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Venuti, Kristin. 2009. Leaving the Bellweathers. Egmont. 242 pages.

It is nighttime in the village of Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay.

If ever a book surprised me--completely surprised me--it was this one. Looking at the title, the cover, even the first sentence, nothing whispered the promise of how much fun this book would be, how funny and how right this book would be. Will every reader love this one? Will every reader fall for the quirky humor? Well, it would be nearly impossible for any one book to be beloved by every reader. But oh-how-I-wish this one would find a large fan base! Because I think it's just the right blend of what makes a book work.

What is it about? It's about a disgruntled but oh-so-loyal (but not that loyal) butler who is counting down the days until he leaves his job. For two hundred years, his family has served the Bellweathers. But not anymore. When the two hundred years of pledged service are up, he is so out of there! And to make money for his new start, this butler--Tristan Benway--has decided to write a tell-all book about the Bellweathers. He's got a story to tell, and oh what a story that is! Each member of the family--especially all the Bellweather children--get a chance in the spotlight. And it is a real contest (at times) to see just which one is the wildest, craziest, out-there of the bunch.

I definitely recommend this one. It is funny and unusual. And there is just something about it that works.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Larbalestier, Justine. 2009. (October Release). Liar. Bloomsbury. 388 pages.

I was born with a light covering of fur. After three days it had all fallen off, but the damage was done. My mother stopped trusting my father because it was a family condition he had not told her about. One of many omissions and lies. My father is a liar and so am I. But I'm going to stop. I have to stop. I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions. That's my promise. This time I truly mean it.

Is Micah Wilkins, our narrator, a compulsive liar? Is she trustworthy? Is she sane? Divided into three parts, (Telling the Truth, Telling the True Truth, and The Actual Real Truth) Justine Larbalestier offers readers an always compelling, somewhat-unbelievable, but oh-so-thrilling read. When we first meet Micah, she's just learned something horrible: her boyfriend, Zach, is dead. Murdered. Everyone is stunned including Sarah, Zach's actual girlfriend, and Tayshawn, Zach's best friend. Who is Micah? Where does she fit in? Everywhere and Nowhere. As his after-hours girl--well, lover--she doesn't run in the same circles as Zach. She's little better than a freak at school. A girl with extremely short hair who doesn't wear makeup, who doesn't look or act like the other girls. A girl who once for a few days convinced everyone that she was a boy.

It's true that Micah feels out of sorts and all in-between. Not white enough to be white. Not black enough to be black. Not feminine enough to fit in with the popular girls, the gossipy girls. She doesn't feel pretty, that's for sure.

She is good at many things: lying, for one, biology, for another, and last but certainly not least, running. She is faster than fast. At least that is what she tells us. Why doesn't she have friends? Is it her appearance? The fact that she likes attention and tells outrageous lies?

What's her secret? Does that secret involve murder? What's the real story? Can we ever know the truth?

I liked this one mostly. It was definitely intense and suspenseful. It definitely made me think. It's a complex book, which is always nice to see. But I'm not sure I liked it, liked it. I'm not sure I want to hang out with Micah any time soon. I don't think we're meant to.

This is one of those books that could be easily spoiled for readers by too much description. So I'm purposefully keeping it short. The more I describe my thoughts (and reactions) about Micah, the more preconceived ideas and notions you might have to carry with you if you decide to pick it up on your own.

I am not quite sure I get the cover though. I'm not saying the US cover isn't attractive enough in its own little way. But it doesn't take the reader very long to discover that the main character, Micah, is black with very short, very cropped hair. True, the narrator is a compulsive liar, so maybe readers should doubt her when she says that she is black with short, cropped hair and can sometimes pass as a boy. But if this girl on the cover is meant to be Micah, well, there's nothing freaky or awkward about her. And even if you don't consider all that, I'm not sure that this cover matches the mood of the book. Do those eyes and that hair say it's a dark-mysterious-thriller?

The Australian cover.



© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Barzak, Christopher. 2008. The Love We Share Without Knowing.

Everything you think you know about the world isn't true. Nothing is real, it's all made up. We live in a world of illusion. I'm telling you this up front because I don't want you thinking this story is going to have a happy ending. It won't make any sense out of sadness. It won't redeem humanity in even a small sort of way.

