfather who kicked her out once (for a whole year) and who now rules and abuses her family -- her mom, as well as  her four younger siblings. There's a constant sense of fear and danger surrounding Eleanor's life, one that gives the rest of the book an uncomfortable edge. This isn't just, as the front cover claims, a love between misfits; it's also the story of a desperate teenage relationship at odds with emotional and physical abuse.

Though I enjoyed the story between Park and Eleanor, and the dynamic of Park's family (especially when it came to Eleanor), neither of the characters really made that big of an impact on me. I liked them fine, but it was the details of their story that I really enjoyed: the comic books and music they shared, their phone conversations, and how incredibly nice Park was to Eleanor, especially in the beginning when he didn't have to be.

That said, there were some things in this book that didn't sit well with me. The headlong, hasty rush into True Love felt... well, not-quite-true. It felt immature. Like teen love, sure, but not the sort of teen love that would last. Aside from that there was also quite a bit more vulgarity in this book than I was expecting. I was taken aback by the very liberal use of cuss words, especially when neither of the main characters spoke like that themselves. And though I used to think that cussing in books wasn't something that especially bothered me, this book proved me wrong; the too-often-used vulgarity put me off a book that I otherwise would have enjoyed quite a bit more, though I may be in the minority here.

There was a lot to love about this book, not least of all it's solid writing and the natural way the story was allowed to progress. But there was also quite a bit I could have done without, such as the cussing, the immaturity that was supposed to pass for maturity even in the eyes of the adults in the novel, and the fact that I didn't care enough about either of the main characters.

review: take me there

TAKE ME THERE Carolee Dean
Simon Pulse

I started Take Me There with high hopes. Despite the fact that the cover and back-page summary made it seem like an opposites-attract romance, it quickly became clear that this was really the story of a teenage boy determined to turn his life around -- and I liked that theme. Dylan Dawson Jr. is 17 and has already been in juvie, already been involved in a chop shop and associated with a gang. But now he's out of juvie, along with his best friend Wade, and he's determined to go straight. To not wander down the same path his dad -- who's on death row for killing a cop -- went down. But when the gang finds him again they make it difficult for him to stay on the straight and narrow and one night, through no fault of his own, he ends up on the run. From the gang member that's after him and the cops that are probably looking for him. He heads for Texas, where in less than a week his dad will be executed. Dylan has to know if the badness inside of him is something he was born with, something impossible to outrun, or if it's something that can be changed. He has to know the truth of why his dad is facing execution.

(Oh yeah, and also he can barely read. That's important too. Although he loves poetry and has memorized many of them (and even creates his own), actually reading is incredibly difficult for him.)

It's obvious from the first page of this book that Dylan is essentially a good guy. He wants to turn his life around and is doing everything he can to make sure that happens. His romance with the beautiful, rich Jess was alternately incredibly sweet and incredibly unrealistic. But despite what the summary would lead you to believe, his love for Jess is only part of Dylan's story -- more important is the road trip he takes with Wade to see his father again and get answers to his questions. The answers (and even the questions themselves) quickly become more complicated as Dylan realizes that the reason for his father's incarceration isn't nearly as cut-and-dry as he always thought. It's clear, too, that Dylan's dad is a good guy. He is repentant and trying in so many ways to right his wrongs. There are huge themes of repentance, forgiveness, mercy, and justice running through this novel.

Which is why the ending was such a colossal dissapointment. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that up until the novel's conclusion I was for the most part enjoying this novel despite the few issues I had. (Most of my issues up until this point had to do with 1. the quick escalation of Dylan and Jess' relationship in a certain chapter, as well as how unrealistic much of their relationship felt on Jess' side, and 2. how heavy-handed the link between illiteracy and criminal activity often felt.) However, I felt that the book's ending was at odds with the story that came before it, taking the important themes that the book had explored so well and tossing them aside for a possibly-realistic, but definitely discouraging ending.

Review: Miss Fortune Cookie

MISS FORTUNE COOKIE
Lauren Bjorkman
Henry Holt and Co.
ARC received from publisher

Senior year for Erin, the anonymous blogger behind the wildly popular Miss Fortune Cookie advice column blog means college acceptance (or rejection) letters; finally fixing the messy past she has with her ex-best-friend-turned-current-best-friend, Mei; and stumbling into a possible romance of her own after so long being the only single girl in her trio of best friends.

This book is just as adorable as the cover leads you to believe (I mean, Erin answers the letters on her advice blog with fortune cookies), but there's a lot going on. From college decisions (Erin made a pact with Bestie #1, Linny, that they'd both attend UC Berkeley before college letters even went out, only to later question if that's the right decision) to the history between Erin and Bestie #2, Mei, who dropped her as a friend years ago and even since rekindling their friendship (thanks in large part to Linny), they've never been as close as they once were. When Mei finds herself stuck between the boyfriend she's head-over-heels for and her mother who insists she attend Harvard (instead of Stanford), even though it's on the other side of the country, Miss Fortune Cookie gets a letter that sounds like it could be from Mei herself. In addition to these plotlines, Erin also worries over leaving her mother alone when she goes away to college, and struggles with her deep love for Chinese culture despite being white. So yeah, there's a lot happening and though it's all wrapped around Erin and her alter-ego as Miss Fortune Cookie, I did have a few problems with various storylines (more on that later).

