Romance for Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!  I can't think of a single holiday that is so simultaneously loved and hated.  So, whether you're feeling the love or not so much, here are some books to get you into your own holiday spirit.
1.  Zipped by Laura and Tom McNeal
This book has subplots to end all subplots.  If fifteen-year-old Mick Nichols' discovery of, and subsequent obsession with his beloved stepmother's seeming affair wasn't complicated enough, he's dealing with a few other problems--problems ranging from the teenager-y love type to the dark and scary.  He crushes on a Mormon field hockey heartthrob and begins a surprising friendship with a beautiful college freshman who's hiding a deep secret.  All the while, strange things are happening at the Village Greens, where he works.  I loved the way Zipped was narrated--perspectives switched and switched, carefully giving information while leaving a tantalizing amount up for speculation.  Zipped has "right love" and it has "wrong love", and the ultimate message is that when there's love, things will turn out okay.  
2.  Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (illustrated by Maira Kalman)
This was not an easy book.  Why We Broke Up was sad and real, but I was glad that I read it, because the writing format and style was, in my mind, amazing.  Min, a high school junior and film geek, and Ed, a popular senior and captain of the basketball team, have broken up.  Min is writing Ed a letter and she's giving him a box with every object she associates with their relationship.  Min is witty, philosophical, sad and ultimately truthful.  As she details why each object makes an appearance, you learn about who they both are beneath the surface and, of course, why, ultimately, they were never going to work out.
3.  An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green
I am a very vocal John Green fan (perhaps a post on that to come).  This book is a perfect example of why I love him--it's just a damn good story, and I don't think there's enough of that in YA lit right now.  Colin has dated 19 girls named Katherine, and all 19 have dumped him.  But that's not all--Colin's a child prodigy on the end of his run (18 years old) and he's having a "Where do I go from here?"type crisis.  So he does what anyone in his situation would do--take to the road with his best friend and head to Kentucky, where he gets some new friends and a summer job, and begins to write The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability.  The Theorem is going to avenge his type, the Dumped, by predicting how any given relationship will end.  It will bring him fame and fortune--if only he could get it to work.  And wait--there may be a girl for him along the way.  Don't be afraid--this is not a math book.  This is a smart, romantic commentary on the nature of dating and fame and genius.
So, whatever your mood this Friday, there's no better time to read a romantic favorite.
Did I neglect to mention your favorite romantic read?  Let me know in the comments!

Book of the Month--January

Hi everyone!  I've decided to start a new custom on Blog For (Teen) Book Lovers.  At the end of every month, I'll post about one Book of the Month--my favorite book that I read during a given month.  For January, the book I'll be writing about is called Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (but since that's a bit of a mouthful, let's call it Aristotle and Dante) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. 

For a book that is at least ninety percent teenage angst, Aristotle and Dante was an amazing read.  It covers a wide amount of themes, including homosexuality, racism and, well, the secrets of the universe, but the genre is purely realistic fiction--no doubt about it.  Narrator and main character Ari is the antonym of his best friend Dante--where Ari is tough, Dante is emotional, and where Dante's family is close knit and open, Ari's is covering up a dark past incident that no one will tell him the whole story about.  Still, Dante and Ari bring out the best in each other, and they stay friends through hospital visits and crises of identity.  Dante and Ari slowly discover the secrets of the universe, right up until the shocking and touching final scene.                                                                 This book was an interesting read for me.  I'm a realistic fiction girl, but Dante and Ari are nothing like me--they're both Mexican boys from Arizona, struggling with things that I haven't even begun to think about yet--so you'd think I wouldn't be able to relate to them.  But somehow, Sáenz's writing style--a perfect blend of frankness and imagery that was almost poetic in it's beauty--pulled me into the story and found me wanting to stand by Ari's side as he struggled with his race, family history and even sexuality (but I've said too much).  