This isn't your traditional novel. If you know that going in, I think you will appreciate it more. Think of it more as a collection of loosely woven short stories. Some stories are more 'connected' than others. The stories share a common thread or two--mainly that of theme. To sum it up in one word: Humanity. What it means to be human, to experience the ups and downs, highs and lows of being human. Love. Loss. Pain. Anger. Bitterness. Frustration. Disappointment. Heartache. Homesickness. Loneliness. Some stories are darker than others. Some seem to be without hope or redemption. Others are more uplifting. What they all have in common, however, is the Barzak touch. He, quite simply, has a way with words. Even if you don't like where the story is going, he keeps you so in love with the words on the page, that you just have to keep reading.

Love isn't what we think. It's a living, changing creature that takes as many shapes as the fox women in the old tales my mother used to tell me. Love comes in and sometimes she's a woman who woos you with soft words and promises. Love comes in and sometimes he's a man with a strong smile and a grip on your shoulder. Love comes in and sometimes it's something beyond the usual circumstances of two people becoming one. It can slip through our hands before we even realize what it is we're holding. (97)

"But sweetheart," said her mother, "the things you don't speak of are the loudest things you say." (146)

We wear our masks in between dreams. It's one of the rules of living here. You can't not wear a mask in those spaces of time. But if you want, you can change the one you've been given. All you have to do is be strong and make it so. (188)

Have you seen Because of Winn Dixie? Do you remember the scenes where the librarian is sharing hard candy with Opal? And Opal is then sharing this candy with others? How every single person has a different way of describing how the candy tastes? That's what this novel was like. That's what this novel was trying to do, in my humble opinion, capture the 101 different flavors of life itself.

All of the stories are set in Japan.

My favorite chapter? Perhaps "If You Can Read This You're Too Close." Listen to how it starts off, "This is the truth. A blind man saw me on the train." Within this story there is a beautiful exchange from which the title of the book comes. But I'm not going to share it here! If you think this one is for you, I encourage you to pick it up and read it for yourself!

I won't lie and say I think this novel is for everyone. The book deals in quite a few chapters with the subject of suicide and the seeming 'hopelessness' of life. (I personally did NOT like the chapter with the suicide club. I do not buy into suicide as a good idea for solving life's hiccups.) It is an adult book, and some of the stories may not be appropriate for younger readers. (Though I think most teens could handle it just fine.)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
If you're reading this post on another site, or another feed, the content has been stolen.

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Harmon, Michael. 2008. The Last Exit to Normal.

The decoder card to the universe wasn't included in the box of cereal God gave humanity. At the ripe old age of seventeen, I'd at least figured out that no matter how hard you try to guess what happens next, you can't. Life wasn't set up that way and we don't like it, so we spend most of our time running around like a bunch of dimwits.

Ben Campbell, our narrator, I must admit, is one of my favorite characters of the year. He makes this book work for me. The story itself? It's as simple and complex as life itself. Ben moves with his two fathers to a small Montana town after Ben has some emotional problems after the big reveal and its aftermath. (His father is gay; his mother moved out and away.) The three move in with Edward's mother, Bonnie Mae Ingerson. And let me tell you, Bonnie Mae is quite a character. Character with a capital C. (Just one of many reasons why I love this one!) The book is a coming of age story of a boy coming to terms with his life as it now is. It's about a boy learning that it's okay that it's not okay. It's more than that. It's about life and love; work and play; friends and enemies. It's about a boy becoming a hero, making a stand when and where he can.

I can't promise you'll love this one. (I did though.) But you should definitely give it a try.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Odiwe, Jane. 2008. Lydia Bennet's Story.

The true misfortune, which besets any young lady who believes herself destined for fortune and favour, is to find that she has been born into an unsuitable family. Lydia Bennet of Longbourn, Hertfordshire, not only believed that her mama and papa had most likely stolen her from noble parents, ut also considered it a small miracle that they could have produced between them her own fair self and four comely girls--Jane, Lizzy, Mary, and Kitty--though to tell the truth, she felt herself most blessed in looks. Lydia's greatest desire in life was to be married before any of her sisters, but a lack of marriageable beaux in the county and her papa's reluctance to accompany her to as many Assembly Balls as she wished had thwarted her efforts thus far.

