Book Reviews:Falling Hard (Roller Girls #1) by Megan Sparks

Annie and her father move from London, England to her father's small home town in Illinois where her father plans on opening a cafe.  While searching for a place to fit in at high school Annie makes new friends (including artist best friend Lexie)and tries to decide whether her gymnastics replacement should be cheer leading or roller derby.

This was a nice coming of age tale that most tween girls will be able to relate to in some way.  There is a small love triangle forming but as the book is part of a larger series that was not the focus of the book and is in fact left hanging only partially formed.  The real focus of the book is Annie's journey to finding a place for herself and her new love affair with roller derby, which I thought was a nice change from other realistic fiction books I've read for this age group.  Annie has a nice relationship with her father and I thought the author did a good job with both that relationship and Annie's relationship with her mother.  

As a Non Skating Official who has worked with women's, men's and junior roller derby leagues I will say that the roller derby is fairly accurate.  The drills, amount of work and athleticism required were accurate although their timeline for passing a skills test and playing in a bout was a bit expedited.  The author also did a wonderful job illustrating the camaraderie that develops between those involved in roller derby and the sense of welcoming and openness that teams try to foster.

The relationship Jesse has with the players and team which may surprise people from other sports is accurate for the way roller derby officiating currently works.  The book was also written during the last rules set (for those that aren't derby familiar; in January a major revision to the rules of roller derby came out.)  That being said it was only one or two references and I don't think it would keep a reader from going to a game and being able to follow what's going on.

There was one disparaging comment written about men's and women's roller derby being different games because men don't wear fishnets.  I know not everyone is a supporter of men's roller derby however I found the comment demeaning to both men and women's players.  The sport is about more then fishnets as the rest of the book spends a lot of time proving and while I believe there are differences in how the men play vs how the women play I thought the comment was unnecessarily disparaging of everyone.  

E-book copy provided by netgalley.

~Danger Prone Daphne, NSO

Book Review: Paper Towns by John Green

A few weeks before graduation Quentin's childhood friend Margo, that he's been in love with forever and hasn't really spoken to since middle school drops into his bedroom window. They go out on an all night revenge spree and the next day Margo disappears. At first no one is too worried, but as the weeks pass and Margo doesn't make her usual reappearance Quentin gets more and more concerned and starts following clues Margo left behind for him, culminating in a once in a life time road trip up the east coast.

So before this the only Jon Green books I had ever read were Looking for Alaska and Will Grayson Will Grayson. I was really afraid that this book was going to be just like Looking for Alaska and getting more disappointed by the minute, but then, it changed. I loved the road trip and Quentin and his friends. They were smart, funny and genuinely entertaining. I loved how Quentin was able to distinguish between the Margo's he imagined and the Margo that really existed. I was also totally intrigued by the concept of paper towns which I had never heard of before.

Book Review: Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Cat is obsessed with hating Matt Mckinney. All she wants is to beat him in the science fair. Then she gets the picture and her science fair project takes on a life of it's own. She's eating the way the hominids did and kicking technology out of her life. As she changes her diet and walks everywhere, the pounds start melting off and the male population takes notice.

I really enjoyed reading this. Cat was incredibly funny and I loved the relationship she had with Amanda, Jordan and her parents. The relationship she developed with her brother was just amazing to watch and reminded me of how my relationships with my sister developed. 

I also really appreciated that the book was't preachy about the diet and technology give up. Yes Cat clearly felt this was working very well for her but it didn't feel like it was pushing it b/c it was more about Cat's internal change. I was also happy that the author stressed that even though Matt could be considered the catalyst for the change, really Cat did everything for herself.

I did have to giggle a little bit about what Cat would sometimes consider a "technology worthy emergency". They were very much teenage girl type emergencies. Also Amanda was an amazing friend and everyone should be so lucky to have a friend like that in their life

Tricked by Alex Robinson

In this graphic novel we follow the lives of six unconnected characters who will eventually become connected by a horrible act of violence. Before the rockstar, temp, waitress, daughter, crank and autograph forger come together the reader gets to know them a bit and see how relationships begin and how events conspire to put them all in the same place on one fateful night.

I admit a huge part of why I read this book is that is has a fabulous cover, so I had to find the version of the cover I had which is why I ended up pulling this from amazon. I love the fact that it looks like a tape, although I find myself wondering if some people would even recognize a tape at this point. I saw the book as part of a display at the library and immediately felt a need to check it out. The plot description didn't really go with the cover for me until after I read it. Then I kind of saw each character's chapters as different sections of a mix tape and then it kind of all came together for me.

