Showing posts with label coming of age. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coming of age. Show all posts

The Agnostics (Michigan Literary Fiction Awards) Review

The Agnostics (Michigan Literary Fiction Awards)
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The Agnostics (Michigan Literary Fiction Awards) ReviewThis is literary fiction at its best. Vividly drawn characters, brilliant description and detail, a gripping, moving story told with a discerning eye and an open heart. The worn fabric of a family's life is ripped to shreds, then pieced together in a crazy quilt that promises to be more durable and, oddly, more comfortable. Rawlings' writing is exquisite; she truly deserves the Michigan Literary Fiction Award she won for this shattering, humorous, hopeful and memorable novel.The Agnostics (Michigan Literary Fiction Awards) Overview

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Getting There Review

Getting There
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Getting There ReviewIn the present, Luke Moore and his wife are driving their daughter to college for the first time. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker, and this reminds Luke of his youth some thirty years earlier. The story moves between past and present as Luke remembers both the events that turned his life upside down and his restless response as he struggled to find himself.
I was always searching for, and generally empty of, satisfaction.'
Hitchhiking between Florida and Michigan, Luke learned about himself, about the good and the bad in life more generally, and met some very interesting people each of who play some part in making him the man he becomes.
Driving his daughter to college, Luke reflects on the past and wonders how to prepare his daughter for the future. He is also just a little wary of the hitchhiker: something just isn't quite right.
Mr Boylan is an accomplished story teller, and I enjoyed his depiction of Luke's journeys both past and present. Luke meets some fascinating characters in his journey, and while he makes some questionable choices, he learns how to thrive in a world that has not always been kind to him and those he cares for. While both the journey and the destination matter in this novel, I found myself far more interested in the journey. There are a number of different messages in this novel for those who care to search for them but it is first and foremost an enjoyable read.
`Sometimes it is the little decisions that make all of the difference.'
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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Savvy Review

Savvy
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Savvy ReviewThe Beaumonts are a unique family made up truly talented individuals. As each kid hits the age of thirteen, his or her inherent power comes to light. They call this talent "savvy," and it can be anything. When a Beaumont celebrates that fateful, lucky thirteen, everyone waits with baited breath to see what happens. No matter what, a savvy is one birthday gift you can't return.
They don't know exactly where it comes from, but they do know that it runs down Momma's side of the family. Daddy's a regular guy, happy with his family and content with his job. Meanwhile, Momma's relatives can do all sorts of wacky things. Great-Aunt Jules would step back twenty minutes in time every time she sneezed. Olive, a second cousin, has the ability to melt ice with her glare. Grandpa Bomba creates new places "whenever and wherever" he pleases, such as the stretch of land stuck between Kansas and Nebraska where he lives with his daughter and their family. (They call it Kansaska or Nebransas.) His wife caught radio waves in old glass jars, saving snippets of songs and stories that she could tune into anytime. Now that she's passed away, the family is extremely careful with these containers and treasures the sounds they emit upon a gentle loosening of their lids.
Then there's the immediately family. Momma's perfect, always - that's her savvy. Oldest child Rocket, aged seventeen, is the body electric, able to illuminate rooms during a blackout or teasingly zap a sibling whenever he feels like it. Weather shakes the next oldest boy, fourteen-year-old Fish, whose emotional hurricane can manifest into a real storm. The youngest kids, somber seven-year-old Samson and imaginative three-year-old Gypsy, are years away from getting their savvies, but when the story opens, middle child Mississippi is about to turn thirteen.
Affectionately called Mibs by her family, a nickname created by Gypsy in an attempt to pronounce her sister's name, our beloved narrator is appropriately awkward for her age and anxious for her birthday. She knows something's coming, something good.
Then something bad happens. The night before her birthday, Mibs' father is in a car accident and taken to a hospital. Momma and Rocket rush off to tend to him, leaving the other children in the care of Grandpa Bomba. Instead of having a happy birthday at home, Mibs finds herself at a gathering planned by the pastor's wife, Miss Rosemary. Mibs and her siblings, already worried about their father, now worry that Mibs' savvy will make itself known in public.
When the birthday girl discovers that a Bible salesman's bus came from the direction of the hospital where her father is resting, she impulsively sneaks on board. The stowaway count increases when Fish and Samson decide to get on the bus, as do the pastor's offspring, defiant Bobbi (who has a crush on Rocket) and gentle Will Junior (who has a crush on Mibs).
The salesman starts down the road, oblivious to his new cargo, and Mibs goes from excited to scared in the blink of an eye. They're heading in the opposite direction, away from the hospital rather than towards it! Her savvy, which had presented itself only a short while before, starts playing with her mind, but she tries to keep it a secret.
Mibs looks around and realizes that she's on an unplanned road trip to who-knows-where with two of her brothers, one of whom barely speaks, a meek salesman named Lester that she doesn't know, and the pastor's kids. As unpredictable and unprecedented as the trip may be, one thing's for certain: Mibs will never forget her thirteenth birthday.
Ingrid Law infuses her sweet family-oriented story with mischief, creating a special effect. Whether or not they have special powers, each character is easily distinguishable from the others, including the grown-ups. It's almost as if the kids from the Maggie Valley books by Kerry Madden (Gentle's Holler, etc) were given the powers of the X-Men. The fact that the Beaumonts gain their powers at the age of thirteen is a perfect nod to their coming-of-age, and this book is a treat for all ages.
Savvy is, from start to finish, a delightful journey. This rite of passage is highly recommended.Savvy Overview