Shall Lydia live happily ever after like her two older sisters? You'll have to read Lydia Bennet's Story for yourself to see. The greater question may just be...does she deserve to have her happily ever after? Lydia is many things. Playful. Boy-crazy. Immature. Irresponsible. Impulsive. Selfish. Vain. Spoiled. Silly. Naive. Flighty. Flirtatious. Entitled. (Reading that description, I think of Scarlett O'Hara. Isn't that an odd comparison waiting to happen!) And as the youngest of the Bennet clan, she is the least ready (emotionally and psychologically) to be married. She is one of those girls that is stuck-on-herself. Who believes that the world revolves around her. For her to get her happily-ever-after Lydia will have to change. She'll have to start growing up. She'll have to start maturing. She'll have to begin to think of others, to be respectful and considerate. She'll have to learn to compromise. She'll have to learn to think before acting. She'll have to become wiser and more genuine. Which leads to my question, is Lydia capable of growth and transformation?

Lydia's story is revealed through rather obnoxious diary entries and letters (simply because they're written by her), and through a more traditional third-person-narrative. The book is in two parts. The first which parallels what we know from Pride and Prejudice, and the second which is a sequel to the action. It is in this second section, that we see if Lydia does get her happily ever after.

It's hard to review this one without giving it away. George Wickham is George Wickham. And if you've read Pride and Prejudice you know exactly what that means. He's a shameless bad boy incapable of change, incapable of integrity. If George is who he is...is it possible even remotely for Lydia to have her happily ever after and remain Mrs. George Wickham? I'll leave that for you to decide!!!

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So what do I think of this one. I found the ending to be a bit unbelievable. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't hoping for Lydia to get what she deserves--to pay for the consequences of her impulsive rashness. Okay, maybe a part of me was. But I knew better than to expect that in a contemporary sequel. But the ending seemed a bit rushed...not giving Lydia the needed time to mature and develop into a woman.

Other reviews: A Book Blogger's Diary, Jane Austen Today, Austenprose, Austen-tatious.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Scott, Regina. 2008. La Petite Four.

Lady Emily Southwell, trained from birth to be the refined daughter of a duke, did the unthinkable. (2)

I had every intention in the world of loving this one. I did. When I heard there was a YA Regency Romance being published, I wasn't just vaguely interested, I was happy. I was eager. I love Regency romances, mostly. Austen. Heyer. Quinn. I'm so there. (Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Julia Quinn.) Another fun Regency title (for adults) that I discovered this year was Rules of Gentility by Janet Mullany. But this one just felt off for me. It felt a bit modern, a bit rushed, a bit silly, a bit underdeveloped. It's the story of four best friends who are preparing for their first season. Emily. Daphne. Priscilla. Ariadne. But for me, these characters weren't distinct enough to distinguish among. They all blurred together. Even Emily.

But even more problematic for me than the indistinguishable heroines is the plotting. It's flimsy at best. When Emily is told she's to marry a gentleman, Lord Robert, she takes an instant dislike to him. With no real reasoning, no real logic, she comes to the conclusion that Robert is a criminal. And she seeks to convince her three friends of this as well. Here we have the "mystery" element of the story. But for me, I had no proof other than the whim of an immature and often whiny "child" (disguised as a young woman) that Robert was a suspicious-- no, dangerous--character. Her only reasoning a) she doesn't want to get married b) he won't let her go to a Ball c) he thinks her paintings are silly. I can see why she might dislike him. But you can't logically jump from "I don't like you." to "I think you're a criminal." (There are plenty of people that I've met through the years that I've disliked based on first impressions. I've never once leaped to the conclusion that they must be a criminal mastermind. And then proceeded to try to prove it to have that person arrested.) The whole novel revolves around this must-prove-Robert-to-be-a-criminal plot. For this reader to find the book enjoyable, believable, there needs to be clues laid throughout the book--undeniable proof that crimes are being committed and clues and motivations and intent presented. There's none of that until the grand finale of a climax.

