Paper Towns

Green, John. 2008. Paper Towns. October release.

Prologue opening paragraph: The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle. Like, I will probably never be struck by lightning, or win a Nobel Prize, or become the dictator of a small nation in the Pacific Islands, or contract terminal ear cancer, or spontaneously combust. But if you consider all the unlikely things together, at least one of them will probably happen to each of us. I could have seen it rain frogs. I could have stepped foot on Mars. I could have been eaten by a whale. I could have married the queen of England or survived months at sea. But my miracle was different. My miracle was this: out of all the houses in all the subdivisions in all of Florida, I ended up living next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman.

First sentence: The longest day of my life began tardily.

My favorite quote: I spent the next three hours in classrooms, trying not to look at the clocks above various blackboards, and then looking at the clocks, and then being amazed that only a few minutes had passed since I last looked at the clock. I'd had nearly four years of experience looking at these clocks, but their sluggishness never ceased to surprise. If I am ever told that I have one day to live, I will head straight for the hallowed halls of Winter Park High School, where a day has been known to last a thousand years. (18)

Quentin Jacobsen, our narrator, has been trying to puzzle out the mystery that is Margo for years now. And as their senior year comes to a close, the mystery is only deepening as far as he's concerned. It all starts with a late night visit. Margo appears at his bedroom window asking Quentin to join her in some mischievous revenge--she needs his car, or rather she needs his mom's car. And Quentin, or Q as she calls him, would do anything and everything for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend some quality time with the girl of his dreams.

What happens that night and in the following weeks will shape Quentin in ways he never would--never could have--expected.

John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the Printz award in 2006. Green's second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, earned a Printz honor. And, of course, along the way he's picked up an enormous number of fans both through his books and his vlogging with the Brotherhood 2.0. (And though that's over and done with, more videos and blogging can be seen on the Nerdfighters Ning site.

Note: I'm reviewing an ARC, so keep that in mind when I'm pulling a few quotes out. They may or may not be the same as what makes it into the finished book that will be released in October.

Now for some Weekly Geeks Q&A fun:

Bart's Bookshelf asks, "I've not read any John Green, so have you a favourite quote/line from Paper Towns that best sums up the relationship of the main protagonists?"

I've already quoted a bit of this one. But here are two more that will give you a feel for the book:

"Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one." (8)

"I smiled. She smiled. I believed the smile. We walked to the stairs and then ran down them. At the bottom of each flight, I jumped off the bottom step and clicked my heels to make her laugh, and she laughed. I thought I was cheering her up. I thought she was cheerable. I thought maybe if I could be confident, something might happen between us. I was wrong." (58)

Jennie asks, "Is Paper Towns everything that we've now come to expect from John Green? Because I'm DYING to read this one!!! Will I just be disappointed, so is my internal hype well-deserved?"

Yes. If you've followed his vlogging and come to love his personality just as much as his fiction, then you won't be disappointed. Green's personality shines through on this one. I haven't read An Abundance of Katherines yet, but this one is just as good as Looking for Alaska.

M. Molly says, "John Green said that Paper Towns was written as a response to Looking for Alaska. Do you see signs of this in PT? Also, does PT break out of JG's "Nerdy boy meets awesome girl who changes his life" equation (not that I mind it...)?"

Yes and no. In some ways the two books are similar. Two guys on the fringe of 'the-in-crowd' find a few wacky friends, two unforgettable girls to dream about and idolize, and thus "come of age". Both have humor and sarcasm in just the right amount. Both have their serious and meaningful layers. Where they differ, in my opinion, is in the mixing. Looking for Alaska is very bittersweet, very contemplative. And Paper Towns has this too. But it's not as bittersweet. It's a bit wackier than Looking for Alaska. Miles and Quentin are not mirror images or anything. Quentin has enough of a personality--as does his friends and dream-girl--to make this one unique. It is not Looking for Alaska part two. But if you boiled it down to the basics, it would have many of the same ingredients, just in different amounts.

Suey says, "I 2nd everything everyone's said about Paper Towns. Dying to know if it's like his others. Better maybe even?"