I'm tempted to cover this book in the vague, often-annoying adjective of cute, but that doesn't quite do it justice. The truth is, Miss Fortune Cookie is cute in the best sort of way -- in the way that Tweet Heart or Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings. It's the sort of cute that's full of heart and a sort of "feel-good" book that I can see myself reading again in the future. Erin is a smart, sweet, good-natured protagonist you can't help but root for and her two best friends are equally likable, despite their missteps along the way. That said, there were so many storylines here that were emotional and important but that ended up being wrapped up neatly, and too quickly for my liking. For instance, the heavy history between Erin and Mei is a subplot I wanted more from, especially as it was weighted down with race, culture, and the pain of being rejected by a best friend. Instead, this was solved quickly and much of the book was devoted to a counterprotest Linny was setting up at the girls' high school, which was a subplot I kept expecting to go somewhere and when it didn't I was disappointed mainly because without a payoff it felt so completely out-of-place with the rest of the book.

Still, despite the book's imperfect plots and subplots, this story is so easy to fall into for the simple fact that Erin herself is such an inviting character. I was easily swept up in the book because Erin is the best kind of "adorable YA" character -- the kind that pulls you alongside her, right into the story. It helped, of course, that the Chinatown setting is written so, so well and gives the characters and story more depth. If you're looking for a beyond-cute realistic YA read with just a hint of romance, give this one a try. Miss Fortune Cookie is set to hit shelves November 13, 2012.

Review: Fangirl

FANGIRL
Ken Baker
Running Press Kids
(ARC received at ALA12)

Fangirl is not a perfect book.

I have to say this at the outset because I have so many great and wonderful things to say about this book that I just feel like you need to know that I do, in fact, realize it's not perfect. I know that plausibility is stretched in some cases, that Josie's dad's story felt too convenient and mostly unconnected from everything else. I know that. But here's the thing: while it may not be perfect, Fangirl comes kinda close, at least for me it does. The story of Peter Maxx, a teen superstar (think Justin Bieber) and Josie Brant, the music-loving, song-writing high school girl who falls in love with him falls squarely under that term I loathe: fluff. The book is cute, entertaining, light... all those things that are sort of backhanded compliments in the world of books. But it is so much better than that.

Fangirl stands out from many other celebrity-focused novels by its complete commitment to the characters at the center of the story. Despite being steeped in the lives of the rich and famous, it never reads in the glitzy, distanced, tabloid-esque way that it very easily could. Ken Baker is the head news correspondent for E! News, and his knowledge of the subject (fame! celebrities!) gives the story a realism it might not have otherwise. He pushes past the trappings of a celeb-inspired novel to get to the characters, emotions, and relatability underneath.

Peter has the sort of backstory that on a reality show would be milked for all it's worth: his dad's own musical career burnt out years ago and his mom died, so he's famous and beloved, but also imperfect. While Peter loves making music (and would love it even more if he had a little more creative control...), he hates having to be "on" all the time and this, mixed with grief over his mother, makes him a bit of an anxious mess. And this is played out so well without being overlooked and without taking over the book. Meanwhile high school Josie has her own personal problems, most of them stemming from her parent's divorce. Both of these characters (Peter and Josie) have anxiety problems and though it's nothing incapacitating, they're handled in a way that adds dimension to their characters.

Mostly though, what this is is an adorable love story between a teen popstar and a (as the title says) fangirl. Their romance plays out in the typical 21st century ways -- through Twitter, IMs, and text messages, which makes me love the book so much more. Because while the story is told in third person, the conversations between Peter and Josie add a first-person connection and make it impossible not to root for them. This book completely captures crushes and all the angst, worry, and borderline-obsession that comes with them. It's a book I really couldn't put down; a huggable, obsession-worthy YA novel that you should probably definitely read.

review: reunited

REUNITED
Hilary Weisman Graham
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Back in middle school Tiernan, Alice, and Summer were best friends united by their love of the band Level3. Four years later the girls are no longer friends but, after graduation, embark on a road trip in Alice's old Pea Pod (the old RV the three girls used to hang out in) to see Level3 at their one-night-only reunion concert. It's a chance -- maybe -- for reconciliation between the three of them.

