Jimi & Me by Jaime Adoff

Teen Fiction Pick


   Another winner by Jaime Adoff. His storytelling, his poetry style, they both add up to great books! Jimi & Me is a first person story that follows Keith, a boy who has just lost his father, has to move to a new town and must struggle with new revelations about his family.
   For jr and senior high audiences, this book poignantly speaks to its audience without speaking down or resorting to preachiness. Mr. Adoff allows his characters to be themselves and resolve their dilemmas in a realistic way that young audiences can appreciate and older audiences can understand.



Favorite Quotes:

"My cereal bowl is almost empty,
as the question slides
down the kitchen walls,
landing like a brick in Mom's lap."

"I'm trying to tell myself that things will be okay.
I know it's a lie. But I heard
if you tell a lie long enough
it becomes the truth.
Maybe this lie will come true.
I hope it does."


Overall Opinion:

Written powerfully and poetically, Jaime Adoff's books are ones to add to your teen's library. His stories are a well blended mix of drama and redemption.


Rating:

I would say
in a word-
good.

I would say
in two words-
very good.

I would say
in a word-
delicious.

The Garden by Elsie V. Aidinoff

   Hmmm. I have to think about this one, need to seperate what I think of the book as a book and what I just think.  I'll be coming back. In the meantime it's been read.

   The Garden is Ms. Aidinoff's story of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. The story and characters are told from a decidedly different perspective than the reader might be familiar with. Eve is caring, intelligent, curious, talented  and just plain lovely. Adam is good with his hands, slightly vacant, and almost incapable of introspection. God is an exaggerated version of Adam with the difference that Adam's puppy-like likeability is absent in God. God also has the added characteristics of cruelty, shallowness, empathy stripping ego and virtually no redeeming qualities. The Serpent is wisdom, justice and knowledge. He is everything God is not. (Guess who raises whom in the garden.)
   My problem with the book (setting aside my personal beliefs) is my problem with most sitcoms of the day. There seems to the need to make the male character as dim and bumbling as possible, short of making him an actual monkey, in order to highlight the strength of the woman. I don't see the necessity. It's insulting to the man and, frankly, makes the woman more than a little stupid for picking such an obviously inept and buffoonish man.
   The story goes to such pains to make God the bad guy and the Serpent the good guy that it gets a bit tiresome. Not to mention the unforgiveable thing that God does, but that somehow becomes okay when the Serpent does it. Apparently the ends do justify the means.
   I like strong characters, male and female alike. Characters of either sex that can only be strong at the expense of the opposite sex are not strongly written characters they are naggingly told perspectives. I prefer strongly written.


Overall Opinion:

Since we're taking a page from the book and going with obvious overtelling, I didn't like the book.


Rating:

Doesn't Even Make the Scale

names will never hurt me by Jaime Adoff

Teen Fiction Pick

   Written like a form of poetry, names will never hurt me is filled with tension and keeps you wondering how it will end. It follows four different students during a day at school. Each character is written in the first person with intersecting stories.

   The day is the one year anniversary of another student's death on campus. None of the four really knew the student, but the import of the day nevertheless has an impact. Kurt, Tisha, Mark and Ryan range in the pecking order from greatest to least and don't appear to have anything in common. Except for the day.

   names will never hurt me builds to a taut crescendo, its foundation is bullying, worship, rascism, invisibility, attention and desire. The end is as satisfying as the beginning and the middle. Bonus? Yup. A question that doesn't get answered.

Favorite Quotes:

"My words warming up on the sidelines, ready for the play."

"Sandwiches and confessions fall out of backpacks, crashing to the floor, waiting to be swept up and thrown away."

Overall Opinion:

From the writing style to the story itself, it was fantastic!

Rating:

              !

           P

        U

   Thumbs

Two

Jailbait Zombie by Mario Acevedo

Teen Fiction Pick

(A Note to Parents: If you're looking for a book for your young preteen/early teen you might want to consider that Mr. Acevedo's other Felix Gomez character titles include The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and X-Rated Bloodsuckers.)

