Book Drops: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by Green and Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Originally uploaded by Miss Martini (AnnaLynn M.)

This is the first book I read for the new year! Let the new list begin!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green (Paper Towns and The Abundance of Katherines) and David Levithan.
New York: Dutton Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-525-42158-0

Why I Picked It Up:
I like John Green's writing. Also, I love the cover. It actually looks like the wall paper on my Droid. After reading the jacket, I wanted to read more. What would you do if you met someone with your same name? And actually ended up being connected in some way...

Why I Didn't Put It Down:
At the church I went to growing up, there was a man named Vicente Martino who was always mentioned in the church bulletin. The first time I saw his name in the bulletin I would think "why are they mentioning my dad in the bulletin?" My dad is named Vicente Martino too!!! I remember, being a kid and wanting to go up to the Italian Vicente Martino to go "Hey. My dad's named Vicente Martino too!" But, being the shy kid I was, I never did it. Plus, he sat at the very front and we always sat in the middle and my dad didn't go to church. This is what I thought about as I started reading this book. Will Grayson and Will Grayson are two completely different people. One is personable, talkative and straight. The other is angry, introverted and gay. One day, they meet in an unexpected place and things come crashing down in both of their lives. I could not put this book down. I love all the characters even the unappealing ones. It is such a compelling story about relationships, love, hate, secrets, lies and life that you just do not want to put it down. I laughed out loud at quite a few parts and some passages just stuck with me.

Who Would I Recommend This To:
Everyone. This is truly one of the books on my short list of books that I LOVE! It is up there with my love of 13 Blue Envelopes and Going Bovine. It's kind of like Glee in print format. Just a feel good story that anyone can relate to.

Book Drops: "Burn My Heart" by Beverley Naidoo (YA) (rated 5 stars)

Burn My Heart

by Beverley Naidoo

Originally published in 2007, “Burn My Heart” by Beverley Naidoo (http://www.beverleynaidoo.com/index2.html) is a story about cultures clashing and friendships tested because of prejudice and hate. Set in Kenya in the 1950s, the story follows two boys, Mugo and Mathew. Mugo is a Kikuyu teen, who works in the kitchen of a British settler. His family has worked for the Grayson family since they “settled” the land, a land under Kirinyaga mountain. Mathew Grayson is the British family’s son, who grew up with Mugo, who does not understand the tensions brewing around him and struggles to grasp what it means for his friendship with Mugo.

Both stories are interlaced together showing how one’s actions can be the consequences of another. Naidoo talks about the rise of the Mau Mau, a movement that rose out of the need for the Kikuyu to take back their land and fight for their civil rights, and how the British government dealt with the uprising only exacerbated the racial tensions between the settlers and the people they stole the land from.

I never knew about “the Emergency” or the Mau Mau movement and it is important to see how and remember how movements in other countries parallel those in the United States. The lives and struggles of the two boys, though fictional, are very believable and Naidoo expresses their conflict between how they view each other and how society wants them to view each other. This does not have a happy sugar-coated ending and is at times intense for an elementary school reader. It is definitely geared towards middle schoolers.

Excellent and I am glad that it is finally published for the United States market.

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YA Review: "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson (rated 4 stars)

Wintergirls

by Laurie Halse Anderson

The phone kept ringing that night. Ring. Ring. Ring. Lia picks up the phone from underneath the pile of dirty clothes, it rang 33 times. Earlier, her stepmother told her that Cassie, her best friend, was found dead in a motel room. Dead. And alone. “33 times” the number and the word plays over and over in her head. They were supposed to do this thing together. They were each other’s support and then she was dumped and now Cassie is dead.

“Wintergirls,” like “Speak,” is another intense realistic portrayal of how girls struggle to maintain expectations that society places on them as well as they place on themselves. Lia is sick but she is not ready to acknowledge it. Her best friend is dead and she didn’t help. Anderson takes us on the downward spiral of Lia’s mental state as she tries to deal with the loss of her friend, her parents divorce and her own insecurities.

It is a work of fiction but this novel gives readers a glimpse of how people can self-destruct and how difficult it is to get out of whatever abyss someone in is mentally and physically. Definitely, worth reading but I had to temper it with some light-hearted movie watching when I finished.

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YA Review: "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson (rated 5 stars)

Speak

by Lauriel Halse Anderson

It is the 10 year anniversary of the publication of “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is a National Book Award Finalist and was awarded the Printz Award for Excellence in 1999. This book deserves the praise and recognition it received. A television movie was aired on Showtime and Lifetime in 2005 and stars Kristen Stewart, of Twilight.

This intense novel deals with the issue of rape. Melinda Sordino is an outcast. The only thing that her ex-friends and others know about that night is the Melinda called the cops. As she climbs into the bus that first day of school, no one talks to her. No one sits with her. Someone throws a Ho-hos wrapper at her head. As the year goes on, Melinda gets tormented, she becomes more of a loner, her grades drops and she ditches school. She loses her voice. She stops caring.

Anderson does an amazing job of portraying Melinda and the tension and torture she feels after her ordeal. It is a year long journey in which Melinda finds her voice, finds her strengthand power.

It is a fitting read given the media attention to Rihanna and Chris Brown, though that is about domestic abuse. It will make you uncomfortable but maybe it will help someone find their voice if this is happening to them.

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