Showing posts with label teen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teen. Show all posts

Memory (Phoenix Award Book (Awards)) Review

Memory (Phoenix Award Book (Awards))
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Memory (Phoenix Award Book (Awards)) ReviewThis is an amazing portrayal of the relationship between a ninteen year old "loser" and an old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Margaret Mahy's young adult books are all wonderful, but "Memory" stays with you long after you have read it. Mahy manages to put magic into her novels even when not dealing with magic. When she does deal with magic, it seems natural and everyday. Try her novel "Changeover" if you want to see this in action. This is a book that you can read as a young adult and reread as an adult and it hasn't lost anything.Memory (Phoenix Award Book (Awards)) Overview

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The Geography of Girlhood Review

The Geography of Girlhood
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The Geography of Girlhood ReviewPenny was abandoned by her mother at a young age. She is dealing with a complicated family life, relationships, friendships and all the rest of those awkward situations that teenagers have to endure.
With each turn of the page is a new poem to let the reader in on the trials and tribulations of Penny. Her words flow and sing the highs and lows of young womanhood.
Kirsten Smith will have readers laughing and crying within a few pages with her very raw and real character. This is a must read for anyone who has ever been young, confused or in need of a wonderfully fresh read.
Young girls will relate to the emotional overload that Penny goes through. Boys, love, life and friends are only a small part of this fresh and beautiful story.
The Geography of Girlhood is a powerful novel completely written in poetic verse. Smith takes it straight on and writes in a no-holds-barred style that readers will appreciate.The Geography of Girlhood Overview

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So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids Review

So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids
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So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids ReviewIt doesn't sound to me that one of the previous reviewers, Mr. Males, bothered to read the book. If he had, he would recognize that the main premise is ALL children from a very early age are learning toxic lessons from the media about sex, gender, body image and human relationships that have devastating effects on every aspect of their development. These effects can not be measured solely by statistics.
Anyone who spends time with children knows that the lesson that corporate America teaches them (especially girls) is that self-worth is based on appearance and acquiring material possessions. The main purpose of this constant barrage (children spend more time with the media than with their own parents according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study) of commercialism into every aspect of children's lives is to increase corporate profits. When a culture is more concerned with money than healthy human growth, it is obvious that our children are at risk for a host of physical, cognitive, emotional and social problems.
We are at a crucial time in our history when more than ever we need competent creative problem solvers who can tackle the real issues we face as a nation and as citizens of the world. Levin and Kilbourne, internationally recognized educators, authors and social activists, solidly grounded with scholarship and experience provide us with the guidance we need nurture the healthy development of our children. If you want to read a comprehensive, eloquent and practical book on this extremely important issue, this is the one to buy.
So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids Overview

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How I Survived Middle School #4: The New Girl Review

How I Survived Middle School #4: The New Girl
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How I Survived Middle School #4: The New Girl ReviewI enjoyed reading this short but good book.
I wish it was longer because I've enjoyed the books in this series so much.
I have bought all of the books in the series and I have read many of them over again. I really wish they were longer though. They only last me a night worth of reading.
I enjoy the books, I think, because i can relate to them. I'm the same age as the main character and when I do the quizzes she does on her computer I will often get the same answer as the girl gets.
You also have to read them in order. Get the first one (I believe it's "CAN YOU GET AN F IN LUNCH?") and then the second and so on, before this one other wise it doesn't make much sense.
It's a pretty good book though!How I Survived Middle School #4: The New Girl Overview

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Seeing Redd: Looking Glass Wars, Book Two (The Looking Glass Wars) Review