Rarely do I think to myself, "you know, I may be too old for this YA book," but with this one it happened. Alice, Tiernan, and Summer made some staggeringly bad decisions that made them seem younger than their 18 years. (These bad decisions included getting super drunk all over New Orleans and also agreeing to go to some swimming hole in the middle of the night with three random college dudes.) The girls encounter plenty of minor catastrophes (the Pea Pod getting stuck in mud, a door coming off, running out of gas...) on their road trip, but many of these problems had to do with their own decision-making skills, or lack of. I mention all of this not to rag on the characters or the book but to point out that sometimes a person such as myself just doesn't entirely fit with a book. I've always been much more cautious than these girls and I found it fairly difficult to see many of their actions as realistic, which put me a little off-balance while reading.

But about the actual book. It's a cute, run-of-the-mill road trip book with a unique twist in the form of the girls' lapsed friendship and their obsession with Level3. Alice, Tiernan, and Summer have grown into three very different people over the course of high school and each of them fits nicely into a "type:" Summer's the popular one; Tiernan's the bad-girl/rebel; and Alice is the good, smart, normal one. The stereotypes are obvious and while there are moments where the girls become a bit more than what they're depicted as, it's not often. For the most part what you see is what you get. I'm a fan of turning stereotypes on their head and this book never quite did that although it tried at times, especially with Summer (who was, not coincidentally, my favorite of the girls). Each of them have their own reasons for coming on the road trip and each is trying to run away from something -- either literally or figuratively. For the most part these reasons are side-stories that provide context to who these girls are in their "real" lives, but in the case of Tiernan, whose running away from the mom she sees as way too strict, the side-story overtakes everything else. The inevitable confrontation between Tiernan and her mother struck me as melodramatic and unearned, especially since many of the big issues in Tiernan's life hadn't really been explored before that moment when they became bigger than everything else. I felt a bit lost at times, as if I was supposed to know more about her life and her family than I did. This is a sample of the biggest problem I had with the book: many issues that the girls have don't seem like problems at all until the moment (usually during a heart-to-heart) when they suddenly become the focus of the story. It threw off the balance for me a bit,

Reunited isn't a heartwarming, emotional road trip novel, though it often seems to be trying for that. What it is instead is a fun, slightly gimmicky story of three ex-friends. For all my issues with it the book was a fun read that I found myself enjoying even though some parts were a little too cringeworthy. It's one that might be best for readers looking for a light, fun, but ultimately forgettable read.

review: second chance summer

SECOND CHANCE SUMMER
Morgan Matson
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
(bought finished copy at ALA)

Taylor Edwards is spending the summer back at her family's lake house -- the one she hasn't been back to since she was twelve and had her first boyfriend, a boy whose family also spent their summers on the lake. But this summer, Taylor and her family aren't at the lake house for rest and relaxation: they're there because her dad's been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the family wants to spend their last few months together, without work or school or other commitments intruding too much.

It should be said, first off, that this is a total tearjerker. Books often make me sad, maybe even tear up a little, but they rarely make me all out cry the way the last few chapters of this one did. Like, tears-down-the-cheeks, vision-too-blurry-to-read crying. So yeah, Second Chance Summer is sad.

But beyond that. This is one of those YA contemporaries that fits solidly into the "Dessen-esque" camp (is that a term? if not, it is now) -- family, friends, emotion, and a dollop of romance. As far as characters go, Taylor Edwards isn't great. It's not that she's unlikeable or anything, but her most defining quality seems to be her bad habit of running away, in whatever way she can, when the going gets tough. Aside from that, she's a likeable but uninspiring character. Those around her have a bit more variety, from her ballet-dancing younger sister, her academically-driven older brother, to her strong-but-fading father. There's also Taylor's ex-best friend and Henry, her very first boyfriend -- neither of them all too thrilled to see her at first. There's quite a bit of build up to what Taylor did, at age twelve, that's still a big enough deal to have such a huge bearing on how they interact with each other. I didn't love the flashbacks that told this history, nor the fact that it was built up so much: in short, I was expecting more.

And I did get more -- just not with that particular aspect of the story. This is a slow-moving story, especially in the first half, and that's going to bother some readers. But really, the story spins lazily out in a way that works for what this is: an incredibly emotional read about a girl who, used to running away when things get hard, realizes there are some things you can't run away from and time is fleeting. This book is hefty for a contemporary -- weighing in at 468 pages -- and there were moments when the book was perfect, absolutely perfect, and moments when it so wasn't. The romance between Taylor and Henry was better, for me, in theory than it was in practice: I absolutely saw and felt the deep feelings they had for one another, yet it often seemed that this was a little too perfect. Henry had little dimension and, like Taylor herself, sometimes seemed a bit surface-level.

Better than the story of Taylor's friendships and romance was the story of her family and how she gets to know them all a little better during this summer. The scenes between her and her dad, as she learned all the things about him that she was surprised she'd never known before, were heartfelt and real, as were her deepening relationships with her siblings. But better even than this is the writing of this book. None of the characters are that exceptional and the various elements of the story have been used in many books, many times before, but Morgan Matson's writing brings this story, the characters, and their ripe emotions, to life. I could feel exactly what Taylor was feeling, what she was going through; much like Sarah Dessen and Terra Elan McVoy (and all the best contemporary writers, really), Matson has a knack for getting the emotions right and bringing them to life.

contemporary ya questions

I found this book survey over at the tumblr Bookshop.Girl (yes, another survey/meme thing okay, I know, I like these).  The topic is YA contemporary (realistic) fiction and it's so impossible for me to choose just one for each of these questions, so I'm going to choose 2-3.

