Middle-Grade Review: The Agony of Alice

In getting ready for Banned Books Week, I was surprised that #2 on the top 100 banned books from 2000 – 2009 was the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I’d heard of the books but never read one, so I decided to find out what the fuss was about. I did a little digging and found that of the 25 Alice books published to date, The Agony of Alice was the first one published (in 1985), so I requested it from my library.

Alice McKinley is eleven years old at the start of this novel, entering 6^th grade – her last year of elementary school – in a new school in Silver Spring, Maryland. She and her father and 19-year old brother have just moved to a new town, a new house, and a new neighborhood. Alice is a little worried about starting over at a new school, but her most fervent wish is for a mother; Alice’s own mother died when she was just four years old.

Alice sets her sights for an “adopted mother” on Miss Cole, one of the 6^th grade teachers, who seems to Alice to be just the kind of role model she’s looking for: she is beautiful, wears fashionable clothes and perfume, and seems to Alice like the perfect woman. Instead, Alice is assigned to Mrs. Plotkin’s class, a 60-year old, heavy teacher with no fashion sense at all.

The school year moves forward, as Alice agonizes over every little thing she does that seems embarrassing. She even makes a chart for herself, with Backward on one side and Forward on the other so she can track the things she does to move herself ahead…or behind. Alice makes some new friends, gets to know Mrs. Plotkin better, and gets reacquainted with an aunt, uncle, and older cousin she barely remembers.

So, why has such a sweet novel about the normal life of an 11 (and later 12)-year old girl been challenged and banned? Get this – for “honesty about the human body”! Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? During the course of the novel, Alice worries about how to get a bra when she doesn’t have a mother, gets her period for the first time, and shares her first kiss with her first boyfriend. What do our preteen girls need from their realistic fiction more than honesty?

I loved this novel, and I loved Alice. In fact, I mostly loved the very thing this book has been banned for – its realism and honesty. Naylor clearly remembers what it’s like to be a young girl on the brink of becoming a teenager, worrying about how she appears to others and about growing up. I grew to like Alice so much that I wanted to read more and immediately went back to the library to sample one of the books in the series when Alice is an older teen. I chose Dangerously Alice (Alice is in 11^th grade in this one) which I have been loving just as much (but be warned – more honesty here! You won’t have to look up why it’s been banned and it's more appropriate for older teens).

When I was a young girl, we had Judy Blume and Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret and Forever (two other frequently banned books!) to help guide us through those awkward years of growing up and to answer the questions we were too embarrassed to ask. We read and reread those books and whispered about them with our girlfriends. Girls today are lucky – they still have Judy Blume but they also have Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Alice, the likable but very real character at the heart of the Alice series. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to grow up alongside Alice.

131 pages, Atheneum

 

Books Read in August

Well, I am really living up to my motto this month: Better late than never! It's almost October, and I am just now posting my summary of books read in August - it's just been that kind of month!



I was still focusing on my Big Book Summer Challenge in August, so I only finished 5 books, but a whopping 3 of them were Big Books (over 400 pages). Here's what I read:

• Good Fortune by Noni Carter, a teen/YA novel (TN/OH)
• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, adult fiction (MA/NY)
• In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang, teen/YA graphic novel (AZ) 

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, adult fiction (NY)
• In the End by Demitria Lunetta, teen/YA novel on audio (TX/KS)

 So, it was another all-fiction month, but I read a nice mix of adult, teen/YA, graphic novel, and audio. I enjoyed all of these, but my favorite was The Goldfinch. I was reluctant to read it but so glad my book group chose it - it really grabbed me.

Update on 2014 Reading Challenges:

I added three new states to my Where Are You Reading Challenge 2014 this month (not bad for the end of the year when so many are repeats). I read just 1 book from my TBR shelves for my 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge in August - I have really not done well on this one so far this year! I listened to one more audio book for my 2014 Audio Book Challenge, bringing my total to 13, so that one's going well so far. Nothing in August for my The Classics Reading Challenge or Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2014. I did complete my own Big Book Summer Challenge, with a total of five big books (each over 400 pages) read this summer!

