A Stroll Through the Library

Age 9.  I stayed up until 3 finishing Maniac McGee

My fingers dance across a beat up copy of Deb Caletti's "Honey Baby, Sweetheart" and I smile to myself. It reminds me of sweaty hikes to the library during the summer before 9th grade. I place it back on the shelf, wondering just how many other girls have checked out this very same copy and found something meaningful inside. Farther down the aisle is "Secrets of Truth and Beauty" by Megan Frazer, a strange book from the summer after I turned 13 and graduated from middle grade to YA. I add two new books to my bag, head to the circulation desk, and pull out my ten year old ticket to new worlds. My library card that I got the summer before 4th grade at a library that has since been destroyed and rebuilt, bearing no resemblance to its original building. .Still, my library card remains the same. My shaky 3rd grade cursive is my signature on the back, I remember signing it and thinking about the episode from the TV show Arthur where they sing "Having fun isn't hard when you have a library card!" I felt powerful and grown up. I was responsible for my own books, my own adventures. 

Vacation, age 13 during a sci-fi phase.

It's strange to sit on the library floor and get so nostalgic, but I can't help it. I've spent the past seven summers hiking up the same sweltering hot hill in order to get to the library and fill my backpack up with as many books as I could carry. The library has been as synonymous to summer for me as ice cream and the beach. Leaving for college is hard, especially since I've never lived anywhere else. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to all those summers full of books that shaped me into the person I am today. Those sweaty hikes with my bag stuffed to capacity are some of the best memories I have of my childhood. 

I love my library because I know that all those books I checked out have been checked out by other people. People who loved them, hated them, found themselves within them just like I did. All these people who don't know each other are connected by the same book that always returns home to its place on the shelf. Somebody else has a story about a book I've read. That's magic. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Two boys grow up and into themselves in the stunning, multi-award winning novel "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz. The year is 1987. Aristotle "Ari" Mendoza is angry. His older brother is in prison, treated like an unspeakable secret by his mother and father. His father is full of silent pain, a ghost in their house full of post traumatic stress from the Vietnam War. On a summer afternoon at the pool, he meets Dante Quintana, a boy like nobody else he's ever known before. Dante is sensitive, an artist. He cries about dead birds and kisses his father on the cheek when he comes home. He struggles with his Mexican identity while Ari thrives in it. Over the course of a year that includes swimming, accidents, letters, and self discovery, the novel follows Dante and Ari's leap from childhood into adulthood and what it means for their relationship as it becomes more frightening and complex for the both of them. (Especially Ari.) 

"Secrets of the Universe" is written in very simple and sparse prose that allows the reader to fill in the blanks. So many conversations are full of powerful, heartbreaking subtext. Saenz is a master of showing, not telling in such unique, lyrical prose. I couldn't put it down. I loved that the story was about so much more than just Dante and Ari's relationship. It was about Ari's relationship with his father, his mother, and his older brother. Each relationship is explored fully and individually. Ari's anger is real and three dimensional. Even though his denial is frustrating at times, it's honest and understandable. When you put yourself in his shoes, you can see why he is so afraid of himself. Dante's ease with who he is is a lovely contrast to Ari's fear. He knows who he is, and he;s accepted it, but that acceptance causes him a different kind of pain. 

This gorgeous book is a wonderful example of why diversity is so important in YA literature. Here we have a beautiful, romantic story about two Mexican-American boys dealing with their sexuality in 1987 El Paso, Texas. It's relatable and beautiful. Discover the universe with Aristotle and Dante. You might just find all the answers in the hands of the one you love. 

Book Review Bundle

This summer I've had more time to read than I ever expected! Instead of doing individual posts for all the four books I read this week, they're all going here. I'll try to write better longer reviews as I finish instead of procrastinating. 

"Love Letters to the Dead" by Ava Dellaira

Unfortunately, this first bunch of books were all very meh. "Love Letters" was the best of the bunch, though. In it, high school freshman Laurel writes letters to dead famous people such as Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, etc. In these letters, she describes her friends, her relationships, and the guilt she feels surrounding her older sisters death. The entire book is very similar to "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" in both style and content, but comes nowhere near it in power. It was a lovely exploration of sisterhood though, something I rarely see in books. Most YA protagonists are only children or their siblings play small, plot driving roles. They're not fully fleshed out characters like they are in this story. "Love Letters" explored the way little sisters idolize big ones no matter how much they actually deserve it. I also enjoyed Laurel's character development. Over the school year she learns to come to terms with her grief, her past, and move forward to a better future.

"In Real Life" by Cory Doctorow

I'm not a "gamer girl",  but I really enjoyed this little graphic novel. (My very first ever!) This cute little book tells the story of Anda and her adventures on her favorite multi-player role playing game when she stumbles across a way to make money and play. Along the way she befriends a boy from China whose job is to sell magical objects illegally in the game, But the line between right and wrong becomes fuzzy when she sees how much it's affecting this boy and his co-workers. Full of bright, lovely illustrations, girl power, and a look into socio-ecomonics, "In Real Life" was so much better than I even expected. It was my favorite of this bunch even though it only took about 40 minutes to read. I can't wait to read more graphic novel and explore different genres. You'll never know what you'll find!

"The Good Sister" by Jamie Kain

I wanted to love this book so badly. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, but the plot was just too muddled with drama worthy of a day-time soap opera. Told through the point of views of three very different sisters, one dead, two very broken, "The Good Sister" explores grief, sisterhood, family, and love. I loved each of the characters. They were birth order stereotypes with real depth. Sarah, the titular "Good Sister" pieces together the story of her death in the afterlife while watching her family struggle with the loss of her. Her chapters are filled with poetry and a certain uneasiness that works so well. Rachel is the middle sister, full of jealousy for her "saintly" older sister and her wild child younger sister. Rachel uses boys to feel good about herself. Throughout the book she carries the heavy burden of watching her sisters death, and keeping the true details of it to herself. Asha is the youngest, wild, careless, and full of questions. How could her sister leave her like this? they were best friends. Some of the things Rachel tells her just don't add up. Asha spends most of her time sleeping in the park, drinking. and wallowing in her grief. All and all, "The Good Sister" is a good book. The fantastic writing almost makes up for the over stuffed plot that involves cancer, suicide, divorce, abusive relationships, and much much more.

"Impossible" by Nancy Werlin

The plot had me intrigued. Lucy Scarborough's family has been cursed for hundreds of years. Each Scarborough girl will have a daughter at age 18 and will promptly go mad after the birth unless they complete three impossible tasks within the folk ballad "Scarborough Fair". Great concept. Terrible, terrible execution. It's not often that I hate a book. "Impossible" is one of those few that I actually loathed so much I almost stopped. But it got so comically bad, I had to finish it. There is a demonic elf. There is a rape that is almost never addressed again. Lucy marries the boy next door and declares him her true love even though the amount of romantic tension between the two of them is about the same between Lucy and a rock in her front yard. The characters are all as flat as cardboard. There is no pacing, no tension, no reason to root for any of the characters. It also doesn't help that no one in the book actually believes 100% in the curse. They're mostly doing it as a precaution. I could go on and on about the terrible writing and plot holes, but I won't. I just leave you with this one warning, STAY AWAY.