Book List Part 1
I've wanted to keep track of the books I read for a while. Now that I'm on a Youth Services Librarian committee where part of what we do is read lots of books in order to run a mock awards and pick what books we would choose for various awards, I am making more of an effort to follow through.
Books read for the Printz Mock Awards Committee:
Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
This is a hard book to summarize or give a short ‘hook’ to what it is ‘about’. It’s not a book that is going to fly off the shelves, but it is a book that I think teens should read and would enjoy and get a lot out of once they got into it.
Dante and Aristotle (Ari) are two very different Mexican-American teenage boys who become best friends after bonding over their names. Dante teaches Ari to swim; Ari pushes him out of the way of an oncoming truck, saving his life. When Dante is severely beaten by a group of homophobic boys, Ari flips out, tracks one of the boys down and beats the shit out of him until an adult pulls him off the guy. Woven in between these events are issues of friendship, family and identity. Dante doesn’t feel ‘Mexican’ enough. Both boys’ relationships with their parents are explored in depth. Ari is coming to terms (or for much of the book, not coming to terms) with his feeling for Dante (who has admitted to a few people he is gay). But most of all, this book is about not knowing how to talk about things that need to be talked about. Ari doesn’t talk much and definitely not about the important things, something he gets from his father who doesn’t talk much and definitely not about the Vietnam War and how it changed him or about Ari’s older brother who is in prison and is a big gaping hole in their family. But Ari thinks about all of this and more, struggling to come to some kind of understanding, find his place in the universe.
While this is a long, introspective story, the short chapters and snappy, spot-on dialogue keep it moving quickly, and it never gets bogged down. The dialogue feels real, conversations two teenage boys would have with each other. The emotions are honest. This is a fantastic book, one I thoroughly enjoyed and one I feel is a strong contender for the Printz award.
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
Maggie is understandably nervous starting her freshman year of high school after being home schooled all her life. The fact that her three older brothers have already transition to public school and all currently attend the same high school is not helping as much as it should, especially since something is going on with the twins and there is a weird tension between her oldest brother and the brother of her new friend. Maggie could really use her mother right now, but her mother left, needing some ‘time to herself’ and no one is sure if she’s coming back.
And, oh yeah, there’s a ghost following her around.
I really, really enjoyed this one. This is not a typical girl sees ghosts story and the subtle way the ghost element was used really impressed me. The dialogue and banter was great, with some truly fun and funny moments. I loved all the characters and the sibling dynamics were perfect. The author really captured how siblings interact with each other. Maggie’s oldest brother reminded me a lot of my oldest sister (in a good way).
The story is deceptively simple, but the more you look back on it the more elements you see woven throughout. This is not a story about fixing things, but rather a story of living with the changes life brings. It probably won’t win the Printz award, but I can see it at least being a contender and definitely deserves to be on some best books lists.
I believe this is a standalone graphic novel but I would not mind seeing the further adventures of Maggie, her family and friends.
Buried: A Goth Girl Mystery by Linda Joy Singleton
Thorn (real name Beth Ann) has a psychic ability to find things. She finds a locket that leads her to the grave of a baby. In the course of investigating who lost the locket and thus secretly buried the baby she has the join the school’s music competition, where one of the judges is a pop star who had attended the school before making it big.
Despite the subject matter of dead baby this is a light, predictable mystery. The author doesn’t do anything new with any of the story elements. She emphasizes that Thorn is ‘Goth’ so much that is becomes her defining character trait, overshadowing all other aspects of her personality. It wasn’t a bad book and entertaining enough if you are looking for a light, no-brainer mystery, but it does nothing new, there is nothing special about it. What could have been an interesting subplot (or chance for character development) when Thorn reflects that people, including her family, treat her differently when she dressed normally (with her natural hair) vs. how they treat her when she is decked out in her full Goth regalia goes absolutely nowhere.
Books Read for Fun:
New X-men Academy X
(New Mutants 1-13, New X-Men 1-6 so far) I’m really, really enjoying this one so far. It is lighthearted, focusing on the school story aspect. I like the pacing and that since it is a school story they are focusing on rivalry between students and training competitions rather than forcing epic saving the world battles and struggles against an evil team of evil. The Hellions are not House Slytherin. They’re just kids, and actually have more team cohesion then the New Mutants team. There is not a character I dislike or am bored by, though there are characters I am more interested in/like better. So far favorite characters/characters I really want to see more of, in no particular order - Sofia, Josh, Dust, Pixie, Mercury, Rockslide, Victor, Jay and because I’ve been told he has some interesting character development coming up, Hellion. Also Pink Blob Skeleton Guy totally needs his (or her?) own miniseries.
X-Force
(End of New Mutants, X-Force 1990s run) I started reading this last year and got several more of the collected volumes for Christmas (I’m up to the X-cutioner’s Song crossover, which is apparently where a lot of the Cable - Scott connection is revealed) I’m mostly reading it because I’m interested in piecing together Cable’s early history after getting interested in the character because of Cable & Deadpool and I wanted to see Rictor and Shatterstar’s first meeting and the development of their friendship (which has turned into a relationship in X-Factor). Cable is ridiculous, the art is over the top muscles and guns (in the early issues the art is full on Rob Leifeild, later issues are just artists drawing in the same style - just as many pouches, but with the added bonus of feet) and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, when called on their name actually stop and explain why they call themselves the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It’s fun if you don’t try to take it too seriously. I’m enjoying learning more about the character histories and there is some good character stuff mixed in among all the ‘darker, grittier’ 90s action.
Rereading the Mediator books by Meg Cabot
(#1, 4 and 5, will read 6 soon) Fun, light reads. Paranormal romance written before Paranormal Romance was the big thing. Suze is proactive and kick ass. She can see (and touch) ghosts and takes her duty to help them move on seriously, if a bit impatiently. Many interactions go along the lines of “Yep, your dead. That sucks. Let’s figure out what’s holding you back so you can get on to your next life/Heaven/Hell.” Father Dominic is a great reasonable authority figure/mentor, though he doesn’t always agree with her methods. “We are supposed to help these lost souls, not punch them in the face.” And love interest Jesse is an intelligent, hot, protective (sometimes over-protective) ghost of a Spanish rancher (not cowboy!) from 1850s California with a good sense of humor who is haunting her bedroom. Thoroughly enjoyable.