What was your favorite book(s) read in August? 

Fiction Review: The Catcher in the Rye

The last time I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, I was about 16 years old (I think I read it on my own, not for school). I decided to re-read it in honor of Banned Books Week, since I didn’t remember much about it. I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed it and devoured the novel in just a couple of days.

Holden Caulfield is a boy in his late teens who has been kicked out of his private boarding school at the start of the novel. This is not a new experience for Holden, who is often criticized for not “applying himself.” Holden is clearly depressed and visits his favorite teacher to say goodbye before leaving, but his visit is unsatisfactory. During an evening spent in his dorm, the reader sees Holden interacting with his roommate and other peers before he decides abruptly to head back to New York City a few days early, before he is due at his parents’ house for the holiday break.

Much of the novel follows Holden’s escapades in New York, as he kills time postponing the day when he has to face his parents and his latest expulsion. He wanders the city, meets up with old friends, smokes a lot of cigarettes and drinks way too much alcohol. But he’s not partying it up in a happy, rambunctious way; rather, he is trying to work through his complicated feelings about school and life and dreaming of running away to live in a cabin in the woods where he wouldn’t have to deal with all “the phonies.”

Superficially, it would be easy to write Holden off as a rebellious teen sowing his wild oats. I’ve even heard critics refer to Holden as a spoiled rich kid. But what struck me with this new reading of The Catcher in the Rye, as an adult, was the pain and loss that lie just beneath Holden’s cool exterior. Soon, it becomes clear what the root of his depression is, and that loss makes his actions far more understandable.

In addition, in spite of his coarseness, I had to admire Holden’s impatience with “phonies,” a common theme in his frequent internal rants. His kindness also shines through his rough outer shell, toward fellow students who’ve been mistreated and also his obvious love for his siblings. In all, Holden’s pain touched me.

It is true that this story captures a sort of classic portrait of teenage angst, but I thought there was much more to it than that. Holden’s own unique losses and pain make this novel a complex depiction of one particular teen’s own life – and yes, angst – filled with emotional depth. I thoroughly enjoyed my short time in Holden’s head and was pleased by the hint of hope at the end that – as for most teens – better times are ahead.

214 pages, Little, Brown & Company

(I read an old copy of the novel that was my husband’s – I also still have the copy my mother read in high school!)

Why Has It been Challenged and Banned?

Oh, that’s an easy one. Just read a few pages, and you’ll see! The novel is completely narrated by Holden himself, filled with profanity (which is still the way many teens really do talk!) and very honest in its depiction of real life, including ruminations on sex, plus plenty of alcohol and smoking. It has come up again and again on Banned Books lists over the decades, often in the top 10 or 20.

 

Banned Books Week 2014

This is Banned Books Week, a week set aside to celebrate the freedom of speech and the freedom to read whatever you want. Here's more information on Banned Books Week from the American Library Association (ALA).


It's also a great time to read for yourself some of the books that have been challenged or banned. Many of them are classics or highly regarded modern books, and by reading and reviewing them, we can bring attention to some great literature that should be available for all to read.

The way I see it is that it is perfectly OK not to like a book or even to be offended by a book - if that's the case, then you don't have to read it. However, it is not OK to ban a book and remove it from libraries or schools so that no one can read it. In the case of kids, I think that it should be the parents' role to decide what books are appropriate for their kids, not random citizens whose values may be entirely different than yours.

Often, books for children or teens are banned because they deal with difficult topics - violence, abuse, homosexuality (or any kind of sexuality), racism, etc. While parents can decide what is age-appropriate for their own kids, I think it's important for kids and teens to read books that deal with these kinds of difficult topics. All of this - and more - is a part of life, and kids and teens should be exposed to a wide range of real-life issues. Books are a safe way to bring these difficult topics up and can often spark useful discussions with parents, kids, classmates, and teachers.

The ALA has published lists of the most frequently banned books by decade, including the latest decade, 2000-2009. They also have lists of most frequently banned books for each year, from 2001 - 2013.