Also, I'm not going to repeat any books (because there are so many good ones), even if a book fits into multiple answers for me.

1. Favorite YA contemporary novel? 
(Please note here that it was really, really hard to narrow this down even to three. But these are the ones that I probably have the deepest love for.)
serafina67 *urgently requires life*, by Susie Day - This one is my absolute favorite YA novel in the sense that I can read it again and again, flip open to random pages and passages, and always end up smiling. I love it.
Sweethearts, by Sara Zarr - In addition to being truly one of the masterpieces of YA lit and character-driven novels this one also has my all-time favorite quote from a novel. (I've mentioned that before.)
The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen - I believe this was probably the first YA novel I read, or at least one of the first, and in reading it I found an incredible author as well as the sort of sweet, emotional, character-driven stories that I wanted to write.

2. Contemporary YA that deserves more recognition?
After the Kiss, by Terra Elan McVoy - This author in general deserves more recognition. Of course I have no idea how many readers are actually reading her books, but it's pretty rare for me to see them on blogs and she's got such a unique voice. After the Kiss is by far my favorite of hers and I'd love to see more people reading it.
What Happens Here, by Tara Altebrando - I just... sigh. I know this one is a few years old (maybe more than a few? I don't know), but it's a brilliant little book and one that I absolutely love. A unique, yet straightforward take on "grief YA" before If I Stay or Twenty Boy Summer came about.
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else, by Erin McCahan - This one is just so different from so much of what's out there. The writing and characters are top-notch and it's got that slightly-literary quality I just love.

3. What contemporary YA novel made you the saddest?
Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler - It's rare for me to all-out sob over a book, but this one had me in major tears by page 18. And while it definitely has a lot to do with the specifics of how/why Matt died, it still totally counts. A very personal kind of sadness.
Hold Still, by Nina LaCour - This book went beyond sad. It went deep into the psyche of an incredibly depressed girl and it was just impossible not to feel for her and what she went through.
Fall For Anything, by Courtney Summers - Gut-wrenching is all I can say.

4. Cutest contemporary YA you've ever read?
Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins. Honestly, nothing else even comes close.

5. What contemporary YA made you feel all of the feels?
Love and Other Perishable Items, by Laura Buzo - This one's actually not out yet but OMG, guys. Way more emotion and way more complexness than I was expecting.
We'll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han - The whole series really, but this last book really tied everything together and brought it to a new level of emotional-ness. Is that a word? I don't know.

6. Who is your favorite character from a contemporary YA?
Kurt Brodsky, from Leverage, by Joshua C. Cohen - THIS GUY IS WAY AMAZING.

7. What character do you relate to the most?
Well, my real answer would be one of the characters from a book I've already mentioned, but since I'm trying not to repeat books I'm going to choose a second choice.
Ari, from Other Words for Love, by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal - Quiet, loyal, etc etc. I saw so much of myself in this character.
Eleanor Crowe, from Pregnant Pause, by Han Nolan - Not her situation (pregnant teen), but certain aspects of Eleanor's personality just reminded me so, so much of myself.

8. What contemporary YA surprised you the most?
Fangirl, by Ken Baker - Another one that's not out yet (October!); I expected a cute story from this one but did not expect it to be so incredibly well-executed or for me to absolutely obsessively love it as much as I do.

9. Why do you enjoy the contemporary fiction genre?
So many reasons. I like finding characters I can relate to, like to see how they handle situations, like getting a glimpse of a life that's maybe not mine but that's real enough that it could be somebody's life. I've always loved reading about people, emotions, and relationships more than anything else, and contemporary YA offers character-driven, emotional stories in spades.

10. What contemporary YA are you most looking forward to being released this year?
Honestly the two books I'm most looking forward to are ones I've already read the ARC of, but I'm also really wanting to get my hands on a copy of:
Meant to Be, by Lauren Morrill - It looks adorable and great in a sort of retro way (this is just from the cover, mind you), and I love the whole idea behind it. High hopes.

review: being friends with boys

BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS
Terra Elan McVoy
Simon Pulse
(bought finished copy)

As with every Terra Elan McVoy novel I've read, the front-flap summary for this one is much simpler than the story itself, as well as fairly misleading. Yes, this the story of a girl who is friends with a bunch of boys and falls for one of them, but it doesn't go down quite the way you think and it's also a lot more complex. Really this is about Charlotte, manager to her friends' band (Sad Jackal), as well as the brilliant mind behind their song lyrics, and what happens when the band breaks up, her most solid friendship falters (and then falls apart altogether).

And my feelings are mixed. To be perfectly honest, there were too many characters in this book that I just didn't like. I'm one of those readers that likes to like characters; as a general rule, I don't want to read about someone I can't stand. And though Charlotte, her three sisters (two steps- and one biological who's off at college), and a few of the more center-stage characters (her best friend Trip, for instance, as well as "bad boy" Benji) were plenty likable, there were plenty of other characters (mostly band members) that I just wasn't a fan of. And maybe it's the territory that comes with a boy-dominated novel but there was sometimes a little too much vulgarity for me personally.

But. Despite the issues I had with some of the characters, Being Friends With Boys, just like McVoy's other novels, manages to be so much more complicated than the summary can explain and also sneak in more than a few moments of stark honesty and realism. Because Charlotte has so many relationships (friends, family, crushes) going on throughout the course of the book, there's also plenty of opportunities for those all-too-honest small epiphanies. There's her older sister who's started college and how much Charlotte misses her and doesn't quite know how to deal with the fact that their lives are now so separate. There's there best guy friend who seems to quit their friendship at the same time as he quits the band, and Charlotte not understanding what happened between them. There's also her (ex) female best friend, whose dismissal of Charlotte is a big part of the reason she's a-okay having only male friends. Strands of friendship and family are woven so neatly throughout the music-fueled story. In many ways, Charlotte reminded me of Ruby Oliver, at least in the later books -- she's a girl surrounded by plenty of friends, living what looks from the outside like a very cool life but who is dealing with some very painful relationship issues including broken and struggling friendships.

Of course, there's also a romantic storyline (more than one, really) in this novel, but despite the fact that there's more than one Potential Boyfriend for Charlotte, it's obvious who she should end up with and their storyline is sadly very minor, especially compared to the other storylines.

I liked this book. It's well-written and so full of different types of relationships, which is one of my top favorite things about reading realistic fiction. However, I did have a few fairly large issues with the book's unlikable characters and often dysfunctional relationships. If you're a first-time Terra Elan McVoy reader, I'd start with The Summer of First and Lasts and save this one for later.

uk ya review: kiss date love hate

KISS DATE LOVE HATE
Luisa Plaja
Random House Children's Books (UK)
(received as gift)

Lex's group of friends have been falling apart for a while, but when her and her best friend George get their hands on a Sims-like video game that lets them make changes to people's looks, life outlook, and even who they fall in love with, they never dream that those changes will carry over into the real world. But when they do, Lex sees the perfect opportunity to get back with her ex-boyfriend, Matt, who's currently in love with a girl (Gemma) who used to be one of Lex's closest friends.

I love the idea behind this book and was excited to see how these computer-game personality changes would play out in the real world. But unfortunately if not for the fact that I sort-of accidentally read a few pivotal, spoilerific sentences near the end of the book I probably wouldn't have finished it. But, having some idea what was coming, I wanted to see how things shook out. Because while this is a romantic little story with a wish-fullfilment twist, it's hiding a big secret that changes your view of the rest of the story and especially of Lex. It's the sort of big reveal that, while it adds another dimension to this mostly-superficial story, also puts Lex's narration in question. While I wouldn't exactly call her an unreliable narrator, and the reasons for keeping the SPOILER secret are obvious, as a reader I did feel a little betrayed by how things played out.

And while Lex's narration left some to be desired, her outlook was humorous and Drew, a possible romantic interest here, is a wonderful character -- by far my favorite in the book. On the whole I found myself disappointed by this book. I kept wanting more substance, especially when it came to her rocky relationship with her mother, which was hinted at but never really shown in detail.

review: boys, bears, and a serious pair of hiking boots

BOYS, BEARS, AND A SERIOUS PAIR OF HIKING BOOTS
Abby McDonald
Candlewick Press
(bought paperback)

Jenna, a suburban teen from New Jersey, is all about saving the planet. Between her "Green Teen" activism and all-organic, all-natural lifestyle, she's used to holding tight to her ideals. But when she finds herself spending the summer with her godmother in a tiny Canadian town in the middle of the wilderness, she has a tough time making her new life (where the town is hoping for more tourism, not less, and the people she meets think nothing of eating meat or even hunting it) fit with her long-held green idealism.

I have some conflicting thoughts and feelings about this book, but let's get this part out of the way first: I (definitely) liked it. Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots is a story I haven't read before. Its unique blend of environmentalism and real nature is by far one of the most readable and compelling parts of the book. Jenna's used to handing out flyers at the mall and holding protests to protect empty lots in her town, but finding herself in the middle of true wilderness, with boys who find her environmentalism off-putting at best and offensive at worst, is an entirely new experience.

In addition to the environmentalism-and-nature storyline, there are also a couple of different romance-related subplots, including an all-out-crazy crush on one of the guys she slowly makes friends with in Canada. This romance doesn't happen until about the second half of the book (although the book's summary uses it as a selling point) and though I didn't find the boy lacking when he was just one of many friends, as a romantic interest he lacked depth and I didn't feel that the two had enough compatibility to really make me care about their story.

Meanwhile, Jenna's best friend is working on a collective in New York and finding her way to a more extreme brand of environmentalism; just as Jenna is finding a deeper appreciation and understanding of her ideals, her best friend seems to be becoming more angry than passionate. The summary for this book talks about Jenna finding a way to compromise when it comes to her "long-held ideals," but to be honest I don't see it that way. To me compromise when it comes to beliefs, ideals, things that you're really personally passionate about, isn't necessarily a good thing. And what I think Jenna does, instead of compromising, is discover how her ideals and lofty ideas play out in a bigger sense than she's seen before. She develops an honest appreciation for the wilderness, thanks in part to the survival guide for mountain men she finds at a used bookstore (honestly, this part of the story -- with the survival guide she uses to help herself make friends and achieve things -- was one of my favorites).

Unfortunately, this uniquely awesome story of a girl discovering nature came a bit unravelled in the end, at least for me. While Jenna's personal story was great, the various subplots involving a few other characters (including her best friend) felt unnecessary to me and in the end wound up overshadowing Jenna and pulling the narrative away from the heart of the story.

serafina67 is the best

This was maybe the third time I've read serafina 67 *urgently requires life* straight through, cover to cover. It's long been my favorite go-to YA book; in terms of how I feel about the book, it's like the You've Got Mail of YA novels. It's an instant mood-booster, a wonderfully cute and compelling story, full of characters I love.

And this time around there was a bit of a different outlook reading it. Though I still love the book so much, I read it this time with the identity of the "mystery person" in mind. This is a plotline that, while it's important to the story, doesn't really become a thing until well, well into the story. However, reading the book with the identity in mind made me notice things I hadn't before -- warning, vague-ish spoiler-ish things below:

UK cover/title

-- like the fact that serafina, at times, is woefully ungrateful and wrapped up in herself. And that what the mystery person does is creepy, yes, but also stems from the best of intentions (and is sort of weirdly sweet, even while being woah creepy invasion of privacy) and realistic. I could easily see how something like this could get out of hand quickly.

and end spoilers!!


I love serafina. I love her story and the way she comes to grips with things, the fact that she wants to be happier and be a better person but so often fails and finds it difficult to get up again. (But she does get up again, and I think that's the important thing.) Her family story here is so real and so wonderfully written. The love story as well is one of my favorite YA couples, and the story with her best friend is something I can relate all too well to (eerily so, actually). Serafina still reminds me of myself, especially her craziness. And the whole story, still, is written so well, with all the different subplots fitting together so, so well.

Plus, I finished rereading this while waiting in the dentist's office. It was probably the only thing that held me together. So thanks for that, Susie Day. :)

Review: Small Damages

SMALL DAMAGES
Beth Kephart
Philomel

Kenzie the (pregnant) American girl has been sent to Spain. Seville, where she will have the baby and then give it up to the Javier and Adair, just like her mother arranged. Because nobody, aside from Kenzie, her mother, and her boyfriend Kevin is supposed to know she's pregnant. But Kenzie, still mourning over the death of her father, angry at her mother for sending her away and her boyfriend for not coming with her, is slow to trust those around her in Spain, including the boy who takes care of the horses (Esteban) and the heartbroken woman (Estela) who is teaching her how to cook.

This is the first Beth Kephart book I've read and now I'm wondering why I didn't listen to Khy (from Frenetic Reader) ages ago when she told me I'd love Kephart; here is a writing style that seems tailor-made for me as a reader. The story is character-driven with gorgeous, lyrical descriptions and details that make you feel like you're there, in Spain, with Kenzie. I've read quite a few YA books dealing with the topic of teen pregnancy and this one stands out from the rest merely for the fact that the plot isn't concerned with setting up how everything happened or taking us through the character's reactions. The book opens with Kenzie in Spain, on the way to the home she'll be staying in. Because she was determined to have the baby, her mother made the decision for her to let other's adopt it; her mom set everything up so that nobody would know about Kenzie's pregnancy, so it could be dealt with and moved on from the same way she's dealt with and moved on from the death of Kenzie's dad. The first-person narration is unique here because Kenzie isn't telling the story to some unknown audience, but to her unborn baby who she already knows and loves.

It's touching and more than a little heartbreaking to join Kenzie as she deals with the position she's been forced into (Spain), her pregnancy, and the loss of her dad. This book manages to handle some very -- dare I say it? -- cliche YA topics without ever feeling run-of-the-mill. Kenzie's story is her own and not a copy of anyone else's and it's written beautifully.

On the other hand, however, there were moments in the last third of the book where I felt it moving too slowly, and at the end of the story there are still question marks attached to some of the book's most important questions. And while I don't love books that end too neatly, Small Damages went too far in the opposite direction: I wanted more answers than I got. For readers who love a more literary style of writing and slow-moving stories, this is one I'd definitely recommend, with the caveat that for me the ending was somewhat disappointing and confusing.

