Bound for New Orleans: ALA Annual and A Review of Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Well, tomorrow morning at some horrible hour, I am flying out to New Orleans--for my first ever American Librarian Association Annual Conference!  I am both excited and nervous, especially because I'm still in the middle of my last term of grad school classes and two internships and haven't had much time to prepare!  But it does help that other librarians have offered some great advice.  The awesome librarian/blogger GreenBeanTeenQueen, for example, did a wonderful ALA Annual advice post on Monday.  


Ship Breaker seemed like a perfect book to post a review about in celebration of the beginning of this exciting event.  It is this year's Printz Award winner and the story, like that of last year's winner Going Bovine, leads us through New Orleans! 


Nailer works light crew, crawling into the beached wrecks of oil tackers to strip them of valuable copper wiring.  He lives day to day dependent on his ability to make quota and to avoid the unpredictable rage of his drug addicted father.  But suddenly it looks like Nailer has finally had some good luck when he stumbled upon a beautiful abandoned clipper ship--only to discover that it is not quite abandoned.  Now Nailer must decide between survival and the risky chance at a better life.  


Ship Breaker seems like a very apt choice for this year big YA lit prize, the Printz Award.  First, it's superb example of the dystopian/speculative fiction trend that has been so popular with teen readers this year. Bacigalupi paints a beautifully desolate and harsh picture of a future in which environmental exhaustion has helped the gap between wealthy and the desperate widen to catastrophic levels.  For Nailer, life is truly a struggle to survive day to day and Bacigalupi's writing places us right in the struggle with him.  


The novel also provokes a huge range of questions dealing with topics pulled right from the headlines: dependency on oil, environmental changes, the manipulative power of corporations, and people left behind by an unequal society.  It is a page turning adventure that will also make you think.  Ship Breaker also should appeal to diverse group of readers.  Older teens who enjoy thrilling adventure or were hooked on The Hunger Games would be likely be pretty quick sells on Ship Breaker.  


I couldn't put this book down and after finished it, I immediately paged back to reread the climax again so I could relive the thrill!  Check it out!   


5/5 STARS   


   

The God Box by Alex Sanchez

The God Box


Alex Sanchez


SUMMARY: In his senior year of high school, Paul feels like he's got the perfect life.  He's been dating Angie since middle school and beyond being his girlfriend, she's also his best friend.  They sing together in church choir, are active members of Bible club at school, and enjoy just hanging out together.  But then Manuel transfers to school and suddenly Paul's life doesn't seem so perfect.  Manuel is the first openly gay teen to come to town, let alone attend Paul's high school.  But on top of that, Manuel also claims to be a committed Christian--just like Paul and his friends.  His increasing conversations with Manuel have Paul questioning not only his faith but also the feelings he has pushed away for years.  But others have taken notice of Manuel's openness and their reactions are very different.  When the tension at school boils over into a nightmare, Paul must decide who he is and where he stands.  


ONESMARTCUPCAKE THINKS: I read Alex Sanchez' Rainbow Boys books a couples of years ago and found them enjoyable and insightful despite occasionally clunky or imperfect writing.  My reaction to The God Box goes along the same lines.  Sanchez has crafted a very readable book with appealing and relatable characters and good story infused with a keen awareness of current issues in teen's lives.  Sanchez's writing is straightforward rather than lyrical but he captures the range of emotions experienced by his protagonist with clarity and compassion.  The novel addresses the ongoing tensions between religion and sexuality without attempting to over-simplify or become preachy; instead Sanchez emphasizes the way this conflict affects real kids, like Paul and Manuel.  Because of the subject matter, biblical analysis and theological debate play a large role in the story; kids who do not have an interest in such subjects may find these aspects of the novel annoying or uninteresting--although Sanchez has woven them into the narrative quite naturally.  The novel also contains an upsetting and violent event (although the attack itself is not graphically described, the aftereffects are), so be just aware when recommending it.