   I like a vampire/zombie/supernatural thriller as much as the next person, unless the next person really liked Jailbait Zombie. Then, not so much. Some of it was that I expect vampires to be a little more impervious to pain; running on bare feet shouldn't hurt so much if you're a vampire.
   The rest of it was simply the writing. There was way, way, way too much description and not enough just getting to the point already!! Did that sound a little emphatic and frustrated? That's okay, because, "Whew!" I think I needed to get that off my chest.
   (A little more calmly said.) I didn't find the characters very personable (they were supposed to be), I found the antagonist ridiculously caricatured (he was not supposed to be) and the rest was simply flat. I would say insipid, but the use of vocabulary might actually elevate the story.
   One other thing. Felix (the main character) is in his twenties, but comes across as a teenager. I can't put my finger on why he does, it's just something about him. I would have preferred a twenty-something who seemed like a twenty-something or a teenager who seemed like a teenager. Just a thought.

  
Favorite Quotes:

"If wisdom comes from making stupid mistakes, then someday I'm going to be a genius."

"I sipped the warm brew and it comforted me like a hug from a chubby hooker."

"Her right eyelid blinked repeatedly, semaphoring her anxiety."


Overall Opinion:

Eh.


Rating:

On a scale of Take It or Leave It, I would Leave It.

Baby Girl by Lenora Adams

  Teen Fiction Pick: I wouldn't recommend it for someone under the 7th grade. The story is one that you could chew over with your child.

    I initially thought this would be another Abbott book and was chagrined to see that I would have to write it. I decided to just read it and get it over with. It was not the chore I thought it would be.
   Sheree is a tough, street-wise seventeen year old who knows the game and how to play it. Her mother has taught her all she needs to know; how to recognize weed (everything else is bad for you), how to run the game so you get what you need from men (they're just looking to use you), to always be honest with her mother (listening to how her mother's male companions were in bed).
   Sheree's story is told in a letter to her mother after she runs away from home. She tells about the men coming in and out of the house, her first time with a boy (she was twelve), her desire for her dad (absent), her friend Ange and her boyfriend Damon (22 and a drug dealer). Sheree is looking for a mother and father, struggling for love and too wise to open her eyes.
   I liked Sheree. I wanted her to succeed. I wanted her to use what she saw and knew was wrong to make the changes she wasn't brave enough to make.
   My only qualm with the book was the author's writing style. Sheree speaks a mix of slang and English; Ms. Adams wasn't able to quite tie them together. It seemed that she wanted Sheree to authentically speak like a teenage tough girl while illustrating her intelligence. I think it can be done (I've heard people transition between the two); Ms. Adams either wasn't well versed enough in speaking slang herself or just couldn't make the blend. This is my only complaint; it made for a bit of jarring reading. However, Sheree was a compelling enough character that she carried me through the bumpiness.


Favorite Quote:

"Aunt Carlita is taller than Uncle Louie by a bouffant."


Overall Opinion:

Sheree made you like her and hope for the best for her. She saw the mistakes of those around her and her own and works to change them.


Rating:

7

Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher

Teen Fiction Pick

   Read, read, read this book. When you're done reading it, buy it. After you buy it give it to the nearest 9th-12th grader you know. Then buy another one to keep for yourself. Until you find another 9th-12th grader. In between buying and giving tell every adult who even knows a kid to read it.
   Th1rteen R3asons Why is one of the best books I've ever read. Period. The narrative, the style, the language, the characters, the suspense, the drama, the first page, the last page; everything. I picked it up today at about 1pm and read it until I finished it (it's 8:20pm).
   Jay Asher tells the story in a dual first person narrative. His narrators are Clay and Hannah. Clay is listening to Hannah's story as she tells it on tape; while he listens, he remembers her and learns about her. Clay doesn't want to know this story, but he must listen and learn. He must listen because Hannah is dead and he's one of the reasons.
   Their story is amazingly told. Hannah's reasons, small ones by themselves, are overwhelming together. Clay's anguish and desperation as he learns about them is crushing. I understood Hannah, but I felt Clay. His struggle to change her course, knowing that it was over, and still trying to stop it was so real that I felt myself mimicking his reactions before I realized it. Just as I was ready to stop reading because I didn't want to see what was coming next, Clay would want to stop the tape. And just like Clay, I had to finish the story.
   Read, read, read this book. When you're done reading it, buy it. After you buy it give it to the nearest 9th-12th grader you know. Then buy another one to keep for yourself. Until you find another 9th-12th grader. In between buying and giving tell every adult who even knows a kid to read it.