So as a mystery, it is a bit weak. When it comes to romance, well, it's a bit sudden and rushed as well. There is a hero--other than Robert--involved, but he seems to pop up and disappear erratically. He's a convenient hero. But he goes from mere acquaintance to soul mate a bit too quickly and without too much development. There is no wooing really. No scenes of courtship. Again Emily is just making a giant leap. My guess is that this hero-she-proclaims-to-love-truly is just a way to escape (and irritate) Robert.

Initial thoughts on the cover: I know the cover is nice, pink and frilly. But it doesn't work for me at all. I see this cover and I don't think "Regency England" I think prom. (Or perhaps I think bride's maid. Or Barbie.) From the half-decapitated model with the glistening gloss on the lips to the wispy wavy hair and the strapless--yes, strapless--pink ball gown. It looks like something from David's Bridal. When I think Regency, I think empire waist gowns. I think most people do. True, I just did a fact check which said that waistlines were lowering and tightening by around 1825, but still this dress doesn't feel right for the era. This image is, for example, from 1823. I don't think the cover will turn away many readers, in fact it may draw in modern readers. But for me, personally, the cover did some damage to the legitimacy of the book. I don't blame Scott for this, however, since covers are rarely the design or brainchild of the author. Her other novels, all adult Regency novels, have fashion appropriate enough for the era.

For fans of Luxe and Rumours, this may work as "historical" fiction. But it didn't quite work for me.

Note: There are three factors that might bias my review a bit. 1) The cover. It's awful. 2) I read this book over a period of three weeks. A chapter or two at a time. This can taint a reading. It might be why I found the characters so indistinguishably whiny. 3) I've read several Austen novels, several Quinn novels, and several Heyer novels this past year. It's hard to go from the really really good stuff to something that feels a bit mediocre without making some comparisons. But one could easily make the argument that a 12 to 14 year old is a lot less likely to have a familiarity with Austen and Heyer and therefore would not find this as lacking.

The good news? I am almost exclusively finding positive reviews (on the blogs) for this one. Apparently, I'm the only one that read this and had a Miss Cranky Pants reaction.

Other reviews: The Story Siren, Genre Go Round, Trainspotting Reviews,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Couloumbis, Audrey. 2008. Love Me Tender.

"Early Friday afternoon, Daddy left mad.
He carried his guitar. The weather had turned so hot, the sweaty circles on his T-shirt looked like the wings of an insect against his back.
I followed him, dragging his duffel and panting, "Daddy, this thing is too heavy. What all are you carrying in here?"
What, besides his blue suede shoes and tight white jeans, did he need?"

The narrator of Love Me Tender is thirteen-year-old Elvira. The oldest of what will soon be three children. She's got an eight year old sister, Kerrie, and another sibling on the way. Her mom, whom she calls Mel because that's what her Daddy calls her, is seven months pregnant and very, very cranky. Elvira is worried that it's only going to get worse from here on out--first the hormones of pregnancy, later the diapers and crying and babysitting.

The family is in the beginning stages of crisis. Her dad is unhappy with his job, her mom is unhappy and moody with this unplanned pregnancy, and her younger sister has reverted to acting like a three year old. When we first meet the family, it doesn't look good. The parents have just had a big fight. Her dad is on his way to Vegas. On his way to compete in an Elvis impersonator competition. Her mom is glued to the recliner and hooked to cheesy TV movies. And her sister is driving her crazy.

And then the phone call comes.

It's a strange call. Almost cryptic. Mel's sister, Clare, says simply that their mother's time has come. Thinking that she only has hours--maybe a day or two--to make amends with her estranged family, Mel quickly packs up her two kids, borrows her husband's most prized possession--a classic car in great condition--and heads to Memphis, Tennessee. Taking turns behind the wheel, Mel and Elvira make it to her grandmother's house--just barely with all their nerves and spirits intact. (After a bit of a scare with Kerrie and some "toy" eyelashes.)

This will be the children's first time to meet their grandmother, and to meet their mother's younger sister, Clare. That family--much like Elvira's--seems to be in crisis as well. Clare is convinced that her mother--their mother--needs to be put in a nursing home.