I like to use the top 100 Banned Books list from 2000 - 2009 to choose books to read to celebrate this week. Last year for Banned Books Week, I read Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Both were absolutely amazing books!

This year, I have already read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (last time I read it, I was only 16) and am currently reading The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (this series is #2 in the top banned books of that decade). In this novel, Alice is only in 6th grade, so I also plan to read one of the later Alice books, Dangerously Alice, which takes place when she is ion 11th grade.

For more information, links, and fun ways to celebrate Banned Books Week, check out Sheila's blog, Book Journey.

And come back here for reviews of banned books later this week:

• Wednesday: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Thursday: The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

How are you celebrating Banned Books week?

It's Monday 9/22! What Are You Reading?

I am sitting here in the quiet house, recovering after a busy weekend with house guests, a long-distance soccer game, and cooking many big meals to serve a crowd! It was another week without much time for blogging - I used my limited writing time to work on an essay - but as always, we all made time for reading:

• I finished The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata, a middle-grade novel about a young girl spending the summer with her Japanese grandparents, harvesting wheat in the heartland. Although it's set in the U.S., I counted it for the Travel the World in Books Challenge since it is partly about a different culture. It was a wonderful book, filled with warmth and humor!
• This week is Banned Book Week, so I chose my next couple of books from the ALA'a Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books 2000 - 2009. First, I re-read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, a classic novel that is always among the most frequently banned books. I hadn't read it since I was 16 and really didn't remember much about it. I thoroughly enjoyed my re-read and really loved the novel! I can see what it's endured for so long.
• I was intrigued that #2 on the ALA's most frequently banned list was the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, so I figured I should try it and start with the first Alice book that was published, The Agony of Alice (1985). I just started it last night, but Alice is only twelve in this book, so I'm not sure this is one of the ones that was banned! We'll see - if I have time, I may try one of the later books when she's a teen also.
• I have been listening to The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor, a teen/YA novel by the author of Waiting for Normal, which I loved. I think I am near the end, and it has been excellent so far - a gripping story of a teen girl trying to find her identity amidst conflicting pressures.
• My husband, Ken, is reading Reaper's Run: A Plague Wars novel by David VanDyke and Ryan King. He says it's a twist on the typical apocalyptic series - here, the plague actually heals people. He was perusing the Banned Books List last night for ideas on what to read next, getting into the spirit of the celebration!
• Jamie, 20, read The Maze Runner by James Dashner last week and then went to see the new movie with his friends on Saturday night. He said both the book and movie were good. He hasn't chosen his next book yet.

Only one post last week:

Review of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, a compelling novel not to be missed!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.   

Fiction Review: The Goldfinch

I was completely blown away by the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson. Despite that, when I heard that The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, I wasn’t interested in reading it. The plot description just didn’t sound intriguing to me. Fortunately, one of my book groups chose it for our September selection. I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on this extraordinary, compelling novel. So, I will describe the novel’s premise and plot, as I always do in a review, but you should read it anyway, even if it doesn’t interest you! This is one of those books that is far more than the sum of its parts.

Theo is only thirteen years old when his mother is killed in a horrific bombing that Theo himself miraculously survives. His father left them some time ago and there is no other family nearby, so Theo moves in with the wealthy family of his old school friend. They live in a big Park Avenue apartment, filled with expensive furnishings and surrounded by servants. In this foreign environment, Theo clings to his mother’s memory with the only thing he has to remember her by – a small painting called The Goldfinch that his mother loved.

One of the pleasures of this thick novel is its inherent suspense and many twists and turns, so I won’t say much more about what happens to Theo, except that the painting continues to play a prominent role in his life as he grows up. The novel follows Theo through adolescence to young adulthood and across multiple states and countries. He makes a friend, falls in love, finds a career, and through it all, holds onto some connections that occurred during and after the bombing, as that traumatic event and loss continue to affect every aspect of his life.

Theo is a likeable character who makes a lot of mistakes; you keep rooting for him and hoping he’ll get it right. He is surrounded by a full cast of memorable characters, including his immigrant friend, Boris (the unanimous favorite among my book group), his troubled father, the kind furniture restorer who becomes a friend, the family that took him in, and many others. The story woven around these characters is absolutely captivating, as we watch Theo grow up amid all kinds of challenges.

I mistakenly thought this was a novel about art…and it is, in part, with the painting at its center. However, it’s also a novel about love and loss, about regrets and mistakes, and about how a secret kept hidden can eat you alive. It has elements of romance, suspense, coming-of-age, art history, and is even part-thriller toward the end. In short, it is an epic tale of a young boy growing up and struggling to come to terms with the loss that defined his life. I dreaded starting this huge novel, but once I began reading, I hated to set it down and often read late into the night. The Goldfinch is a compelling, moving story that will stay with you long after you finish it.

771 pages, Little, Brown and Company

P.S. At our book discussion, 9 of the 10 people who'd read the complete book loved it; one said she hated it. So, you can't please everyone, but those are pretty good odds.

It's Monday 9/15! What Are You Reading?

I just looked back at last week's Monday post where I said I was looking forward to getting back to normal - ha! My father-in-law moved here last week from Oklahoma, so the week was chock-full of helping him get settled. He arrived with a bad toothache, so he and I spent much of the week going to the dentist, oral surgeon, drugstore, etc. (he's fine now). And my husband and I spent the last few days helping him move into his apartment nearby. He seems very happy here so far, glad to not be alone anymore. He is enjoying time with us and getting to know the other residents in his independent living building. There is still a lot to do, but hopefully things will begin to settle down a bit this week.

We didn't have a lot of time for reading last week (and I had almost no time for blogging!), but here's what we're reading:

• I finished The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo, though not in time for my neighborhood book group (I still went). It was an unusual sort of novel - kind of historical fantasy set in Malaysia in 1893 since it takes place mostly in the afterlife as defined by Chinese beliefs. It was unique and interesting and was my first book for the Travel the World in Books Challenge and Readathon.
• After reading several giant novels for various book groups this past 6 weeks, I was happy to choose anything I wanted to read next. I chose The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata, a middle-grade novel about a young girl spending the summer with her Japanese grandparents, harvesting wheat in the heartland. Although it's set in the U.S., I am also counting it for the Travel the World in Books Challenge since it is partly about a different culture. I am loving it so far - the grandmother is hilarious!
•  I didn't have any time alone last week to listen to an audio book, so I need to start a new one today.
• My husband, Ken, finished  The Magicians by Lev Grossman on his Kindle and enjoyed it. He's looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy.
• Now, Ken is reading Reaper's Run: A Plague Wars novel by David VanDyke and Ryan King. He says it's a twist on the typical apocalyptic series - here, the plague actually heals people.
• I'm guessing Jamie, 20, is still reading The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price by C.L. Schneider, though I'm not sure since he is at college. He was sick last week so might have had more reading time than usual.

 Only one blog post all last week!

Review of In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang, a teen/YA graphic novel

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.    

Teen/YA Review: In Real Life

I am fairly new to teen/YA graphic novels (though I’ve reviewed a few middle grade graphic novels). Earlier this summer, I read This One Summer and really enjoyed it, so I decided to try another YA graphic novel, In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang. It tackles some real-life issues within an engaging story.

Anda is a teen girl who enjoys playing video games. From the opening scenes, we can see that she is part of a loving family but is feeling a bit isolated, having recently moved to a new city. A speaker comes to Anda’s school to talk to the teen girls about online gaming. Girls are seriously under-represented in the world of online games, and the speaker entices the girls in Anda’s class to join a popular online game called Coarsegold and even join her “guild,” a team within the game.

Anda is interested in giving Coarsegold a try, but first she has to convince her parents that it’s safe and will be good for her to be a part of a team. They agree, and Anda is pulled into the exciting game, thrilled to be part of the guild, and loving her new kick-ass avatar.  It’s all fun, until Anda learns that some of the much-maligned “gold farmers” in the game are actually kids from around the world, earning money so their families can eat. All of a sudden, the game is more than just a game to Anda, and she tries to find a way to help a newfound friend on the other side of the world.

This novel works on several levels. It’s an interesting and engaging story of a teen girl who gains confidence and grows through her love of video games. But this book also tackles some important real-life issues: the lack of girls and female role models in the online gaming world and the economic and political issues of gold farming (where players participate in a game only so they can sell things on the black market). Not being a teen or a gamer, I’d never even heard of gold farming before, but this novel provided a good introduction, and the authors included more details in an introduction.

All in all, In Real Life is a compelling story with a likable main character who uses her compassion and intelligence to resolve a problem. Along the way, she improves her self-esteem, makes new friends, and has a lot of fun, too! The illustrations were fun to look at, with the story going back and forth between Anda’s real-world life and her experiences within the game (click here to see some sample pages). I can’t wait to read more YA graphic novels!

175 pages, First Second

It's Monday 9/8! What Are You Reading?

Late start this morning and a busy day ahead! My husband arrives back home today with his Dad, who is moving here to Delaware from Oklahoma. They spent the last week sorting, packing, and moving. Meanwhile, I got a lot done here on my own, but it was also more exhausting doing everything by myself. The dishwasher broke this weekend, we ran out of gas for the grill, and I need to run to the grocery store to stick up for the homecoming. Looking forward to getting back to "normal."

Here's what we've been reading this past week:

• I finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt last Monday. It was an amazing book, from the first page to the last. Despite its almost-800 pages, it was so compelling I could hardly stand to set it down. We had a great discussion of it at my book group last week - 9 people liked or loved it, and 1 person hated it. I'll try to write a review this week.
• I finished an audio book, In the End by Demitria Lunetta, a teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel and sequel to In the After. I enjoyed the first book, and the second one has pulled me right in again and provided a satisfying conclusion.
• I started - and finished! - another teen/YA audio book last week: The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson. This was an unusual novel - I'm not sure quite how to categorize it - about a teen girl growing up in the midst of a serial killer on the loose in her small town. The ending was not at all what I expected - still thinking about that...
• I started reading The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo for my neighborhood book group. It's different than I expected but good so far. Kind of historical fantasy set in Malaysia in 1893 - it takes place mostly in the afterlife as defined by Chinese beliefs. Unique and interesting so far. This is my first book for the Travel the World in Books Challenge and Readathon.
• My husband, Ken, is reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman on his Kindle, though I am guessing he didn't have very much reading time last week, with all the work they had to do! 
• Last time I checked, Jamie, 20, was still reading The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price by C.L. Schneider. His reading time came to a screeching halt when he went back to college.
• Craig, 16, finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. He and his friends who slept over this weekend admitted it wasn't too bad for a summer reading assignment!

I only wrote one review last week but squeezed in some other posts as well:

Review of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, a teen/YA that everyone should read!

2014 Big Book Summer Challenge Wrap-Up - my own big book reading this summer 

Travel the World in Books Challenge and Readathon - my sign-up

Snapshot Saturday - a few beach photos from August

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.   

Snapshot Saturday 9/6

Snapshot Saturday is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

One last Snapshot Saturday devoted to vacation pictures. After our 2-week camping trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, we came home, quickly did laundry, and left again for a weekend at the beach with my extended family. Here are just a few photos from Wildwood, NJ, a classic vacation spot on the Jersey Shore where my family has gone for several generations:

The wide, wide Wildwood beach in the morning - a rare quiet moment!

The start of Wildwood's famous 2-mile boardwalk - again, a rare quiet moment!

My husband and I riding bikes on the boardwalk.

A multi-color view of my mom, sister, cousins, niece, and I!

My sweet nephew chasing the seagulls, just like his mom used to do!

 
Hope you are enjoying a nice weekend!

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge and Readathon

Now that my own Big Book Summer Challenge has ended, I've decided to add a new challenge to my current Reading Challenges: the Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, co-hosted by one of my favorite bloggers, Tanya of Mom's Small Victories.