Favorite Quotes:

"Around the opposite sex, especially back then, my tongue twisted knots even a Boy Scout would walk away from."

"At school there are few loves that compare to the one between Tony and his car. More girls have dumped him out of car envy than my lips have even kissed."


Overall Opinion:

It is hauntingly desperate and vibrant in its desperation.


Rating:

Read, read, read this book. When you're done reading it, buy it. After you buy it give it to the nearest 9th-12th grader you know. Then buy another one to keep for yourself. Until you find another 9th-12th grader. In between buying and giving tell every adult who even knows a kid to read it.

Getting Lost with Boys by Hailey Abbott

I'm going to follow the classic maxim, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

For more on my opinion of Hailey Abbott's books see The Perfect Boy and The Secrets of Boys.


Favorite Quote:

None


Overall Opinion:

Yet another insipid and uninspiring story of an underage, girl who discovers herself thanks to the attentions of an over 18 year old who truly understands the real her. Disregard the liquor he gives her or the fact that she's only 16; she has her father's credit card, uninvolved parents and, as always, the unending fashion commercial.


Rating:

-10

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

   Here is a classic example of oversight. It didn't even occur to me that Down the Rabbit Hole was written by the same Peter Abrahams who wrote Delusion. Not until I had both books in front of me to write my reviews did I notice the similarity. If I'm being totally candid, it took me until I checked the author's picture in both books to figure it out. Eep.
   If you already read my posted review of Delusion, you will know that I was ambivalent, though willing to give him another shot. Well, this was his other shot (though, who are we kidding, if there's another one on the shelf I'll be reading that too).
   Down the Rabbit Hole was an enjoyable mystery. It began well and ended well. It is written for teens without dumbing down to reach its audience. I liked Ingrid, or Griddie as she prefers to be called, though she is the only one to call herself that. I liked the story and I liked the connection to Alice in Wonderland, that isn't what you might believe it to be if you go by the book's title.
   It's the first book in the Echo Falls Mystery series and I'm looking forward to getting to know more about the characters in the series. There are plenty of threads left to be pulled that Mr. Abrahams was kind enough to place. It was a smart move that is sure to invest the reader with a desire to make Echo Falls a place they would like to visit.


Favorite Quotes:

"He was the kind of dog that in a cartoon would harrumph a lot and play second fiddle."

"What was crimson? Just a mealymouthed color that didn't have the guts to be red."


Overall Opinion:

It's one of those teen books that kids will enjoy and adults will forget is for kids.


Rating:

8

Flight by Sherman Alexie

   Teen fiction pick.
   I think this book wanted to be good; it almost was. Zits is a fifteen year old, turnstyle foster kid. He is half Indian and Irish; the Indian part is, to him, the important part. He is in and out of jail and angry, angry, angry. Admittedly, his circumstances have given him little to feel safe about. During his latest detention Zits meets a boy who feeds the white man as oppressor/Indian as victim/government is evil ideology that Zits is teetering on. (The kid is white, by the way.)
   Upon Zits' release from detention the kid finds him and they spend time together. The kid, Justice, grooms Zits until a fateful event is reached. At the event's conclusion Zits finds himself inexlicably time traveling through different Indian/Army conflicts. Each conflict illustrates the good and bad nature of both the Indians and the white men. Personal growth and realization occur.
   Here is the problem. Problems? Yes, problems. The initial time traveling is too abrupt and jarring; it throughs you off. I'm sure that Alexie is trying to get the reader to feel the panic and confusion of Zits; it doesn't work. You end up thrown out of character rather than feeling part of the character.
   Zits' use of profanity attempts to walk the line between youthful, angry context and profane; it mostly falls on the side of profane. It just doesn't work very well. The book in general doesn't work very well, which is sad because when I read the book I really, really wanted it to work.
   Zits and his story of loss, redemption and the desire of a boy to be loved by a mother and, especially a father, was such a great idea. It just seemed that Alexie's style and use of mechanics weren't able to get out of the way of his idea.