I read this book pretty compulsively, drawn in by my concern and compassion for the likable protagonist and his friends as well as my interest in the larger topic of religion and sexuality.  The God Box stands out for its generally unique subject matter in the growing world of LGBTQ fiction for young adults.  It gracefully and bravely addresses topics frequently left untouched by other current writers in the sub-genre, such as being gay and religious or coming out within a certain ethnic and cultural context (in this case Mexican and American Hispanic).  This novel would be a good fit for interested teens of the high school age range. I also think that it touches on an important but frequently unaddressed topic and so would be a good read for librarians, teachers, or parents as well.  


3 1/2 / 5 STARS

No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

No and Me

Delphine de Vigan

translated from the French by George Miller

SUMMARY: Lou has always been a little different from other kids.  Her exceptional intelligence has caused her to jump forward in school, making her the smallest and obviously youngest girl in her class.  She enjoys inventing studies about the ingredients in frozen foods and going to the train station to observe people saying their goodbyes.  When a school project forces Lou to take a step and approach a homeless teenage girl who hangs out at the station, her life slowly but surely slides into totally new territory.  Lou and No begin a tentative friendship under the guise of an almost business-like transaction; Lou buys No drinks and No answers Lou's questions about life on the streets.  But after the project is done, Lou cannot seem to let go of No.  After convincing her parents to allow No to come and live with them temporarily, Lou is determined to make No part of her broken family.  While No and Lou discover that their delicate connection can blossom into a powerful friendship and bond, they also must face the harsh reality that No's unhappy past might have a stronger pull than any support Lou can offer.  

ONESMARTCUPCAKE THINKS:  This book is yet another reason that I am so glad that I got into the book-blogging world and discovered exciting things like the 2010 Debut Author Challenge.  I fear that without the lists provided and the motivation to seek out these books, I might never have found a beautiful book like No and Me.  This novel is lovely; evocative and somewhat elegiac and bittersweet.  


Lou is unique and spot-on narrator for this story.  Her quirkiness and shyness are matched by her determination and big heart.  Being an introvert with a high IQ has made Lou an excellent observer and her narration is filled with thoughtful remarks about the behavior of those around her and her own confused attempts to sort out the implications of these keen observations.  


No and Me takes on a tough, and perhaps too often ignored, topic: teenage homelessness.  This English translation uses elegant and delicate writing to frankly portray the harsh reality of Parisian street life and the emotional and socioeconomic entanglements that make escaping it nearly impossible.  Through Lou's sharp but idealistic eyes the reader sees No's vulnerability and fear as she attempts to leave her damaged past behind. Like Lou, I found myself wishing desperately that I could save No.  But this novel refuses to allow for such an easy solution.  Instead, De Vigan seems interested in the complexity of relationships built on sheer instinctual connection and the desire to be needed by another person.  At one point, Lou thinks about her interactions with No in terms of a passage in The Little Prince where the fox asks the Prince to tame him because then they will need each other and so be unique to each other.  Lou wonders: "Maybe that's the only thing that matters.  Maybe you just have to find someone to tame"(180).  


I would love to try and refresh my French to read this novel in its original language; the language used in the translation is both lyrical and straightforward, reflecting the personality of its narrator. I read No and Me slowly, over the course of a busy week; I both wanted to savor its beauty and avoid the sadness it evoked.  Like all good books, this novel made me think and feel intensely without becoming preachy or didactic. No and Me is a novel that would be good for high school age teens as well as adults; I would highly recommend that anyone who enjoys elegant writing and a powerful story, check it out asap!


