Review: Period 8 by Chris Crutcher

Last fall as I was delivering a book talk on good books to a class of high school juniors I held up a Chris Crutcher book and a boy asked, "Is that the author who writes the same book over and over again with different titles?" His comment stopped me in my tracks because lots of Chris Crutcher books are very similar or at least have very similar elements. Period 8, Crutcher's newest book, borrows some of those similar elements: swimming, cool teacher who runs a support group, parents who are troubled or abusive. But Period 8 is a very different story than his other books in an important aspect. It is a very exciting mystery/thriller which builds to a page-turning crescendo just one chapter from the end.

Paul "the Bomb" Baum tells the truth. No matter what. It was something he learned at Sunday School. But telling the truth can cause problems, and not minor ones. And as Paulie discovers, finding the truth can be even more problematic. Period 8 is supposed to be that one period in high school where the truth can shine, a safe haven. Only what Paulie and Hannah (his ex-girlfriend, unfortunately) and his other classmates don't know is that the ultimate bully, the ultimate liar, is in their midst. -Goodreads

Like other Chris Crutcher novels this book doesn't shy away from controversial topics and it tackles them in a thought-provoking way. This book adds the thriller element to it so the reader is left on the edge of his/her seat for the last 100 pages. I am currently on a family reunion vacation and had to excuse myself from everyone and go out to the porch to read the last few chapters. It was THAT exciting.

I'd like to encourage my readers to not only pick up and read Period 8 but consider reading all of Chris Crutcher's book.  I am host of a challenge to encourage reading this author. Chris Crutcher Challenge.

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

20 / 30 books. 66.6% done!

Heading out for a week-long vacation. What books will I bring along?

Last week my husband and I toured the Canadian Rockies for a week long vacation of hiking, touring, and driving.  This coming week is a week-long vacation of relaxing and family gatherings. Last week I finished one book, Gone Girl, because we listened to the audiobook as we drove around. This week I will have some pool-side time and low key mornings. I hope to finish several books.

Here's the book packing list:

     Audiobooks: (Our trip is only 12 hours round-trip so we will not have time for all four but I'm afraid each of us will want to listen to a different book.)

• Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan...we listened to 70% of this book on the return trip from Banff. We will finish this audiobook for sure.
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I've heard only wonderful stuff about this book and love the author after reading Seabiscuit. I think my husband will want to listen to this next.
• Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien...my daughter is listening to this trilogy this summer and she commutes to work. She is lobbying for this book even though my husband and I haven't listened to the first book in the series and would have to strain our brains back to high school to recall the details of the first book.
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole...this will get my vote since I am currently on disc two and enjoying the heck out of it. I'd even be willing to start over.

      Books:

• Teeth by Hannah Moskowiz...I am very ambivalent about this book so far, but I haven't determined  if I should abandon it yet so I'll pop it in the bag but don't know if I will finish it.
• Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan...it is the only book on my summer reading list that I own the book (the rest belong to the library) so I can take this one to the pool and not worry about it getting wet.
• Wesley the Owl: the remarkable love story of an owl and his girl by Stacey O'Brien...next month's book club selection. I just picked it up from the library today so I'll pop it in the bag in case I can get to it. 
• And...? I probably won't be able to read four books in one week but what if I DO finish all three and I'm without a book.  Guess I'll throw another book in the bag, just in case.  Should I include a mystery, a romance, an award winner, realistic YA, or fantasy? Hmm...I'm thinking it is time for a good romance.  Let's see what I have in my stack.

Books WILL save your life

Several months ago a friend gave me an article from a magazine, yes, an actual magazine, because she wanted me to read an article entitled "50 Books that Will Change Your Life" by Su Blackwell (Blackwell, Su. Real Simple. "50 Books that Will Change Your Life". Time Lifestyle Group. June 2013.)

I'm a real sucker for these kind of lists. I love book lists of all kinds and now here is one that will save my life. Hmm...only one problem. I've only read ten of the books on the list (among them One Fish, Two Fish, Read Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss) and have heard of only a few others. Certainly I should be dead by now if I haven't read or heard of 35 books on a list of 50 that will save my life. I was preparing the article for the round file when I glanced at the forward.  It was written by my favorite YA author, John Green. The caption reads: "Reading not only transports you---it transforms you. Writer John Green examines the magical relationship between reader and book..."

Now that IS something I am interested in. I settle down to read his forward and the points he makes about that magical relationship between reader and book is what I want to highlight here.

John says that great books "literally" changed his life when he was a teenager. (I put the word literally in quotes because John is very picky about how that word is used, usually incorrectly.  So I shall assume that great books really did change his life.) He said,

 "I devoured those books partly because they gave me perspective. They allowed me to zoom out and see a wider world...Books are meaningless scratches on a page until the reader translates them into a story. We make stories real by reading them, and that empowerment was very gratifying to me as a mostly powerless adolescent."