I really enjoyed watching the relationships that developed especially Ray and Lily, Pheobe and her father and Caprice's two relationship debacles. (Also a huge shout out to Caprice's boss Frank I believe it was who told off Caprice's ex in such a phenomenal and kick butt way without ever being an overt dick.) There are definitely times when I wanted to strangle Caprice too. I think she was the character that I liked the most because she made me the most crazy, although both of her bosses neither of which was one of the characters being followed were close seconds.

The graphic novel counts down as a way of building suspense although you kind of know from the description that something big is going to happen. I thought it was a decent way to build suspense and I kind of kick myself b/c I assumed that the obvious was what was going to happen and that certainly wasn't the case. (Was also kind of happy that it was my least favorite character that was involved in the violent incident.)

Stolen: A letter to my captor by Lucy Christopher

It took me a long time to read this book but that had a lot more to do with the other stuff I had going on then the actual content of the book. Gemma was abducted from the Bangkok airport by Ty. Ty loves her and thinks that he is helping her; taking her away from people who aren't looking out for her best interests and a place that is strangling her. This book is a letter to Ty where she recounts their days together and tries to figure out how she feels about him.

The writing style is just gorgeous. Everything sounds just write and kind of beautiful, even the horrible things. The descriptions have almost a poetic quality to them. The landscape is terrible and it's what keeps Gemma in her prison but you can still feel the beauty and stillness of it. How there are hidden gems within the angry desert.

Ty is an interesting character. You know he's wrong but you can't help feeling bad for him. He means well but it's obvious that no he's never really had people with him or taking care of him, so he doesn't realize he's going about everything entirely the wrong way.

It's interesting to see how Gemma's feelings change for Ty over time. She starts out hating him and wanting nothing but to leave. While she never really stops wanting to leave, truthfully I think that she sees him for who he is. Someone that wanted to help her and just went about it the wrong way.

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

At the start of Scott's first year of high school he is nervous but calm because he has his three best friends with him. Then he finds out his mother is pregnant, his older brother moves back home, his group of friends desintigrates and he finds himself hanging out with totally different people then whom he would have thought of as friends. Over the course of the year he ends up on student council, writing sports reviews for the paper and working on the stage crew for the school musical all trying to get the attention of one girl. All of this is wrapped around the book he is keeping (it's not a diary) with tips and lists for his future siblings high school days.

I really loved this book. It's another one that I had to read for work but I'm super excited about this one (we'll see how we feel after reading multiple times but for now it was pretty damn awesome.) Scott is a funny, smart and entertaining protagonist. He changes a lot both physically and mentally over the course of the year. He becomes stronger and observant. The things he says to both Mouth after what happens (being vague, no spoilers) and his brother are heartfelt, and wise and the kind of things that everyone needs to hear sometimes.

In the beginning of the story he considers himself someone who is always on the sidelines, but over the course of the book you see him stand up for Mouth, Lee and get Wesley's back. But Scott never goes too far, once the fight is over, he assumes it's done. He doesn't run around trying to get revenge or pick on the little guy.

I loved his english clash and vaguely remember having a similar experience once year. His spanish class on the other hand was the stuff of nightmares and had me constantly laughing. The lists and letters he writes his future sibling are great. Mostly they are funny and goofy and just a way to cope with both high school and his mother's pregnancy. But sometimes they also become deeper and the stuff of real meaning you. Although sometimes I did wonder at what point in his life his sibling would get this book and would the name calling be an issue.

All in all it was an enjoyable read and I'm sorry I never got to it sooner.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