4/5 STARS

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins

WARNING: While this summary is spoiler-free for Mockingjay, it is not spoiler-free about the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy. So if you haven't gotten a chance to check out The Hunger Games or Catching Fire, you might not want to read ahead.  Also, you should go hunt them down at your local library or bookstore asap! When there are spoilery sections in the review I will warn you :)

SUMMARY: Katniss Everdeen, the now infamous 'girl on fire' and Hunger Games victor, has managed to survive yet another ordeal in the arena.  Rescued from the Quarter Quell by the rebel force, Katniss now finds herself playing a whole different kind of game.  Her home district has been destroyed--firebombed by the Capitol following Katniss' own explosive act of rebellion.  But under the leadership of Gale, her best friend and hunting partner, many residents, including Katniss's mother and beloved sister Prim, have escaped to the rebel stronghold, the mysterious District 13.  So not only do both District 13 and a full-fledged rebel movement exist--the revolution against the Capitol has been underway for a while and it's gaining momentum by the minute.  And this revolution's leadership have rescued Katniss and brought her to District 13 with express purpose of using her popularity and symbolic status to advance their cause.  Of course, no one has consulted Katniss about these careful plans.  Meanwhile, Peeta has been taken by Capitol forces and placed in the hands of cruel President Snow.  The rebels claim that Katniss' participation is crucial to their success.  But is Katniss willing to become a pawn in someone else's game again and take responsibility for the millions of people at risk in the campaign?  Can she become the Mockingjay and withstand the great personal damage and expense that goes with it? 

ONESMARTCUPCAKE SAYS:  I initially read the first and second books in Suzanne Collins' awesome trilogy last spring.  I was a bit belated, I know, but I'll use being out of the country as an excuse.  Anyway, from the first pages of Hunger Games I was totally addicted to these brilliant books.  I have always enjoyed dystopian narratives, from The Giver to Fahrenheit 451 and my interest was immediately peaked by Collins' premise of a future in which the socio-economic gaps have expanded to extremes and the obsession with the media, especially reality television, has become lethal.  The compelling action-packed prose kept me turning the pages and the characters, especially the awesome Katniss Everdeen, had my heart hooked as much as my brain.   But I love the Hunger Games trilogy because it is much more than a good dystopian thriller with a cool heroine; these books attempt to grapple with the very current realities of violence, socio-economic inequality, and war.  Collins' novels explore the ways in which such realities are interconnected and how children and teenagers react to and interact with them.  Now,taking into account all those qualities, it is my opinion that Mockingjay was a superb and fitting conclusion to this excellent series.  


WARNING: It will likely get a little spoilery from here on out. Just so you know. 

Mockingjay continued to do all the wonderful things that the first two books did: it kept a good, quick pace and it delved into Katniss' head with honesty while also managing to provoke ethical and moral questions. But this novel is unique from the others in a variety of awesome ways.  Unlike the first two books, we are no longer in the Hunger Games arena.  Instead, the reader is plunged into the experience of being part of a war effort that is equally saturated in blood and televised propaganda.  But, as Katniss observes several times throughout the narrative, it remains a bizarre game with rules of unclear morality in which many players are merely pawns.  And this concept leads me to one area that I think was handled especially beautifully in the narrative: the lines between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' remain unclear and this ambiguity seems directly connected to both sides willingness to use violence and manipulation to achieve their ends.  In Mockingjay, Collins explores the role media plays in this process in new ways.  The rebels choose to use Katniss in televised propaganda in order to advance their cause and maintain support among the districts. Katniss soon realizes that she has been transformed from a person into a symbol, and it is the double-edged sword of this process and its effects on the individual involved that Collins details in this latest novel.  

Mockingjay also shows us an even darker and more broken Katniss than previous novels.  Our heroine remains angry, distrusting, and strong but simultaneously she is conflicted, depressed, and damaged. When the novel opens, Katniss is still recovering from the physical and emotional trauma of her last moments in the arena.  She has acquired a tendency to hide in small places and repeats a mantra of facts to herself when confusion threatens to overtake her.  As the narrative progresses, we also see Katniss's internal struggle with continuing depression and the conflict between her rage at the Capitol and her growing disgust with violence as a tool.  Later in the novel, the readers will also encounter a very damaged Peeta whose torture in the Capitol may have altered him irrevocably in painful and negative ways.  Along with these intensified portrayals of trauma and its effects, the novel has more graphic violence and even more tragic and seemingly pointless deaths.  And, in my opinion, all these factors are what make Mockingjay utterly brilliant.  