During this weekend, lives will changes, fences will be mended, there will be laughter and tears as well.

Family drama galore (mainly through intense conversations/confrontations) is what you'll find in Love Me Tender.

Honestly, I thought this one was a bit disappointing. When I see the name Coulombis, I expect better things, greater things. Not that this one was bad, it just wasn't as magical as I expected. The premise, the author, the cover, I expected to be wowed a bit more than I was. I kept reading thinking that there was a big reveal on the way, something huge that would shake this family up, something that would act as a catalyst for this family. But nothing really happened.

Other reviews: Flamingnet, Not Acting My Age,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Heyer, Georgette. 1957. Lady of Quality.

"The elegant travelling carriage which bore Miss Wychwood from her birthplace, on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire, to her home in Bath, proceeded on its way at a decorous pace." (1)

Lady of Quality's first line may not sparkle as much as Austen's famous one, "IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." But just give it time. Trust me. This one has everything and more that you'd expect in an Austen novel: wit, humor, romance, quirky characters, as well as a few genuinely likable ones.

Such is the case with Lady of Quality. Miss Annis Wychwood is almost thirty years old. And in that time, the Regency period, thirty might as well have been sixty. Spinster is spinster no matter if you're thirty, blond, and witty or wrinkly, gray, and stubborn. But Annis is comfortable in her singleness. Or at least she prefers to see herself as comfortable. It helps that in Annis' situation, she's wealthy enough to have her own house and household. (By household I mean servants and such). If Annis had to live under her brother's roof, well, it would be a different story altogether. She does NOT get along with her brother, Geoffrey, though she does get along in a way with her sister-in-law. Yes, folks might think it a bit strange that she'd rather be independent and living on her own--and a good day's travel away from her brother and his wife--but they've become accustomed to it. But when our novel opens, Annis is about to do something a bit more unexpected, a bit more shocking.

Lucilla Carleton is just a young thing--not even eighteen--when she decides to run away from her aunt. (Her aunt is her primary guardian.) Her aunt wants her to marry the son of her father's best friend. A man, Ninian, that she's practically grown up with. It's not that she doesn't like him. But she doesn't like him like him. At least she says as much. As does he when given the opportunity. (The two like to bicker about how they don't want to be together.) Annis comes across this bickering pair on her way to Bath. Their carriage (or vehicle) has broken down--a problem with one of the wheels. Annis is too much of a lady to leave the poor girl in distress. She invites the young woman to come with her, to stay with her. Through their trip and the first day back at home, Annis hears all about Lucilla, her aunt, Ninian, and his over-bearing parents the Lord and Lady Iverley. Lucilla has runaway it's true but it's because her aunt is passive aggressive. She manipulates through tears and pleas and looks.

What is Annis to do? Welcome her home to this girl she barely knows yet instantly likes? Or send her packing with much tears of distress? She decides that the girl must write a letter to an aunt. She'll be allowed to stay with Miss Wychwood in Bath, it's true, but it's a temporary solution to the girl's problem. But this nice letter home has unattended results. Her aunt being of the nervous sort on the best of days writes a letter--a tear-soaked and illegible letter to the girl's legal guardian--Lucilla's Uncle Oliver. Oliver Carleton.

The last thing Annis expected was to be visited by Oliver Carleton. A man (from London) with the reputation of the worst sort. A truly grumpy, stubborn sort of man who speaks without thinking of the consequences, who enjoys speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth come what may. Obey society's nicety-nice rules? Not a chance! A man with a sharp but witty tongue comes to Bath to get to the bottom of this mess. He doesn't want Lucilla. He's not there to take her away, he's there to investigate this woman, this stranger who has interfered and butted into his business, his family.

Let the fun begin.

Oliver and Annis. Oh the sparks will fly. Despite her claims of being ancient and spinsterly, Oliver can't help thinking that she's entirely unsuitable for chaperoning his niece. She should be the one being courted and pursued and wooed by men. She's beautiful. She's witty. She's intelligent. There's just a certain something about her that he can't ignore. Annis never in a million years thought she'd feel this way, this maddeningly confusingly wonderful feeling. She can't stand him; and yet, she keeps hoping she'll see him again.