The rules are pretty simple because you make your own rules! The general idea is to challenge yourself to read books either set in other places, about other cultures, or by authors from other places/cultures, and you set your own timing and goals. Since I normally participate in annual challenges, I've chosen an odd timing for my goals of about 16 months, just so it'll coincide with my other Reading Challenges that will start in January and end in December 2015:

• To read at least 10 books set in other places/cultures by the end of 2015

I'll track my progress on my main Challenge Page - I already track where my books take place for the Where Are You Reading Challenge anyway.

OK, I guess that's it - easy-peasy. If you want to sign-up yourself, just use the above link and choose your own goals.

Now, they are also hosting a Readathon within the challenge: Travel the World in Books Readathon, running from September 1 - 14. I'm a bit late, but it's been a busy week! This works well for me because I am already reading The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo for my neighborhood book group next week - it is set in Malaysia and about Chinese culture, so it's a perfect fit. No idea what I'll read after that, but I have overflowing TBR shelves to choose from!

It's not too late for you, either - head over and sign up for the Readathon and be eligible for their giveaways (better late than never is pretty much my life motto!)

Teen/YA Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

I read Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick this spring and loved how the book dealt with mental illness in such an entertaining yet educational way. In Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, a teen/YA novel, Quick accomplishes the same amazing thing – he takes a difficult, sensitive topic and deals with it in an honest, warm, and even humorous way. This is an emotionally powerful novel for both teens and adults that has stuck with me strongly in the two months since I listened to it on audio.

The novel is narrated by Leonard Peacock himself (yes, that’s his real name), on his 18^th birthday. He doesn’t expect anyone to remember his birthday, but he has his own plans for commemorating it: shooting first his ex-best friend/current bully, Asher, and then himself with his grandfather’s old gun from WWII. It’s clear from the start that Leonard is hurting and has been tormented somehow by Asher, but his past, his pain, and his motives only gradually come to light.

Along with the gun, Leonard also fills his backpack with four gifts that he has carefully wrapped for the four people he considers friends. He wants to leave each of them something meaningful to remember him by, as a thank you and a kind of apology for “not sticking around longer,” as he puts it. Those friends who’ve touched his life include a grumpy, elderly neighbor with whom he watches old Humphrey Bogart movies; a violin prodigy at his school whose music has touched him; a gorgeous teen girl he has a crush on who is an Evangelical Christian and wants to convert him; and his Holocaust Class teacher, whom Leonard suspects has secrets of his own.

The entire novel takes place in a single day. At first, Leonard’s joking, brash voice is only disturbing, even disgusting, to the reader, as he plans his murder/suicide. Soon, though, you realize that underneath the bravado, Leonard is scared and feeling hopeless, having been humiliated (by exactly what, we don’t know), and feeling as if this is the only way out. His father left, his mother mostly lives in Manhattan, 2 hours away, to further her fashion career and spend time with her boyfriend, and Leonard truly feels abandoned.

At this point, you are probably thinking that this sounds like a horribly depressing book, but it isn’t. Quick’s talent is to take a rarely-discussed subject, like teen suicide, and open it up to the sunlight, investigating it with warmth, humanity, and even a bit of humor. As Leonard goes about his day, the reader is not only eager to find out what’s behind his desperation but also hopeful that one of Leonard’s gift recipients – or anyone else he comes in contact with that day – will see his desperation and reach out to help him, to save him. You can tell that deep down inside, this is what Leonard wants, too. That sense of hope, alongside desperation, pervades the entire book.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is one of the most emotionally powerful novels I’ve ever read. It touched me deeply, and I still think about it and its characters, months later. Hearing the story on audio, narrated by Leonard himself, was especially powerful, though I see that the paper book has its own advantages, as Leonard has heavily footnoted his narrative (the footnotes were read on the audio, though I didn’t realize they were footnotes). The story moves along quickly, with suspense building as Leonard gets closer and closer to his final goal for that day, with the reader thinking that surely someone will notice and reach out to him.

Teen shootings and suicides are rampant in our modern world, so there must be a lot of Leonard Peacocks out there who need someone to notice their pain and reach out to help them. This warm, moving, important novel should be required reading for everyone on the planet.