From my minimal browsing on the web so far, the reactions to Mockingjay have been mixed.  Some readers seem to have been disappointed in the conclusion to the now infamous love triangle of Katniss, Gale, and Peeta for a variety of reasons.  Either the end wasn't dramatic enough or the choice was unsatisfactory.  Now, I will admit that if pressed (lightly), I would have come down on the side of Team Peeta.  But frankly, I think that the conclusion to that portion of the story is merely a part of the larger conclusion just as the romance has always been part of the much larger and more complex narrative. I felt very satisfied by Collins' story, which tied Katniss's choice into her larger need to heal and recover.  She also developed the relationships between Katniss and Peeta and Katniss and Gale organically and within the context of wartime maturation.  Some other readers seem to have found the book to be too depressing or sad.  Is Katniss less outwardly spunky than usual perhaps? Well, she is dealing with the after effects of serious emotional and physical trauma while struggling with the ethics of participating in a war--even an apparently justified one.  So I think her occasional weakness and confusion is not only merited but necessary in the kind of story Collins is telling.  I also appreciated what other readers' seem to find disappointing: the seemingly pointless deaths of well-liked characters.  But, again, if Mockingjay aims to tell an honest story about war then death cannot always be obviously heroic and meaningful. Finally, I found the gentle, sad conclusion to the novel fitting; we leave Katniss somewhat bitter and still damaged but ultimately hopeful that the future might be brighter despite its bloody foundations.

Collins has written a masterful conclusion to a series that will take its place on the shelf of significant contributions to young adult fiction.  She has dealt with war, death, torture, social inequality, and refugee life with brutal honesty.  This book in particular pulls few to no punches in terms of displaying the violence, pain, and horrors of war.  But she does all this while maintaining a compelling narrative filled with characters readers will find themselves caring about deeply.  I have yelled, cried, and shivered my way through reading this trilogy and Mockingjay was no exception.  This novel is an intense, heart-pounding, and fist-clenching experience that also manages to provoke thought and inspire great emotion. And I loved every minute of it so much that I went back and reread it in combination with the first two books almost immediately after finishing it.


So, in other words, I really, really liked Mockingjay. I feel as though my thoughts are still being processed but I tried my best to get the bulk of them out here-hope I did okay! What are your thoughts on Mockingjay? 

A few other reviews of Mockingjay I've enjoyed reading so far:
       The Story Siren
       bookshelves of doom
       School Library Journal  

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay

Gayle Forman

SUMMARY: When Mia came down to breakfast that morning, snow flakes were still fluttering down outside and the voice on the radio was announcing the cancellation of school.  With her beloved cello stuck at school, Mia can't practice.  Her parents decide to use the day off to visit friends; Mia and her brother Teddy willingly pile into the car with them and the four set off as the snow already begins to melt.  As they finally shift the radio back to the classical music station and Beethoven's Cello Sonata no. 3 begins to play, a truck comes out of nowhere and crashes into the car.  Suddenly Mia is standing beside her broken body in the snow as the sonata miraculously plays on from the destroyed vehicle's intact radio. Her parents are dead.  Before Mia can find Teddy, the paramedics arrive to take her severely injured body to the hospital.  Compelled by the utter strangeness of her situation, Mia follows. Over the next few days, Mia must make the ultimate choice: will she let herself go or will she stay?

ONESMARTCUPCAKE THINKS:  I first began reading this book several months ago, when I picked it up in a store and then couldn't put it down for several minutes. I forced myself to place it back on the shelf, however, because at that point I was deep into senior paper land and had to spend my spare reading time on literary criticism about Victorian novels.  But I picked it up again at the library this summer and sped through it in about a day.  If I Stay is lovely and evocative work which delves into the delicate and difficult questions of mortality: what control do we have over our death and what is worth staying alive for?  