For anyone who loves Much Ado About Nothing and/or Pride and Prejudice, Lady of Quality is for you. It is a wonderfully giddy-making novel.

Heyer's novels are rich in detail combining history and romance with wit and charm and some unforgettable characters. If you're looking for a place to start, I'd highly recommend beginning with Lady of Quality.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Rappaport, Doreen. 2008. Lady Liberty: A Biography. Illustrated by Matt Tavares.

Lady Liberty is both beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. Though I must admit it was the illustrations that first caught my eye. I love Tavares' style. The colors. The tones. There's just something so rich, so expressive. It works for me really really well. I just love the illustrations. They are a large part of why this book is so amazing. The book itself, Lady Liberty, tells the twenty year story of how 'Lady Liberty' came to be.


The Statue of Liberty has come to symbolize America. To symbolize freedom. To symbolize all our nation stands for and believes. This is the story of her creation to her dedication ceremony a little over twenty years later.

The story is told through poems. Poems with many voices or narrators all telling one story, sharing one dream. Two nations, one goal.

My favorite, if I had to choose, is the poem narrated by Emma Lazarus.

Emma Lazarus
Poet
New York City,November 1883

A gala auction is being held
to raise money for Liberty's pedestal.
Famous artists are donating paintings.
I was asked to write a poem
to be sold along with poems
by Longfellow and Whitman.
It is a great honor to be asked.
I can write about anything I want.
But I have had trouble writing lately
because I feel too sad.

In the past few years in Russia,
hundreds of Jews have been killed.
Thousands have been persecuted,
their homes burned, their shops destroyed.
They trek hundreds of miles across Europe
with only the clothes on their backs,
hoping to find ships to take them to America.

We Jews are not new to hatred.
Almost two hundred years ago
my ancestors fled Europe, too.
America was a land of hope for them.
it is still a land of hope.

Soon when people arrive in the New World,
they will be welcomed
by a caring, powerful woman.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

http://www.doreenrappaport.com/
http://matttavares.com/ladyliberty.html

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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George, Madeleine. 2008. Looks.

Start in the sky. Look down at the valley. Green, plush, peaceful landscape. Drop down a little, towards the town, then skim over it, past the low beige buildings of the university, the clean white spires of the Congregational churches, the flat green welcome mat of the town common, out towards the edge of town, towards Valley Regional High School, a rambling, one-story brick building surrounded by soccer fields, field hockey fields, football fields, parking lots. Hover above Valley Regional High. Watch the crowd of kids as it streams into the school like water sucked down a storm drain. And listen: Even from high up you can hear the hum of a school on the first day back in September.
Now drop, plummet straight down like a stone, through the pebbly roof and the air-conditioning ducts and the bundles of wiring and the soft acoustic tiles, until you burst into the teeming front hall of the school. Float up by the ceiling where you can take it all in, the blended smoothie of backpacks and T-shirts and freckled shoulders and tank tops, ponytails and crew cuts and hoop earrings and knotted leather necklaces. Wince at the noise, the crashing surf of screeching, laughing, yelling.
Now pivot, face the light blue cinderblock wall next to the main doors of the school. Someone is standing there, pressed into the auditorium door alcove, someone so huge and still she might be mistaken for a piece of architecture if it weren't for the sky blue windbreaker that marks her as human, the backpack sitting limply on the floor by her feet. Look at her. Nobody else is, but you look at her. Look at Meghan Ball. (1-2)

Meghan Ball, one of our two narrators, is obese. "Meghan Ball is at once the most visible and invisible person in school. In the obvious way, she is unbearably visible. She takes up the most space of any person in the entire school--in the entire town, in fact. She is impossible to overlook in class pictures or on the risers during chorus concerts--they always make her stand in the back row, where her round head hovers above a space big enough to accommodate three normal-sized kids. She has a back as wide as a basketball backboard, perfect for spitting on and pelting things at. In this way, Meghan is a walking bull's-eye target. But then, just when she feels like she can't get any bigger, when she's feeling brontosaurically huge and exposed, someone will walk right past her--right past her--saying something totally private they would never want anyone else to hear, just as if Meghan wasn't there at all--like right now, right this very second, watch." (3)

Heavy on descriptions and details, Looks examines high school life through two sets of eyes. Meghan, whom we've already met, and Aimee Zorn, a girl with an obvious eating disorder, a girl obviously in pain who is struggling with her life the only way she knows how: by controlling what goes in and out of her mouth and by writing poetry. In alternating voices, Looks explores most facets of high school life.

