Gold Star Review: Boy21

Boy21
by Matthew Quick

Book Description:

You can lose yourself in repetition--quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of this at a very young age.

Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in broken-down Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, his dad works nights, and Finley is left to take care of his disabled grandfather alone. He's always dreamed of getting out someday, but until he can, putting on that number 21 jersey makes everything seem okay.

Russ has just moved to the neighborhood, and the life of this teen basketball phenom has been turned upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he won't pick up a basketball, but answers only to the name Boy21--taken from his former jersey number.

As their final year of high school brings these two boys together, a unique friendship may turn out to be the answer they both need.

Review:
This is a book that I never would have picked up without prompting. It's got a sort-of unappealing cover, it's about basketball and boys that live in a not-so-nice neighborhood. Not my normal type of book. Am I glad, however, that I was forced to pick this one up? YES!

I sat down to read this and I won't lie, I was pretty much figuring I'd hate it. Instead I found myself totally absorbed, unable to put the book down until long after my regular bedtime, even as my eyes were fighting me, wanting to close. There is something about the tone of this book that hits it just right. The story is powerful and haunting and absolutely, heartbreakingly believable. I finished this book and immediately started recommending it the next day....to think I thought I'd hate it, LOL!

Yes, there is violence, and yes, it's definitely a book for high school readers, but I don't think there's a person out there who wouldn't find something in this book relatable or compelling once they started it. Please ignore the cover. Please trust me. This is an excellent book and I am most definitely awarding it a GOLD STAR.

Review: It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story

by Ned Vizzini

 

Book Description:

Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That’s when things start to get crazy.

At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he’s just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig stops eating and sleeping—until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

 

Review:

I really need to listen to my teen readers at the library more often. The trouble is I usually have such a huge stack of books that I'm dying to read any way that when a teen suggests a book I tell them, "oh yeah, I'd like to read that...it's going on my list" and then it takes ages for me to get to it...

 

 

I had three different teens recommend this book to me. I'm so glad I finally picked this one up. It was indeed a great story! Others have said this, but it bears repeating...for a book about a suicidal teenager, this was actually a surprisingly funny book. Vizzini manages to make this book feel achingly "real" precisely because it covers such a huge range of emotions. There are NO one dimensional characters and the plot is utterly realistic. What a well done book.

 

 

I highly recommend this one (and I'm going to check out the movie...I want to compare it to the book...)

 



Review: Camo Girl

Camo Girl

by Kekla Magoon

Book Description:

Ella and Z have been friends forever, both of them middle-school outsiders in their Las Vegas suburb. Ella is the only black girl in her grade and gets teased for the mottled colors of her face. (Her deceased father was white.) Z is the classic “weird kid” who maintains an elaborate—and public—fantasy life, starring himself as a brave knight. Though Z is content with his imagined world, Ella wishes for a larger group of friends, so she’s thrilled when Bailey, another black kid, arrives at their school. He’s popular and wants to befriend Ella—but to join the cool crowd, Ella would have to ditch Z. Does she stay loyal to the boy who has been her best and only friend for years, or jump at the chance to realize her dream of popularity?

 

Review: 

This was an easy to read book.  In some ways some of the events seemed to wrap up a little too easily, but if you can suspend your disbelief, the points addressed in the book really do make for an enjoyable story.  The main characters of Ella and Z were really well fleshed out and the struggles they each face were intriuging to read about.  This was definitely not the best written book I've ever read, but it got its point across, which was important.

Review: Dirty Little Secrets



Dirty Little Secrets
by C.J. Omololu

Book Description:
Everyone has a secret. But Lucy's is bigger and dirtier than most. It's one she's been hiding for years-that her mom's out-of-control hoarding has turned their lives into a world of garbage and shame. Tackling an increasingly discussed topic that is both fascinating and disturbing, C. J. Omololu weaves an hour-by-hour account of Lucy's desperate attempt to save her family. Readers join Lucy on a path from which there is no return, and the impact of hoarding on one teen's life will have them completely hooked.

Review:
This was a compelling, intriguing, and at moments both gross and shocking book. It's like a soap opera unfolding in front of your eyes - you see it happening, you know what's coming, and still you can't look away...you are hooked!  

I watch Hoarders on TV. I'll admit it. It's one of those shows you turn on and then can't turn off again. I'll watch it for hours. It's educational in a way, but it's mostly morbidly fascinating. You can't help but wonder for hours how it's possible that people actually live like that! It also has the dual purpose of making me feel much better about how I live my life...sort of like Cops, LOL.

Anyway, this book read like watching an episode's aftermath. I could not put it down! There were moments when I wished I could, but it was impossible. I can absolutely see now why several of the teens in our Library had been bugging me to read this one!

For something a little different that you won't be able to put down...try Dirty Little Secrets!

Review: Chopsticks

Chopsticks
by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

Book Description:

After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song "Chopsticks."

But nothing is what it seems, and Glory's reality is not reality at all. In this stunningly moving novel told in photographs, pictures, and words, it's up to the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along...

Review: 

This is actually a really cool book. It's a quick read because it's all done in ephemera... meaning, postcards, pictures, newspaper articles, IM conversations. It's a breeze to flip through, but it builds a really intriguing story.

I loved how every time you turn the page another little layer of the story, or Glory or Frank's story, gets peeled away and the sequence of events builds... is Glory going mad? Is she plotting to run away? Is her Dad holding her captive? What is really happening?

I love how in the end, you think you know what's happened, but maybe not... It's ambiguous, just like real life. There are so many mysteries out there and it's truly impossible to know everything that goes on with everyone around us...

I'm really glad I picked this one up.