Aristotle and Dante is no easy read.  It's a little dark, a little sad, and it's very mature, but I assure you that you won't regret sticking it out with Ari, because the final message of the book is one of pure, innocent hope.  I'm a natural speed reader, so going back and really listening to what Ari was saying was difficult for me, but I was so glad I did.  The revelations Ari and Dante make rang so true that I wanted to have them next to me, just to talk, so I could share even more in their wisdom.  I think that we all want--no, need--to know the secrets of the universe.  I'm grateful to Ari and Dante for helping me along the way. 

"Do you think it'll always be this way?"

"What?"

"I mean, when do we start feeling like the world belongs to us?"

I wanted to tell him that the world would never belong to us.  "I don't know,"  I said.  "Tomorrow."

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

It's rare to find a book that is completely fantastical--and yet you believe every word.  The Future of Us is that kind of book. It's set in the 90s, when computers are just beginning to be a household staple, and the story begins when Emma installs a CD-ROM to her new computer.  When she logs on, she finds herself on Facebook--fifteen years in the future--seeing what her life will be like through her future self's friends and statuses.  She calls over her best friend, Josh, and they figure out that not only can they see their futures, but they have the power to change them--sometimes easily, sometimes not.  As Josh and Emma continue to refresh, they become obsessed with their ever-changing futures, jeopardizing their friendship in the process.  They realize that after seeing their futures, things will never be the same.
Most time travel or future-spying books are almost unreadably confusing.  Somehow, I could easily follow along with Josh and Emma as they navigated.  It had to have been the hyper-realistic writing style--I could imagine my friends, or even me, staring at the computer with them--that made The Future of Us so approachable.  It's gripping, too--you can't take your eyes off the page as Emma and Josh slowly become slaves to their futures.
The Future of Us is a contradictory novel.  It's fantasy, but it's realistic.  It's romantic, but in some ways it's very dark.  It's sci-fi, but not so much that someone like me, who's known to be hilariously not-techy, can't understand it.  Beyond that, it has a narration style that I find fascinating, with Josh (written by Jay Asher, author of the amazing book 13 Reasons Why) telling his side of the story and Emma (written by Carolyn Mackler) telling hers.  I can't think of any specific genre lovers, even the most fanatical, who wouldn't be into this book.  
This book truly covers every base.  Nuanced narration style--check.  Every genre in the book--check.  Lovable characters that you wish you could reach into the book and protect from harm--check.  Utterly gripping, equal parts scary and cool plot--check.  Finally, there are an endless amounts of things to think about like the idea that “One little ripple started today could create a typhoon fifteen years from now.”  How can we ever know what the future will be like?  Maybe the future's inevitable elusiveness is what makes this book such an enthralling read.

Childhood Favorites

There's few things more comforting than curling up with a book that you loved when you were a kid.  I liked many books, but I picked these four as the ones that still seem as magical and meaningful to me now as they did then. These are all classic books that opened up worlds to me--some (numbers two and three) remain titles I'd cite as two of my all-time favorites--and I hope they'll inspire you to relive books you loved during a time that you may have forgotten.  Maybe you'll even discover a new favorites here--it's not too late to fall in love with these wonderful stories.

1.  Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
There happen to be six books in the Mary Poppins series (I've only read the first four).  All the books are wonderful works of fantasy--there's a new story in every chapter and each is more engaging and implausible than the last.  You may recognize some chapters from the Disney movie (also a great film), although don't be surprised at some parts (including Mary Poppins' not-so-cheery disposition) that are unique to the book.  I think that the magic of Mary Poppins lies in the fantastic happenings of the stories--each just believable enough to make you think, just a little bit, that you wouldn't mind a Mary Poppins of your own.
The quote: "'Don't you know that everybody's got a Fairyland of their own?'"

2. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
I can't quite say, truthfully, that I fell in love with this book.  In this case, I fell in love with a character.  Peter Pan was dashing and impish and enchanting--I could fully understand why Wendy followed him to Neverland that fateful night.  This book contains a parade of lovable characters, so whether you're a Wendy or a Captain Hook, there'll be one for you.  Peter Pan is the rare story that is lighthearted, but while still confronting some tough themes, such as the nature of responsibility.  Mostly, it's a tale of love and triumph--and don't we all need more of that?
The quote: “Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.” 