There are moments when the observations, the descriptions, are right on:

"It's amazing what people will say right in front of you when you're obese, like you're deaf or something, like you're retarded. Or like you don't even speak the language, like you're a tourist lost in the land of the thin." (5)

"The fat girl who loses her only friend sees, all at once, how everything works. She sees that all promises are fictions, all friendships are games with winners and losers. The fat girl left alone in the world sees that every human being has a value assigned to them that they are helpless to change no matter what they do, and she sees that people trade each other like baseball cards: three cheap friends for two valuable friends, a whole group of worthless friends for one popular friend. It's like dying and coming back to life, being a fat girl who loses her only friend; it gives you an insight into the people around you that the average person couldn't bear to have.
But if it doesn't break her, this insight makes the friendless fat girl strong. The fat girl left alone in the world becomes the ultimate outsider, and outsiders always know the insiders' secrets, because insiders don't care what's happening on the outside--they never check to see what the outsiders know. They usually don't even know who the outsiders are. The person on the bottom sees what's happening on top, the person at the back sees what's happening in front, the person on the outside sees what's happening at the center, and the fat girl who loses her only friend is under, behind, and outside all at once; if she cares to look, she can see everything in every direction. God must be a friendless fat girl, because only friendless fat girls are as omniscient as God." (144)

But for me, the narrative was too detached. The third person present tense which surprisingly blended seamlessly with passages written directly to address the reader (that would be second person plural???) just didn't work well for me all the time. I became impatient. I became annoyed. While I wanted to love this book--really wanted to love it--I found myself increasingly annoyed by a few things. Nothing major. But the fact that "the fat girl" was always "the fat girl" and sometimes the "friendless fat girl" or the "lonely fat girl" but hardly ever just Meghan was something that really really really really annoyed me. Fat wasn't only a label, it was the defining characteristic for Meghan. And that just doesn't sit well with me. I felt that a bit more fleshing out for all the characters was in order. I felt Aimee Zorn got the better treatment, better back story, more heart and soul. At the end of the book, I felt I still didn't know Meghan. She was still just the fat girl. She may be the fat girl who now has a friend. But still. I didn't feel that way with Aimee. I felt she was more developed as a character. This was her story. Fat girl was just there along to help skinny girl win the day.

Based on what reviews I've read, I'm alone in seeing that this one has a few flaws. Most seem to really really enjoy it. And it's not that I didn't enjoy aspects of it. But it seemed impersonal and detached in places. Unemotional even in a few spots. And while detachment doesn't make a novel good or bad or whatnot. It does make it slightly less satisfying. Would I recommend it? Yes. Other people seem to be enjoying this one a good deal. And the story is a good one even if it reads closer to a parable (is that the right word???) than an actual story.


Other reviews: Little Willow, Bookshelves of Doom, Sarah Miller, Teen Book Review.

Also of interest: Publishers' Weekly article, author's website.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Jones, Frewin. 2007. The Lost Queen. (Book Two of the Faerie Path.

In The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones, we met a young teen girl, 15-almost-16, named Anita who at the beginning seemed quite ordinary.

From my first review: But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, something big happens that changes everything. It all starts with a boat accident. It ends with several missing teenagers that disappeared from the hospital. Anita transformed, if you will, into Tania on her sixteenth birthday. She is the seventh daughter of the royal faerie couple Oberon and Titania. She'd been missing from the world of Faerie for around five hundred years give or take a few. And her disappearance had made quite an impact--a horrible awful no good impact--on the land and on her parents. But she somehow magically made it back. Tania was back, that's all that seemed to matter. Her mother, Titania, was missing. Her father was unhappy. Her sisters mostly good except for that one that was up to no good...