Favorite Quotes:

Zits:
"I wish I lived back in the seventies. As ugly as I am, I might have been the biggest rock star in the world."

"My mother died of breast cancer when I was six...I sometimes wish she'd died when I was younger so I wouldn't remember her at all."


Overall Opinion:

I wish the writing was as good as the idea of the story.


Rating:

4

The Secrets of Boys by Hailey Abbott

Disclaimer: I am experiencing a lower than normal threshold for suffering fools lightly.

   Written in the vein of modern TV shows and movies that portray children as adults, The Secrets of Boys continues this dubious tradition. The kids are sixteen and running around with adults who somehow don't seem to mind that their companions are underage. I suppose as long as kids dress in the right labels, have their own rides and can drink without getting the grown ups busted for giving alcohol to minors it's all okay. After all girls + high heels + professional (read: uninvolved) parents= maturity and the ability to make adult decisions.
   Ahhh, young love. Cassidy Jones is shy and artistic and wears kitten heels and shops at Bebe, Kenneth Cole and Theory. (She also wears DKNY, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein and Cynthia Rowley and eats at Nobu. I know this because Abbott feels the need to name drop at every opportunity. There is nary a mention of any wearable item, without a designer. One gets the feeling she might be paid by the mention.) Cassidy also has a devoted, needless to say, hunky boyfriend of two years. Will she lose her virginity to him? Oh no. Not Cassidy.
   Cassidy gives it up to Zach, her 19 year old TA that she's known for two minutes (she's in a summer college french class). Of course, he is wonderful and understands her and helps her to come out of her shell as no one else can. When he stops talking to her the day after he gets her to tell him she wants to have sex with her, does that end things? No(!) don't be silly!! She talks to him and convinces him that a summer romance is the perfect thing, since of course he was just trying to avoid hurting her since he would be moving back to New York after the summer.
   Aaahhh. To be so young and misunderstood. But don't fret mon chere, Ms. Abbott is here to explain to all "mature" youth everywhere that she understands that they're not just teenagers, they're young adults.



Favorite Quote:

"If they were any more anal retentive, we wouldn't need a bathroom."


Overall Opinion:

I am just so relieved that I now have the definitive book of modern advice for teens. When my daughter comes of age, apparently it's 16, but I might get ahead of the ball and start prepping her at 14, I can pull out this book and she'll have all the answers. Because she sure won't want to wait until she's married to have sex and it's almost just as Puritanical to wait for the boy who loves you. The one for her then, must surely be the adult authority in the room who is the only one who can see her for who she truly is. It will be okay, really, because as Zach tells Cassidy, "Hey, I know a worthy student when I see one."


Rating:

Please. Must I?

The Perfect Boy by Hailey Abbott

   Teen fiction section pick. If there is a perfect example of unchallenging, trite drivel for kids, then The Perfect Boy is the perfect selection. Ciara is a high school girl who has spent her time being a player (for the sake of this book, that means kissing random boys), and just realizes that the thrill she once felt has turned to ashes. Determined to change, Ciara decides that she the summer she spends with her father in Santa Barbara she will pick the perfect boyfriend and stop being a player.
   The author feels the need to name drop fashion designers everytime she describes Ciara's clothes (tiresome), spends no time developing the great friendship that two of the girls are supposed to have developed (confusing), and throws in the fact that Ciara's parents' divorce might have something to do with her behavior as a casual afterthought rather than the eye opening epiphany she tries to make it seem.
   I think The Perfect Boy is a teen attempt at the romance genre and Ms. Abbott would have been better served had her editor took a red pen to the deeper storylines rather than leaving them so obviously neglected and wilted. There is an instance of underage drinking (it does not turn to drunkenness), but if that doesn't bother you there is still no reason to read the book.

Favorite Quotes:

None


 Overall Opinion:

I am dearly hoping this is the only one of her series that my library has.


Rating:

1

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott

   Teen fiction selection that wasted no time lollygagging and got right down to brass tacks. In a fantasy world of humans, dwarves, centaurs, etc. etc., Abisina is born an outcast in her village. As are all born possessing any of the wrong characteristics, to wit, not blond haired and blue eyed. Abisina must leave Vranille for Watersmeet, to find the father she just learned of. She encounters the "demons": dwarves, centaurs and others; in doing so she learns that all is not what she has learned growing up in prejudice.
   Is it just me or did this review seem terse and unremarkable?
  
