Umbrella Summer (MG)

Graff, Lisa. 2009. Umbrella Summer. HarperCollins. 235 pages.

If you started to squeeze your brakes right in the middle of heading down Maple Hill, just as you were passing old Mr. Normore's mailbox, you could coast into the bike rack in front of Lippy's Market without making a single tire squeak. That was the fastest way to go, and the most fun too, with the wind whistling past your ears and your stomach getting fluttery and floaty, till you thought maybe you were riding quicker than a rocket.
I didn't do that anymore, though. Now I hopped off my bike at the top of the hill and walked it. It took five times as long but it was lots safer.

No one embraces safety more than Annie. Ever since her brother died, she sees danger everywhere. She's so scared that she could die too--that something awful could happen to her or to her family--that she's afraid to live. Can a few friends (and a new neighbor) help Annie learn to live again? Can Charlotte's Web show her that life is worth living? Can Annie's broken heart be healed with some tender loving care and some good advice?

My heart ached for Annie. So young, so scared, so unsure of everything. Graff created a wonderful character and a compelling story. For me it was just right. It's a book I'd definitely recommend!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Twenty Boy Summer (YA)

Ockler, Sarah. 2009. Twenty Boy Summer. Little, Brown. 290 pages.

Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day. Lucky to be alive -- that's what everyone said. I got a fractured wrist and a banged-up knee, and my best friend Frankie got a fat little scar above her left eye, breaking her eyebrow into two reflective halves. Up one side, down the other. Happy, sad. Shock, awe. Before, after.
Before, all of us were lucky.
After, only me and Frankie.
That's what everyone said.

There's a rightness about Twenty Boy Summer. I don't know how helpful it is to you to know that I felt the novel to be just right. To feel natural and authentic. But it's important to me as a reader to connect with a book, to connect with the characters. And with Twenty Boy Summer, I definitely did. From the start, I began to feel for Anna.

Frankie and Anna are best friends. Always have been, always will be. And when the novel opens, these two share the same pain. Two hearts mourning the loss of one boy, Matt: a brother, a best friend. But is this enough to hold them together during a difficult time? Their friendship is about to be tested when past secrets are brought to light. But just who betrayed who? Can this friendship survive a summer vacation?

It's a novel about friendship, love, and loss. It's about wanting to both hold on and let go. It's about wanting to hold on to yesterday and yet choosing to live for tomorrow. It's about not knowing exactly what you want but knowing that something has to change or is about to change. It's a bittersweet novel--in a way--because it deals with death and grief. But it's good. So I definitely recommend it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Girl in the Arena (YA)

Haines, Lise. 2009. Girl in the Arena. Bloomsbury USA. 336 pages.

The clerk asks for my autograph.

Our heroine, Lyn, is a celebrity by association. She's had seven fathers. Each one a gladiator. Or should I say a neo-gladiator. And as our novel opens, her current father, her seventh father is preparing for a big fight. For some reason, Lyn doesn't quite know why, he's acting strange. Could there be something about this fight that is spooking him? She's not sure. (And neither are we). But destiny seems to be at work. When the fight doesn't go well, Lyn and her family struggle with what to do. Her mother, a widow yet again, is forbidden to remarry. Only seven is the rule. And the powers-that-be, the gladiator sports association, seem to be rewriting rules in their own favor. In such a way that Lyn and her family will lose their home and the most valuable of their possessions unless they do exactly what the association wants. What they want, what they demand is for Lyn to marry her father's killer. To be fair, this killer is young. It's not like they're asking this teen girl to marry a forty year old man or something. But still. The very idea unsettles her. (As it should!) That's unacceptable to her. Can Lyn think of a way to avoid that fate and yet still bring in all the ratings and keep the GSA satisfied?

What did I think of this one? I thought it was an interesting premise in a way. An alternate universe where the gladiator sport became popular and thriving again. This gladiator culture thrives on violence--the bloody gore of it all, the battle-to-the-death thrill of it all. Reading about a culture that cheers violence, that celebrates bloodshed, it was difficult to take at times. I've read books about Ancient Rome in the past and found the ideas disturbing, and reading about them in a modern setting was equally disturbing. The idea of fighting for the fun of it, or for money, it just doesn't sit well with me. I mean it's one thing to fight to the death if you're fighting for something real, something important, something that matters. But to fight for applause, to fight for popularity, to fight for glory? Well, it's unsettling. Lyn feels this. She gets that there is something wrong about this culture. She's grown up with it, but it's still not okay with her. Not really.

Other stops on the tour:

Abby the Librarian, A Patchwork of Books, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Book Buzz, KidzBookBuzz.com, Maw Books Blog, My Own Little Corner of the World, Reading is My Superpower, Through a Child’s Eyes

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Emily's Ghost

Giardina, Denise. 2009. Emily's Ghost. W.W. Norton & Company. 335 pages.