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Skunk Girl Review

Skunk Girl
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Skunk Girl ReviewPlot: Girl notices Hottie. Sometimes in these sorts of books, the heroine has an interest besides boys, but not really here. So you expect the book to be mostly about getting the guy. Usually, the formula for these books go: Girl notices Hottie. Girl comes up with some kind of scheme to snare the Hottie. Wacky misunderstandings result. Girl gains self-respect and winds up with a guy who is not nearly as hot, but more compatible. There are variations, but these kinds of books have been around forever. This is not that kind of book.
Nina, the heroine is likeable and sympathetic but passive. If you are expecting there to be some kind of hookup or drama, you will be waiting quite awhile. For example, there is a Queen Bee ordered straight from central casting, and she and the heroine don't get along, so you expect that there will be some kind of confrontation. Which there finally is - on page 176. Then there's the hookup which only lasts a chapter. I kept waiting for Nina to do something proactive instead of just pine after the Hottie. I waited in vain for her to sneak around behind her parents' back, or for her to confront her parents, or her older sister to drop a bombshell, like that she's a lesbian or is dating a white guy. Something, anything to put some drama in the story. By page 90 or so, I wasn't picky. To mix mediums, I wish she were more like the girl in the movie "Bend it Like Beckham," who was also a Pakistani Muslim teen (I think) and who defied her traditional family so that she could play on a women's soccer team. Books are not usually written about people who follow the rules almost all the time. If they did, there would be little drama and even less story. Teens of every ethnicity get embarrassed by their parents, feel their parents don't understand them, etc., etc. While reading about another culture is fascinating, there has to be something more to sustain the story.
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The Space Between Trees Review

The Space Between Trees
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The Space Between Trees ReviewI ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would at first, and I believe that's because the author (accidentally? purposely?) changed the general personality of her protagonist after the first few chapters.
At first, Evie seemed like such a child, that I kept having to remind myself that this was a teenager into whose head I was peeking. But after the incident that shapes the book's overall plot, Evie normalizes, and instead of the socially inept weirdo she seemed at the start, she comes off more as a shy, thoughtful young woman -- and that made it much easier to get behind her.
The Space Between Trees isn't so much a murder mystery, as a story about identity and grief and adolescence. I found myself quite wrapped up in the story, and while this wasn't a perfect tale, it was definitely an interesting and engaging one. Recommended.The Space Between Trees Overview

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Love and War in California: A Novel Review

