Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Jacket Art Copyright: The Heads of State

Inside jacket summary:

"Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, Sam's best friend is dead. All he left Sam was a playlist and a note, saying that he took his own life. But what Sam doesn't know is: why? To figure out what happened, Sam must rely on the playlist and his own memory. But the more he listens, the more he realizes that his memory isn't as reliable as he thought."

Based off the jacket, you really expect the story to center around the significance of this playlist Hayden leaves Sam before committing suicide. Very disappointingly, it really doesn't. The chapter names are songs on the playlist and while they are mentioned briefly at the beginning of the chapter, there is no real significance to the playlist in the story. So while some very cool songs are picked, there is no real meaning there and seems to be just a selling point for the book. Lame. 

There is no answer to why Hayden killed himself, which I understand the author choice in not answering that for Sam or any of the other characters, because ultimately with suicide one can't really ever know for sure. That being said, the author never really explained why Hayden kept something a secret from Sam. We are told that Sam and Hayden are more like brothers. Despite Hayden's awful parents and brother, he is able to find escape by being at Sam's house where he liked it more. Nothing that Hayden was facing really gives you the sense that he lead the worst life, especially when he had Sam. 

That wasn't the worst offense by the author. In the end, the author throws in the character of Astrid, who is a "friend" of Hayden, unbeknownst to Sam. After Hayden's death, Sam's search for answers really then just turn into a romance with Astrid. Which ultimately doesn't work out because Sam finds something out about Astrid that he simply can forgive. There was just way too many things and characters that just didn't do anything for the story which a shame. The premise of learning about your best friend through a playlist is interesting and is why I picked up this book, but don't be fool.

my rating: C-

A.B.

The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder

(Jacket design: Liz Dresner Jacket Photo: Michael Frost)

Hannah and Zoe are best friends. They live in a two star town in New Jersey that offers nothing more than a future attending the community college and landing an unrewarding job nearby at best. Both want more than what they were given and what lies ahead for them, but both go about it in different ways.

Hannah is girl aware that she deserves more but keeps her expectations low. Her parents, divorced, focus more on their issues rather than trying to make Hannah’s life easier or even better. Her dad, an alcoholic weatherman, told her from a young age that he isn’t paying for college and instead give her a small rolling hot dog stand to sell hot dogs to save for school. Her mother is completely uninvolved with Hannah, because after a divorce and midlife, it seems her mother thinks this is as good as it gets, with her job at the DMV and watching Dr. Oz. Hannah herself does have dreams to one day visit Sweden and to have a chance with Danny Spinelli, her crush since that time he kissed her back in 6^th grade. Danny drives the ice truck around the lake’s beaches where Hannah normally sets up her hot dog stand making it possible to see each other from a distance but Danny is with a cheerleader, Rebecca, making it not possible for her to muster the strength to speak to him.

Zoe is your typical beautiful girl, who you learn early on has bipolar disorder, that be due to her age or the disorder is overly flirty, wild and free. Despite that, she is perceptive and supportive of Hannah and her eight year old brother, Noah, who due to his Asperger’s speaks nothing but the cosmos and fails to grasps emotions.  Zoe creates the Museum of Intangible Things, a collection of installations she made depicting emotions like Pride, Sadness/Depression, and Sloth/Laziness for Noah to learn these said emotions.

While at a party hosted by Zoe’s current object of lust, Ethan, the girls get drunk. Hannah has an encounter with Danny, and in the morning realizes that Zoe is missing. Hannah finds her at the other side of the lake, and that’s when it is notable that something is wrong with Zoe. This, along with an incident involving her drunk father, Hannah and Zoe (more so Zoe) decide that road trip is what they need. On road trip, Zoe begins to show Hannah her version of the Museum of Intangible things like insouciance, audacity, gluttony, and a few others in order to get Hannah to stop catering to others. However, it apparent to the reader that Zoe isn’t in the best frame of mind the further they go on with the trip, ultimately leading to a startling ending.


Where to begin! I really wanted to like this book and kept reading thinking it has to get better. The cover is a bit misleading, looks a lot more soft and whimsical than it actually is. I am disappointed that the author made the ending as she did, and overall more disappointed that she brings in Danny Spinelli as a crutch for Hannah later on in the book. Hannah was self-reliant and her only real support was Zoe and then the author swoops Danny in to rescue Hannah and Hannah just curls up in his lap like a kitty and in doing so leaves her friend Zoe out to dry. So much for friendship. Which is even more annoying given that the author ends the first chapter saying, “And we vowed: never to let each other down. There is no stronger bond than the one that gets you through childhood. This is our story.” 
If you read it, I think you’d agree that the ending of this book could have been altogether different if Hannah wasn't distracted with Danny. What I hope people take away from this book if they do read it, is that mental issues are real and not as prettily packaged as they are with Zoe. Also, that you don’t need a boy to rescue you.

A.B. 

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

I might not be the best person to review this book since I'm a bit influenced by her other writings, so I'm probably not seeing this book as a stand-alone but how it compares to her other works. Either way, this book has some flaws.

This novel focuses on Jacob Hunt, an eighteen-year-old boy who has Asperger's syndrome. Asperger's is a form of autism where a child can be highly intelligent, but obsessive over a certain topic and unable to read social clues. The children are victims of routine and prone to tantrums when their routine is changed. Overall, these children have their quirks that make them unable to fit into everyday society. Jacob, in this case is obsessed with forensic science and before long, someone connected to Jacob ends up dead, and he's the prime suspect. His mother and lawyer argue, though, that he is merely a victim of his disease, not of homicidal intentions. In the meantime, there's his fifteen-year-old brother who is neglected because the needs of Jacob capture his mother's attention and who also happens to know something about the dead body. So now it's a hunt for the truth and trying to determine whether or not it's right to use Jacob's disability as a defense.

I'm probably too critical of a reader, but I found it hard to fully connect Jacob with his disorder. To begin with, I felt like Asperger's was shoved down my throat in this novel - a description of it and explanation, and everything about it was forced upon me. Yet when it came time to actual "interact" with Jacob, unless he was having an episode, he seemed like a "normal" person. Maybe that's how it is with people who have Asperger's, but from the way I've been forced to understand it from the book, I was expecting something more removed from the realm of normal. Everyone has quirks but that doesn't mean they have Asperger's. This novel was told through multiple narrators and when Jacob was narrating, unless he'd gone off the deep end and was upset, he didn't seem any different from his brother. I didn't feel like the author did a convincing job creating that character. In my opinion, there was too much telling me about the disease and not enough time just showing it to me through the character. That's the first thing that turned me off this novel. Next is the fact that if they just took the time to act one correctly worded question, the whole situation could have been solved - with one question! Since nobody wanted to ask that question or had enough brains to word it correctly, the novel and drama ensued for another 300 pages. It honestly felt like characters remained ignorant to create a longer novel. Yes, I can understand the lawyer not wanting to know the truth for fear of perjury, but the mother would rather doubt her son than hear the truth, even though she claims she'll love him either way. It just became too frustrating. Also, in creating a longer novel, we have the trial which just felt like a repetition of everything stated in the first half of the novel. Finally, we have the ending - no, I'm not going to give it away. However, Jodi Picoult is known for throwing in a twist at the end and this time, it was not only a huge disappointment, but also extremely predictable.

Okay, I'll be the first to admit I'm too critical. I should be able to just pick up a book and go with the flow. However, I can't help being disappointed or frustrated with what I'm reading and this book had so many factors irritating me. I'd be happy to know, though, if you had similar frustrations or if you simply think I'm off my rocker. On a positive note - yes, I am capable of finding the silver lining in a book I didn't enjoy - this novel did a good job of showing a family coming together in a crisis and the risks we're willing to take for the ones we love.
MMK

NATION by Terry Pratchett

A tidal wave races through an alternative world much like the islands of the South Pacific. Entire islands are washed away. Tall Sailing Ships sank. Natives in their canoes vanish. One small island remained, all its former inhabitants save one washed away. That one was a boy returning from boys island expecting to be officially become a man. The first survivor to be washed ashore was a girl on the remains of a tall sailing ship. A white girl wearing trousers and using a language most strange and wielding something the boy later found out was a gun, was very weird and scary to Mau. And Mau was very scary to the girl. Somehow they manage to communicate with each other and get on with surviving as they must. Over the days a rag tag bunch of survivors in many small numbers in many ways begin to arrive. Their need for help and later to help others gradually help this group of peoples of many languages, cultures, indeed colors become a working community. I kept thinking how different these marooned people were from those in the book Lord of the Flies. Always they worked together for the common good (survival) always they took pleasure in helping each other and learning amazing new skills. Just think of a ghost girl (white) not yet an adult learning to make beer to honor the island's gods. And they found an amazing thing as they were trying to rebuild their lives. In the back of a cave was what appeared to be an ancient planetarium or perhaps stellar observatory. This find coupled with knowing just who would be interested preserves this new community from exploration, settlement, takeover by some powerful country. To me, the story got bogged down in mysticism sometimes. Mau who is never formerly declared a man is respected enough to be called the leader though quite young and has many trance like discussions with the island gods. On the whole this is an uplifting and sometimes funny story.
JDW

Shug by Jenny Han

Its the summer before seventh grade as this story begins and Annemarie known as Shug has begun to notice boys in a romantic way. She is especially interested in her long time childhood best friend Mark. When school starts kids quickly pair off into their first dating couples. Mark chooses Hadley. Heartbroken Annemarie cannot even consider any other guys, even though one or two others express interest. In particular Jack, who she is tutoring, who has family situations similar to hers and with whom she has shared this, Jack wants to be her date. Self-centered Shug cannot see this at least yet. It seems that even her new best girlfriend Elaine, the girl she dumped Sherilyn for, has gone on to another group of kids with whom Shug just doesn't fit. And, always an A student Shug has one teacher who does not like her and won't give her an A. Central to the plot is the coming 7th grade dance, preparing for it by buying clothing, serving on committees and asking a special someone to go with and finally attending.
How Shug deals with the troubles in her life ring true. None of them are over the top awful. Shug could be almost any 7th grade girl. This is the first book I've read for a while and found truly worth reading. Its a good one for readers of Van Drannen's Flipped. Older teens could go on and read Sarah Dessen's stories. JDW 4/5/08