The novel shifts between Mia's current state after the accident and the significant and insignificant moments of her past that have shaped her relationships with her family, friends, and boyfriend.  Mia's voice is distinctive and recognizably realistic.  Her quiet but powerful passion for music, her occasional sense of separation from her former rock 'n roll parents and punk rocker boyfriend Adam, and her concerns about life after high school-all these basic facets build together through the shifting narrative to illustrate Mia in her complexity and humanity.  The details of Mia's reactions and experiences in both time frames allow the reader to become intimately connected to Mia and the circle of people surrounding her.  Even only a few pages into the novel, I felt as though I knew the characters, especially Mia, and so I felt every pain and twist in her brief but intense journey along with her. 

The relationships between Mia and her parents, her best friend, her grandparents, her brother, and her boyfriend are well-drawn and realistic in their complexity.  Mia and Adam's relationship in particular was enjoyable to follow; it grew organically and went beyond the flush of first love to the complications of mature affection. Forman's lyrical language beautifully evokes the genuine passion between the two without shifting into melodrama or overwrought teen romance.  


If I Stay is a short novel but its brevity contributes to its emotional impact. Forman's spare but poetic prose expresses a wide range of emotions and experiences with honesty and frankness.  Through her elegant writing, the reader is immediately drawn into the frightened and confused mind of a seventeen-year-old girl on the verge of losing everything.  The lyricism of the text seems to echo the large role music plays throughout the narrative, emphasizing that while the decision Mia faces is universal, the story remains that of an individual-a vital young woman for whom music represents all the pain and joy of life.  

Gayle Forman has written a small book that packs a big punch.  Her characters could step off the page and her beautiful writing is a pleasure to read.  Moreover, If I Stay marries serious questions about mortality with the concrete reality of human relationships and emotions.

4/5 STARS

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

Boy Toy  

Barry Lyga

SUMMARY: For the past five years, Josh Mendel has worked hard to be invisible by doing the easy things: being the best hitter on the baseball team, continuing his streak of straight A's, and hanging out with his best friend Zik.  However, as hard as he tried, Josh knows that he will never be invisible because he has a secret: when he was twelve, his seventh-grade history teacher Evelyn Sherman sexually abused him.  But, after the trial and the online leak of Mrs. Sherman's detailed confession, Josh's secret is far from truly hidden or private.  All Josh needs to do is survive long enough to escape town on a college scholarship.  On top of his recent college worries and his long-term anger control issues, he has to deal with the sudden reemergence of Rachel, an old friend he thought he'd lost forever ad the most important baseball game of his life.  Worst of all, Eve has been freed from prison early.  Can Josh ever find a way to understand the events from five years ago and so start running towards his future instead of away from his past?

ONESMARTCUPCAKE THINKS: Holy moly, did this book blow me away! Boy Toy is a powerful, upsetting, and compelling force of a novel.  I assumed from the subject matter (sexual abuse between a teacher and a student) that it would be emotional and intense book but I was not prepared for the reality.  Boy Toy is a very well crafted novel from its construction to its excellent writing.  It manages to pack a big emotional and intellectual punch without ever becoming melodramatic or maudlin.  The novel makes a great attempt to deal honestly with the tangled and complex reality of sexual abuse, from a perspective that frequently remains unheard: that of a young male victim.

Why is Boy Toy so great?  One huge reason is that Josh is such a wonderfully formed character.  He combines intense anger and cynicism with vulnerability; his narration contains sarcastic bite and wit as well as deep unhappiness, fear, and joy.  Josh's three-dimensionality makes his story even more heart-breaking and powerful for a reader.  From the first chapter, I felt as though I knew Josh; his complexity makes him real and knowable in such a way that I felt as though I was experiencing the emotional roller coaster with him.  His confusion, fear, and desire all come through with clarity and potency.  The secondary characters were equally well-crafted, especially the two pivotal women in Josh's life: Rachel and Eve.  