Favorite Quotes:

Didn't come across anything that struck me.

Overall Opinion:

 Fine for any age. The story is a predictable good vs. evil, overcoming fear, prejudice, etc., etc. tale, but would most likely engage a young reader, particularly girls.

Rating:

Why not read? There are better books, but this one is not a complete waste of a couple of hours.

Grimpow The Invisible Road by Rafael Abalos

   First things first. Grimpow The Invisible Road by Rafael Abalos follows Grimpow, (that sounded a little obvious after I typed it, but I don't write the stories, I just review them) a 14th century boy who happens across a dead body. Grimpow, (Grim po' ? Grim pow' ?), like other poor boys of his time, is illiterate, but dreams of one day being a knight's squire. After telling his friend Durlib, a thief/swindler and his father figure, about his discovery, they return to the body and discover more mysteries.
   Thus, Grimpow begins a journey that includes the philosopher's stone, the secret of the wise and, of course, the Knights Templar. The story is well told, avoids most dawdling, and has likeable characters. Abalos' book stresses wisdom and knowledge over religion, but as some of the characters that are responsible for guiding Grimpow are good monks, I felt that his conflict centered more around the greed of the powerful and imposition of willful ignorance than God per se.
   I have no qualms about any of my children reading Grimpow, though it seems to be more a boys book than a crossover tale. Plus, I don't know if my boys would get into the story. While it was written well enough and I was interested in seeing the end, it just didn't grab me, and 482 pages are a lot of pages to get through when you lack a hook. The book is translated from its original Spanish, I don't think that had anything to do with it, but without reading it in the original Espanol, who can tell?

Favorite Quotes:

"Nausea quickly ran up Grimpow's throat and stirred the stew that sat so sweetly in his stomach."

"The young lady noticed the boy who stood staring at her, and smiled, sending Grimpow's thoughts scattering like a flock of birds taken by surprise, and turning his cheeks red."

Overall Opinion:

I started on the fence and am swiftly falling to the opinion that says this book was not for me. It seemed to have all the right elements, but was still missing something, umm, how do you say, umm (snapping my fingers), a je ne sais quois? By the end of the book I was flipping through the pages and just scanning to see what happened.

Rating:

1 Time Read (but with the caveat, "You might like it, it just didn't quite do it for me.")

Firegirl by Tony Abbott

   I really enjoyed Firegirl by Tony Abbott. It's a short book at only 145 pages; perfect length for a quick read and still have most of the day to enjoy. The book is from my teen section choices, but would be more than suitable for anyone as young as eleven. The age I'm picking isn't because of content, rather more about reading comprehension.
   Firegirl followsTom, an eigth grader who is more on the fringe of his class than a complete outsider. Tom sweats a lot and has one friend. I liked that Tom has good parents and realizes it. He's a nice boy who daydreams about different far-fetched scenarios in which he rescues Courtney, the beautiful girl in his class. Things would probably remain unchanged, except for the arrival of Jessica to the class.
   Jessica has survived being burned over most of her body. No one knows what to do or say, so no one does or says anything to her. Tom, being as introspective as an eigth grader can be, feels sorry for her, but can never bring himself to say anything to the other kids when they speculate on her situation.
   The end of Chapter 13 bears Tom's soul so simply and unconsciously that it is beautiful to read. He is brave while he is scared and confused and doesn't realize it. Tom is also weak and selfish, just like any other boy his age. Tom and his classmates are written true to life and it is easy to believe they would say and do the things that are written.
    
Favorite Quotes:

"I found that I started, in little bits, raising my head to look at her, but always when I knew she was turned the other way or couldn't see me. I discovered that if you didn't see the edge of her face or her hand lying on the desk, she looked almost like any girl with dirty hair. It was sort of crushed and matted in the back. It almost began to feel as if there was a person in there."

"I ended up not trying again, and then it was suppertime."

Overall Opinion:

I would make Firegirl required reading for a 5th or 6th grade reading class if I could. It is a book I will definitely share.

Rating:

Personal library addition