Love and War in California: A Novel
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Love and War in California: A Novel ReviewPerhaps the best thing about Oakley Hall's latest novel Love & War in California is how clearly he brings to the page the passage from sheltered youth to experience. The action begins just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Payton Daltrey is surrounded by college friends, ready to fall in love, and trying to figure out his place in the world, like most people his age. His family has fallen apart, leaving him on his own, working hard at two jobs, losing time for his fraternity, and entranced by a beautiful fellow student, Bonny.
The war that is growing with every week and month, takes his friends and his brother, leaving him to help a friend's pregnant girlfriend, and being in charge of another friend's "working girl." Payton tries to keep hold of all the strings attached to all of his friends as they embark on paths that will inevitably take them away from him. College is that interlude when we are choosing the direction of our lives, or at least direction we can start pursuing.
In 1942 California, the world war pulls Payton, like most of his generation, right out of the straight path of his life. He fights, survives, loses friends and fellow soldiers, and his blissful youth. He gains the maturity he probably would have had in time, though that time might have drawn itself out longer. He goes on to the write novels as he dreamed of doing. Late in life, he is honored for that writing, and finds that life's surprises are unending and always unexpected.
Hall brings to this novel the ability to capture both a 20-year-old's innocence in the brief period between Pearl Harbor and going off to war, and the experiences that same young man will have as he lives through the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of a concentration camp. He shows great compassion for Payton's youth and idealism, never condescending to it, just faithfully rendering life-size and beautiful.
Armchair Interviews says: If you're looking for strong writing and a tale that is rooted in a time and universal at once, then try Love & War in California by Oakley Hall.Love and War in California: A Novel Overview

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Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season Review

Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season
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Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season ReviewMy husband and I could relate to this book on many levels. Our children are much younger than his son but, as this author retells stories of his boy growing up in soccer and his passion for the sport, we could have inserted ourselves into the pages of this book. Wetherell's casual style of writing was enjoyable, although at times it seemed a bit wordy and off topic (a few small tangents I could have done without). Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I chuckled out loud more than a few times and even shed a tear when I could relate so personally. Wetherell draws you into his family and into himself in such a way that any sports parent could relate.Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season Overview

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Tale of Two Summers Review

Tale of Two Summers
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Tale of Two Summers ReviewI wish that a novel like this had been around when I was in high school. Author/director/screenwriter Brian Sloan (WTC View, I Think I Do) writes a satisfyingly dense story of a summer in the lives of two bets friends: gay (and newly out) Hal, and Chuck, the straight "wonderboy."
I'm not usually one for books written entirely in emails, letters, diary entries etc. but it works in this book; the heroes are corresponding via a blog, they get more detailed when explaining what's going on in their lives.
The novel is also notable because it explores the friendship between a gay teen and his straight friend. This is such a rare phenomena to depict, it makes the book feel ex. I did relate in many ways as this book reinded me so much of a one of my most important friendships, right down to Hal's neediness. Sloan really gets it. I think Hal may have been just slightly better developed a character than Chuck, but that may just be because part of me was more interested in his tale.
This an excellent, frank and very readable novel. I read it in two days because I kept wanting to see what happened next. The best thing is that nothing works out the way I thought it would. Despite this being targeted for the Young Adult age bracket, I'd recommend this for us "grown-ups" as well. When a book's this good, everybody should take a chance and read it.Tale of Two Summers Overview

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Freddie & Me: Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National's Legendary Caddie Master Review

Freddie and Me: Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National's Legendary Caddie Master
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Freddie & Me: Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National's Legendary Caddie Master ReviewWhat a wonderful read. While golf fans will surely love this book for the behind the scenes insights, I'm sure just as many will love it for the beautiful story it tells, and the smooth yet vivid way the author tells it. A boy's coming of age thru guidance from an unlikely source, in a unique backdrop. You will find yourself wondering who the Freddie in your life has been, and hoping you may one day be one for someone else.Freddie & Me: Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National's Legendary Caddie Master Overview

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Split Review

Split
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Split ReviewWhen his abusive father kicks him out for having the audacity to fight back, 16-year-old Jace Witherspoon has only one place to go--his older brother Christian in New Mexico. From Chicago to Albuquerque is not an easy trip, particularly if you have only recently gotten your license and don't have money, but Jace goes with the faith that his brother will take him in.
You see, Christian ran away several years ago and has found a new life for himself. Having lived through their father's abuse, Christian knows exactly what Jace is going through.
Unfortunately, two abused kids do not necessarily make the best roommates. They've got a lot of trauma, secrets, and bitterness to live through. They do have help from Christian's English teacher girlfriend, Mirriam, and Jace's co-worker, Dakota.
Can they ever feel safe from their Dad? And can they get their Mom, who they both fear is going to be killed by their father away?
"Split" is a compelling read from the first line to the breathless end. While the story's not a thriller per se, this relationship novel definitely had me on the edge of my seat all the way til three AM. This is an excellent book for older young adults and even adult readers will enjoy the finely-drawn characterization and heart-pounding pacing.
Rebecca Kyle, January 2010Split Overview

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Sprout Review

Sprout
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Sprout ReviewSo I feel a lot of pressure as I write this review. I won't even mention the ONE other review on Amazon. I'm not someone who routinely gives out 5 stars... in fact, if you click on "read other reviews" you'll see I've been a pretty tough critic lately, especially regarding the books I've read. I also get the feeling not many people will ever even hear of this book.
I just finished Sprout. Wow. I also just ordered two more books by this author. Anything I write feels like a cliche: I didn't want it to end, amazing character development,I grew to love the characters and the well-worn COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. All those things are true.
So what's this book about? A teenage boy nicknamed Sprout, who happens to have green hair, and happens also to be gay. His mother dies (handled as a flashback in the book), leaving him with his alcoholic father (ok the one thing that was maybe a teeny cliche), moving from Long Island to Kansas. Very different from Long Island.
This book isn't about Sprout wrestling with being gay. It's also not about him struggling for acceptance. Or even coming out to his father (his father knows). It's about Sprout dealing with his mother's death, honing his writing skills (makes me wonder if this is semi-autobiographical), falling in lust, falling in love, worrying about a future after high school. This is next-gen gay, where the protagonists' sexuality is an interesting but not a defining detail.
The narrative switches from the third to the first person and back again. Lots of commentary from the narrator directly to us, the readers, fleshing out details, making wry observations on the situation that until that very second we've been reading about in third person. And did I mention the book is funny? Not laugh out loud funny, but lots of things that made me smile as I was reading, make me like the narrator more. Just to give you a flavor, if you've made it this far, here are some of the chapter titles "The margarita was the only virgin in the house," "Rural gay boy, party of one," "Like that girl in the pink coat in Schindler's List."
Language? Well, the F word does make an appearance or two. Sexual situations are handled with a "fade to black" with really no details or descriptions...Probably not something that a typical high school class would read, though it might be a good alternative to "Catcher in the Rye."
The story progresses well - definitely held my interest and took several twists and turns I didn't predict. Actually I couldn't predict anything - the book was one surprise after another. Fitting for a book that begins "I have a secret. And everyone knows it," which might be the all-time best start to a book ever. (Well, right after that whole In the Beginning thing..)
Sprout learns more about himself. And finishes with some more questions. The ending of the book may seem abrupt to some, but for me it was perfect. First love is often messy, filled with emotion, and the author captures the highs and lows with amazing skill.
This is my first gushing review of 2009 and I don't expect too many more. I really enjoyed this book. You might, too. Did I tell you I didn't want it to end?
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Millennium People Review

Millennium People
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Millennium People ReviewJust about finished with the English version of Millennium People. (Since there's no translation involved, why does an English book like this take so long to come out in America? Does it really take a year to change double quotes to single quotes?) Like his two previous novels, Ballard uses the mystery for a plot device, and while in Cocaine Nights and Super Cannes, he came to the form cold in his old age, but immediately asserted his mastery, in Millennium People, he falters somewhat with his resolution of the mystery.
Moving away from his familiar theme of how the jaded West has to keep ratcheting up how it gets his kicks, he deals with senseless terrorism. Prescient, especially in light of the March 2004 attack on a hotel in Baghdad, which set a new low in terrorism in that it didn't seem to have any victims targeted. That is, Iraqis and Arabs were killed. Its aim seemed simply to create chaos like in Millennium People. While the plot is not Ballard's best, he still imbues his characters with these drop-dead little quirks that illuminates them in one line of text.
Millennium People does little to discredit him in this reviewer's eyes as the leading serious novelist in the English language. A must read for followers, and not a bad start for those new to Ballard.Millennium People Overview