3.  Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 
Alice In Wonderland is a kooky, colorful story of an imaginative girl who falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a mysterious world called Wonderland.  Part of the thrill of Alice In Wonderland is the fact that everything is fair game in this strange world (think pig-babies, haughty caterpillars, mad tea parties, and, of course, smiling cats) and you follow along with Alice eagerly, holding your breath to see what Wonderland will hold for you next.  It's fun to live, at least for a little while, in a world that has no limits, and Alice In Wonderland is as inexhaustible as they come.
The quote: “Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” 

4.  The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène Du Bois
The Twenty-One Balloons is an adventure of the purest kind--it has diamonds, a mysterious island, volcanoes, earthquakes, and lots of balloons.  The back cover of this book contains what is quite possibly the most riveting, gotta-read, need-to-know premise I've ever seen.  A man aspires to, in a year, cross the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon.  So how does he end up, three weeks later, with twenty hot air balloons--and in the Atlantic?  Enough said.  You will not be able to put it down.
The quote: “Half of this story is true and the other half might very well have happened.”

Childhood, and these fabulous books, hold an undeniable magic and thrill. I'll leave you with Alice In Wonderland's famous riddle:  Why is a raven like a writing desk?  Better tell me in the comments, because I haven't the slightest idea.

Did I leave your favorite out?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Every Day by David Levithan

Hi everyone!  I'm back with a new layout and a new (well, slightly amended) blog name.  I'm going to be focusing more on books for teens--and that doesn't mean the cliched "Teen Books" that we all find so disgusting!  Think more books that will interest a teenager and really get them thinking.  As a teenaged writer and reader, I've realized that as much as one can love reading, when you've got school, homework and myriad responsibilities, it's hard to find a book to read, and even harder to find time to read it. So allow me to help you out.
In David Levithan's Every Day, main character A has a remarkable, unheard of, unexplainable situation.  He (gender is unspecified, but for the sake of this post I'll go with male pronouns) wakes up every day in a different body, living someone else's life for 24 hours.  The person whose body and life he inhabits is always his age, (sixteen during the course of the book) and they have always lived in the same general area.  A has never known why he is this way or even what he is.  Fearful of being locked up, he tells no one about his situation.  Then, one day, A falls in love with Rhiannon, a sweet and caring girl who, underneath her prettiness, is deeply insecure.  Suddenly he's twisting the rules he's created for his situation and doing wild, dangerous things just to see her again.  As he engages in a seemingly hopeless quest to win Rhiannon's heart, one thing becomes inevitable--that he will be caught.  And when he is, he attracts the attention of one very sinister character that offers A a difficult choice.
Let me just say that at first glance, Every Day was not my kind of book.  The plot just seemed so fantastic that I wasn't sure if I would like it at all.  So I was shocked when I finished this book, and I wanted more--immediately.  What made Every Day so incredibly grabbing (in every way--let's just say that I had a great deal of trouble resisting the urge to take it to the dinner table) had to have been A's unique voice.  His persona was a combination of incredibly wise and incredibly scared, as he's in the unusual predicament of having no control--none at all--over what happens to him.  Or maybe it was Levithan's genius for crafting new, fascinating worlds and situations as often as A woke up in a new body.  Either way, I was hooked.
Is there anyone who would dislike Every Day?  I don't know.  By all means, if you don't want to be dazzled by a story craftsman as wonderful as Levithan, stay away.  But this book really does appeal to all genres--it has realism, fantasy, romance, and it manages to touch on some tough teen issues such as drug addiction and depression through the characters A inhabits.  Levithan really seems to understand the ethos of A's fateful line: "We all contain mysteries, especially when seen from the inside."  Ain't that the truth?

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

I don't want to seem like I'm exaggerating here, but The Fault In Our Stars is both my new favorite book and my new favorite author.  I guess my only way to explain my love for this book is the words of the protagonist, Hazel Grace Lancastor.  As she says, “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” I couldn't agree more.  This book made me think about issues that had never been part of my life before, such as cancer and the prospect of having no prospects, no foreseeable future at all.  Hazel's voice is that of a person accustomed to their lot in life, no longer trying to pretend any different.  Though she is a grim realist, Hazel never comes off as depressingly so.  Instead, she gives a new perspective to the life of teenagers with terminal cancer.


Hazel is a 16 year old girl who, since she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and a large amount of tumors in her lungs, has never been anything but terminal.  After many hospital stays and brushes with death, Hazel becomes a tester for a tumor-shrinking drug called Phalanxifor.  Miraculously, her tumors shrink-and stay shrunk.  However, the effects of the drug are expected to be temporary, making Hazel feel as though she is just another sick kid that has lost any semblance of having an adult life.  At cancer support group, she meets Augustus Waters, a boy recovering from osteosarcoma.  He is interested in her, and while at first she tries to keep her distance to avoid hurting him, she can't help but fall for him.  They share a favorite book with a cliff hanger ending and an obscure author who won't answer questions and who lives in Amsterdam.  After Augustus begins a correspondance with the author, they go to Amsterdam and their love story expands to become something much more then a teenage fling.  

I thought this was an amazing book, the best of four great books written by the same author.  Hazel's voice is very realistic and smart.  She says things about being sick and about having cancer that I'd never heard said before, but seemed very true.  The story of her and Augustus is never a fairy tale, never sickly sweet or unrealistic.  Instead, it's a model for a modern day, real life love story.  It makes some very smart and very true points about love and about pain.  It was a great experience for me to read.  It made me laugh and it made me cry.  I closed the book with new questions and ideas about what it is to be sick, what it is to be in love and what it is to try and look at every day as an experience, and not as a countdown.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a great realistic fiction story about love and real life issues.  If you want to look at the world in a different way, the ingenious points that this book makes will do that for you.  Also, this book's portrayal of death might seem depressing, but it is simply extraordinarily, unprecedentedly real.  “That’s part of what I like about the book in some ways. It portrays death truthfully. You die in the middle of your life, in the middle of a sentence.” 

John Green has written three other books.  They are Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns and An Abundance Of Katherines.  He has written a collaborative book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson and a collaborative book with Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson called Let It Snow.  John Green is one half of the vlogbrothers, a youtube channel with him and his brother, Hank Green.  I urge you to check out  
all of the above.  


These two pictures are fan made covers.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for...a post about the groundbreaking and much-talked about book, The Help.  Here I go-I'll try not to disappoint.

The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's.  Aibileen Clark is a black maid there.  Her speciality is taking care of white children, and she is taking care of her 17th  child, a child ignored by her mother.  Aibileen is dutiful in reminding the little girl everyday how special she is, but she knows that she can't stop the girl from turning out just like her mother and believing that black people are beneath her.  Aibileen also can't shake the feeling that something needs to be done about the racial injustices in Jackson.      

Minny Jackson is the best cook around.  However she is very mouthy and has trouble keeping a job as a maid.  She is fired from the job she has been working at for five years because she has done something awful to her employers daughter, Hilly Holbrook, top lady in Jackson.  Soon Minny is working for a mysterious newcomer who doesn't know the rules of Jackson.  While juggling her job, Minny is also finding out that you don't mess with Hilly.

Skeeter Phelan has just graduated from college.  She's smart and ambitious, but all her mother cares about is a wedding ring.  Skeeter is best friends with Aibileen's employer and Hilly.  After sending a letter to a New York City publishing company, Skeeter gets an idea.  This idea is incredibly dangerous, but she is determined to follow through on it.  Soon Minny and Aibileen are part of it too.  The three of them, plus a handful of other maids, are writing a book.  This book is going to be about what it's like to work as a black maid in Jackson.  But when the white women in Jackson find out-especially Hilly-the three of them may have bit off more then they can chew.

This book was a great experience for me.  It combined a great story with an engaging plot with a lot of learning.  I liked it a lot--it was the kind of the book I could re-read--and I think that a lot of people would agree with me.
The Help was truly a melting pot of genres.  It has historical fiction, realistic fiction, information about civil rights and mystery(though perhaps not fantasy). If you like those things, go for it!  Even if you don't like them, I recommend reading this book.   I know that I am better off having read it.  I hope that you will be too.