Review: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father

52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER
Jessica Brody
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
(requested) ARC sent by the publisher

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Jessica Brody book I read (My Life Undecided) and was excited to read her newest novel, about the spoiled daughter of a billionaire. After crashing her car into a convenience store, Lexington Larrabee is forced to work 52 minimum-wage jobs (one a week for an entire year) before she can get access to her $25 million trust fund. It's a predictable redemption story as Lexi goes from arrogant, entitled little rich girl who doesn't know how to turn a vacuum cleaner on, to more of a real person.

While the story itself, and all of Lexi's daddy issues are obvious from the start, the set-up here is clever and Lexi's voice is funny. The girl is a total trainwreck, at least in the beginning, but she's an entertaining trainwreck whose issues stem from her nonexistent family life -- mostly the fact that her dad is rarely ever in the same room as her. In fact, he's hired a college intern to keep tabs on her throughout her 52 jobs. This leads to the requisite "opposites attract" love story, which never quite gains enough chemistry, compatibility, or emotion to make me feel invested in it. Luke (the intern/crush) is a bland character. In fact, this is one of the book's biggest problems: there's never enough weight to the emotions or characters (apart from Lexi) to make an impact. Side characters, like her new friend Rolando and her ex-boyfriend, enter and exit without making much of a splash. This book, despite its large cast of characters, is very much about Lexi's personal journey as she learns what hard work means and deals with her family problems. And while her working adventures were often hilarious and always entertaining, the more emotional parts of the story -- not just her romantic life, but more importantly her relationship with her distant father -- never quite clicked for me. This may be because the conclusion is fairly obvious from the start of the novel and the getting there took away from the parts of the book I truly enjoyed.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father perfectly fits what it appears to be: a quick and entertaining read. Brody's writing is always entertaining and though this book isn't exactly a comedy, it often reads as one.

Review: The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life

THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR (PATHETIC) LIFE
Tara Altebrando
Dutton Juvenile

Disclaimer: Tara Altebrando and I have the same agent.

The (totally unofficial) Senior Year Scavenger Hunt is the highlight of graduation for Mary and her friends. After being beat out of Georgetown by Oyster High's resident jock/bully, Mary's determined that her team of "also-rans" will beat his team of populars in the scavenger hunt that takes place the night of graduation.

This is a particular kind of book. It doesn't have a name, but it's that on-the-edge-of-giant-life-changing-things category of books, where the character's lives aren't exactly in changing at the moment, but they will be soon. In YA many of these books, like The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life are set at the end of senior year or the summer after.  This book takes it one step further by taking place over the course of one night at the end of senior year -- as Mary leads her team in the ultra-underground scavenger hunt, her and her friends figure out what the end of high school really means for them, their futures, and their various relationships. Mary's fending off the unwanted advances of her best guy friend while trying to decipher the mixed messages her own crush seems to be sending her. Meanwhile, the hunt itself becomes increasingly important after run-ins with the football star, who got into Mary's dream school while she had to settle for second-best.

But all of this -- the hunt, the romantic entanglements -- hide what lies at the heart of this book and of Mary's night. Despite her mission of vengeance, she finds herself discovering unexpected things about herself, her friends, and her enemies. Her best friend isn't exactly who Mary thought -- but, for that matter, neither is her enemy the football star/bully. Like I said, this is a particular type of book: a face-everything-before-it-all-changes, standing-on-the-edge-of-tomorrow type of book, and for that particular story, it's one of the best I've read. As always, Altebrando's setting comes through loud and clear, setting the mood and atmosphere of the story. Though the characters aren't ones I'd want to be best friends with, the story is entertaining, with just enough depth to make it more than just another enjoyable read.

Review: Wicked Jealous

WICKED JEALOUS
Robin Palmer
Speak

Used to being known as That Weird Fat Girl, Simone Walker has no problem with keeping her head down and staying invisible. But when Hillary, her "stepmother-to-be" (despite the fact that Simone's workaholic father is avoiding the whole "marriage" issue) moves in and takes over, Simone has to find a way to get out of the house. Even if it means inadvertently joining a Zumba class full of middle-aged women. Soon, she's looking and feeling healthier -- which is lucky, because when Hillary kicks her out of what was supposed to be a family vacation, Simone ends up living with her older brother and six of his college buddies. Now, with her best friend insisting on a makeover and a popular boy who actually notices her, the advice of seven college guys is helpful, but it also makes things pretty complicated.