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How To Steal A Car Review

How To Steal A Car
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How To Steal A Car ReviewKelleigh Monahan is not your typical car thief. In fact, she is anything but a car thief. She shrouds herself in a mix of black and gray, and she would rather hide than talk to someone she doesn't know. She has her best friend, Jen, in which everything is shared, including their co-boyfriend Will. Kelleigh also has the typical lawyer father and a mother who goes all out on cooking and cleaning --- and, occasionally, drinking. What's even more atypical of a car thief is that Kelleigh isn't even old enough to drive. She just received her learner's permit and is forced to drive around with an adult in the passenger seat. But that one day at the mall will change everything.
As Kelleigh and Jen are sitting outside the shopping center eating ice cream, Kelleigh sees a man drop his keys and walk away without noticing. Kelleigh picks up the keys, thinking that she would return them, but something stops her. She never planned on taking his car, but by mere coincidence she finds out that he lives only a few blocks away. Surely he won't notice that his boring car, a Toyota or a Honda or something, is missing for a few minutes as she takes it around the block for a quick ride? While everything is returned as it was, Kelleigh walks away with a newfound addiction that she can't quite shake.
And if you can steal a car once, Kelleigh figures, you can steal a car twice. The second time is less of a joy ride and more of a revenge-motivated debacle. A little more effort is needed to duplicate keys and trick the owner, but, in the end, Kelleigh succeeds in her plan. How and why it ends up at the bottom of the local pond you will have to read to find out.
And if you can steal a car twice, you can certainly steal a car three times. When Jen calls in a panic, Kelleigh doesn't hesitate to borrow the neighbor's car (they were conveniently on vacation) and rescue her best friend. The whole police chase on the way home doesn't help matters, but Kelleigh manages to evade the cops and inform her parents about the declining nature of their neighborhood.
And if you can steal a car three times, why not start stealing cars for money? It's all been leading up to this: her parents' failing marriage, her strained friendship with Jen, and the uncertain future between her and Will. Some girls might act out by drinking, sleeping around, or doing drugs, but Kelleigh gets her thrills from stealing cars. Is she going too far? And what will it take to stop her before she hits the point of no return?
Most people think of car thieves as reckless, desperate, or down on their luck. Kelleigh, though, is an extremely relatable teenage girl with the same teenage problems that we all go through at some point, but she chooses to deal with them in her own unique way. The author's reasoning for why Kelleigh would steal cars not only makes sense, but he makes it seems so easy and practical that it may be a little dangerous for those already teetering on the edge. With HOW TO STEAL A CAR, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman has created another hilarious look at teenagers, and I know that I'm going to double-check where I put my car keys the next time I leave the mall.
--- Reviewed by Benjamin BocheHow To Steal A Car Overview

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Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression Review

Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression
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Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression ReviewDefinitely one of the most important books I've ever read and a sobering one at that. It is one I wish all Americans would read, because it reveals the faces of struggling fellow citizens, the likes of which we haven't seen in these numbers since the Great Depression. "Someplace Like America" is like a real-life, modern-day version of the torment Steinbeck laid out in "The Grapes of Wrath" all those years ago, albeit with numerous stories in various places across America.
As Maharidge himself states, this is a journalistic effort, not a wonky policy book, but he deftly weaves in how various political/policy decisions over the years have resulted in the suffering of Americans regardless of class, age race, sex or region of the country. We are all vulnerable, now more than ever.
My only complaint with the book is that due to the structure, it didn't feel like it really flowed and felt "all of a piece" for a while, and that's probably because it builds on previous books/articles and then moves into the present day, so there isn't necessarily a strong continuum in places. It starts in the 1980s, jumps to the 90s and 00s, revisits some of the individuals and families Maharidge and Williamson encountered previously, and then proceeds forward to document more current struggles throughout America.
Regardless of my quibbles, I found this to be a most enjoyable read, even though the subject matter is heavy and hard to take at times. It is a remarkable piece of work, and a true modern-day classic.Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression Overview

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Townie: A Memoir Review

Townie: A Memoir
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Townie: A Memoir ReviewSince receiving my pre-order in the mail weeks before the publishing date, I could not put this book down. I have been a huge Dubus fan since a high school English teacher gave me a copy of the House of Sand and Fog. What makes Dubus such a fascinating writer is his ability to capture the very essence of humanity, be it good or bad. This brilliantly written memoir offers insight into the life of the man behind some masterfully written works of fiction. I am incredibly appreciative of his honesty as a writer and sharing such a personal part of his life. The relationship with his father and the role it played on his life certainly rang true for me, as I could often relate to such similar feelings. The thoughts, ideas, and feelings I experienced while reading this book will certainly resonate for a long time to come. I highly recommend reading this work.Townie: A Memoir Overview

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