At the end of The Faerie Path, Tania along with Edric, whom we first met as Evan, choose to return to the land of mortals. Tania wants to find her mother and be able to bring her back. But she also wants to return to her own parents. Tania realizes that her disappearance from this world, this mortal world, from the hospital in particular would be heartbreaking to her parents.

Thus opens The Lost Queen. Tania/Anita is back home with her mortal parents. She's in BIG BIG BIG trouble for disappearing. And she's not allowed to see her boyfriend, Evan, anymore outside of play rehearsals. (If you remember, the two are playing Romeo and Juliet.) She's having some difficulty fitting back into the mortal way of life--school, friends, dating, parents, etc. Especially since at the same time she's supposed to be behaving herself and earning back her parents' trust she's supposed to be tracking down her mother. She has her suspicions--and they are soon confirmed--that it must have been her mother (alive and well) who sent her that mysterious birthday present that wakened this faerie self that had been dormant for so many years.

Full of action, adventure, and some romance, The Lost Queen is an exciting sequel.

Note: If you've read the first one but it's been a while, you can probably pick this one up and go on. There is a very nice two or three page summary that tells you everything you need to know.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Doctorow, Cory. 2008. Little Brother.

I'm not sure I can adequately cover this one. Wow. Really wow. Then again with Neil Gaiman saying things like, "I'd recommend Little Brother over pretty much any book I've read this year" and "It made me want to be thirteen again right now and reading it for the first time"... I'm not sure my input is needed at all. It's also got, for the record, Scott Westerfeld calling it a, "Rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion--as necessary and dangerous as file sharing, free speech, and bottled water on a plane." Those two names alone would compel me to give this one a go.

Set in the near-future, we see the battle between safety and freedom reach its climax. Marcus and his friends, four techno-geeks, happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when terrorists strike the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. The four are taken prisoner by the Department of Homeland Security--not arrested, they just conveniently "disappear" without a trace. They are held prisoner for a week. At the end of a week, three of the four are released. Marcus, our narrator, is told that he's not "safe" yet. They'll be watching him. They feel sure that he must be a terrorist some way or some how.

Feeling the injustice of it all and grieving over the loss of his best friend, Darryl, whom he hasn't seen since the arrest, he vows to take down the DHS. Can he outsmart the bad good-guys by being a good bad-guy? Well, you'll just have to read for yourself.

Freedom. Safety. The Bill of Rights. The Constitution. Terrorists. Courage. Fear. The book is smart, very smart. And it's very effective. Though I know nothing about the world of computer coding and hacking, I could not put this one down.

I would think fans of Evil Genius and Genius Squad would appreciate this one.

You can download the novel here.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Lurie, April. 2008. The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine.

Wow. Wow. Super-wow. You must read this book. I really really enjoyed April Lurie's first book, Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds though it never did get the proper review since I reviewed it while I had the flu. (Here it is in its entirety: You'll just have to take my word for it that it is fabulous. Set in 1978, it is the story of one girl--her friends, her family, her neighborhood. It all works. It's just a good, good, thoroughly enjoyable book.) I didn't think it would be possible to love this next book even more. But I was wrong. Oh so wrong. I just loved and adored THE LATENT POWERS OF DYLAN FONTAINE.

I know I can't do it justice. It's one of those books that you'll just have to discover for yourself. But I can try. The writing, the characterization, everything is just so so so good. Dylan's narration of the novel is just oh-so-perfect. As a reader I just fell in love with him, his family, his friends. Dylan's life is far from perfect, far from ideal. He's going through a lot--and I do mean a lot--we first meet him in a jail cell. But it isn't what you think, not really. Yes, he stole two packages of Fruit-of-the-Loom underwear, but really...there's a good explanation for his crime.

Read for yourself all about Dylan in this wonderfully brilliant all-too-human coming-of-age novel.

Family. Friendship. Love. Life. The good. The bad. The ugly. Full of hope, full of wit, full of authentic and unforgettable characters. THE LATENT POWERS OF DYLAN FONTAINE has it all.

First sentence: I can tell you from experience that a jail cell is not a place you'd like to visit.

April Lurie's blog
April Lurie's web site

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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