Okay, here's the deal: this is an updated, contemporary version of Snow White, with Simone in the starring role of the princess herself. It's a love story (as the subtitle says), but it's also a story of Simone's jealous stepmother-to-be, and more importantly her own journey to becoming a healthier, happier, more sure-of-herself girl. Which is, incidentally, exactly the type of book I enjoy reading. Robin Palmer does a great job of keeping the trademark elements of Snow White while changing and updating the story to make it a realistic, contemporary tale. Though this is something Palmer always seems to do well, I was especially impressed with this novel -- the well-placed bits from the traditional Snow White elevate this sweet tale. Simone's brother and his six roommates (you know, like the seven dwarves) just made this book for me. The camaraderie between them and Simone was great and the scenes between them were some of the funniest, best, and sometimes cutest in the book. All of them were such great characters with awesome, distinct personalities.

Though the storyline between Simone and Hilary, her dad's girlfriend, is a bit far-fetched and hard to believe at times, this is an easy thing to forgive in light of how fun and, yes, pretty realistic, the rest of the story is. For readers who like fairytale retellings or just lighthearted contemporary YA, this is a great one to put on your list. It's quickly become my favorite of Robin Palmer's novels.  Wicked Jealous hits stores July 19th.

Review: Nothing Special

NOTHING SPECIAL
Geoff Herbach
Sourcebooks Fire

Felton Reinstein is the top football recruit in the state and it's making him a nervous wreck, which isn't helped much when his younger brother, Andrew, runs away to a suspicious-sounding orchestra camp. In this sequel to Stupid Fast, Felton is still dealing with his crazy family and his own personal flaws -- most notably his self-centered nature that he tries to fight against. But this time around it's Andrew who's in trouble and Felton, the mostly-negligent older brother, who goes after him.

I wish I'd reviewed Stupid Fast back when I read it, but in the midst of all my Cybils reading it (and many other books) slipped through the cracks. Suffice to say it's a brilliant and hilarious book that worked perfectly well as a stand-alone. Still, Herbach managed to give us a sequel that continues addressing many of the topics present in the first book while also being markedly different and - just like Stupid Fast - this one works fine by itself. Felton and his girlfriend are "on a break" and the book is written as one long letter to her, a sort of explanation of his stupidity and all that's been happening in his family what with Andrew going to an orchestra camp that Felton suspects might not exist.

I understand why the summaries for these books fall so completely short of explaining the plot. It's because Nothing Special is all but impossible to really explain. There's a high school football star who becomes a nervous wreck at the thought of college recruiters and is increasingly focused on only himself (Felton); a younger brother who plays piano, has been acting strangely, and may have invented an orchestra camp; and a crazy, estranged family. The story is written as a letter after-the-fact and because of this there are two different timelines going, which makes understanding the true timeline of the events in the book a little difficult for a while. Still, Felton's voice is spot-on for the story and his character: it's a strangely great mix of naive, funny, and absolutely honest even (or especially) about all the ways he's screwed up. Part of the reason I love Nothing Special (and Stupid Fast, which I also highly recommend) so much is because at the center of the story is the theme of family, genetics, and the effect these things have on the sort of people we become. Felton struggles with the similarities he shares with his dad, who committed suicide when Felton was only five, and his brother Andrew attempts to find out where he fits in the family and what bearing his family history has on him. This is always a fascinating topic to me and it's handled so incredibly well in Nothing Special. This book blends humor with honest questions and realizations about family and life in an almost seamless way. And while I think I enjoyed Stupid Fast more than Nothing Special, this book felt more emotionally powerful to me.

Review: The Summer I Learned To Fly

THE SUMMER I LEARNED TO FLY
Dana Reinhardt
Wendy Lamb Books

Thirteen-year-old Drew Robin Solo is a cautious girl living a careful life in the that consists mostly of helping out at her mother's cheese shop and crushing on Nick, the college-aged pasta-maker who works for her mother. Her friends from school aren't much to brag about and her true friends are her mother, Nick, Aunt Swoozie, and her pet rat (Hum, short for Humbolt Fog). This changes when she meets Emmett Crane, who writes her notes on paper cranes but whose past is  a mystery.

This is a short, meandering, emotionally powerful story that reminds me in many ways of Sara Zarr's Sweethearts or Haley Tanner's Vaclav & Lena; at its core it's about the intense and powerful friendship/budding-romance between a young girl and boy. The writing is simple, but effective and emotionally powerful. Drew's love for those around her -- the crush on Nick, her love for Swoozie and even for her mother, though their relationship is rapidly changing -- is the center of this book. I have a hard time discussing the plot because really, there's not one to speak of. This is a literary sort of book, and none of the events that happen are quite big enough to be considered the primary plot of the book, no matter how important they are.

The characters in this book are realistic and well-defined, with wonderfully realistic relationships between them. The fact that it takes place during the 1980s may be a problem for some readers, though I understand the reasons Reinhardt may have made that choice and it didn't hinder my own reading enjoyment. The Summer I Learned To Fly is the sort of short, creative, straight-to-the-heart novel that I absolutely love and recommend for those who enjoy a more literary, slow-moving writing style that hinges on those tiny turning points that happen during childhood and early adolescence.