Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: Nightingale’s Nest by Nikki Loftin

Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, Paranormal, , , ,

Nightingale's Nest by Nikki LoftinNightingale’s Nest by Nikki Loftin
Penguin Young Readers

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Twelve year-old Little John spends his summer days helping his father care for trees on Mr. King’s property so they can scrape together enough money for the rent. There he meets Gayle, who loves nothing more than to sing from her nest high in the branches of a sycamore tree. But Little John isn’t the only one interested in Gayle and her song. When Mr. King hears the girl’s voice, he asks for Little John’s help to get the girl to sing for him. He’s willing to pay enough money to solve all of Little John’s family troubles, too. But when Gayle refuses to cooperate, Little John begins to wonder if there’s more than creepiness making her shy away from the old man. He finds himself caught between two impossible choices: his family’s survival, or his dearest friend.

Because this is a retelling of a Hans Christian Andersen story, I think I expected a more of a whimsical style in the writing. Once I acclimated to the way the story was written, I enjoyed it. The narrative has a very frank feel, middle-grade-boy-story feel to it. Which works, I think.

I liked that right away there’s tension between Little John’s past—the death of his sister, for which he blames himself and hates trees—and Gayle’s constant flitting around in the upper branches of the tree she loves like a friend. That tension definitely kept the story moving forward and kept me asking questions and reading on to see them answered. Does Little John’s mom really blame him for his sister’s death? Is Gayle’s nest really going to get her rescued from an unhappy foster home?

One element was difficult for me to grasp. Little John is supposed to have recently had a major growth spurt, so that now he’s extremely tall for his age. Between his height and the reserved, careful way he acted, I kept wanting him to be fourteen. It’s possible, I guess, that a twelve year-old could behave the way he does, but I couldn’t seem to stop expecting him to be older than he was, so it was always a little jarring to me to be reminded of his actual age.

I’m a huge fan of fairytales retold, and this one definitely didn’t leave me disappointed. I haven’t read the original version, so I’m not sure which parts would map to the original story, but this retelling didn’t turn out the way I expected. I liked that not everything was neatly resolved, but the story still felt complete.

You can order a copy of Nightingale’s Nest by Nikki Loftin on Amazon by clicking here.

Language Content
A couple references to swearing, like ‘a cuss almost slipped out.’ No profanity in the telling of the story.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Gayle says that her parents have “flown away” and Little John takes this to mean that they have died.

Violence
Mr. King has this weird obsession with Gayle. It’s not entirely clear whether he poses physical danger to her, but he’s certainly a bit creepy. Gayle appears to suffer rough treatment in her foster home. Little John suspects that her foster mother and possibly her foster brother have hit her.

Drug Content
Little John’s father sometimes overindulges in alcohol, leaving his family without money for rent and basic needs.

Review: Girl Stolen by April Henry

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

Girl, Stolen
April Henry
Henry Holt & Co

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Nothing was supposed to happen. Her step-mom left her in the car for a few minutes while she ran inside to pay for antibiotics. But when Cheyenne woke, instead of her step-mom behind the wheel of the car, it’s a boy with a gun. She’d been kidnapped.

Taking the car was supposed to be easy. It was running. Griffin hopped in and took it. He just didn’t realize there was a girl sleeping in the back seat. Once Roy starts calling the shots, things get complicated. The girl’s dad owns a big company. The boys want to collect a ransom. But Cheyenne’s pneumonia’s getting worse, and without antibiotics, she won’t last long. Her blindness keeps her from being able to recognize her captors, but it also makes it that much harder for her to escape.

This book really caught my attention because it’s a story about a kidnapping in which the protagonist is also blind. I liked that it was about a blind character but not about her blindness. I thought Henry portrayed Cheyenne as crafty, smart and independent. I liked Griffin, despite his flaws. He’s not the sharpest pencil in the box, but ultimately he wants to do the right thing and keep Cheyenne safe, and I definitely respected that. I liked that their relationship didn’t go wild and unrealistic places and stayed in this more ‘tentative allies’ frame.

Suspense isn’t really my thing, so I feel like it’s hard for me to evaluate the book in terms of the genre. I thought it could have been more suspenseful and intense. Because Cheyenne reasoned things out carefully, I think it tended to read with a gentler pace than some of the (few) suspense novels I’ve read. I didn’t enjoy it less for the pace, though.

Language Content
Mild language used infrequently.

Sexual Content
While the group holds Cheyenne captive, one man threatens to rape her. It’s creepy, but he doesn’t succeed.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Griffin’s dad is a violent man. There are references to things he’s done, but we don’t see him really become violent in terms of directly harming anyone in the story itself. He breaks windows on a truck and threatens to shoot Cheyenne. A man is shot in the chest with a shotgun at close range.

Drug Content
When Cheyenne is sick, Griffin describes her fevered state as reminding him of really drunk people at parties he’s been to. Cheyenne thinks the men who’ve captured her may be drunk.