At night, the door to other worlds opened wide. Emily waited as darkness fell, so ecstatic she shivered and wrapped her arms tight about her chest.

Emily is the Emily. Emily Bronte. And Emily's Ghost is a novelization of her life. A life lived for the most part with her family: Patrick, her father, a curate; Branwell, her brother; and her two sisters Anne and Charlotte.

This is not a novel about Emily's writing. Within its pages, we don't see many glimpses of Emily and her sisters hard at work...writing. This, instead, is a novel about the complex relationships between the three sisters. Relationships made more difficult, in a way, when all three fall for the same man: their father's assistant, William Weightman.

It's a romance in the sense that Emily does fall madly in love with William. And he with her. But for various reasons--neither here nor there--this was not to be. Emily felt 'the call' to much. Wanting the freedom to write. Wanting the freedom to wander. She knew that a life tied to a man--even a man she loved--would only tie her down. If she were to marry, she would have responsibilities. She'd be expected to behave: to be a prim and proper little wife. To conform to all of societies little codes and rules. To marry him would only invite scandal into his life. She knew that society would always see her as strange and dark and different.

I don't know how much (if any) of this is true. It would be nice in a way to have a way of knowing. Of knowing how much is based on truth, on fact, and how much is pure fabrication. Did Emily and William really have a relationship? Were they really in love? Was Charlotte and Emily really that much at odds with each other? Was there more hatred and bitterness than love and tenderness? Was Charlotte really that manipulative and mean?

For fans of any of the Bronte sisters, this is an interesting read. And a fast-paced one. Though it didn't make me particularly want to go read any of their books--like the Syrie James Bronte novelization did--still, it was a nice read. Lots of drama.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading, Read, To Read #41

Happy Sunday everyone! I *really* need to start planning for the 24 Hour Read-a-thon. I'd love to get a happy little post (do you think it will be a *little* post?) about which books I want to read for the read-a-thon.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon is coming up soon. October 24th. Will you be participating?

Nominations are open for the Cybils. They'll remain open through October 15th.

What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:

Sunny Holiday by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. 2009. Scholastic. 160 pages.
(Re)Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin. 2009. Random House. 273 pages.
A Killing Frost by John Marsden. 1995. Houghton Mifflin. 275 pages.
Vampire Kisses: The Beginning. Ellen Schreiber. 2003. 2005. 2006. HarperCollins. 562 pages.
Almost Perfect. Brian Katcher. 2009. Random House. 360 pages.
The Jewish Husband by Lia Levi. 2009 (date of the translation) 2001 (original publication). Europa. 209 pages.
Lips Touch Three Times. Laini Taylor. Illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo. Scholastic. 272 pages.

What I read this past week and reviewed:

A Walk Down Sesame Street. 2009. Candlewick Press (Pop-Up/Novelty.) 16 pages.
Baby Polar by Yannick Murphy. 2009. Clarion Books.
Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman. 2009. Chronicle Books.
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things. Lenore Look. Random House. 2008. 172 pages.
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters. Lenore Look. 2009. Random House. 170 pages.
The Tudor Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York. Margaret Campbell Barnes. Sourcebooks. 336 pages.
Though Waters Roar. Lynn Austin. 2009. Bethany House. 430 pages.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. (Audio Dramatization) Focus on the Family. 2009.
A Measure of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling. 2009. Bethany House. 367 pages.
Princess Tea: Parties and Treats for Little Girls. 2009. Janeen A. Sarlin with Noelle Shipley. Chronicle Books. 120 pages.
Paula Deen's Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set. Paula Deen. 2009. Simon & Schuster. 192 pages.

What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:

Jemma Hartman: Camper Extraordinaire. Brenda A. Ferber. 2009. FSG. 215 pages.
Emily's Ghost. Denise Giardina. 2009. W.W. Norton & Company. 335 pages.
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur. 2009. Random House. 262 pages.
The Sisters 8: Annie's Adventures. 2008. Houghton Mifflin. 136 pages.

What I've read and really, really need to review:

Girl in the Arena. Lise Haines. 2009. Bloomsbury. 384 pages.

What I'm currently reading:

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff
Darkness Be My Friend by John Marsden
Girl in A Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold

What I'm just fooling around that I'm reading:

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Monk by Matthew Lewis

What I've abandoned:

Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray Bradbury (started off promising, but began to lose interest)
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (not forever, I just ran out of time for the library book)
Monsters And The Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (probably not forever, I'm just not in the mood for this nonfiction title)
Putting the Amazing Back Into Grace by Michael Horton (not forever--it's a reread anyway--but I just need to pick this one up later and stop pretending it's even a mid-priority read.)
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (need to pick this one up again later--maybe in a week or two)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (need to get back to this one, but not an immediate, immediate priority)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews