Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World  by Ashley Herring Blake

Ivy is 12 years old (almost 13!), and feeling adrift following the birth of baby twins in the family.  Her friends are just starting to think and talk about boys, but Ivy is starting to think about girls.  Then, Ivy's world literally flies apart:  a tornado flattens her house and leaves her family homeless.  

Ivy is a smart, talented, and creative protagonist who finds more than a little help from friends--new friends and familiar friends.  

This is a beautiful, sweet middle-grade book about Ivy and her family and friends, and their attempts to find their own places in the world.  Highly recommended for readers ages 10 and up.

Turtles All the Way Down

Turtles All the Way Down  by John Green

16-year-old Aza has a problem.  It's not school--she gets good grades.  It's not friends--her best friend Daisy is the Best and Most Fearless Friend Ever. It isn't money--though Aza's family isn't rich, they have enough for food, housing, transportation, and relatively up-to-date technology.  It's not even her mom--though her mom doesn't always understand Aza, she definitely loves her daughter.

Aza's problem is her mind:  sometimes she can control her anxieties, but sometimes the worries spiral in tighter and tighter until Aza is almost strangled by them.  

When Aza and Daisy decide to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a friend's dad (who happens to be a billionaire), nothing goes according to plan.  Aza wants to be involved closely with Davis, but every time they kiss, her anxiety kicks into high gear.  

This is not a simple book to read.  Aza's intrusive thoughts are nearly crippling at times, and those who love her aren't having much fun either.  But, as storyteller/author Elizabeth Ellis observed in her book Inviting the Wolf In: 

"Perhaps that is the greatest disrespect we can pay anyone: 

to be unwilling to look at their pain.  

If they could live it, I could look at it.  

Perhaps it was the very least I could do."

Author John Green didn't just research obsessive compulsive disorder in order to write this book; rather, he lives with it.  His expertise, painfully acquired, shines through.  It's painful to read, but not nearly as painful as it is to live.  The least we can do is to look, and learn.

Highly recommended.

The Last Leaves Falling

The Last Leaves Falling  by Sarah Benwell

18-year-old Abe Sora lives in modern-day Kyoto with his mom...and with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).  He is dying, and he's scared.

Sora derives some comfort from a book of haiku poems written by ancient samurai warriors, but is helped even more by the love of his mom, his grandparents, and new friends Mai and Kaito, whom he met online.  As Sora's body fails him, he must face the knowledge that, as much as he longs to face his future with dignity, soon he will have no control over his life or death.  He makes a plan, and he asks Mai and Kaito to help.

The sparse language of the story is perfectly suited to the character of Sora and his love of both haiku poetry and Hayao Miyazaki's animated movies.  Neither of these forms wastes time or syllables to explain a situation, but rather depends on the intuition of the reader/viewer.  So it is with Last Leaves, in which characters meet online and form a strong friendship (and possibly a romance between Mai and Kaito!) without a bunch of exposition from the author.  

Sora's end-of-life choices may be distressing to some readers and objectionable to others.  However, the grace of the telling is undeniable.  This is an excellent book for discussion.

To Be Perfectly Honest : a novel based on an untrue story  by Sonya Sones

How can you tell

if Colette is lying?

Her mouth

is open.

Colette is a truly unreliable narrator.  She continually lies (she likes to call it "reimagining reality") to make her life seem more interesting...and to annoy her movie-star mother, who rarely pays attention to Colette and her little brother Will.

When Colette's summer plans change from "Paris with friends" to "San Luis Obispo with mom and Will and Mom's new co-star," she gets mad...and the lies start to stack up.  

In the middle of this comes Connor, Colette's first real boyfriend.  If only she could stop lying to him!  

HERE AT LAST is a book with a believable main character who actually says "NO, I don't want to have sex with you (yet) and sticks to her decision throughout the book.  Not because she isn't attracted to Connor--she is.  But because she really doesn't feel ready for sex.  

Connor is not prepared to accept "no" as a final answer from Colette...and he's prepared to lie through his teeth to get what he wants.

This book is a quick, fun book-in-verse filled with enjoyable--but unreliable--characters.  

No sex, but a few steamy close calls, some minor cussing, and some underage drinking and drug use.  The adults are easy to dislike at first, but they (especially Colette's mom) really redeem themselves at the end.

Recommended for readers ages 14 and up.

Identical

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Raeanne and Kaeleigh are the identical twin daughters of a Superior Court judge and his wife. When a horrible accident nearly kills the entire family, the wife runs for Congress, creating an absence for the family--both in their home and their hearts.

In her mother's absence, Kaeleigh becomes the object of her father's sexual attention. Raeanne begins abusing drugs and alcohol, and laments that her father doesn't love her because she gets none of his attention. Kaeleigh begins to cut and becomes bulimic. This is a pit so deep it seems impossible to find a way out.

This novel is so agonizing that readers are almost soothed by the fact that it is told in blank verse. Anything more would be too hard to read.

Because of the incest, the drugs, and the sheer horror of the novel, it is best placed in the hands of kids in grade 10 and up. (MJH)

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

High school freshman Robin Murphy has been the class loser nearly forever, until Sophie Stein becomes his girlfriend. Then Sophie becomes ostracized as well, which makes Robin feel simultaneously bad for Sophie and happy that he isn't alone anymore.

In the midst of Robin's romance with Sophie, he joins a college art class and is attracted to classmate Tessa, who doesn't realize that Robin is a high school kid...or a loser.

The blank-verse story is a sequel to What My Mother Doesn't Know (which is told from Sophie's viewpoint) but stands strongly on its own. Robin's longing for companionship and intimacy may be "too much information" for younger or more sensitive readers. No cussing, plenty of kissing, and heaps of unfulfilled sexual desire--as appropriate for a book told from the point of view of a 14-year-old boy. Recommended for ages 14 to adult.