Review: The Paradox of Vertical Flight by Emil Ostrovski

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Paradox of Vertical Flight
Emil Ostrovski
Greenwillow Books

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

On a morning that begins with a suicide fantasy, Jack Polovsky’s ex-girlfriend calls him from the hospital. She’s having their baby and giving him up for adoption. This is Jack’s only chance to meet his son and say goodbye. At first Jack doesn’t think it matters, but the more he thinks about it, the more realizes he wants to say to his son. In a moment part panic, part impulse, and part desperation, he snatches the baby from the hospital and hits the road. He grabs the appropriate baby paraphernalia and finds himself on the run from the police, trying to buy enough time to tell his son (whom he names Socrates) all the things he’ll need to know. He teams up with his best friend Tommy and with Jess, his ex-girlfriend and the baby’s mom, on a journey to visit his grandmother, to say goodbye.

I read this book because I’d been asked to participate in a blog tour for Emil Ostrovski’s sophomore novel Away We Go later this spring, and I’d gone to his blog to find out more about him as an author. When I read the blog post about the release of The Paradox of Vertical Flight, I was completely hooked. I went immediately to Amazon, bought the book and read it that night.

I’m a huge sucker for books with witty dialogue, and this one totally delivers it. I loved the characters, from Jack to his friends, the strangers they meet along the journey and his sweet grandmother with dementia. I loved that this story features issues about teen parenthood from the often-overlooked father’s point-of-view. I loved how tender Jack was toward his son. So neat.

Some reviews and comments compare this book to books by John Green and other authors. I think in terms of the quirkiness and wit of the writing, yes, absolutely. I thought that Paradox of Vertical Flight wasn’t as dark as Green tends to be, though. I really liked it a lot. It’s a great pick for fans of contemporary teen fiction looking for books with unique storylines and great, fun writing.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately.

Sexual Content
Jack’s (recently ex)-girlfriend is pregnant, so obviously they’ve had sex. There are a couple of brief references to the experience, but it’s not described in a full-on scene. Jack wants to kiss her, remembers kissing her. He flirts with his best friend Tommy. Their relationship remains just friends though.

Spiritual Content
There’s a lot of philosophical discussion—from the allegory of the cave to Schroedinger’s cat. At one point the group goes to a church, though it’s unclear what Jack’s really looking for. It’s not Jesus per se. More the idea that there are things he wants his son to be open to exploring, or wants to feel like he has imparted an openness to exploring to his son?

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Jack recalls spending time drinking alcohol with Jess. He finds a bottle of tequila and shares it with his friends during their trip.

Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
St. Martin’s Press

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Eleanor just wants to keep her head down and survive. To stay out of her step-dad’s notice. To preserve the tiny space in her tiny house that contains the only things that belong to her.

To Park, she’s the girl with the crazy hair and the weird clothes. When he lets her share his seat on the bus so she doesn’t fall victim to bullies behind him, he doesn’t realize he’s opened his life to a girl who will wake him up in a way he’s never been awake before. At sixteen, they both know love doesn’t always last, but sometimes you can’t help hoping it will.

I didn’t expect to fall in love with this book. I’d started reading Fangirl over the summer last summer, and just didn’t really get into it. I thought maybe I wasn’t a Rainbow Rowell fan, (possibly the only one?) but then I read the first page of Eleanor & Park.

It didn’t even take the whole page. Just the first line, and I was HOOKED. I love Park. I love his passion, his determined optimism, his complicated relationships with each of his family members. The relationship between him and his dad? So good. So complex and believable. I loved that none of the relationships felt clichéd or simplistic. Even Eleanor’s relationships with her family members and the relationships with the peripheral characters carried their own weight and had this organic feeling to them. I loved when the characters surprised me, and the ways those surprises made so much sense.

I also really liked that though there’s some romantic content between Eleanor and Park, Rowell doesn’t give us the play by play report of everything that happened. We get the setup and then maybe a summary sentence or two that kind of just lets us know things happened. We didn’t need the details. The important parts of their relationship weren’t the physical things that happened between them. I liked that Eleanor didn’t reinvent herself in the story. That it wasn’t like “oh, hey, if I dress cool and lose weight so I look like other girls, I’ll land this cute boyfriend.” She stayed herself, and that was exactly who Park loved. It wasn’t really a focal issue in the story. There are a couple of moments where she shows some insecurity about her body, but it felt natural, the way we all have those moments. Over all, I loved it. Definitely a must-read for romance lovers.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Sexual Content (SPOILER ALERT)
Some heavy making out. They do remove their clothes a couple of times, and there’s a moment where it looks like they’ll have sex, but they stop just shy of it. For the most part, we get a few details about the point at which the romance progresses, but I liked that Rowell sort of sets up the scene and then jumps ahead, so we don’t get the play by play between the two. Eleanor is so private, I’m sure she prefers to maintain that silence.

Eleanor finds creepy sexual notes written on her school textbook covers. She worries that the sender means her harm.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Eleanor and her siblings hear arguments between her mom and step-dad that become violent. Park and another boy fight. It’s brief. Park kicks a drunk man in the face (it’s a revenge move.)

Girls in Eleanor’s gym class pick on her and at one point destroy her clothes.

Drug Content
Eleanor’s step-dad is an alcoholic. Kids from school offer Eleanor a beer. She takes a sip but spills most of it.

