Danforth's book is all about being gay....not just being gay; but being gay in a small town.......and Cameron Post has the added "fun" of having lost her parents in a car accident the same night she was experimenting by kissing a girl...and she forever attributes her experiment to the death of her parents; thus she endures a crushing guilt....a guilt that is expanded upon by her guardianship by her uber-Christian and Evangelical leaning aunt.......who eventually sends her to a camp to be cured. I appreciate the language of this book; I appreciate the thought that went into the character development and the plot........but I just couldn't like this book. It's probably my own fault; since bringing evangelical and/or pentacostal "super" Christians is bound to hit my "hot button".....based on my background and leanings which earns any book that hits that button an instant "ugh" from me......we all have our buttons, I'm aware of mine, so I'm trying not to judge this book unfairly from my own prejudices.....but it's hard......so hard.......the whole "I'm gay and angsty and everything bad that happens to me is because I'm gay and god hates me" thing just rubs me the wrong way......but hey, I'm also the person who still refuses to read Fault in Our Stars by John Green because I don't feel like being depressed; so if you are a fan of literature and deep thoughts and analysis of American Society and all that in a novel; this one is for you.....if not; maybe skip it.
Now it's time to balance things out.....THIS book isn't about being gay (even though it sorta is)....it's more about life...and acceptance and honesty. The basic story is about two 15 year old boys who meet at the community pool and become best friends....and all the parts of being a friend that go with that......there are so many amazing moments in this book and Ari's interior dialogue on why he is such a bad friend or a terrible person just ring so true for someone who is coming to terms with SO many huge things...like why is his brother in prison.....why doesn't his dad talk about the war....and then boils down to ......my favorite point of all...."why would he be ashamed of loving Dante"......and the fact that the parents are SO supportive and loving and real just as much as the teens are make this one of my favorite books of the year......I avoided it because of all the awards; but this one.....THIS one, I agree with.....so maybe there's hope for me......I CAN love "real" literature......=)
Further proof of that? I actually really enjoyed In Darkness; the Printz Winner for 2013...that I put off reading and put off....and now that we're talking about it for the Garden State Book Award Nominee process; and now that they announced 2014 winners I was just embarrassed to admit I hadn't read last year's winner.....so I did....and I really, really was surprised at how good it was. The biggest problem is a terrible cover (the one to the left is for the paperback; which is better than the hardcover by a mile); and then the subject of intertwining the stories of a boy buried in a hospital following the earthquake in Haiti and the historical story of Toussanint l'Ouverture; Haitian slave turned revolutionary leader in the 1800s....well putting those together just sounded awful and educational and "Literary"......but I dove in.....and what I found was a story of hope in a hopeless situation......a story of how being made to feel like nothing can make you yearn to be something in a way that nothing else can.......I learned a bit more of L'Ouverture; and will probably now read a biography to get the factual stuff straight from the fictional elements......It is truly hard to explain this book; but the two stories ARE interwoven and yet separated....and I really loved both....
Sadly, Trinity is simply a rather boring subject put into a rather boring graphic novel format....it's the scientific (VERY) story of the first atomic bomb.....all of it.....honestly, science is not my first love and reading about protons and neutrons and elements.....just. made. me. very. sleepy. So, if you love science; you'll love this....if not; you'll be dreadfully bored.....
Maas does a great job of making Celeana a believable multi-layered person....yes, she's good at killing; but she's not a monster.....and her backstory is alluded to but never defined completely; leaving a mystery for the sequel to solve...which I shall dive into as soon as I'm allowed to read my own choices again......This is a GREAT book; intrigue, romance, magic, and lots of fight scenes......SOLD!
Now THIS book is my answer to everyone who loved to death the John Green "Fault in Our Stars" book.......this is also a book with a girl with cancer....but this one is full of humor and love and nonsense.......it's got moments Greg is truly lost for words in the face of Rachel's illness; which happens. It's also truly thoughtful and angry and sad and all of the things you are when someone is dying and you can't do anything about it. But, and here's the important part, the author acknowledges that all of it sucks...that there is no deep reason; no soliloquy from the "cancer girl"....no tragic love story....just an acknowledgement that sometimes people die and it SUCKS......Speaking as someone who has been on both sides of that story (having had cancer and lost people to it as well) it just works better......and feels better.......no pandering, no thought provoking literary themes; just reality .....sometimes you cry and laugh and sometimes you just fall apart......I really loved reading this book; and I was afraid of it; but I'm glad I read it; give it a try....you might like it too.....
A Game for Swallows is the story of a family living in Lebanon during the civil war.....it is simply told; with simple pictures (much in the style of Marjane Satrapi) and a powerful story of how; in the end; we're all human......and sometimes wars and politics don't care about humanity as much as they care about winning.