American Street

American Street

Ibi Zoboi

ISBN:  9780062473042

A coworker of mine is starting a Young @ Heart book club, focusing on titles that appeal to readers who are, obviously, young at heart.  While many of the titles are young adult, not all of them are.  The characters, however, are all young adults facing a variety of challenges and experiences.  This title is scheduled as their first selection.

Summary

On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola must figure out what her version of the American dream will look like now that she is facing a new life in America without her mother.  Recently immigrated from Haiti, Fabiola struggles to fit in with her rambunctious American cousins, understand the culture of Detroit, explore a new romance, and retain her Haitian and vodou roots.  As she finds herself moving deeper into her new reality, she quickly realizes that freedom is not free, and she must find out what she really wants.

What I Liked

I loved that this book integrated elements of Fabiola’s Haitian and vodou roots in a realistic, respectful way.  Not only are Fabiola’s beliefs an important part of her life and rher decisions, they are described with beautiful detail and realism.  The author does an excellent job of blending both Fabiola’s home culture and her new American surroundings while being respectful of both.  Throughout the story, the reader clearly feels the tension of trying to reconcile two very different worlds to create an individual dream.

What I Didn’t Like

I’ll admit, it’s been awhile since I’ve read a young adult book, so it took me a while to get into the dialogue and slang that was used by the characters.  While I was still trying to figure out the “voices” of the characters, I had a hard time getting into the story.  I also didn’t really care for the stories of the different characters that were dropped into the overall plot.  While I appreciated the background that they provided about different characters, as a whole, I found them a little disruptive and hard to reconcile with the rest of the writing.

Overall Feeling

I enjoyed this book, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite read.  As a young adult book, it’s a fairly quick read once you get into the story.  The story does do a great job of making you think about the cost of your dreams and what you would be willing to sacrifice for your family.  It’s also an interesting look at different cultures and how they come together to make up individuals.  The story raises important questions, but for me, they were sometimes lost in the writing.  I’d recommend reading it as a good coming of age story that forces you to think about the issues impacting families today.

Since You’ve Been Gone

Since You’ve Been Gone

Morgan Matson

ISBN:  9781442435001

This is a book that I picked up at the Texas Library Association annual conference.  One of the great things about going to the conference, I discovered, was finding new authors or even new books by some of my favorite authors.  When I was sorting through the books that I picked up and trying to decide what to read first, I settled on this one for no particular reason.  Mostly it seemed like a good summer read on a good topic.  But, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  Where I initially expected fluff and a quick, “fun” read, I found a novel with real substance.  I loved every minute of reading this book.

Summary

Emily has always been the quiet side of the dynamic duo of Sloane and Emily.  She’s quieter, more in the shadows, and content to just tag along on Sloane’s adventures.  And Sloane has plenty of adventures planned for this summer…until she’s just not there.  Emily can’t imagine a summer without Sloane.  But, Sloane has left something behind – a list of 13 tasks designed to pull Emily out of her comfort zone and into the world.  Emily’s not sure that she’s up for everything on the list, but she knows she has to do something.  Maybe this summer can still be the epic summer it was planned to be after all.

What I Liked

I loved that this book was real.  I could really relate to Emily.  Her struggles to come out of her comfort zone really rang true with me, and I could picture myself (or remember myself) facing similar challenges.  And, Emily didn’t always succeed the way that she wanted to.  The author avoided having the story work out perfectly all the time, because that’s just not realistic.  I also felt that the author really captured the raw emotions associated with losing someone.  It’s easy to think that death is the only way to lose someone, but distance and losing touch and other factors also count as loss.  As someone who’s lost people to a variety of factors, I could really relate with the emotions and complexity that the author portrayed.

What I Didn’t Like

Once again, this turned out to be one of the books that I absolutely loved.  The one thing that I found a little frustrating with this book was the use of the running playlists.  They seemed to be important to the characters and added to the plot, but at the same time, I wasn’t familiar with many of the songs and felt like I was missing some of the subtleties of the plot.  I felt like the playlists should have been better explained or perhaps not as many included in the story.  But, I loved at the end how the playlist was incorporated as part of the story.

Overall Feeling

This was a great book and one that I highly recommend reading.  I felt like this book really spoke to me and that I connected with the characters.  I loved that this book encouraged me to explore my own emotions and look critically at my own responses to situations.  Even though it was a work of fiction, I felt like this story really had a purpose and a message for the readers.  You can enjoy it just as a good story, but I think you do yourself a disservice.  This is a book meant to be enjoyed thoroughly, read repeatedly, and shared.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

ISBN:  9780142424179

After hearing so many good things about this book (and a good bit of curiosity seeing that they would be making it into a movie), I decided that I had to read this book.  And, I’ve found that recently there have been some really great young adult books on the market that even adults can enjoy.  So, I went out and picked up my copy.  Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I literally finished this book in two days. It was one of those books that I enjoyed so much, it felt like my “normal” life was interrupting when I couldn’t read.

Summary

Cancer patient Hazel Lancaster is living with a terminal diagnosis.  Although her therapy has been successful in giving her a few more years, there is no doubt that her case is incurable.  Hazel has come to terms with this, until she meets the fabulous Augustus Waters at her parent-mandated Cancer Kids Support Group.  Suddenly, life isn’t as black and white as it had seemed.  Where Hazel once had everything figured out, she’s now about to discover what a plot twist can be in real life.

What I Liked

I loved that this book was fluid, emotional, and real.  As a narrator, Hazel tells her story exactly the way that I would expect if she were a teenage girl sitting across from me.  There is sarcasm, there is confusion, and there is emotion, but it rarely seems forced.  I also love that this book doesn’t shy away from difficult issues – death and decisions are real in every page.  Not everything is an easy choice, and the good guys don’t always win.  But, the book is more powerful for that.

What I Didn’t Like

Honestly, it’s hard to find something that I didn’t like about this book.  It was well written, had excellent plot development, and addressed issues that many books won’t.  If I had any complaints, it would be that perhaps a few of the supplemental characters, like Kaitlyn, were not really developed in story.  But, being the love story of Hazel and Augustus, that’s also something that I’m willing to overlook.

Overall Feeling

This was one of the best books that I’ve read in a long time.  I love a book that inspires emotion in me, and this book definitely did this. I laughed, and I cried, and I lived every moment of it. I definitely put this book on a must-read list for anyone who appreciates a good love story, or even someone just looking to take a harder look at themselves and life.  It may be a work of fiction, but this book is one of those true gems that inspires us to look in and beyond ourselves.