Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

A Week of Mondays
Jessica Brody
Farrar Straus Giroux
Published August 2, 2016

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After a horrible Monday in which her local rock-star boyfriend dumps her and she makes a fool of herself at a speech in front of the whole student body, Ellison Sparks makes a promise. She vows she’ll make things right if she could only have a chance to do things over. So, when the next morning dawns Monday all over again, she realizes she has exactly that chance. As Ellie scrambles to fix everything that went wrong the first time (and second time and third time…), Ellie begins to wonder if maybe the things she fights for so desperately aren’t the things that really make her happy after all. She finally learns what her heart wants when it suddenly seems the most out of reach, but if she can’t find true happiness, she’ll be stuck in her Monday nightmare forever.

I was a little dubious about picking this book up because it looked like one of those, “she had it all” kinds of stories. You know, the type where the girl has everything she could possibly want and then drama plus tragedy happens. Too often I find the main character in those stories to be shallow and care way too much about her looks and how hot her boyfriend is. Just really not something that speaks to me.

Also, I really liked Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver which has kind of a similar-ish plot in terms of the do-over situation, so I worried that I wouldn’t be able to avoid comparing the two, which wouldn’t really give A Week of Mondays a fair shot.

The truth? While I still really like Before I Fall, I liked that A Week of Mondays is a lighter story. In Before I Fall, Samantha’s friends drove me crazy. I liked the characters in A Week of Mondays better—I don’t mean that they were necessarily written better, but they were more likeable. (And they were supposed to be, so on that count– total success.)

I was a little nervous when Ellie decides that to keep her boyfriend, she needs to go all sexy vixen on him. First, it’s kind of a pet peeve of mine when an inexperienced girl suddenly has all these advanced super-sexy moves. Like, where did that come from? I just find it a little hard to believe and I think it sets the standards really high. But though Ellie seems at first to succeed with her plan, her moves don’t ultimately alter the outcome of her relationship, and her best friend reminds her that being herself, and being loved for who she is, is what’s really important.

I liked the whole banter back and forth between her and her bestie on the legal drama love. It gave their friendship some authenticity and made it unique—it’s a shared interest I’ve never seen in YA literature before.

On the whole, I thought this was a fun, quirky story that had a lot of depth to it, though it took some shallow detours along the way. If you like upbeat contemporary romance, you’ll want to add A Week of Mondays to your reading list.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with mild frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Boy/girl kissing (with a couple mentions of tongue being down throats). Ellie wears a provocative outfit and is pleased by the way it affects her boyfriend.

Spiritual Content
Ellie makes a prayer to a nonspecific entity asking for a chance to make things right. Her fortune cookies seem to speak to what’s happening in her life, and she begins to rely on them for information about how successful she’s being in her life.

Violent Content
 Two girls get into a fist fight.

Drug Content
Ellie goes to a party looking for her friend. The house is filled with drunk teens dancing to loud music, so she leaves.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Goodbye Days
Jeff Zentner
Crown Books for Young Readers
Published March 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From Goodreads
One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.

The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.

Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.

Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.

Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?

My Review
I was super nervous about reading this book for two reasons. One is I’ve seen so many great reviews of this book. Which is awesome! Just a little more pressure as a reviewer. I want to bring something to the table that hasn’t already been said a million times and also it can sometimes feel like pressure to really like a book that everyone else finds so moving.

I was also nervous for a really weird reason. My own manuscript features a guitarist named Eli. Okay, that’s not so weird. He’s also dating an adopted Asian girl. And he gets into a serious car accident. Believe it or not, this has kind of happened before. I read a book about two brothers, one named Eli, who get into a car accident, and just like in Goodbye Days, Eli dies. For some reason, that story hit really deep. I had a really hard time reading it, not because the story was bad, but because it snowballed into something like a crisis of confidence for me. Which was not cool. But anyway. None of that has to do with how I felt reading Goodbye Days other than to give you some background.

Goodbye Days is, more than anything else, an emotional journey. There’s not much in terms of big, intense plot. It’s a lot more subtle, gentle movement through a boy’s incredible grief when he suddenly loses all three of his best friends and faces his fear that their deaths might be his fault.

I think often grief doesn’t get enough appreciation in our instant-gratification culture. Grief is hard. It’s unpleasant, uncomfortable—not only to the person experiencing it, but to the people around them. Goodbye Days paid a worthy homage to the difficult journey of suffering and loss while still showing the value of having loved in the first place and the hope that lights the end of the dark tunnel of grief.

There were a couple of plot elements that I struggled to buy into. At one point, local police open an investigation into the accident, warning Carver that he may face charges for his friends’ deaths. I have no idea whether or not this could actually happen, but I had a really hard time going there in the story. Why wasn’t anyone blaming the kid who responded to a text message while driving? No one ever points a finger at him or talks about how he should have passed the phone to a friend to respond or something. Everyone focuses on Carver’s guilt for sending the text message to begin with.

