Embattled by grief over her brother’s murder, eighteen year-old Finley Sinclaire embarks on a journey, hoping to encounter the God he so powerfully sensed in the beautiful Irish countryside. Though God seems to elude her, she can’t seem to escape the attentions of teen heart-throb and actor Beckett Rush. With mounting pressure to perfect her audition composition for the New York Conservatory, win over her assigned adopted grouch – er, grandmother – and avoid being caught in the web of girls falling for Beckett, Finley’s life spirals out of her control. Only an encounter with God can right her, but where is He?
Fans of Jones’ earlier novels will not be disappointed in her latest book. With equal parts wit, fun, and spiritual depth, There You’ll Find Me brings readers on a journey through the lonely chill of grief to the warmth of budding love and the power of forgiveness, all set against a gorgeous Irish backdrop.
At first I was a little worried that the whole teen heartthrob thing would be a bit cliche. I think Jones’s expert writing and sense of humor kept the story interesting. I loved Finley right away – she’s so easy to identify with, and her spiritual journey felt so authentic to me.
Readers who enjoy Sarah Dessen, Nicole Quigley, or Laura Weiss will want to add this one to their reading lists.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Finley is on a spiritual quest to follow her brother’s journal entries and revisit the places he wrote about in order to encounter God in those places and use the inspiration of the Irish countryside to finish a musical composition. She learns about forgiveness and about how sometimes grief, expectation, and busyness can distract and prevent us from hearing the voice of God in our times of need.
Nine year-old Patrick faces troubling changes in his home. Since his mom’s death, Patrick, his brother Trevor and his dad have been on their own. But now Dad’s friend Linda and her pesky daughter Claire keep coming to visit. Worse still, Patrick learns that Dad is going to marry Linda, and she and Claire are moving into the house with Patrick.
Frustrated and unsure, Patrick retreats, spending time away from the family with his best friend. Together they build a treehouse, a safe place to hide away from Claire the pest. But before long, Patrick suspects that Claire isn’t happy about her new home either. As he works through his own unhappiness, he begins to wonder if Claire is unhappy, too.
In the course of Patrick’s journey through the year, he begins to see Claire as more than the annoying little tag-along. This transition from self-pity to empathy is the turning point which makes the story so much more than a tale of adjustment to blended family life (a valuable lesson on its own) and pushes further into not only peace with new housemates, but compassion, love and understanding.
The narrative is straight-forward and easy for children to follow, yet fun and tender as well. As a single parent facing this very transition, this is a book that makes my reading list of stories to share with my daughter. The way it’s written easily opens conversation topics about the coming changes and allows opportunity to discuss the fears and frustrations as well as to begin to explore the positives as the new family is built.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None
Sexual Content None, though Patrick’s father and fiancée move in together after becoming engaged. No romance between the two is featured in the story.
Spiritual Content Patrick’s brother Trevor tells a story about their mother pointing out a star and naming it as their star. No matter what happens, she tells them, the star will always connect them. Not really a spiritual theme per se, but a sweet moment.
Violence None.
Drug Content
None.
Disclaimer
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
It’s not easy being a police officer’s daughter. For Rowan, it means getting caught just about every time she tries have a little risky fun with her friends. Being busted yet again lands Rowan in her room, cornered by her father and his lectures about appropriate teen behavior. His being home means he is closest when a terrible call for help comes in. A call that changes everything.
Sadness. Cruelty. These are lessons Rowan learns. Grief and misery stalk her family, terrorizing them. The only upside to the whole mess is that it brings Eli into her life. But Eli’s no stranger to loss, either. Will his past draw them together or become an insurmountable wedge between them?
As Rowan tries to navigate the confusing wake of disaster, another loss rips through her family, and she crumbles under the weight of a crushing grief and emotions Rowan has no idea how to begin to manage. The road to healing isn’t something anyone can lead her through. If she’s going to survive, she’s going to have to find her way.
Rowan’s story packs a serious emotional punch. It is loss come to life. Weiss describes a gut-wrenching grief exacerbated by the (sometimes well-meaning) friends and family members of the grieved. The voices of wisdom and comfort come from those who’ve lost someone themselves. (How true to life is that?!) In addition, she forces readers to examine the fallout which come from people posting cruel comments to one another over the internet. Bravo, Ms. Weiss. Bravo.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme with moderate frequency.
Sexual Content The opening scene contains a description of a thirteen year-old girl making out with a college boy. He lifts her shirt and bra, and she remains exposed for a moment when they are caught by a police officer. The rest of the book is pretty clean, however. There are a few kisses and a couple of oblique references to sleeping together.
Spiritual Content After experiencing a tragic loss, Rowan wonders about life after death. Who is in Heaven? Is there a Heaven? Things like that. The focus is on the questions rather than the answers, and the narrator draws no real lasting conclusions other than a decision to communicate her thoughts with a loved one via a grief journal.
Violence Rowan’s father is a police officer. In a short sequence from his point-of-view, he references some difficult situations he dealt with as a cop. One in particular involves a child beaten nearly to death. It’s a brief but gruesome recollection. Several characters witness a murder-suicide involving a baby.
Drug Content
Friends and peers invite Rowan to drink beer and smoke weed with them. More than once, Rowan drinks quite a few drinks. She also begins smoking cigarettes.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
While grief over her mother’s death is still fresh, fourteen year-old Victoria and her two young twin brothers move in with their aunt. Victoria is determined to make the best of things, but when her aunt’s boyfriend attacks her, Victoria fights him off and runs. She knows she will not be able to go home.
As a precocious girl, she quickly finds friends on the street. She washes windshields and sells flowers for a few coins here and there. She knows she must return to school if she is to have any chance at a good job later on, but how can she do that while she is living on the street? After a visit visit to the school and a kindly woman offering her room and board, Victoria begins to hope again. But violence seems to follow her at every turn. When the dangerous Captain comes looking for one of Victoria’s friends, she knows the worst is far from over. Only her determination and strength of character stand between her and becoming lost in a tumultuous street world.
Victoria’s story is a simple and familiar tale: troubled teen chased into street life by unendurable circumstances in her home. Though Victoria faces life on the street, her own experiences are shadows compared to the ones her friends must survive. While this story provides a valuable window into a world in which US teens can only imagine, Victoria’s character development is a little flat. She is very level-headed for a girl who grew up in the conditions as described in the story. The danger her friends experience grounds the story and emphasizes the fact that though people look out for Victoria, life on the street is life on the edge of a knife. One foul move can destroy one’s life. Goldemberg captures this essence clearly yet retains an innocence in Victoria’s can-do attitude and no-nonsense manner.
Language Content
Brief, often in Spanish.
Sexual Content A few brief kisses.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence From a distance, Victoria sees two young men beat and later shoot another young man. Her aunt’s boyfriend makes a pass at her, but she refuses him and escapes. She sees evidence (bruises and testimony) of violence against others and witnesses two more shootings.
Drug Content
Victoria’s friend Marko lights a joint in front of her, but Victoria refuses to smoke with him. Marko sells drugs for a powerful man referred to as the Captain. This earns him lots of trouble.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When her father is assassinated, fifteen year-old Laila, her mother and younger brother escape their tumultuous homeland to America. As Laila explores her new freedoms, she learns that what she grew up believing about her father – that he was a king and her family royalty – is not how the rest of the world saw his rule. The ugly words – dictator, tyrant – slam into her, turning her past upside down. She watches helplessly from across the world as her uncle continues the regime of violence and destruction.
Laila joins a school for the first time in her life and struggles to fit in to the complex high school hierarchy. At home, her mother attempts to continue the way of life the family enjoyed in their homeland, a life of luxury and excess. What little money they had quickly runs out, and Laila discovers her mother making secret agreements with the American agent who helped them escape to the US. The agreements force Laila’s friendship with another family from her homeland, one who lives on the other side of the battle lines. Friendship does not come easily, and every time Laila thinks she understands what her mother is doing, the game shifts and new objectives become important. Her mother insists Laila’s younger brother will be king, but Laila can’t help wondering if that is even possible and what it will cost.
For author J C Carleson, The Tyrant’s Daughter began as a question. As the world watched events unfold in Iraq, Carleson wondered about the families of men like Bin Laden and Saddam Houssein. What are their stories? What must it have been like for the man known of the international community as a terrorist or ruthless dictator to be one’s loving father? Though this story examines the violence from a great distance, the shock and tragedy of these events rings out from its pages. Laila’s journey both to find her place in a new home and her new understanding of the events in her past make The Tyrant’s Daughter a dynamic story and a worthy read.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate word choice, mild frequency.
Sexual Content Laila embraces the freedom that being in the United States allows her. She dances intimately with a stranger and makes out with a classmate in a car. She seems willing to have sex with this boy, but he stops her before any clothes come off.
Spiritual Content Laila’s uncle is a devout Muslim and a harsh judge of others who do not live out their faith as he does. Laila’s family is nonreligious.
Violence Though Laila does not witness her father’s assassination, she recalls the moments immediately after, including seeing her mother’s blood-drenched clothing. On an outing with her family once, the armored car approaches a body left in the street and rolls over it. Laila is sickened. Laila’s uncle slaps her mother hard and tries to slap Laila, but her mother protects her. In an argument, Laila’s mother slaps her.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Three brothers and a young girl fight for survival within the towering walls of the Safe Lands. Despite its name, the city is ravaged with disease and infested with corruption. Each brother follows a mission: to find a cure for the sick; to free the captives; to take down the Safe Lands in a rebellion.
The second in her Safe Lands series, Outcasts is quickly earning a reputation as an intense story set in a captivating world. As a fan of Williamson’s fantasy series, Blood of Kings, I’ve been eager to get lost in another story by this worthy author.
The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson
Release date: 11/9/13
Lonely Gisela spends her days serving her stepmother and grasping at memories of a happier childhood. When a handsome Duke throw a grand ball, Gisela is determined to attend and to have one last glimpse of the beauty of her past.
Dickerson won my heart as a reader with her debut novel The Healer’s Apprentice, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The beautiful simplicity of the story and the lovely characters she creates are difficult to resist. I am eager to get my eyes on her latest happily ever after story, inspired by the familiar tale of Cinderella in The Captive Maiden.
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer
Expected release date: 2/4/14
The third novel in the Lunar Chronicles series, Cress follows the story of a girl briefly mentioned in the series’ acclaimed story, Cinder. The story features unforgettable cast members, including Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, Wolf and the dreadful Queen Levana.
With Meyer’s gift for a perfect meld of sci-fi and fairy tales retold, this series is one not to miss. Cinder was a fabulous story and very clean content-wise. I’m very hopeful to find Cress to be another gem.
Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Expected release date: 2/25/14
The day of Lady Daylily’s wedding draws near. Unlike the princesses of fairy tales, she will wed not her true love, but his awkward and foolish cousin. Daylily has always been the dutiful daughter. This time, however, she rebels, disappearing into the legendary Wilderlands and the land of Faerie. Though not her true love, her betrothed pursues her into peril, determined to rescue her.
If you’ve followed my blog long, you’ll be familiar with this name. Stengl continually amazes me with her brilliant characters and sharp dialogue. She possesses an elusive ability to seamlessly draw symbolism into her stories without distracting from the tales. Shadow Hand revisits a fascinating character from an earlier novel in the Tales of Goldstone Wood called Veiled Rose. I can hardly wait until this one hits the shelves.
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
Release date: 2/1/11
A young Japanese boy dreams of one day being a Samurai warrior It seems impossible, since he is the son of a fisherman. When he is stranded and then rescued by sailors on an American vessel, Manjiro begins a grand journey that will take him across the globe.
I stumbled upon this inspired-by-history novel on a rack of books for sale at the public library last summer and was immediately intrigued. My mother recently added it to her library, and has raved about the craftsmanship of the story and the power in its telling. I may have to snag this one as soon as she finishes the last page.
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne
Release date: 3/25/14
From the author who penned The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, an unforgettable tale of two boys who become unlikely friends during World War II comes an intriguing story about the son of a World War I soldier. His father promises not to go away, but then he leaves on a secret mission. Four years later, the boy discovers that his father is being treated in a local hospital. He vows to find his father and bring him home. I’m hopeful to find this novel every bit as engrossing and moving as Boyne’s WW II story.
Interrupted by Rachel Coker
Release date: 3/27/12
In the midst of the Great Depression, Allie’s whole life implodes. Her mother succumbs to illness and Allie is sent to a new family far away. Still lost in her grief, Allie isolates herself from the new family faces around her. The last person she hopes to see is the one she blames for her mother’s death, but her former best friend isn’t going to let Allie off so easily. Interrupted landed on my reading list when it was nominated as a finalist for the 2013 Christy Award.
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
Release date: 9/17/13
Henkes captured my household with his delightful children’s stories about two charming mice in Chrysanthemum and Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse. The quirky characters and layers of humor meant for adult and child alike made these oft-repeated bed-time tales. I was thrilled to see this book announced and can’t wait to see what glories he brings to middle grade fiction.
The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
Expected release date: 3/25/14
Piper scrapes out a meager existence by finding and selling scraps on Meteor Fields. When she finds a strange girl amidst the flotsam, she immediately recognizes the mark that changes everything. The girl’s arm bears the Mark of the Dragonfly, an emblem which means her return home will mean a payday to trump paydays for Piper, if she can just get there. Thus begins a grand adventure.
Something about the description of this book reminds me of the magical world created by Marissa Meyer in the Lunar Chronicles. Without having read the book, it’s difficult to say whether this is an accurate hunch. But two girls on a dangerous journey, one returning to the past and the other grasping at the only hope for her future… what’s not to like? I’m intrigued.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Release date: 5/20/09
This book may well turn out to be one of those good ones that somehow slipped past unnoticed. I’ve heard some buzz about it lately, and since it was first recommended to me by a friend, I’m more curious than ever to get into this story set in a world in which parents of a child who reaches the age of thirteen have the ability to choose whether to keep the child or to have them “unwound,” and essentially destroyed.
