153. Tiger Daughter

Tiger Daughter. Rebecca Lim. 2021/2023. 192 pages. [Source: Library] [MG Fiction; MG Realistic Fiction; "Problem Novel" "Important" Book]

First sentence: As we take our places in the classroom, Mr Cornish writes with a flourish on the whiteboard, What is the essence of being 'Australian'?

Brief Note: Tiger Daughter, I'm assuming, was originally published in Australia in 2021. It was first published in the United States in 2023. What this says about Cybils eligibility I'm not quite sure... 

Premise/plot: Tiger Daughter is a heavy/weighty "problem novel." Not all problem novels are equally heavy/weighty. It was almost as if the author wanted to pack in as many problems as humanly possible to make the reader bear them one and all. (Perhaps as an endurance or strength exercise in empathy?) If one was to list all the possible trigger warnings--as is so often done these days--the list would go on for pages. Expect the worst on every page and you've got an idea of what this one is like.

Wen Zhou, our heroine, is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Her father is a piece of work. Controlling, demanding, cruel, bitter, etc. (Tip of the iceberg). Her mother takes it all--not with a smile, but because she has to it seems. Wen is also supposed to just take life as it is--on her father's terms. No hopes. No dreams. Just be a mindless yet always respectful servant to her father. 

Henry Xiao, our heroine's closest friend, is the son of Chinese immigrants. His home life is DIFFERENT than Wen's homelife but equally problematic and woeful. Henry has a wee bit more hope than Wen--which inspires Wen. But things seem BLEAK and bleaker still. 

Is this friendship approved by Wen's father? by Wen's mother? Not really. Wen isn't encouraged to be friends with anyone. It seems the father's mission to make sure that NO ONE wants to be friends with Wen. 

Both families face a million problems--each heavier than the last. Things continue bleakly on until the ending when things go from oppressingly bleak to mostly bleak.

 My thoughts: No doubt there will be readers who enjoy carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders as they read this one. The bleakness is immersive. And some adult readers--especially the ones that hand out stars--seem to LOVE wading through bleak novels with IMPORTANT topics and themes. Teachers, librarians, other adults that read children's novels--they may love this one exceedingly for being so obviously IMPORTANT and WEIGHTY and authentically bleak. 

Did I enjoy this one? No. Is there beauty that could have been found in this one--perhaps through the characterization or narration? Perhaps. I didn't find it personally. But reading is so subjective. And IMPORTANT "problem novels" aren't usually my thing.

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Chasing Brooklyn (YA)

Chasing Brooklyn. Lisa Schroeder. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 412 pages.

One year ago today I lost my boyfriend, Lucca.

Chasing Brooklyn is a verse novel, a companion to I Heart You, You Haunt Me. Both are set in the same town, the same high school. Both novels are about the (extended) grieving process. When the novel opens, a year has passed since Lucca's death.

The novel is told in two voices. Readers meet Lucca's girlfriend, Brooklyn, and his brother, Nico. Both are about to be haunted.

Gabe, Lucca's friend, has recently overdosed. His death proves just how emotionally raw and vulnerable this community still is. Since his death, Brooklyn has been haunted. Her dreams are nightmares. The dream-Gabe that haunts her is chasing her, taunting her, almost threatening her.

Nico is having troubling dreams as well--though not of Gabe. No, his brother is telling him night after night after night to help Brooklyn, to protect Brooklyn, to be there for her. So even though Nico and Brooklyn haven't had much to do with one another since Lucca's death, there's nothing he wouldn't do for his brother. So he takes the first steps and a friendship (of sorts) begins.

Is Nico what Brooklyn needs to heal? Is Brooklyn what Nico needs to heal? Is Lucca drawing them together for a reason?

The more I read of Lisa Schroeder, the more I like her work. I'd also recommend Far From You.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

You Know Where To Find Me

Cohn, Rachel. 2008. You Know Where To Find Me.

You can almost always find our heroine, Miles, popping pills, getting high, or smoking. She's a drug addict who is content--or content enough at least--living a very wasted life. She plans on dropping out of high school once she turns eighteen. Even the suicide of her cousin, Laura, (drug overdose) fails to get through to her. Life is meaningless, right? It doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. Miles is overweight, unhappy, and seeking release through drugs. She doesn't necessarily want to die. But she doesn't want to live either.