On the other side, I loved how each of his friends had a really different artistic talent, and that they weren’t all conventional talents. One boy is a comic artist. Another is a YouTube sensation who uses videos to challenge social ideas in a humorous way.

Goodbye Days is a thoughtful, emotional story. If you liked Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski or Me Since You by Laura Weiss, you should add Goodbye Days to your list.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Carver’s best friend Mars is from an affluent black family. His father, a local judge, holds Mars to very high standards, and at one point talks about how difficult it is in our country for young black men. One mistake, he explains, can ruin a man’s life. Carver’s best friend Blake is gay, but hasn’t told anyone else before his death.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used liberally. Also some crude language. Blake’s videos often feature some flatulence, and there’s quite a bit of chat about them.

Romance/Sexual Content
Carver begins to have feelings for a girl and experiences some arousal. It’s brief, and pretty discreet.

Spiritual Content
One of Carver’s friend’s parents are atheists, and after their son’s death, Carver tells them that Eli wondered about the existence of God. There’s some discussion about whether that would make him a theist or agnostic. His parents seem uncomfortable with those ideas.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Blake’s mother, whom he does not live with, is a drug addict. Carver learns some snippets about what his life was like when he did live with her. Carver’s sister mentions that and her friends drank vodka in her bedroom.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

Amina’s Voice
Hena Khan
Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Published March 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Now that Amina is in middle school, it seems everything is changing. Her best friend Soojin wants to hang out with Emily. Amina remembers Emily making fun of her and Soojin in elementary school. Soojin wants to celebrate becoming an American citizen by changing her name, and she wants Amina to help her pick something “American.” Amina struggles to find her own place in the shifting world. Soojin encourages her to sing a solo for a chorus concert, but Amina worries she’ll freeze up and be unable to speak. Then she learns she’ll have to speak at a recitation of the Quran. She dreads the idea, especially when her very strict uncle from Pakistan volunteers to coach her the verses she’s selected to speak.

When her mosque is vandalized and the recitation canceled, Amina feels devastated. In the wake of the disaster, the community rallies around her, and she discovers that friendship crosses boundaries and survives changes, sometimes even flourishes because of them.

I heard about this book on Aisha Saeed’s blog where she recommended several books, including this one. I enjoyed reading about a practicing Muslim family and Amina’s struggle to balance her spiritual beliefs with other parts of her life. As a practicing Christian who grew up in public school, I remember facing some of the same kinds of challenges and having some of the same fears and concerns.

I loved that Amina’s best friend is a practicing Christian, too. Actually, during middle school, my best friend was a practicing Jew. I found that having deep spiritual commitment gave us a kind of common ground I wouldn’t have expected, because we both held deep belief that sometimes held us apart from our classmates.

It’s funny… I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to watch that relationship as a parent (my parents loved my friend and clearly valued our friendship.) Now, as a parent of a child in a school district with a significant Muslim presence, I find I feel similarly. I would love for my daughter to have a friend like Amina. I think having someone to share that feeling of otherness that comes from a deep faith and challenging each other to love across religious lines was one of the most valuable experiences I had as a middle school kid.

My own experience aside, I loved this book. It was easy to identify with Amina. She’s a good girl who wants to do right and struggles with fear and shyness. The story really delves into her understanding of friendship and community, issues common to all of us. I enjoyed the way her relationship with her parents, her brother, and her friends at school changed as she grew to see herself differently and began to explore her connection with her community more deeply.

If you’re looking for a story that exemplifies the power of coming together as a family and a community, this is a great pick. Amina’s Voice is also a good read for a shy child trying to find his or her place in the changing landscape of school transition.

Recommended for Ages 8 up.

Cultural Elements
Amina and her family are practicing Muslims. Her parents are from Pakistan, and an uncle from Pakistan comes to visit the family. Amina’s best friend Soojin and her family are Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Amina’s family takes time to pray and attend services. Her uncle has much more strict beliefs than Amina’s family. When he visits, he expresses some of his more conservative views—such as music being sinful. Amina worries that her love and talent for music make her an evil person. Her parents share their own views—that Allah gave her this special talent for a reason—and this comforts her.

When Amina lets a secret slip and embarrasses a friend, she worries that she’ll be condemned for speaking against someone, as her uncle claims. Her parents reassure her that harming someone else wasn’t what was in her heart. Therefore, they tell her, she’s not the evil person the scripture in the Quran meant to identify.

After an attack on the mosque, the community, including a local Christian church, rallies together to help raise funds and find ways to repair the damage and provide places for services in the meantime.

Violent Content
Amina and her family witness the aftermath of a fire and destruction at her mosque.

Drug Content
Amina worries after learning her brother spent time with boys who were smoking. She bursts into tears when confronting him, but feels reassured to learn he didn’t smoke with them.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: Giant Smugglers by Matt Solomon and Chris Pauls

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Giant Smugglers
Matt Solomon and Chris Pauls
Feiwel & Friends
Published May 17, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Thirteen-year-old Charlie stands up to a bully and soon finds himself on the run. When he ducks into an abandoned warehouse, he discovers someone else already hiding there: a giant! Charlie soon learns that the giant is on his way to meet his family, but an evil doctor and his team of scientists are close to finding him. If they find the giant, they’ll harvest growth hormones and use them to make a fortune on athletes and soldiers. Charlie vows to help his new friend escape and to keep him from becoming anyone’s science experiment.

The story moves quickly, right from the first page. The bad guys are uncomplicated in their villainy. Charlie and the giant, whom he names Bruce, develop the kind of friendship that can only come of shared adventures. At one point, they visit a drive-in movie theater to watch a movie, and of course, things go horribly but hilariously wrong. Charlie teaches Bruce some moves he learned in Bruce Lee movies, something he used to share with his brother who’s now gone. Opening up to the giant allows Charlie to begin processing his grief over his brother’s absence. It’s clear the friendship has a healing effect on both boys. Giant Smugglers is perfect for fans of urban adventure and friendship.

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Cultural Elements
Mostly white characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity and crude language used rarely. The bad guys drop a few mild swear words.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy punches another kid. A giant tosses a human around. One man called The Stick attacks a giant and clearly has no remorse for harming others.

At one point Charlie takes his stepdad’s car without his permission. Charlie doesn’t know how to drive, but he’s the champ of a car racing video game called Total Turbo, and he relies on his gaming skills to keep him safe on the road.

Drug Content
A man uses his son to test a steroid-like drug to make him faster and stronger.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

See You in the Cosmos
Jack Cheng
Dial Books
Published February 28, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From Goodreads

11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he’ll uncover—from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.

My Review

See You in the Cosmos is told as if it’s the transcripts of Alex’s iPod recordings. I loved the unique format and the rambling voice Alex had, but it also meant for lots of long paragraphs which made the pages a little harder for me to read. Struggling readers might have trouble with this, too.

At the beginning of the story, 11-year-old Alex takes a train by himself to a convention where he hopes to launch his rocket. I loved his bravery and how innocent he was in taking off on this journey like it was nothing (his maturity and independence definitely reminded me of Willow from Counting by 7s.) But as I read the story, I was so nervous about his trip. I have an 11-year-old, and kept thinking about how terrified I’d be for her to be riding trains across the country and traveling with strangers. Obviously Alex finds great friends along his journey, and his trust in the world pays off in that way. I struggled—he did not.

I thought the reveal of the family situation (don’t want to give it away) pulled a lot of things together. Just as I started thinking, wait, this isn’t right, the pieces fell into place and Alex learned what was really going on. The one character I really didn’t connect with was his brother. I thought he did some odd things that really didn’t add up.

I loved the fact that Alex was so interested in rockets, but I wished there was more about those mechanics and his plans in the story. Most of the focus ends up being about his hopes in extraterrestrial life and his relationships with his family and community, which were also enjoyable themes. If you liked Counting by 7s, add See You in the Cosmos to your list.

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
“Bleep” appears instead of any profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Alex meets a new friend who is Buddhist and has taken a vow of silence. He communicates through writing on a small chalk board.

Violent Content
One young man punches another in a fight over a girl. Alex is injured in an accident and hospitalized.

Drug Content
Alex’s friends (who are much older) drink alcohol. Later, one of them listens to the recording Alex made while they were drinking. She hears herself in the background talking and feels embarrassed about her behavior. She expresses regret for drinking in front of Alex.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: When You Never Said Goodbye by Meg Kearney

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, New Adult 18up, Poetry, , , , ,

When You Never Said Goodbye
Meg Kearney
Persea
Available March 21, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Through poetry and journal entries, Liz relates the story of her first year at NYU and her search for her birth mother. As she forms a circle of friends, she gradually shares with them the truth about her adoption and her search. She finds support and love from these friends and from her family, though each member of her family struggles with the search for different reasons. Liz won’t give up looking, even as one obstacle after another rises to meet her.

One of my favorite things about this story were all the references to literature and poetry contained in the text. It made me want to read a lot more poetry and to pick up my guitar and head to the park to play. Liz’s journey tugged my heart. Her thoughts and emotions come through so clearly and make it so easy to empathize with her.

I didn’t realize when I picked up this book that it’s the third (and last) in a series. After reading it, I would definitely consider reading the first two.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Liz’s friend Henri is Asian. Her friend Calvin is African American. Liz’s friends briefly wonder if her friends Jan and Jade are lesbians, but they aren’t.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Liz wonders if her boyfriend has had sex. She’s a virgin. There’s a brief reference to one of the girls going home with one of the boys and spending the night with him. Liz kisses a boy.

Spiritual Content
Liz’s family attend mass over the Christmas holiday. At one point she ducks into a church to read a letter. It feels like in that moment, church and faith are a safe place for her, though it’s not a theme that’s highly developed.

Liz has a brief but meaningful correspondence with a (Christian) woman of faith.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Liz thinks back to the summer after her father died when she spent too much time drinking and her studies suffered for it. More than once, she drinks alcohol with her friends to a local bar that doesn’t check identification early in the day.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.