It's good. It's very good. I won't say I think it's the best, best, best book ever written. But it's definitely one of the better books I've read of YA published in 2008. It would make my top ten list--so far at least--for YA novels published this year. I can't say it's better necessarily. But I can say it met my expectations. I expected really good work, and it delivered. I was surprised by Looking for Alaska. I read it before it was published. It was his first book. I didn't know quite what to expect. And it just blew me away, I thought it was one of the BEST books of the year. So it's hard to match my enthusiasm and passion since with this one I went into with different expectations.

Melissa asks, "Trying to say something different about Paper Towns: how does it compare to his other two? Better? Worse? Different? Do you think that his style works well for the story? (I don't even know the story!)"

I think Green is great at coming-of-age stories about awkward guys who come into their own and get comfortable with who they are and what they want. And he's great at depicting the highs and lows of teen life. The best and worst and most embarrassing. He definitely is a great storyteller.

I haven't read An Abundance of Katherines, but I thought this one was just as good as his first one, Looking for Alaska.

Joy Renee asks, "I'm interested in the technique and art of storytelling itself so anything along that line would interest me. My questions are for any or all of the fiction titles in your list:

How was Point-of-View handled? Was there a single POV character or did it alternate among two or more. Was it always clear whose eyes and mind were filtering?

It was written in first person. And I think this was an effective way to tell a very personal story.

How does the title relate to the story? Was it fitting?" It was very fitting. I can't really go into it all here because it would contain spoilers. I think if you *know* ahead of time what the title is all about, then you might approach the book differently. It's best just to go with it and learn as the character grows.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Living Dead Girl

Scott, Elizabeth. 2008. Living Dead Girl.

Just when you thought Elizabeth Scott was getting to be predictable...along comes LIVING DEAD GIRL. To clarify, I love, love, love Elizabeth Scott. I have happily read and gushed about her first three books: Bloom, Perfect You, and Stealing Heaven.

If I had just a handful of words to describe Living Dead Girl, they'd be: powerful, haunting, and unputdownable.

It is the story of a girl caught in a nightmare. "Alice." A girl who at the age of ten was reborn.

Get up.
Those were the first words I ever heard.
Open my eyes, see a girl, black and blue all over, dried blood along her thighs. Red brown stains smeared across the hairless juncture between.
"Get up and take a bath, Alice," the man in the blue shirt said, and Alice did.
I did.
That's how I was born. Naked, hairless, covered in blood like all babies.
Named, bathed, and then taken out into the world. (20)

Kidnapped by a pedophile during a class field trip, Alice has endured the unthinkable for five years. Now she's fifteen, five foot seven, and a hundred pounds. Her time is running out, she knows this, she wasn't the first Alice. But it is in how she lives--her world, her thoughts, her decisions--that will haunt you most of all. Suspenseful, dark, and very chilling. Definitely not for everyone. But if you can go to the dark side, if you can walk in her shoes for a bit, it is really something.

Scott's writing is incredible. If I were in charge of handing out awards, one would be heading her way. Her book is amazingly haunting. It just resonates with feeling, emotion. The mood might be dark. The ending bittersweet, but oh-what-a-book.

In previous posts, I've compared Elizabeth Scott to Sarah Dessen. She may not realize it, but that is high praise, very high praise coming from me. Some people may think that Stephenie Meyer is the "perfect" writer. But for me, Sarah Dessen, has always provided the most satisfying of reads. But with her fourth novel, Living Dead Girl, new comparisons must be made. Alice Sebold. Nancy Werlin. Gail Giles. Laura Wiess.

I read an ARC of this. It isn't due to be published until September, I believe. As I'm quoting from this ARC, be aware that there could be changes between this and the final published version.

http://www.elizabethwrites.com/
Another review: Reader Rabbit,

If you've read this one, please let me know and I'll add your link to the list.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

42 Miles

Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 2008. 42 Miles.

What the jacket says: "Linked free verse poems combine with scrapbook-style illustrations to create the vivid portrait of a girl who is trying to find herself amid the pieces of her life."

Loved this one. Just loved it. JoEllen (Ellen to her city friends; Joey to her country friends) divides her time between her two parents. Since her parents' divorce, she spends part of her week in the city with her mom, and the rest of the week (or should I say the weekends) with her dad in the country. Living a separated life isn't easy. Her dad and mom not to mention her city friends and country friends all see her differently. Which identity is her real identity? Who is she really when she's not trying to be all things to all people?