As I said above, Boy Toy is also brilliant for taking on such difficult material in such a respectful yet honest way.  Lyga does not shrink away from somewhat graphic or harsh scenes but instead uses these situations to place the readers even more firmly in Josh's head.  The unflinching look at the after effects of sexual abuse demonstrates that old writing motto: show, don't tell.  Through Josh's narration, Lyga shows the harsh and unsettling reality of a victim's long recovery process; he does not need to tell us about the many ways in which Josh is struggling because they are clearly illustrated through the plot and Josh's internal commentary.  

So, to conclude: I could not put this book down.  I read for a few hours straight, completely immersed in Josh's world and psyche.  The whole time I was cheering for Josh to overcome his many challenges.  Overall, reading Boy Toy was a powerful experience and I recommend the book to older teens and adults who are looking for a great story with emotional and intellectual impact.  Also, Barry Lyga speaks eloquently about his reasoning behind writing Boy Toy at his website's FAQ page.


5/5 STARS

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Tender Morsels

Margo Lanagan

SUMMARY: Liga has undergone cruelty and tragedy nearly beyond imagination during her fifteen years on earth. When she wanders into the forest in complete desperation and despair, Liga is transported by natural magic into a separate world—a world built of her heart’s desire. So Liga raises her daughters Branza and Urdda in her personal heaven, a world free of the unkindness and violence Liga has experienced. However, their heavenly world is not impenetrable; greedy intruders and strange bears break into their gentle haven. Urdda’s curiosity causes her to push at the boundaries of their idyllic life while Branza’s growth into womanhood is disturbed by these unpleasant other worldly encounters. Meanwhile, even Liga herself begins to feel an occasional loneliness within her heaven. When these women find themselves tumbling out of this heavenly world and back into the imperfect reality of Liga’s nightmares, they must learn to survive in the real world, where horror and beauty might lie side by side.

ONESMARTCUPCAKE THINKS: I heard a great deal about this book over the last year and after having it on my ‘to read’ list for a few months, I finally got a chance to read it. My reactions were somewhat mixed but to be totally honest, that could be due to the haphazard way in which I read it. I read it during the first week of my very hectic summer job as a counselor/librarian at an ESL summer camp run at an independent high school. The first week was especially crazy so I would squeeze some reading in before bed and my sleepiness would occasionally result in confusion. So after that likely too full disclosure, I will try to sum up my reactions to Tender Morsels.

Based in the Grimm fairy-tale “Snow-White and Rose-Red,” Tender Morsels attempts to flesh out and complicate this original story with vividly lush and dark details. In the true spirit of the Brothers Grimm, Lanagan has chosen to use her story to explore the shadowy sides of human nature and the way in which cruelty can fit so closely alongside beauty in the human world. In total, I found this book to be a lovely and thoughtful narrative that managed to deal with some sensitive issues and harsh realities with skill.

Lanagan manages use the fairy-tale setting to address issues that remain current. She frankly but sensitively portrays incest, sexual and physical abuse, and gang rape within the first few chapters alone. Liga is well-drawn character; her reactions to her father’s long-term abuse and the attack by the town boys are as complex and confused as any expressed in an actual survivor’s memoir. Lanagan has not attempted to analyze Liga but rather has recorded her emotional and mental progress with precision and poignancy.

The shifting of narrators is gently done; occasionally it is so subtle as to be confusing (at least to my sleep-deprived mind!). I also found Liga’s transportation into her ‘heaven’ quite confusing the first time I read it but then that I can credit to the character’s own confusion and lack of understanding. However, I also felt that some character introductions were a bit too sudden; the greedy ‘wee-man’ who is magicked into their haven, for example, jumped into the narrative and his interests and role remained unclear to me for several sections of the piece.

Above all, however, I found this book to be very powerful. The events portrayed can be quite violent, disturbing, and brutal and although the book retains a sense of hope throughout, it is definitely a dark book that deals frankly with some very difficult subjects. However, Lanagan’s writing is lovely and the piece possesses a haunting clarity of the emotional aspects of interactions and scenes. She manages to recreate a variety of viewpoints, both male and female, with equal authenticity. Although this novel would be qualified as fantasy, the issues and emotions it represents directly speak to humans all over the world today.

4/5 STARS