Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Jessie has to move with her father from a middle class Chicago neighborhood to a very wealthy, elite neighborhood near Hollywood when her father decides to marry a wealthy woman there.  She finds herself in an elite, very competitive school as well.  She and her father recently lost her mother to cancer.  The woman and her son recently lost their father/husband.  There are other losses in this book as well, a brother, a sister.  Everyone with a loss is struggling in his/her own way with grief, some more successfully than others.  

Jessie is feeling especially misfit in new school, new designer home, no friends when she receives an anonymous message telling her how to start navigating the new school.  The somebody who is nobody and Jessie begin to regularly communicate and Jessie begins to have friends again.  The course of friendship isn't always smooth but its getting there.  The mystery identity of SN keeps one reading and guessing  and hoping along with Jessie.  The pair play a game - tell me three things to get to know each other and to help Jessie guess who the mystery person is.  All in all this is a decent romantic story worth your time.  Thats from someone who generally doesn't care for such stories.
jdw4/23/16

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Down

Connor's mom is ill and treatments are failing.  His father lives across the ocean in America with a new family.  His grandmother is nearby but not accustomed to messy boys.  He has a best friend and is bullied by a group of boys at school. Many nights when he tries to sleep, a monster appears in the shape of the tree outside his window.  It appears to be real.  It insists that Connor called it and it would go away once Connor understood why it was called.  For Connor things get worse and worse.  He does some things like trash his grandma's house that normally he would not do.  Folks treat him almost he is invisible, letting him get by with anything like not doing his homework.  He wants normal back but it will be a while before that happens.  As Connor faces all the feelings he has about what has been tragically happening in his life, he and readers understand the reason the monster exists.  And it is heart wrenching and it will make very many folks cry.  One of the truest, saddest stories ever.  JDW5/1//15

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.

Wildlife by Fiona Wood

This is told in alternating chapters/voices of Sib and Lou.  They are doing their one semester in outdoor camp for school.  This means gardening, cooking, hiking and such things.  There are strict rules about boys and girls intermingling.  But they find ways.  Sib is cautiously interested and with her friend Holly to help has some first romantic experiences with Ben.  Holly's motives may not be in the best interest in her on again off again friendship with Sib. Sib has always been friends with nerdy, self assured Michael but does not realize the depth of his feelings for her.  Lou in camp just to get through after experiencing a tragic loss of her friend, slowly comes out of her shell, becomes friends with first Michael then Sib and understands all too well the personalities of the girls in her cabin and of Ben and his crowd and of Michael.  I think that Sib and Lou did too much analyzing of their own situations and personalities.  But, here is a cast of likeable characters growing and changing and maturing while not always doing what is right but coming out ok anyway.  And, I liked this story.  It is very real.  I liked the foreign (for me in the U.S.) setting with references to wallaby's and exotic trees and landscape.  This is decent realistic fiction, very unlike the last couple of books I read.
JDW2/15

we were liars by e lockhart

Three cousins joined by a nephew of one of the adults lived all summer long on an island off Martha's Vineyard, their own island with three huge houses and two beaches, with motor boats, kayaks and cooks and servants. They never talked about their lives off the island, at school. They always obeyed their parents. No one had problems, or if they did these were not spoken of. They are the liars. Something changed the summer of fifteen (the year they were fifteen). It wasn't just that grandmother had passed away the previous winter. It wasn't just that Cady was madly in love with the nephew and grandfather did not find him acceptable. It wasn't just that the aunts were angry and arguing. But that was part of what happened.

As the story opens Cady is back on the island the summer of seventeen not having been there the previous summer and not remembering much of what happened that fateful summer of fifteen and suffering horrible migraines. There is a gleaming new house where once there was an old wooden mansion filled with memorabilia, all of which is gone. One aunt roams the island all night long. One of the little cousins has terrible nightmares and the liars meet at one house where slowly Cady's memories return and the awful events of summer fifteen are revealed and Cady recovers from selective amnesia and grieves inconsolably. The reader remembers along with Cady and is horrified along with her and left a bit breathless in the end. And perhaps we come to understand just a bit the importance or lack of importance in things, money and what controlling, manipulating others can lead to. Definitely read this, even if your background isn't that of the incredibly wealthy.

JDW 8/18

Dear Zoe by Philip Beard

Here's a book often overlooked at our library that deserves to be read. When Tess's three-year-old half-sister dies tragically the teenager and her mother become deeply depressed from grief. Tess carries a burden of guilt as the result of the accident. Additionally, she already feels out of place in her mother's new family made of Dave, Em and Zoe and her mother. The tragedy makes her feel even more out of place. Tess goes to live with her unreliable father to escape the grief and depression of her family. While there, she tries to write a letter to Zoe explaining her grief, her guilt so she can move on finally. This novel alternates between the present where Tess gets to know and love a neighbor of her father's and her letter to Zoe where the whole story of the tragedy is told. It is a bitter sweet story that may make the reader teary eyed. She comes to a new understanding of her father and of the tragedy. She is able to share with her mother thus helping her as well. In the end, Tess returns to her home with her mother but maintains her relationship with her father and her new boyfriend. Everyone continues to heal and begins to move on with their lives, even Em who was pretty left out of every one's grieving lives even though this six-year-old was grieving too.

jdw7/21

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

This novel explores what it means to redefine yourself after a tragedy changes your course. Certain subject matters makes this book better suited for mature teens.

In high school, the name Chelsea Keyes was synonymous with basketball. Her whole like was planned around the sport, until a slip on some spilled soda shattered her hip, thereby ending her basketball career. With her whole sense of self now put into question, Chelsea and her family head out to a lake resort where Chelsea is signed up for a "boot camp" program to get back to the person she once was (with or without basketball). The person running this camp, Clint, has his own demons that have prevented him from pursuing his own favorite sport. The two form an instant connection and spend most of their three weeks together discovering each other as well as re-embracing their past passions. Things get a little complicated, however, when Chelsea's current boyfriend is considered in this equation.

This book is a good romance, although somewhat questionable when you consider the fact that Chelsea is basically cheating on her boyfriend. However, it does factor into the whole "self-discovery" aspect of this novel considering how different Clint is from her boyfriend Gabe. The novel does explore the loss of Chelsea's virginity - at times in some mature detail. For someone wanting a meatier romance, though, I think this book is a good fit.

This novel is more than just falling in love. It is a great story about getting back up and recreating yourself when life throws you a curveball. It's about not letting life's hardships prevent you from living life to the fullest, or - as the book says "Never live timidly."
MMK

Columbine by Dave Cullen

This book is about the Columbine school shooting in 1999. This book is a well-rounded account of what happened at the school, the shooters, victims, and investigation.

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brought guns and bombs to their high school and killed thirteen people and injured multiple others. They had an elaborate plan to outdo the disasters of Waco, Texas and Oklahoma City, but many of the plans fizzled out due to technical errors. While the death toll wasn't as high as they hoped, the lives they changed were numerous. Many of the injured faced struggles to recover and the families of the victims would never be the same, nor would the parents of the killers. With the killers dead, the investigation should have been open and shut, but larger questions loomed, like what led the boys to this point? As the truth about the boys and their evolution emerged, people couldn't help but wonder if this could have been prevented. This novel addresses how the boys got to April 20th, as well as the victims' struggles to move on and get their answers they need.

The attack on Columbine is one of those moments in history that affected the nation. It seemed to be one of the first major attacks on a school, and while there have been many afterwards and even bigger ones, such as Virginia Tech in 2007, Columbine has made a lasting effect on history. I work in a school, and you can see how the events in 1999 set forth a reform to classroom procedure. Reading this novel, there didn't seem to be any kind of procedure for teachers and students. Now, though, on top of tornado and fire drill, schools practice lockdowns. It even changed the way police handle these types of situations.

I felt as though this book did an excellent job recreating the event without glorifying the killers. While I read this book, the  account of what happened on April 20th sent chills up my body to realize the horrors that people went through and the coldness of the killers. In general, I found this book fascinating, especially to realize all of the warning signs, particularly from Eric, and how maybe it all could have been prevented. As chilling as it was to read about the killers' downward spiral, it was encouraging to see the victims rebuild their lives and yet heartbreaking to see many struggling.

Non-fiction is not my genre of choice, but this book held my attention and even had me looking online for more information. While this book does not serve create a profile for teen shooters, this book is eye-opening and worth the read.
MMK

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

This author also wrote the loosely historical fiction teen comming of age novel A Northern Light which I very much enjoyed both for its history and for its strong female protaganist. Revolution is a much more ambitious historical piece with another strong female lead. Andi has had a triple tragedy the past year. First her beloved little brother died in a way that perhaps she could have prevented then her parent's already rocky marriage finally and irreparably falls apart and her mother along with it. Andi is on antidepressants as a result. They tend to have a side effect of causing hallucinations. Andi is trying to care for herself and her mother, grieve her brother's death and turn in her outline for her senior thesis at a private school for wealthy, artistically talented high schoolers. When the school sends Andi's failing grades to her absent father, he appears, puts her mother in a mental institute for help and wisks Andi off to Paris where he is doing dna testing on a well preserved heart which could prove to be that of the son of Louis XVI who was beheaded during the French Revolution. It had been Andi's plan to do a research paper on a somewhat obscure and creative guitarist of that same time period. Now her father has demanded that she turn in her outline and introduction to him by the end of her time in Paris. Andi is a gifted guitarist and very knowledgeable about the history and evolution of guitar music. She has been to Paris before, she knows the language and knows her way around. She and her father are staying with friends. Every one has his or her own busy schedul leaving Andi mostly on her own. The night of her arrival she is handed a guitar which had recently been found in the catacombs under Paris and is believed to be from the French Revolution Period. Andi discovers a secret compartment with a diary inside. From this diary, she has a very detailed account of the beginning and almost ending of the revolution including the death of the small son of Louis XVI heir to the French throne. Andi finds herself drawn into the story told in the diary until she is no longer present in real time. This happens while waiting in a historical library for books on her subject and also when with other gifted musicians she has met in Paris, perhaps aided by the use of antidepressants. She meets the musician subject of her thesis, becomes the young woman whose diary she is reading, and ultimately survives now much stronger than she was before. While the revolution was well researched and no doubt true to history, there is way too much detail for me and I suspect most teens. I enjoyed the history of guitar music woven within though. Andi, being gifted, bilingual, enrolled in a special school and accostumed to travelling to and in Paris may make this story hard for many teens to relate to however well written the novel. JDW 8/11

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

A teen who has had trouble making close friends loses her one long time best friend to suicide and is devastated, almost paralyzed by sadness. The event took place at the end of the last school year, before this book begins, all summer long Caitlin's parents have been trying to help her move on, come out of her depression. Caitlin has agreed to start the new school year where things both good and bad happen. She meets Dylan, new girl at school but can't quite bring herself to be a friend at first. Her father gives her a stack of timber with which to build something to get her mind off Ingrid and she finds Ingrid's Journal hidden under her bed as if Ingrid left it for her as a suicide note. Jason and Taylor guys she and Ingrid cared about both approach her with sympathy and efforts of friendship. Caitlin is photography student and the teacher at first cannot bear to look at her, being reminded too much of her gifted student Ingrid. Caitlin works through much of her grief while reading Ingrid's Journal, working on her building project, learns from Dylan and Jayson to be a friend again and comes to understand others are hurting as well. This is a quiet, hopeful book that follows in a fairly standard way the stages of grief and acceptance. For someone needing or wanting to read about overcoming grief this is a good choice. jdw3/30/11

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Here's how Vera Dietz describes herself. I am motherless, and in the last year I lost my best friend twice, fell in love with a guy I shouldn't have (twice), got beat up by a skinhead Nazi, and had things thrown at me, including beer cans, money, and dog shit. (page 261) Her mother left her and her father several years previously. Her father is stoic, silent, rather strict, recovering alcoholic. Her best friend who first dumped her, then tried to win her back, then died is haunting her. There is something she needs to do, for him and herself, tell the truth about several events. It will clear his name and stop a couple of not so great goings on. And so Vera tells her story of her senior year, the struggle with grief and anger, the experience with alcohol, the bullying and also looks back on how it all came to be. Vera is a strong female who works her bumby way through everything and her father is ultimately supportive and caring even though he has a tough time showing it. I wish like crazy that Charlie could have lived, that the disaster hadn't happened, that Jenny Flick could have been punished for what she did. But then this story could not have been. Readers who like Alex Flinn will likely enjoy this story. I did.