Many young adult novels focus on identity. Teens and preteens coming of age, coming to term with who they are and what they want. 42 Miles is a great example of this. Here we have an intelligent young girl beginning to transition into young adulthood. Just beginning to define who she is and what she wants. There's always a fine line between trying to be who your parents what you to be and being true to yourself. JoEllen is just beginning to discover this. Trying to define what is important to her.

Tomorrow, for Poetry Friday, I'll be sharing one poem from 42 Miles.

Other reviews: Readingjunky's Reading Roost, Patchwork of Books,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A La Carte

Davis, Tanita. 2008. A La Carte.

An empty plate hits the stainless steel deck in the kitchen of La Salle Rouge with a clatter.

Rarely do I so completely agree with a jacket flap. But in this case, it is right on.

Seventeen-year-old Lainey dreams of becoming a world famous chef one day and maybe even having her own cooking show. (Do you know how many African American female chefs there aren't? And how many vegetarian chefs have their own shows? The field is wide open for stardom.) But when her best friend--and secret crush--suddenly leaves town, Lainey finds herself alone in the kitchen. With a little help from Saint Julia (Child, of course), Lainey seeks solace in her cooking as she comes to terms with the past and begins a new recipe for the future. Peppered with recipes from Lainey's notebooks, this delicious debut novel finishes the same way one feels after a good meal--satiated content, and hopeful.

A La Carte does not overwhelm you with its greatness. Perhaps overwhelm isn't the right word, what I mean is that it is subtle and gentle. It's not overpowering. (It's the kind of 'greatness' that sneaks up on you and takes you by surprise.) Most YA novels in one way or another deal with the 'issue' or 'theme' of identity. And A La Carte is no different. It is without a doubt a coming of age story. Lainey--as a person--grows, changes, evolves, learns, awakens through the course of the novel. The Lainey we meet on page 1 is not the Lainey we say goodbye to on page 280. Some things stay the same, of course, but quite a few things change. One is the way Lainey sees herself, knows herself, respects herself.

But A La Carte also offers an in-depth look at family life. Particularly the relationship between Lainey and her mom. It is so well done. So dimensional. I hope that makes sense. In other words, both Lainey and her mom, Vivianne, are fully developed. And their relationship has depth and life.

And then there's the friendship angle. The popularity angle. Lainey is on the fringes, the outskirts of high school society. She's more of a loner. And content to be that way. Sure she wishes that some of her former friends hadn't ditched her for the cool crowd. But she's happy staying in the kitchen. Or so she thinks most of the time. This book examines what it means to be a friend, to have a friend. What does healthy friendship look like? What doesn't it look like?

In a way A La Carte says a great deal about longing. I don't want to say too much more about that because I don't want to spoil this one for anyone.

A La Carte is good. It resonates in meaning-of-life internal drama. There's a richness to it that I can't quite explain. I suppose I mean it has depth and layers.

Saint Julia always said that in cooking, there are very few mistakes that can't be corrected. You can add a pinch of salt and some chopped herbs to the butter if you forgot to put salt in your bread. If your souffle falls, you can serve it with a sauce over it, and it'll look just fine. Gummy mashed potatoes can be resurrected as potato pancakes. But once you add too much pepper to something--it's over. You can't make something less spicy than it is. (179)

Definitely recommended. (Though I must admit the ending seemed a bit too happy to be realistic. Still, overall, I enjoyed it and found it a satisfying read. In fact, it made me a bit hungry!)

Other reviews: Cheryl Rainfield, Little Willow,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Planet Pregnancy

High, Linda Oatman. 2008. Planet Pregnancy. 197 pages. October 2008.

Planet Pregnancy is a novel in free verse. Sahara, our narrator, is sixteen going on seventeen. And, as you can guess from the title and cover, her whole world is about to change. Here is how we meet Sahara:

It's September tenth and
I'm holding my breath
because life
and death
and everything
in-between
depends
on a stick
dipped
for less than
ten seconds
in a dish
of pee.

A page or two further...

My name's Sahara,
like the desert.
Unlike the Badlands,
though,
I'm not barren.