He goes on to say that reading is not lean-back entertainment. Readers become cocreators with the author. Children are obviously really good cocreators but so are teens.

"They are still connected to the childhood world of magic while being old enough to be interested in big ideas---what William Faulkner called the 'old verities...love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.' Through books teens grapple with the old verities, and they do so thoughtfully, unironically, and without embarrassment."

I love that about books. I can hand a book to a student and that book can speak to him/her without judgement or malice. Books can evoke changes in us or offer help and advice.

As we age the "novel loses its novelty" but John Green reminds us that reading "can rip us free from the tyranny of adulthood." Right now I am rereading The Chronicles of Narnia with my daughter. For just a few minutes each night as I immerse myself in the magical land of Narnia and I am transformed and ripped free from all things adult. A good book does that if you are two or eighty-two! I am happy to report that the magic of stories is alive and well in my life and the lives of my family members. As John says about a special book in his life: "...the book tore me up and stitched me back together, different and better." See, a good book really can save your life.

Ah!

Here is a very limited list of a few books that have transformed my life:

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle...my favorite book as a child. I read and reread it. It was sheer magic to me.
• Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns...this is the book that brought me back to books and opened up what to me what a good book should do.
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver...my parents were missionaries in Africa when I was young. They weren't like the missionaries in this book---my dad worked with college students and my mom ran a well-baby clinic and taught classes on how to use the available foods to make a healthy diet for children---but the whole idea of going somewhere else and holding up our lifestyle as better than the local one has always chaffed me. All of Kingsolver's books speak to the higher and better person in me and ask me to consider doing things differently.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain...classics are classics for a reason. This book knocked my socks off and moved me from fearing the old classics to wanting to read them.

What books would you place on your list of books that "saved your life?"

You can find the list of 50 books here at Realsimple.

Review: A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

     This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).
     Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot's dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.
     As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds -- through an accidental gap that hasn't appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called "color storms;" a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the "Butterfly Child.- from the publisher

Do you remember the children's book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? Well, A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty reminds me of that book. In a good way. Cloudy is such an inventive book with food raining down from the sky in its proper order and then everything goes wrong and the food comes in the wrong order or without condiments.  It always made me laugh when I read it to my children.  In A Corner of White we are introduced to two teens, Madeleine in Cambridge and Elliot in the land of Cello. In Cello goofy things happen with the weather, too.  Summer might only last for a day followed by one day of winter. Everyone is attuned to the city bells that warn them that a color attack is imminent causing people to dash indoors and shudder their windows.  Purple attacks are so bad they can actually kill a person.

Madeleine doesn't believe that Elliot really lives in another world but Elliot has figured out that they are actually communicating across a crack between the worlds. If anyone knew about it in his world, he would be executed, but he persists in sending notes to Madeleine nonetheless. As the story unfolds shared advice helps the other person in their world. This is a story of two kids helping each other live in their own worlds Just when you think that all is well for our co-protagonists a plot twist prepares us for a second volume in this trilogy.

I dare you to read this book identify just one genre...it could be realistic fiction until the yellows attack. Perhaps fantasy since the butterfly child is a lot like a fairy. There is a mystery going on in both worlds. And although I haven't described it, there is even a bit of romance. I liked the book a lot even though I am still scratching my head over it.  I'm not the only one who likes this book. Here are a few other reviews from commentators:

Moriarty is the queen of epistolary stories, and her fans will find the teens' letters a familiar entree into this highly unusual fantasy. Like Madeleine, readers will be initially baffled by, but will ultimately believe in, Elliot's world. Moriarty's story comes across as matter-of-fact yet curious, topped off with a strong dose of humor). As always, her irresistible characters help readers navigate a tantalizingly complex plot that will leave them eagerly awaiting the next book.--- Jennifer M. Brabander, Horn Book

 Moriarty's trademark wit and whimsy are on full display, with zingy dialogue that feels right if not entirely realistic and bizarre characters living unexpected lives that manage to be mundane and delightful at the same time. By the end, Madeleine's story feels somewhat resolved, but Elliot's has turned an unexpected corner that will bring their worlds much closer and bring readers more mystery and humor in the next volume. Quirky, charming, funny, sad: another winner from this always-surprising author.---Kirkus Reviews

Oh, I forgot to mention. A Corner of White won a 2013 Horn Book-Boston Globe Honor Award for YA fiction. More evidence why this book deserves your attention.

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

19 / 30 books. 63% done!

Blogoversary Winner Announcement!

The winner of my blogoversary giveaway is: Liz at Lizzy's Dark Fiction.  Congratulations!

She is the winner of the $20 Amazon gift certificate.

Thanks for playing.

Review: What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard

In What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Allison Kim and her best friends, Rob and Juliet, are typical teenagers with one slight variation, they all have Xeroderma Pigmentosum which is a fatal allergy to sunlight. Their lives are turned upside down, sleeping during the day and only going out at night when it is safe to avoid the sun's rays. They prowl their small town like cat burglars in the night but the town is small and everyone knows them, plus Juliet's dad is the sheriff, so they are safe. But because they can't do normal teenage stuff like going to school and after-school sports, they try to find their kicks somewhere to feel more normal like the "daytimers." Juliet, the most daring of the three, starts doing Parkour, a stunt sport of scaling and jumping off tall buildings, and the other two go along with her. Soon all three are strong and capable of daring feats of courage, made even more daring because these feats are done in the dark.

One night, as the trio practice Parkour on a newly constructed condo building, they witness what looks to be a murder. Allie becomes obsessed with finding out the truth but this quest ultimately turns her life upside down and puts she and her family in real danger.

I listened to the audiobook of What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard and I "consumed" it faster than I usually can with audiobooks because it was so exciting. Rebecca Gibble, the narrator of the audiobook had a nice young-sounding voice lending credibility to the teen focus of the story. At first I was wrapped up in learning about XP and about Parkour and found both to be fascinating.  As the plot thickened I found some of the details too odd or out-there to be believable so it lost a bit of credibility with me. It is also clearly the 1st book in a series and the reader is left dangling, obviously setting us up for book number two. My daughter read the book before me and she too found it extremely exciting and also frustrating because of the ending.

That said, I think that this book has a place in a high school library where kids are always casting about for good mysteries and enjoy reading books that are part of series.  This book also has a shot of winning attention as an award book for the Schneider Family Book Award, given to books that highlight teens living with disabilities.  The information on Xeroderma Pigmentosum is so interesting. I want to learn more.

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

18 / 30 books. 60% done!

Retrospective Wednesday: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Retrospective Wednesday is a meme designed to give bloggers a chance to go back and highlight a book published in previous years and readers a chance to pick up a book that may be off the radar but is certainly worth the read.

Today's highlighted book, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, does not require much of a look back since it was just published last year. It also was a wildly popular book having spent at least eight weeks as #1 on the NYT bestselling books.

Gone Girl is a psychological mystery. The book begins on the fifth wedding anniversary of Nick and Amy. He gets up to find her in the kitchen making crepes humming the theme song to M*A*S*H*, Suicide is Painless. That should have been our clue that something creepy and sinister was just about to happen. Nick and Amy are both out-of-work writers and have a very difficult and unhappy marriage. They have moved to Missouri, Nick's hometown, from New York City. Neither are happy as we find out as the story unfolds. When Amy goes missing later that day and it looks like it could be murder, Nick is the prime suspect. We find out bits and pieces about our characters through alternating chapters told in their voices or through diary entries.  Both Nick and Amy are good liars.  They not only lie to each other and to the police, they also lie to us.  If ever there was a book with unreliable narrators it is this one. We are trapped, right along with the characters, in all the deceptions and lies right up to the very end of the story. It made me think of the line from the poem:

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." - Sir Walter Scott

We are reading Gone Girl as a  book club selection for next month. One of the gals in the club read it early and announced that she hated the book, which of course had a chilling effect on my wanting to even start it. My husband and I listened to the audiobook version read by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne during our latest road trip to the Canadian Rockies and back. It was actually a very fun book to listen to with another person. Every evening we would discuss what we thought would happen next and speculate about the plot. As bits and pieces of the story were revealed we'd moan or laugh depending on what we thought ahead of time. I liked Gone Girl for that very reason.  I never really had it figured out. It kept me interested and guessing to the end.  But I must say, if you only like books if you like the main characters, stay away from this book because you won't like either of them.  Both Amy and Nick are so flawed you'll find yourself rooting against them.

Now for the disclaimer: since my blog is mainly about YA lit I need to add a note of caution. This is an adult book with plenty of sexual scenes and references. I think older teens would enjoy this book but I do not think it is appropriate for younger teens.

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

17 / 30 books. 56% done!