Mini Reviews: Never Never Part 1 and Reprieve

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Fantasy, Lists, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Never, Never (Part 1) by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher / Hoover Ink

I stumbled across this series of novellas on Amazon. Of the three parts, I’ve only read Part 1. It basically seems like a novel broken into three pieces. The whole series is available as a bundle for $2.99, which is a pretty great deal.

In terms of the story, it was definitely a wild ride. There’s a lot of romantic tension and some sexual content (main characters watch a video that includes a sex scene, thought it’s dark and only sounds are described) and brief violence. I was really hooked by the idea that both characters have lost their memories and are scrambling both to pretend they’ve got things under control/run their lives as if nothing’s wrong but also figure out what made them lose their memories. It’s clear something sinister happened, and we don’t know if our protags are good guys or bad guys. Will I read part 2? Possibly. I’m definitely curious about the story. Not curious enough to bump it ahead of the rest of my TBR list, though, so for now it’ll have to wait.

Inherit the Stars: Reprieve by Tessa Elwood/Running Press

After falling face-first in love with Inherit the Stars (read my review), I HAD to read this short story featuring Asa and her sister Wren (who is unconscious in Inherit the Stars.) I’ve read short stories by authors whose novels I love and been disappointed by the lack of structure (short fiction is not as easy as you think), but this was not the case with Elwood’s tale. The writing was powerful and the characters really moving. I loved having that chance to see Wren and Asa interact with one another, to have that real-time look at how their relationship worked. It only strengthened my understanding of Asa’s motives in Inherit the Stars. If you liked the novel, I recommend the short story. If you haven’t read the novel, check out the short story. It’s free, and you’ll get a really good feel for the narrative in the full-length novel. Update: I can’t seem to find a good link for the short story online. I think I got it on Amazon, but I don’t see it there now. Check out the Goodreads page and see if maybe it gets updated to show it posted somewhere else?

 

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

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

This Is Where It Ends
Marieke Nijkamp
Publisher

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It begins with the closing of the principal’s speech at Opportunity High. Confusion rustles through the auditorium as students discover the locked doors. Then one door opens, and a boy enters. A boy with a gun.

Four alternating viewpoints, each a student with a connection to the shooter, relate this tense, heartbreaking tale about a community ripped apart by violence. The story spans fifty-four minutes.

This Is Where It Ends includes a diverse body of characters across lines of race, religion, and sexual preference. As a YA reader and reviewer, I’ve commented before that I wish there were more stories featuring Muslim characters in which they or their family members aren’t portrayed as terrorists. I think especially right now, we need those voices. We need those stories. Fareed was probably my favorite character. He was kind, smart, patient, and loyal, but he got things done, too. I loved that he wasn’t defeated by other people’s prejudices.

I really liked that each chapter began with a timestamp. The story unfolds so rapidly, and there’s a lot of chaos and panic, and that minute-by-minute unraveling of the timeline kept things feeling critical. I feel like that high-tension plot is the real strength of the story.

In reading the different points-of-view, I often felt like I wasn’t getting as deep as I wanted to, especially early on in the story. It’s a really tough balance to strike to give enough slow insight into the characters versus keeping the narrative moving to avoid letting the tension slack off, so I think it could just be that I’m used to those slower-paced, more cerebral narratives, or prefer them.

There’s a heroic moment in which one character basically gives their life for another character. I love that gesture and how brave it was, but I felt like because of how it unfolded in the plot, it didn’t have to happen and was kind of just this little pause for, “okay, then this person we like dies, and moving on again.” I wanted it to mean more. However, the truth is, that in situations like this, there often isn’t a big moment that means something for each casualty, you know? I think because of who this character is, I expected it to mean more.

There’s never a good time to read a tragic story, but it is always the right time to be reminded of courage.

It is early December as I write this review. It’s always difficult to review a story about a situation like this in the wake of a real life event like what happened in San Bernandino. I was reading Black Helicopters, a story about a terrorist bombing, when the bombing happened in Boston in 2013. I’ve had This Is Where It Ends in my review queue for some time, but there hasn’t seemed a good time to read it.

I can only say that we need to be reminded that people of good heart, of moral courage come from every background, despite what other voices and what our own fears would have us believe. We need to hold on to the truth that we are all created equal, all worthy of love, all valuable. And Marieke Nijkamp’s brave story, though cloaked in the senseless tragedy of a school shooting, reminds us of these critically important beliefs.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
We learn that a girl was raped, but no details about the incident. Two girls have a romantic relationship. They hold hands and kiss.

Spiritual Content
Sylvia prays occasionally through the story, and remembers sharing in spiritual traditions of her Mexican family. Fareed whispers prayers as well (he is a Muslim.) At the end of the story, survivors gather at a candlelight vigil and pray according to their faiths.

Violence
A teenage boy shoots students, teachers and staff at his high school. One person is killed by asphyxiation. An abusive man beats his children, leaving them bruised. Some of these scenes are extremely violent and some of the descriptions quite graphic. I’d say this one isn’t for the faint of heart or the very sensitive.

Drug Content
Autumn and Tyler’s dad is an abusive alcoholic.

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