Seeing Redd: Looking Glass Wars, Book Two (The Looking Glass Wars)
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Seeing Redd: Looking Glass Wars, Book Two (The Looking Glass Wars) ReviewThis second volume in Beddor's "The Looking Glass Wars" series decides to pick up the story where the earlier volume left off. With a war-weary Alyss trying to consolidate and rebuild her kingdom and become accustomed to the responsibilities of rule while dealing with all the loss and pain of the past. Trouble is looming, all too clearly in the future and Alyss has many enemies and plotters to face that seek to dethrone her and claim Wonderland for their own. For those who haven't read The Looking Glass Wars, this book won't be easy to read without having the back story from the original.
Of course, there's no doubt with the title that the main villain of the first book will be back. Redd is now loose on Earth, gathering together a dark force of exiled Wonderlanders and villains who flock to her side. Like the first volume in the series, this one relies on some references to the classic work of Alice in Wonderland as well as other literature and mythology--but from there it departs into its own territory. Redd is out to retake her place as reining sovereign of Wonderland and to crush all resistance and goodness that might oppose her. King Arch of Boarderland is a scheming, chauvinistic tyrant who wants to undermine Alyss and Wonderland for his own ends--and has a weapon that threatens the destruction of both countries if used. Against them is Alyss, and her band of faithful Wonderlanders who seek to restore peace and white imagination to the land. In its way it is an interesting plot and characters, but it just doesn't completely work.
To be honest, this series has an identity crisis. The idea of basing a story on the original writings of Lewis Carroll but changing the original perception is intriguing and not without some merit. But Beddor takes only the surface images and suggestions--ignoring Carroll's deeper satire and symbolism and suggesting that, in fact, Carroll is a foolish man who keeps getting the story wrong. Granted, this is the author's prerogative to do--but it may put off admirers of Lewis Carroll who find the depiction unpalatable. Likewise, the original Alice stories tend to work without a sense of good vs. evil--everything is kept much more ambiguous. Beddor's work follows a much more strict aligning of good and evil and places the players in their assigned roles without much wiggle room. A bigger problem is the tone and setting: the prospect of Alyss being a princess, then Queen of Wonderland and the champion of White Imagination in a place where talking caterpillars live and tarty tarts are served sounds like something out of a kiddie story. There's a strange sense of naiveté about the fantasy background that is a bit like someone setting up a Disney animated movie--and then throwing live action battle scenes into it. The violence is overkill--quite literally. Beddor's story keeps trying to play two contrary tunes that don't mesh well and made reading it an uneasy experience.
There are deadly characters who sound more at home in an X-men movie. There are weapons of massive violence and death, pain, betrayal. There are dark plots that would be more at home in an epic fantasy for adults. Redd kills her own parents when they deny her the throne. Dodge Anders is trying to deal with his desire for revenge and love for Alyss. Hatter grieves for his lost love. Some of the depictions of these characters are quite good: the Jack of Diamonds being one of the more surprising, and Hatter coming into his own. But these are overshadowed by the two-dimensional depictions of the main villains and Alyss herself. Alyss is all good, white imagination. Redd is all bad, black imagination. The extremes of Redd and her band are caricatures--when so many of the other characters are trying to achieve a more rounded appearance. And then from the dark and violent--there are scenes like the one where Redd treats the caterpillars to Tarty Tarts for information and the whole tribe of them act like a group of lost boys from Peter Pan. It's too silly and trivial in a story that has become so dark. Likewise the constant presence of "cute" Wonderland references--dormouse snouts, chessmen, card soldiers, etc. -keep pulling the reader out of the story and disrupting the tension. Beddor's writing feels like it wants to leap out of the strict black/white, good/bad mentality, but doesn't quite know how to break down the child-like pardigm and put something more complex in its place.
The first book in this series was a bit on the questionable side for younger readers because of the violence inherent--this book really doesn't merit being termed a children's book at all. It is an adult fantasy novel that has some interesting ideas and plotting, but ultimately fails to be written to an identifiable audience or have a consistent tone. Unlike the previous story, that has a positive and defined conclusion, Seeing Redd doesn't wrap up all the outstanding storylines and readers will have to wait for the third book at least to see what happens between Redd and Alyss. Older readers of fantasy who have some knowledge of Lewis Carroll's work may find some enjoyment in these books, but they are not for readers who are uncomfortable with excessive violence. Those who like these books may want to look into Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series and Shannon Hale's Goose Girl and Enna Burning.
Happy Reading! Shanshad ^_^
Seeing Redd: Looking Glass Wars, Book Two (The Looking Glass Wars) Overview

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So Yesterday Review

So Yesterday
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So Yesterday Review"The guy walking past was wearing a shirt five sizes too big (innovated by gangbangers to hide guns in their waistbands), shorts down below his knees (innovated by surfers to save their thighs from getting sunburned), and oversized shoes (innovated by skaters to save their feet from injury). Together all of these once-practical ideas made the guy look like he'd been hit by a shrink ray and was about to disappear into his clothes screaming, 'Help me!' in an ever-tinier voice."
Why did our ninth grader begin wearing pajama pants to school? Why, when she wears them, must the top of those pajama pants be folded over just so, to reveal the tag and the inside of the waistband? Why did Target start carrying rack after rack of pajama pants in dozens of patterns?
How about a couple of years ago, when all of the kids I knew began either buying peds or feeling compelled to fold their regular white socks down into their shoes so that no part was revealed to the public? Why did they begin to lace their shoes in a manner that caused the kids to fall out of them every fifth step (or to land on their faces if they actually tried running in them)?
Why, also a number of years back, did an army of girls begin wearing sweatshirts over only their arms?
It doesn't matter at which middle school I booktalk. Wherever I look, the kids will simultaneously begin making the same "fashion statement."
And does anybody really think that Britney, Madonna, Christina, or Beyonce themselves think up those looks that are eagerly copied by millions?
"One thing about being a Cool Hunter, you realize one simple fact: Everything has a beginning.
"Nothing always existed. Everything had an Innovator."
Hunter Braque is a Cool Hunter. Jen Jones is an Innovator. Their chance meeting in Manhattan's East River Park leads to a wild and intense three day roller coaster ride for the pair, and takes readers on a reality trip into the big stakes world of fashion fads and trends.
I'm no babe in the woods, myself. I'm a guy with a degree in Business, who once earned an "A" in Marketing as manager of the group that won that semester's computer-simulated car manufacturing competition. But I picked up all sorts of fascinating information while my eyes were glued to SO YESTERDAY. For instance, Hunter tells this story which actually ties in with those three days we follow Jen and him through New York City:
"Start with a mollusk, wind up with an empire.
"Sounds tricky, but the Phoenicians managed it about four thousand years ago. Their tiny sliver of a kingdom was wedged between the Mediterranean Sea and a vast desert: no gold mines, no olive trees, no amber waves of grain anywhere in sight. The only thing the Phoenicians had going for them was a certain species of shellfish, commonly found lying around down at the beach. These shellfish were tasty but had one problem--if you ate too many of them, your teeth turned purple.
"Naturally, most people were annoyed by this. They probably said stuff like, 'Those shellfish aren't bad, but who wants purple teeth?' and didn't think much more about it.
"Then one day an ancient Innovator got this crazy idea...
"Okay, imagine you live in Egypt or Greece or Persia back then and you're rich. You've got all the gold, olive oil, and grain you want. But all you ever get to wear is cloth robes that come in the following colors: light beige, medium beige, dark beige. You've seen the Bible movies: everyone's totally decked out in earth tones--that's all they had, that's all they could imagine having.
"Then one day along comes a boatload of Phoenicians, and they're selling purple cloth. Purple!
"Throw that beige wardrobe away!
"For a while purple is the thing, the biggest fad since that whole wheel craze. After a lifetime spent wearing sixteen shades of beige, everyone's lining up to buy the cool new cloth. The price is crazy high, partly due to demand and partly because it happens to take about 200,000 shellfish to make one ounce of dye, and pretty soon the Phoenicians are rolling in dough (actually they're rolling in gold, olive oil, and grain, but you get the picture).
"A trading empire is born. And talk about branding: Phoenicia is the ancient Greek word for 'purple.' You are what you sell.
"After a while, however, an interesting thing happens. The people in charge decide that purple is too cool for just anyone to wear. First they put taxes on purple cloth, then pass a law against the hoi polloi wearing purple (as if they could afford it), and finally make purple robes the sole property of kings and queens.
"Over the centuries this dress code becomes so widespread and so ingrained that even now, four thousand years later, the color purple is still associated with royalty throughout Europe. And all this because an Innovator who lived forty centuries ago figured he could make something cool out of the purple-teeth problem."
I've been a major fan and advocate of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY and FEED, two outstanding books that include themes of American consumer compulsion and overindulgence. SO YESTERDAY is one heck of a companion to both of these titles. Through Hunter and Jen's harrowing adventures amid abandoned buildings, fancy parties, electronic spy networks, and high tech double-crosses, readers will surely look in the mirror and wonder who is responsible for this week's "New Look."
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Just Grandma and Me: The Fill-In, Tear-Out, Fold-Up Book of Fun for Girls and Their Grandmas (American Girl) Review

Just Grandma and Me: The Fill-In, Tear-Out, Fold-Up Book of Fun for Girls and Their Grandmas (American Girl)
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Just Grandma and Me: The Fill-In, Tear-Out, Fold-Up Book of Fun for Girls and Their Grandmas (American Girl) ReviewThe description of this book says, "explore fun ideas on how to stay connected even if you live miles apart." I purchased two of these books as I rarely see my granddaughter, who lives 1600 miles away. I thought it would be a great tool to help us get to know each other better in spite of the distance.
When the book arrived, I looked through it and was disappointed.
Many of the activities (for example, schedule a sleepover at Grandma's house without Mom or Dad, make an art and craft together with candy, read together, etc.) were activities that required Grandma to be close by.
Be advised if you live more than a 2-hour trip away from your granddaughter, this book might not be what you're looking for.Just Grandma and Me: The Fill-In, Tear-Out, Fold-Up Book of Fun for Girls and Their Grandmas (American Girl) Overview

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Perfect World Review

Perfect World
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Perfect World Review
Perfect World is a riveting fiction novel that tells about the challenges of adjusting to high school and becoming more
mature. Author Brian James speaks from a fourteen or fifteen year old girls point of view. The book is set in a town that has perfectly planned out houses and evenly spaced trees.

Everyone in town thinks they are perfect, and they do not talk about problems. The main character, Lacie Johnson, has many family issues though. Her father committed suicide two years earlier in their bathroom. Her mother works two jobs, and Lacie is forced to stay home to babysit her younger brother, Malky. Lacie's best friend has always been a girl named Jenna. Things have changed, and Jenna is more interested in boys and being socially accepted. Lacie is not as concerned about those things. Jenna meets a boy named Avery, and he introduces her to a boy named Benji. But as Lacie and Benji become closer, Lacie and Jenna start to grow apart. Lacie struggles to see the good in the world and feels like she is loosing everyone close to her. She starts to feel like she is going crazy just like her father.
The book is written differently than most books. The sentence structure differs. Instead of using periods the author connects similar thoughts with varying amounts of periods; they are similar to ellipses. For example, a paragraph with about fourteen lines of text has only a single period. This book is also for an audience either about to enter high school or just recently started high school. The issues are better suited for them. Some parts of the book contain sexual acts but
nothing sexually explicit.

The most interesting part of book is how the author is a man, and yet he tells the story from a teenage girl's point of view. Brian James treats the subject of fitting into high school and finding out who you are as a serious issue. As I read the book I also found it hard to put down. It keeps the reader interested in what will happen next. It shows how the world we live in may not be so perfect at all. You have to look inside yourself to find out what a perfect world is to you, and strive to get there given the circumstances that are handed to you.
Reviewed by Kathleen O'Reilly for Flamingnet Book Reviews.
For more preteen, teen, and young adult book recommendations and reviews, please visit www.flamingnet.com.Perfect World Overview

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Luna Review

Luna
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Luna ReviewThis is a story dealing with a topic not often dealt with in YA fiction - transgender teenagers. Regan is fifteen and her life is dominated by her older brother, Liam (Lia Marie, and later Luna, at night). She has drifted apart from friends her own age because of him, and in order to try and help him she has offered to let him use her room at night, to try on girls' clothes. The only thing she has that's *hers* is her babysitting job for a family she sees as perfect and normal, in sharp contrast to her own, with her drugged-up mother and domineering father.
Regan is a sympathetic character, a girl who tries so hard to be there for her brother when he needs her, but also someone who resents how she has to be everything for him, his sole confidant, and who alternates between feeling sorry for him and for wishing that he could just be normal. She also has her own dilemma, involving an infatuation with a boy at school. "Luna" is Regan's story as much as it is Liam's.
Liam/Luna's story is dealt with effectively as well, with flashbacks of their childhood showing early signs that he really did want to be in a girl's body. The separation of gender and sexuality is also made quite clear, and the idea of constructed gender roles is also dealt with (though not as much as I'd like to have seen it discussed - but the perfect amount for a YA novel). It is by no means a definitive transgendered-teen story but it shouldn't have to be, either - it's merely the story of one girl in a boy's body, trying to break free.
A worthwhile read that will hopefully challenge readers' ideas towards gender and sex while telling a compelling story.Luna Overview