Hachette Audio
(I downloaded this audio book free through the SYNC program - be sure to check it out next summer!) 

Matthew Quick's introduction to his novel:


Listen to an audiobook excerpt here. 

 

2014 Big Book Summer Challenge Wrap-Up

Yesterday was Labor Day here in the U.S., the unofficial end of summer...and the official end of my 2014 Big Book Summer Challenge!

At the start of the summer, I set out a plan to read 6 Big Books (i.e. over 400 pages) this summer - you can check out my proposed list here.

As of bedtime last night, I read the last page of my 5th Big Book for the summer! I had to make some changes to my plans when I discovered that one of my book groups chose The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt to discuss on September 4. So, I subbed that for my last two (since it is almost 800 pages!). It was a good swap - I loved The Goldfinch, and now I am all ready for our discussion on Thursday.

So, here are the 5 Big Books I read this summer:

• Emma by Jane Austen, 487 pages (I have never read a Jane Austen!)
• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, 538 pages
• Good Fortune by Noni Carter, 482 pages
• Unsouled by Neal Schusterman, 404 pages
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, 771 pages

I enjoyed all of these! I haven't written reviews yet of The Interestings or The Goldfinch because I like to wait until after book discussions, so I can include broader perspectives besides my own opinion. So, look for those two next week.

Did you read any Big Books this summer?

If you signed up for the Big Book Summer Challenge, be sure to stop by the challenge page and leave links to your big book reviews and/or your wrap-up post (though a wrap-up isn't required). Hope you had fun reading your big books this summer - I did!

It's Monday 9/1! What Are You Reading?

Happy Labor Day! The unofficial end of summer...which makes me happy because it's been a difficult summer. And I love fall! It's my favorite season. Of course, it's supposed to stay in the 90's and humid all this coming week, so it's not quite fall yet...

It's also the official end of my Big Book Summer Challenge for 2014! So, finish up those big books today. However, you still have plenty of time to write reviews of your big books and/or challenge summaries and add them to the Review links list on the challenge page - I still have a couple more to write myself.

It's been a good week for me, getting back into a more normal routine, with both of my sons back at school. They both went to the beach with friends for the holiday weekend, and my husband left to help his Dad move out here (another big change coming for us!), so I spent a lovely, quiet weekend at home alone...with plenty of reading!

• I am still reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and I have enjoyed every page. I am down to less than 50 pages left, so I plan to finish it today and count it as my 5th and last Big Book of the summer for the challenge. It is an amazing, compelling book - the sort of story that pulls you in so completely that you feel more a part of its fictional world than your own real-life world (as my dreams last night can attest!).
• I finally started a new audio book, In the End by Demitria Lunetta, a teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel and sequel to In the After. I enjoyed the first book, and the second one has pulled me right in again. With no one else at home, I have been wearing my iPod around the house almost constantly!
• In addition, my husband and I are still listening to Uncaged, a teen/YA thriller by adult thriller writer John Sandford and co-author Michelle Cook, though we didn't have much time to listen last week, other than when I drove him to the airport. This is book one of a new series called The Singular Menace. 
• My husband, Ken, is reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman on his Kindle. I was glad to hear he'd bought this novel, since from everything I've heard about it, he should enjoy it.
• My 20-year old son, Jamie, started his junior year of college last week, so I'm sure he's no longer able to read 4 books a week, but I have no idea what he's reading now! He'll be home later today, so I'll ask him.
• Craig, 16, is almost finished with Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, his summer reading assignment. Yes, he already started back to school last week, but he tells me not to worry, he'll finish it before tomorrow when they start to discuss it!

I had a good blog catch-up week and posted two reviews, as well as some other posts:

Review of Emma by Jane Austen, one of my Big Books for the summer


Review of Good Fortune, a teen/YA novel about slavery and my 4th big book


Summary of Books Read in July

Weekend Cooking, with some easy but tasty summer recipes

Snapshot Saturday, with photos from our recent trip to Vermont 

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.