Miles has a few friends--including Jamal and Bex--but most of the time the drugs are more important than they are. And her cousin's father--her 'uncle'--is one of the few people in life that she can just be with...without any strings attached. Let me clarify, I mean be herself with. No show. No hypocrisy. They are two of the people feeling this loss the heaviest. Her father is also in the picture...a little bit. She mainly keeps him in the fringes of her life. Not letting him in. And certainly not letting him see her as she really is. Her mom? Out of the picture escaping conveniently across the ocean.

Miles is about as lost as a girl can get...well, as lost as she can be while still having a heart beat.

I think that You Know Where To Find Me will either appeal to you...or not. It wasn't quite my thing. I know it sounds awful to not like Miles. After all, she doesn't love herself or respect herself...and someone needs to love her. But other than the fact that at one point Miles loved to read, really loved to read, we have very little in common. I guess I've just never felt so deeply-troubled and angry and despondent.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Thirteen Reasons Why

Asher, Jay. 2007. Thirteen Reasons Why.

Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo...No return engagements. No encore. And this time absolutely no requests...I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why....I'm not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up...I promise. (7)

Before Hannah Baker ended her life with an overdose of pills, she wanted to leave behind a message. She recorded seven tapes--thirteen sides--that revealed bit by bit her drama and why she, in the end, felt like she had no other options. Clay Jensen is one of the tape's recipients. He is our narrator or guide through this listening experience. We hear Hannah's words alongside his thoughts and words. Hers are italicized. His aren't. He came home from school one day to find this package--a shoebox wrapped in paper and mailed--on his front porch. And from the time he first hits play...his life will already never be the same.

I wish I'd never seen that box or the seven tapes inside it. Hitting play that first time was easy. A piece of cake. I had no idea what I was about to hear. But this time, it's one of the most frightening things I've ever done. I turn the volume down and hit play. (9)

Clay Jensen at first feels like it's some kind of mistake. He never did anything to Hannah. He worked side by side with her at the movies. They made small talk. And one night--at a party--they made out. That's it. Why would he be to blame for her death? He couldn't, could he?

As the story unfolds, the reader learns that some actions have unforeseen consequences. A bit of gossip here or there, a rude word there, etc. Some were quite malicious--like her first boyfriend whose imagination got carried away with him. He ruined her reputation after their very first date. And why? Because he liked to talk big with the guys. Or how about the guy who labeled her the hottest a** in class? From then on, guys who were practically strangers tried to get away with grabbing her butt. Or how about the peeping tom who stalked her outside her bedroom window? Some people on the tapes are evident creeps and jerks...others seem more shocking.

Thirteen Reasons Why is without a doubt one of the best books of the year. Why? It isn't because it's sad. It isn't because it's about suicide. It isn't because it's dramatic. It's because it's well-written; it's real. The characters--from Hannah and Clay through all of the minor characters that come up as "reasons" such as Justin and Brent and Jenny--are so real, so well-developed, so human. The story is haunting and it's easy to understand why Clay's life will never be the same. How Hannah's death and life have changed him. Clay couldn't stop until he'd heard the tapes; I couldn't stop from reading til her story was through. It was very gripping, very haunting.

Letters from Rapunzel

Holmes, Sara Lewis. 2007. Letters from Rapunzel.
Note: Winner of the Ursula Nordstrom First Fiction Contest

First Impressions: The cover of the book is, in my opinion, somewhat deceptive. With the long-haired Rapunzel gazing out the tower window, it could be just another fractured or retold fairy tale. It could be. But it isn't. Whether that is good news or bad news depends on the expectations of readers. Although I must say that while Rapunzel and her tower feature predominantly on the cover, there are rows of houses--modern-day houses--on the cover as well. So there are some clues that it is contemporary. The book is described thusly, "an enchanting debut novel [that] is a breath of fresh air. Told through letters, with a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust, Rapunzel's quest for a happy ending gives every reader something to believe in."

When "Rapunzel" finds a scrap of a letter in her father's chair addressed to "Box # 5667", she begins an unusual correspondence with one of her father's inspirational muses. Her father, a poet, has been hospitalized with clinical depression. Rapunzel, however, is too young to really understand that diagnosis. All she knows is that her father is under an evil spell. She hopes by writing her father's friend--his poetic guide--that she will somehow break the spell. That she will be rescued from her tower--the horribly yucky after-school Homework Club. And that her father will be rescued from his tower--the hospital. (Or clinic, or institution--I can't remember if the book was too specific in saying where the father was being kept).