I read this right after I finished Mockingjay and I thought it was such a good pick to read after reading such a heavy serious series. It's light and sweet and just what I needed after reading a trilogy that in a lot of ways just scared the crap out of me. Lily's brother thinks she needs a boyfriend, so he sets up a red moleskin with some challenges at the Strand bookstore in NYC (if you haven't been there you should it's awesome.) Dash finds the notebook and takes the challenge. What ensues is a game of dares al over NYC, involving friends and family and an awesome puppet named Snarly. I really really loved Dash, and was kind of disgruntled with Lily which made this book kind of a mixed bag for me. However I loved Lily's family and how they interacted with each other so that balanced out my unhappiness with her character. Dash is a mellow relatable guy. His parents dragged him through an ugly divorce as a kid so he's looking forward to a nice quiet holiday alone. At the beginning of the book Lily just felt like a stereo type and a goody two shoes. She has no real friends at school but is the captain of the soccer team which keeps her from joining the loser pit. Her family is extremely close and she is not taking her parents being in Fiji over Christmas well. There are a ton of very fun and well developed minor characters including Boomer and Sofia on Dash's side and Lily's aunt, brother and cousins. The best parts of the book are watching how all of the characters affect Lily, how they make her become a fuller more developed person. The dares are funny and interesting and I think that are an interesting way to introduce lots of different characters and parts of the city but the best part is still watching Lily grow.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I had always heard a lot about this book and it was always on my list of things to read. Then this Christmas my department head gave me a signed copy as a present. I decided that it was definitely time to read it yesterday when I wasn't feeling well.

Melinda is starting her freshman year of high school as an outcast. Everyone thinks she called the cops at the big party at the end of the last school year. No one bothered to find out why she would have called the cops, not even her best friend Rachel. Her parents aren't around much either. They are both always working and don't really know much about what's going on in Melinda's life. As the year progresses Melinda speaks less and less. She feels as though her throat is closing and her lips and mouth are always dry.

When I first started reading this book I went online and checked out a couple of reviews. People seem to love or hate this book. There is no in the middle and I think that that is usually a sign of a great book. It illicits strong feelings in everyone who reads it.

For most of this book Melinda is trapped in her own head. She can't deal with what happened to her on top of everyone's perceptions of her actions. She ends up hiding from the world and her parents lack of interest and her fellow students unwillingness to look past the obvious. I really liked how her friendship with Ivy and with her lab partner organically bloomed and the way these friendships and her tree project began to make her come out of her shell and deal with what happened.

I also liked the style the book was written in. I liked the mini headings instead of full on chapters. It felt like a good reflection of how Melinda was living her life, one little piece at a time because anything else was too big to handle.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

I really loved Will Grayson, Will Grayson. It made me laugh and it made me cry (God, I'm such a sap). This book is all about the characters and lately I've finally noticed that I really love character driven novels more then anything. Two young men named Will Grayson meet on a street in Chicago one night. You follow both characters as they try to figure out love and friendship. The Will Grayson's are alike in that they allow life to happen to them rather then being involved; however that changes for each of them over the course of the novel.

I feel like I have to comment on Tiny Cooper because everyone either loves him or hates, and he seems to be a big part of a lot of the reviews I have read. Tiny is an interesting character and a lot of fun, but truthfully the novel isn't about him and what really made this novel great for me was learning about the innerworkings of the two Will Grayson's watching them grow and develop, and start to take part in their own lives. Tiny was a good counterpoint for the two boys and provided a lot of the books humor, but at the end of the book it was the two Will Grayson's growth that really made me enjoy the book.

Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci

What a phenomenal book. I absolutely loved it. Rose goes to the performing arts high school in Manhattan. Making this decision seperated her from her best friend Daisy (who wasn't really a good friend) and made her feel like having friends was too hard. So she has closed herself off, until the day two girls at school reach out to her and her next door neighbor comes in through her window. The book chronicles Yrena and Rose's night in the city.

But it's sooo much more then that. The book takes place during the Cold War and Yrena is from the Soviet Union. It really brings home how people from all over can be the same and yet so different. Both girls are ballerina's, the same age and living in the same city, yet they approach things with completely different attittude and points of view. There is a lot of great symbolism here and it's a book that has a story that will really make you think. The characters are interesting and with the current political state of the world I think teens today could really relate to this book.

Raven Summer by David Almond

Liam and his friend Max find an abandoned baby in a meadow. Liam's writer father and artist mother end up making friends with the baby's foster family and eventually his mother decides to adopt her. Liam makes friends with two of the other foster children, Crystal and Oliver. When Liam finds out Oliver's true story, he must evaluate what he thinks about friendships and life in general.

This was an extremely quick read; however the subject matter is extremely heavy and thought provoking, so I recommend reading this when you have the time to devote to it. Although this is a very heavy read, it is written beautifully and in such a way that the heaviness of the subject matter doesn't detract from the beauty of the writing itself (if that makes any sense). Basically it is written well enough that I didn't feel boggged down by all of the depressing (if you think about it) subject matter.