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Witch Twins Review

Witch Twins
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Witch Twins ReviewClaire and Loon are twins -- and witches. Their grandmother is a powerful, five-star witch -- and they don't even have one star yet! Determined to get their first star, the sisters practice more spells to help them get more powerful. But they have trouble -- their father is about to marry a dreadful woman, and her name is Fluffy. Fluffy will make their lives miserable -- and the twins have to stop her. They don't know if they can use spells powerful enough to stop their father from marrying her, and it's a big risk -- but can they take it? Witch Twins is a hilarious new fantasy by Adele Griffin. It could have used more plot and been a little longer, but if you're looking for a great witch story, this new fantasy is highly recommended.Witch Twins Overview

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One Good Punch Review

One Good Punch
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One Good Punch ReviewThis is a timely and relevant story for teens regarding school, drugs, friends and morality. Michael Kerrigan never gets into trouble. He is a star athlete on the track team and has a job at the local newspaper. When a friend hides some marijuana in his locker and Michael is busted after a random drug sweep he must decide to tell the truth about his friend or take the blame.
Taking responsibility for the drugs will cost him his track career as well as his job in addition to any legal woes. Some readers may question Michael's choices but this poignant short story surely points out how much one mistake can cost you. A brief but well written, easy read that will probably leave readers wanting to know more about what happens to Michael and the impact his decision has on his future plans.One Good Punch Overview

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Old Magic Review

Old Magic
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Old Magic ReviewI saw this book on the young adult shelf. I figured it would be the same, usual, boring science fiction novel, BUT I was wrong. Marianne Curley certainley has alot of talent,and this novel has to be one of the best books I've read!
Jarrod doesn't realize he has powers,strong powers,powers only the best Sorcers have. Kate tries to help him get control of these powers, though she fails several times trying to convince him that he has them,but nevertheless she keeps trying(knowing Jarrod thinks she's not all there in the head).
A long time ago a powerful Sorcer put a terrible curse on the Thronton family,and Jarrod must end it for the sake of his family.Through this event he finds strength and realises he truly has the magic.Also it makes him a better person, that stands up for what he knows is right.
Pick up this novel. I'm sure you'll find it satisfying!
Please vote if you didn't or did find my review helpful =)Old Magic Overview

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The September Sisters Review

The September Sisters
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The September Sisters ReviewA tender love story, a page-turning mystery, and a beautiful coming of age tale, September Sisters is a wonderful book for people of all ages. I read it as an adult and could not put it down, and I could only imagine how my 13-year-old self would have loved every twist and turn of the plot. You'll fall so deeply in love with Abby that you'll have trouble separating the book from reality!The September Sisters Overview

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Swimming with the Sharks Review

Swimming with the Sharks
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Swimming with the Sharks ReviewGold Star Award Winner!
Peyton Grady has finally made it to the varsity cheerleading squad and Alpha status at Beachwood Preparatory Academy, and only her BFF, Maya, knows her carefully guarded secret - that she's a scholarship student. So why would Peyton risk being seen talking to the school misfits?
Ellika Garrett is the new jumbo-sized cheerleader whose mother bought her a spot on the squad with a hefty donation to the school. Peyton wonders just how far she'll have to go to make Ellika understand that she does not want to be her friend. Who wants a weepy-eyed walrus looking over your shoulder when you're trying to get the attention of Von Cohen, the hottest guy in school? Every time Peyton gets up the nerve to ask him to the Sadie Hawkin's dance, Ellika appears and chases Von away.
Luckily, Von doesn't give up easily. Everyone can see he's totally into Peyton and it's not long before she finally has her first real boyfriend, a definite plus on the Alpha girl scale. But how will she explain to him about Compular? Yes, even wealthy prep schools have those super-smart nerdy guys who brag about outrageous things nobody believes. Peyton can't avoid Compular. If he doesn't tutor her in Trig, she could lose her scholarship.
As Peyton teeter-totters on the brink of social elitism, Lexie, the captain of the squad, tips the balance. Peyton, along with the other varsity cheerleaders, are expected to contribute ideas to a hazing list that becomes crueler with each idea. The point is to make Ellika so miserable that she'll quit the team. In her quest to be one of the Alpha girls, Peyton has already sacrificed her friendship with Maya. What else will she destroy, who else will she step on, to get on top? Can she really do this to Ellika? To herself?
SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS by Debbie Reed Fischer is an incredible book. It's a page-turner that is as difficult to put down as it is to read. Are there teens out there that are really this cruel? What would you, the reader, be willing to sacrifice to have it all?
I can tell you as a teacher of teens for twenty years that, without question, there are teens who have an adult persona and a totally different peer persona. This book will force you to take a look at yourself and those around you. I believe this book will inspire its readers to stand up for what they believe is right. For that reason, and because the characters have stayed with me so vividly, I'm giving SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS the coveted Gold Star Award for Excellence.
My thirteen-year-old theatre vagabond-band geek-cheerleader daughter grabbed this book before I could read it and read it in a day. She raved about it. Then my almost fifteen-year-old band geek-football playing-student council representative son saw "sharks" in the title and picked it up, also finishing it in a day. They both loved it. I can't think of too many books on this topic that resonate with boys as well as girls.
I had the pleasure of reviewing Debbie Reed Fischer's debut novel, BRALESS IN WONDERLAND, and was thrilled to found out I would also get the opportunity to review SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS. I was not disappointed. Well done, Ms. Fischer. You have earned yourself a gold star! Thank you for a terrific read!
Reviewed by: Cana RensbergerSwimming with the Sharks Overview

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Stay With Me Review

Stay With Me
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Stay With Me ReviewStay With Me is a highly complex and rewarding young adult novel. It tells of a year in the life of sixteen-year-old Leila Abranel, a New York City high school student with a rather unconventional family. Leila begins her story indirectly, recounting her occasional meetings with her sisters' mother. Leila has two much older half-sisters, from her father's doomed first marriage. Leila admires her vibrant and quirky sister Rebecca, and turns to her for advice, while respecting her more formal sister Clare's preference to remain distant. The family has a balance, if an unusual one, right up until Rebecca commits suicide.
After Rebecca's clearly premediatated suicide, everything changes for Leila. Her parents take a one-year job helping to create a new teaching hospital in Poland. Leila moves in with her sister Clare, and has Raphael, a distant cousin (and former boyfriend of Clare's), as a secondary guardian. Leila goes on with her life - school, a part-time job, finally getting to know Clare - but struggles to understand Rebecca's suicide. She latches on to her last sighting of Rebecca, and tries to find the person that Rebecca was with at the time, thinking that he might have some insight for her.
This book is about so many different things. Stay With Me is about what it means to be a family. (Raphael, despite his relatively distant family connection, helps Leila with her homework, gives her advice, and takes on a near-parental role.) Stay With Me is about trusting your own body (and yourself), and knowing what you are and are not ready for sexually. Stay With Me is about why someone with most of her life ahead of her would commit suicide, and the devastating impact of a suicide on the people left behind. Stay With Me is about what it's like to be dyslexic (Leila is dyslexic), and how it can affect a person's entire way of thinking.
And yes, as you are sure to read in other reviews, Stay With Me is about teen-aged Leila's friendship with and sexual interest in a 31-year-old man, Eamon. What I found remarkable about this entire storyline was how normal Freymann-Weyr made it seem, and how NOT creepy the plot-line was. I want to be sure to get this across to you, because I was initially hesitant to read the book, knowing about this Lolita-esque theme. Leila's relationship with Eamon is an important part of the book, but it's only a part of a much more fully realized story, and it's handled exceedingly well.
I found Stay With Me to be very well-written. The characters, especially Leila, are complex and realistic. Leila's voice is particularly engaging. Her dyslexia shapes her perceptions of herself, her ability to make decisions, and her day-to-day life, with a pervasiveness that I hadn't anticipated or understood before reading this book. Somehow Freymann-Weyr conveys this without ever making Leila someone to be pitied or ridiculed over her learning disability. It's a remarkable achievement.
I think that high school readers will enjoy this book, especially those with learning disabilities or unconventional families (and what family seems normal, when you're in high school?). And I think that teens who are (horrifyingly) curious about suicide will find in this book a subtle, but strong, anti-suicide message. I believe in general that parents should read as many of the books that their kids read as possible. But I especially believe that parents should read Stay With Me with their kids. There are many great discussion points in the book.
As you can tell, I liked this book a lot. The plot is multi-layered without being confusing, with a nice blend of poignancy, humor, tension. I read it in a single day, not so much because I needed to know what happened, as because I wanted to spend more time with Leila, and make sure that she was alright. But I won't tell you the answer to that. You'll have to read Stay With Me yourself.
This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on May 6th, 2006.Stay With Me Overview

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