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Top Ten Tuesday...favorite first lines

Top Ten First Lines

Author	Title	First Line
Anderson, M.T.	Feed	"We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."
Dickens, Charles	David Copperfield	"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."
Marchetta, Melina	Jellicoe Road	"My father took one hundred and thirty two minutes to die. I counted."
Barrie, J.M	Peter Pan	"All children, except one, grow up."
Eugenides, Jeffrey	Middlesex	"I was born twice: first as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petosky, Michigan, in August of 1974."
Robinson, Barbara	The Best Christmas Pageant Ever	"The Herdmans were the absolute worst children in the history of the world."
Gaiman, Neil	Anansai Boys	"It begins, as most things begin, with a song."
Lewis, C.S.	Voyage of the Dawn Treader	"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
Austen, Jane	Pride and Prejudice	"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Roach, Mary	Stiff: Curious Lives of Human Cadavers	"The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of the time is spent lying on your back."
Tolstoy, Leo	Anna Karenina	"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Snicket, Lemony	A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning	"If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book."

Last day to sign up for my blogoversary giveaway.
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Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd is a gripping horror story inspired by the H.G. Wells classic book, The Island of Doctor Moreau, which shocked and horrified readers over 100 years ago when it was first published in England.

We first meet Juliet Moreau living alone in London working as a maid and barely making ends meet. She is forced to live this way since her mother died of consumption and her father, once a famous surgeon, left town in disgrace. Then, by chance, she meets Montgomery, her father's assistant, and learns that her father is alive and living on an island in the Pacific. Juliet insists that Montgomery take her to her father. He begs her not to come, but she would rather risk the unknown than become destitute on the streets of London. Enroute she and Montgomery renew their childhood friendship and Juliet believes that her father will be happy to see her when they finally arrive. One day, as the ship nears the island, they discover a small boat floating in the ocean with a man aboard. His name is Edward and is just barely alive. Juliet and Montgomery nurse him back to health. Edward and Juliet seem drawn toward each other and soon a bit of a love triangle emerges. But this does not in any way make this a romance book.  It is a thriller all the way.

When they finally arrive at Dr. Moreau's island Juliet is unprepared to the horrors that await her there. And so was I.  Having never read HG Wells tale, I was unprepared for what awaited our characters as they started their new lives on this remote island.

Teen readers should flock to this book, especially those who like reading thrillers or the horror genre. Making it additionally more attractive to some readers, it has a lot of adventure and mystery, and, as I said before, a touch of romance. The Madman's Daughter is the first book in a planned trilogy by Shepherd. The second book, Her Dark Curiosity, set to be published in January 2014, is inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Madman's Daughter has already been optioned for movie rights.

My team of librarian friends and I had dismissed The Madman's Daughter from our list of potential Mock Printz books without reading it. But I am now placing it back in the consideration pile.  It think this book has too much to offer teen readers and is certainly worthy of book awards.

I consumed The Madman's Daughter in the audiobook format. Lucy Rayner was the narrator and she did a remarkable job. I do love listening to audiobooks so much!

Please feel free to sign up for my Blogoversary giveaway. All you need to do to be eligible to win is to become a follower of this blog, sign up on rafflecopter, and make a comment on this blog post. You only have one more day to enter. I'll be announcing the winner of August 1st.

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

16 / 30 books. 53% done!

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Sunday Salon...July 28

Bumper crop of blueberries this year.

We're home: we just got home from a three-day camping trip to the Washington Coast with other church families.  We have been participating in this church campout for over 25 years. It is a very special time for our family and a time for us to bond with others in our church. Even though it was pretty warm at the time of our departure from home, by the time we arrived at the campground the temperature was 20 degrees lower. I spent the whole week-end in my sweatshirt including while in bed at night in the tent. Ha!

Last week: My husband and I vacationed in Canada, mainly in the Canadian Rockies (Banff and Lake Louise.) We really had a wonderful vacation and the scenery was so LOVELY. We put over 1400 miles on the car for this round-trip and we still like each other after so much time together! I highly recommend it as a vacation destination.

Blueberries: We have the smallest, spindliest blueberry bush you have ever seen. In past years it has yielded maybe ten berries.  Today, after we returned from the beach, I peeked at it and was shocked to see our bumper crop. (Pictured above.)

Books: I have found it hard to get any concerted reading time this past week on the road and vacationing, but my husband and I did listen to one and a half audiobooks enroute:

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn...a mystery about a married couple before and after she disappears and he is accused of murdering her. We had fun discussing what we thought would happen next. The audiobook was read by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne.
• Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: the Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan...a nonfiction book about a Seattle man who set about photographing Native American tribes in the early 1900s before their way of life was extinct. We are over 3/5th of our way through this fascinating book by one of our favorite authors. now that we are home from vacation, we will have to take turns finishing it up.

Blogoversary Giveaway: Please answer my question in the comment section and fill of the rafflecopter form below.  July is coming to an end and so is your chance to sign up.

• Question: What is the title of a book that made you really want to visit where it was set?
• My answer: The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt is about Venice. I really wanted to visit that city before the book but was doubly interested in a visit after.

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