Sahara has quite a predicament on her hands no doubt about it. Scared to tell her mother, she keeps her pregnancy a secret from practically everyone. She tells only her closest friend, and even then, she waits until the second trimester.

I remember seeing girls like Sahara on various talk shows. I saw a Dr. Phil episode last week in fact about girls keeping their pregnancies secret, about moms that are so clueless when it comes to knowing, to observing, to seeing what is right in front of them. So there's not a doubt in my mind that this is a realistic portrayal.

As for the poetry itself, it's not perfect. I'm on the fence about it actually. There are places where it's got a certain rhythm, where it seems to work. But there are other places, many places, where it rhymes too much. The rhymes just don't work for me. They sound authentically amateurish. Like they could be how a sixteen-or-seventeen year old might choose to document their life. For me the rhymes took me out of the story. Were a distraction.

For example,

My stomach
is in a curl.
I'm going to
hurl.
"I have
something
to tell you,"
I stammer.
My heart
is a hammer. (129)

Or

She's going
to freak.
I feel weak.
I think I'm
going to barf.
Mom's wearing
a green scarf. (128)

Or

School is so
not cool.
The teachers
are geeks,
and the weeks
drag like rags
through mud.
School is
crud.
At this time
next year,
I'll still be here,
waiting to graduate
in gown and cap
into the Real World
of crap. (99)

However, maybe the rhyming won't annoy other readers. Maybe it's just a personal thing. I just wish it was more natural. No one really and truly rhymes naturally that frequently. People just don't talk like that. Don't think like that.

To end on a more positive note. I think the poems do convey the emotions well. The confusion. The drama. The love. The hate. The uncertainty. The flip-flopping of emotions, of feelings, of hormones. I think it does do a good job of portraying the changes the mind and body go through as it changes through the months of pregnancy.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Geek Magnet

Scott, Kieran. 2008. Geek Magnet.

Okay, so I was dizzy with power. Can you blame me? It was the first day of rehearsals for the spring musical, Grease, at Washington High and I, KJ Miller, was the stage manager. The woman in charge. The first junior ever to be granted this most prestigious position.

KJ Miller. How to describe KJ? Well, there's the obvious. She's a geek magnet. She draws some geeky undesirables close to her. Fred. Glenn. Andy. Perhaps because of all the buzzing geeks near her, KJ is not quite as popular as she'd like to be. She's not in the outer rings of the social strata, but she's far from being "in" with the in crowd of beautiful people. With great power comes great responsibility. KJ now has some power at least when it comes to the drama folks. And this new-found power has brought someone new to KJ's life: Tama, Tama Gold. And Tama has something KJ wants more than anything: power and sway over KJ's crush, Cameron. KJ loves Cameron. And Tama, well, Tama sees that as her "in." As the "star" of the show, Tama, wants--no, needs--KJ to be on her side.

Tama easily agrees to setting KJ and Cameron up. Knowing that by 'befriending' KJ, the power to rule the show, rule the production, would be within her reach. After all, boys can be distracting.

The first rule Tama sets for her new best friend is that KJ has to stop being nice to the geeks, to the nobodys. She had to start being mean, being firm, being direct. KJ needed to cut free and clean from those holding her back. Who would want to date her if all her friends were dorks and geeks?

There is one person, however, that KJ still listens to. Robbie. The male lead of the play. Robbie. A guy she sees as being so wonderfully himself. He didn't hang out with the cool people, the beautiful people. But that was his choice. And that choice makes all the difference to KJ. She sees him as anything but a geek. Robbie wants Tama. KJ agrees. This requires much plotting together. This cozy together time that is oh-so-predictable.

If Geek Magnet has a flaw it is that it is ultra-predictable. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure some folks will find it enjoyable and satisfying. To me, as an adult, I found KJ a bit too self-absorbed. KJ wasn't exactly shallow. Far from it in some areas. KJ's life isn't easy. She has an alcoholic father, a mother in denial, and a younger brother that is absent-though-present. (It's weird how many scenes this brother is in, yet he never made an impression.) While KJ's relationship hate-and-angst filled relationship with her father takes up some space, the rest of her family just fades into the backdrop.

The romance. Well. I thought it lacked a bit. I thought Robbie and KJ definitely had some chemistry. But, predictably so, they were almost the last ones to know it. And the resolution, the closing scenes where they're drawn together...well, they technically get the job done, but I was hoping for a bit more fireworks.

Where Geek Magnets might pick up some fans is in the drama department. For readers who have a love for drama, for theatre, for musicals, for Grease in particular...I think this one might work better. It does spend a good majority of time behind-the-scenes pulling together a musical production. Actors. Directors. Props. Costumes. Dress rehearsals.

I think other readers would probably like this one better than I did.

Read the first chapter here.
Other reviews: Flamingnet, RomanticTimes, ReaderViews,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Big Fat Manifesto

Vaught, Susan. 2008. Big Fat Manifesto.

This is the third 2008 novel I've read this year (within the past two weeks actually) that deal with "weight" in one way or another. Each of these books (Looks, Artichoke's Heart, and Big Fat Manifesto) is unique from the others. Each is in some ways flawed. Some more than others, but still none is perfectly perfect.

Jamie D. Carcaterra is a writer on her high school's newspaper. At the beginning of her senior year, Jamie starts a new column. A column she hopes will win her the National Feature Award for outstanding journalism. Her column is a manifesto of what it's like to be a "fat girl."

"I am so sick of reading books and articles about fat girls written by skinny women. Or worse yet, skinny guys. Tell me, what in the name of all that's cream and chocolate do skinny guys know about being a fat girl?
The fat girl never gets to be the main character. She never gets to talk, really talk, about her life and her feelings and her dreams. Nobody wants to publish books about fat girls, by fat girls, or for fat girls, except maybe diet books. No way." (1)

Thus begins the book and her first "fat girl" column. Jamie is a great character. She may be a fat girl but she's not your stereotypical fat girl: lonely, friendless, dateless and a person who is lacking in ALL self-esteem and confidence.

Let me shoot down a few myths right now, before you even set up a stereotype:

Myth number one: Speak gently to poor Fat Girl. She can't help her terrible disability.
Myth number two: Poor Fat Girl needs to be educated about her problem.
Myth number three: Poor Fat Girl laughs to hide her tears.
Myth number four: Poor lonely Fat Girl can't get a date.
Myth number five: All poor Fat Girl wants to do is lose weight. (2-4, largely abbreviated)

Chapter one: "I have two must-achieve-or-die goals this year. The first do-or-die is probably the easiest: Write the best Fat Girl feature series ever, expose the politics and social injustices of being a fat female in today's world, and win the National Feature Award to ensure my collegiate funding. The second do-or-die, related to the first, is earning admission to Northwestern University." (6)

Jamie's voice is wonderful. I loved it. I especially especially loved her Fat Girl columns. They were true. They were authentic. They were needed. The novel focuses on Jamie's life. Her mostly crazy, often chaotic life where she is juggling writing, acting, and studying on top of having a boyfriend (Burke) and several girl friends (NoNo and Freddie). Her parents hardly enter into the picture at all. The central plot of this one is her relationship with two guys: Burke and Heath, her editor-in-chief. Burke, her boyfriend, is a Fat Boy himself. However, he decides to have weight-loss surgery. A decision that Jamie can't quite support with her head and her heart. Surgery is risky and dangerous and so drastic a step, isn't it? And if he has the surgery, how much of him--his personality, his life-style--will he lose along with all those pounds? Will she still be his fat-girl goddess once he's a muscular hunk? Heath, her editor, becomes a close friend. He's there for her and with her when all the chaos of her life begins to unfold--Burke's surgery, the columns continuing media circus, etc. (The local media has picked up on her "fat girl" columns and decided that Jamie is dangerous and promoting a "fat" lifestyle just because she's not a lonely, depressed, pitiable girl with NO self esteem or self-worth. Because she's fat and okay with being fat...she must be a menace to society, right????)

I loved almost everything about Big Fat Manifesto. However, if Big Fat Manifesto has a weakness then it is in the character development of minor characters. NoNo and Freddie are nothing more than one-sided stereotypical characters. (Freddie the side-kick lesbian; NoNo the sidekick vegetarian, animal-rights protester.) They lack the "flesh" they need to stand on their own. Burke, Jamie's boyfriend, is more developed than Freddie and NoNo, however, he doesn't have that sparkle and depth that a proper boyfriend should. Heath, on the other hand, seems to have a charm and substance and vitality that I noticed from his first introduction. But Jamie? Jamie's development is complete.

Other reviews: Melissa in Estella's Revenge, TeenReads, Teens Read Too, ProperNoun, Tales from the Rushmore Kid, MatriFocus, Curled Up, Oops, Wrong Cookie, Book Divas, Alternative Teen Services, Review & React, Abby the Librarian,
*if you've reviewed this one, you can leave a link in the comments and I'll add you in*

Author's site and blog and interview

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Trials of Kate Hope

Downing, Wick. 2008. The Trials of Kate Hope.

This one was just too much fun. Fun might not be the right word. By fun, I don't mean it's fluff. I don't mean it lacks any in substance or heart. I just meant that I liked spending time with it. That I really really enjoyed it. I loved Kate. And I loved her Grandpa. More than I ever thought I would to tell you the truth. Set in 1973 in Denver, Colorado, it follows the life of a most unusual fourteen-year-old. Kate Hope. Lawyer. Yes, lawyer. She's the law partner of her eighty-something year old grandfather. The book focuses in on two cases. It's really much more interesting than the book cover might suggest.

Another review: Feminist Review, Richie,
Author website: http://www.wickdowning.com/About.htm

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Stealing Heaven

Scott, Elizabeth. 2008. Stealing Heaven.

I love Elizabeth Scott. I do. It's true. Bloom and Perfect You were excellent examples of YA romance at its best, its finest. Stealing Heaven is the third novel by Elizabeth Scott.

First sentence: "My first memory is staring through a window into a house that isn't mine."

Meet Danielle. (Or Dani). Though if you were to meet her yourself, she would probably be using a different name. Danielle and her mother, you see, are professional burglars. Yes, you read that correctly. Her mom raised her daughter to be a criminal, a thief. Silver rules their lives.

"Because of silver I can pry the molding off a window without making a sound. I know how to test for plate even though I don't usually need to. I can drive a car, climb into a house, deal with growling dogs. I know exactly how much your average nineteenth century tea service weighs--in troy ounces, even, and how many pieces it has.
For silver I learned to read, write, work numbers. For silver I learned the names of every plantation from Virginia to Florida. I can tell you which ones we've visited, which ones we want to, which ones we never will. I can tell you how to find someone's house no matter where it is. I can tell you what to do if there is silver inside.
The story of my life can be told in silver: in chocolate mills, serving spoons, and services for twelve. The story of my life has nothing to do with me. The story of my life is things. Things that aren't mine, that won't ever be min. It's all I've ever known. I wish it wasn't." (103)

It wasn't necessarily easy to make a thief a sympathetic heroine. But if anyone could do it, it would be Elizabeth Scott. Danielle, though eighteen, has spent her whole life being manipulated, crafted, trained to do her mother's bidding. That doesn't excuse it. And Danielle would be the first to admit it. Danielle knows that her life is wrong. She's aware that this is the last thing she should be doing. She wants a normal life, a normal family, a normal everything. She just doesn't know how to break away from her mother. She doesn't know how to say no, to reject this lifestyle without rejecting her mother.

Life is complicated. Danielle learns this perhaps for the first time when she and her mom enter the town or community of Heaven. This is the first place--that we know of--where Danielle gets a glimpse of what life could be or should be. A glimpse of what it would be like to have a friend, to have a boyfriend. The love interest. Kyle. Any guesses on his occupation?

I can't say that Stealing Heaven would be my first pick of Scott's three novels. But it was a good, solid read.

You can read the first three chapters here.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Confessions of A Serial Kisser

Van Draanen, Wendelin. 2008. Confessions of A Serial Kisser.