Who is Box #5667? A mystery that won't be solved until the final chapters. I certainly won't tell--or even hint. But the correspondence isn't so much about "Box #5667" as it is about a young girl's inner thought life. Her joys. Her concerns. Her worries. She can be funny. She can be entertaining. But she can also be quite serious. She wants to do anything and everything she can to help her father. But there is nothing she can do. School and the homework club are just two of her troubles. Homework--so isn't fun. Teachers--so don't understand her sense of humor. Classmates--don't understand where she's coming from.

Letters from Rapunzel is an enjoyable read. The characters are well-written, and the story is heartfelt.

http://saralewisholmes.com/

Now You See Her

Mitchard, Jacquelyn. 2007. Now You See Her.

Jacquelyn Mitchard's first novel for young adults, NOW YOU SEE HER is an excellent example of an unreliable narrator. Unreliable narrators are great for adding suspense. What's real? What's imagined? What's the truth? What's a lie? Perception is everything. Can you unravel the mystery and discern "the truth" before the final page? That is the game of it. As you might have guessed, I really enjoyed this novel.

Opening lines: "Hope is vanishing. Does that sound too dramatic? Okay, fine. It's really just barely dramatic enough. Maybe not even enough. I don't mean "hope" the way they think. How could I explain it to them? They're beyond stupid. They're clueless and retarded. All of them. I hear my mother and father say, "She doesn't realize the gravity of all this..." and I want to yell, Are you crazy? Are you on crack? I'm the one it happened to. So I, like, sort of understand the gravity." (3)

"Hope Shay" is the stage name for Bernadette Romano. She has THE GIFT. Born to be an actor. Born to be the star of the show. She is pushed, pulled, and dragged into the dramatic world of theatre by her mother. Perfection is not only expected, it's demanded. Forced to perform all of her life, to please others, to be the perfect portait of the person her parents expect her to be, it's no wonder that Hope ends up in a "special" place like Miss Taylor's. (Miss Tylers). As Hope's story unfolds the reader really doesn't know who to believe. Did she really fake her own kidnapping? Or does it only seem that way? Was Logan her boyfriend and co-conspirator? Or is he just her delusion. As Hope's world crumbles, everything begins to fall into place. Can she ever just be herself? Can she ever be normal?

NOW YOU SEE HER is very well-written. It's exciting, suspenseful, dramatic, and a real exploration of a psychotic breakdown or episode.

http://jackiemitchard.com/blog/

Impulse

Hopkins, Ellen. 2007. Impulse.

Impulse is not particularly the kind of book you want to pick up (or post about) the week of the Virginia Tech Massacre. Like all of Ellen Hopkins books its theme is dark and depressing. That is not to say it isn’t honest and authentic. Impulse has this honest feel about it. These are characters that feel real. The pain they’re describing, they’re living, feels authentic. It feels genuine. The secrets, the lies, the hopes, the fears, the worries, the stress, everything. It is the story (fictional) of three teens who have attempted suicide. Two boys and one girl. They, all three, find themselves at Aspen Springs a mental institution for juveniles. Each teen has a story. Each teen has a journey. One tried to overdose on drugs. One tried to shoot himself. One slit her wrist. All have obstacles to overcome. All have secrets. All have quirks. Tony. Vanessa. Conner. Three teens who are walking the same self-destructive path. Can they find help in time? Can their lives be changed? Can there be hope where formerly there was none? Can broken lives find healing? It is a harsh story. Hopkins doesn’t hide the hard, bitter, dark pain of suicidal thoughts. But amidst all the pain and suffering, redemption may be just within reach.

Hopkins writing is once again powerful. Not every reader will want to journey down this dark tunnel with these three characters. Even if there is light shining at the end of the tunnel. For readers in search of "problem novels" or "edgy novels" or novels about suicide, cutting, drugs, or dysfunctional families in general, this book may be a perfect fit. It is a powerful, authentic verse novel.

Cloistered

I can't remember
when it has snowed
so much, yards
and yards of lacy ribbons,
wrapping the world in white.
Was it three years ago? Ten?

Memory is a tenuous thing,
like a rainbow's end
or a camera with a failing lens.
Sometimes my focus
is sharp, every detail
clear as the splashes
of ice, fringing the eaves;
other times it is a hazy
field of frost, like the meadow
outside my window.
I think it might be a meadow.
A lawn? A parking lot?

Is it even a window
I'm looking through,
or only cloudy panes
of vision, opening
on drifts of ivory
linens--soft cotton,
crisp percale--
my snow just
a blizzard of white
noise?

From IMPULSE by Ellen Hopkins, p. 17-18

http://www.ellenhopkins.com/

Readers may also enjoy It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon, and Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. I haven't read Twisted yet, but based on what reviews I have read...it seems like this would be a good match.