I'm on the fence with Confessions of A Serial Kisser. I loved the opening chapters where we are introduced to the narrator, Evangeline, and catch a glimpse of the premise. A young teen girl, who discovers, while cleaning, her mother's stash of trashy, smutty romance books. Out of pure curiosity and with a bit of disdain, she starts looking at them. She starts by reading the blurbs, then progresses to reading random passages. But before long, her attention focuses in on one title in particular, A Crimson Kiss. Delilah and Grayson become role models, in a weird way, for our heroine since her own parents are going through a separation or divorce. She reads the book--along with some of the others I believe--but it is this one book that she keeps clinging to. She reads it again and again and again. She even takes it with her to school. She makes her best friend read it as well. She begins longing for a crimson kiss of her own. And with a little inspiration from a self-help book, she sets out to get that kiss, to find that dreamy guy. It may sound like a silly premise--and I admit that it is in a way--yet it is fun in a giddy-making kind of way. I was feeling a bit of an Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging vibe for a bit. But Evangeline has more character development (more depth, more growth) in this one novel than poor Georgia has had in all of those novels put together.

But that is only the surface of this one. If it was just that, folks might think it fun but shallow. But roughly halfway through the focus shifts dramatically over to her relationship with her father. Evangeline has a terrible awful horrible no good relationship with her dad since the separation. (Her father, I think, cheated on her mother and left them. And it is her self-esteem, her sense of security that is suffering as a result of that betrayal.) And it is this angst that is driving--contributing--to the problems in other areas in her life. Evangeline is looking for her crimson kiss, but she's not finding it. She's hopelessly caught up in things trivially not imagining that a kiss is more, can be more than just a kiss.

In some ways, Confessions of A Serial Kisser isn't your traditional romance. There isn't the traditional boy meets girl plot. (Or girl meets guy.) It is about the quest for love coming from a dissatisfaction with yourself; it's all about the angst, looking for someone to fill that emptiness inside you. It's about not knowing quite what you want, but knowing that you want something...need something more.

All that being said, there were some things that just didn't work for me. The longer I read about Evangeline, the less I cared for her. I know that sounds a bit harsh, doesn't it? Evangeline is losing herself, drowning herself in this quest for the perfect kiss. The further this quest goes on, the less respect we have for her and the less respect she has for herself. And there were some places where the text dragged a bit. It's hard to explain really. But there would be chapters at a time where I'd catch myself skimming paragraph after paragraph and yet finding nothing happening, nothing changing. After half a dozen of those chapters, it's hard to maintain interest. It started so well, and yet fizzled out a bit for me.

It has family drama (father-daughter), friend drama, and some boy drama. (Yet the focus is never really on one guy in particular.) I liked the premise--or should I say premises. It was fun to see the mostly funny spin on how unrealistic and silly but sometimes necessary romance novels. It was also interesting to see this father-daughter angst. How her anger, her disappointment, her feeling of loss and betrayal, fueled (or failed to fuel) her relationships with guys her own age. But the focus is split--and not just in two. The friend drama...well...I could have done without it. The plot was busy enough without it. But maybe others will feel differently.

Other reviews: Bookshelves of Doom;What I Blogged: ; Biblio File: and The Well Read Child and Overdue Books.

First sentence: My name is Evangeline Bianca Logan, and I am a serial kisser. I haven't always been a serial kisser. There was a time not that long ago when I had next to no kissing experience. It's interesting how things can change so fast--how you can go from being sixteen with very few lip-locking credentials to being barely seventeen and a certified serial kisser. It all started one day with dirty laundry. (1)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Take Me There

Colasanti, Susane. 2008. Take Me There.

I really really enjoyed her first novel, When It Happens, so I think my expectations were a little too high for this one. I think this is a nice read, a good read. One that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to teen romance fans, or to teen fans of realistic fiction. It's got drama--lots and lots of drama: school, family, friendship, love. It has three narrators. Two girls--best friends--and one guy. All three are friends. This book, in some ways, is just as much about falling out of love as it is falling in it. Both female narrators have recently broken up with their boyfriends. And now that I think about it, the male narrator had also recently broken up with his girlfriend. Funny how I didn't realize that before. Anyway, this novel is about letting go, moving on, and making it through each day. It covers so many things, and the characterization is really quite good. All three are developed nicely. And some of the classmates are as well. Characterization doesn't really extend to the narrators' families, however, the parents are rarely if ever a part of the action. But that's not a bad thing necessarily, it's a typical thing.

Anyway, I liked this one. But I didn't love this one. I think other readers may have a better, stronger response.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews