(Insert lame title) Books I read in April

Photo by Piotr Bizior

www.bizior.com

April has been a crazy month.  Actually, April has been a real Jackhole.  In fact, I’d like to formally invite April to suck it.  Despite April’s attempts to make me no more useful than a human hat rack, I have managed to read a few diverse books.  These books have been April's only saving grace.

THIS THING CALLED THE FUTURE: A NOVEL by J.L. Powers

Buy it here from 
Better World Books

Fourteen-year-old Khosi lives in a shantytown in South Africa with her grandmother and younger sister.  Her mother, a nurse in a nearby city, can only visit on weekends.  Khosi’s grandmother visits a traditional South African healer.  Her mother believes firmly in Western medicines and wants her daughter to grow up believing what is “true.”  Khosi is torn between these two women and the worlds they represent.  When her mother becomes sick, Khosi finds a middle ground on which to stand as she battles to save those she loves.

I loved this book.  And it isn’t just because I won it, although, I did.  I won it.  In a contest.  Which is absolutely fan-freaking-tastic considering the month I’ve had!  I’m a member of She Writes, an online writing community.  I “met” J.L. Powers through the site and was able to snag a copy of THIS THING CALLED THE FUTURE, her second novel, in a contest on She Writes. 

I loved this book.  And it isn’t just because in communicating with Ms Powers, I was encouraged by a fellow writer to wait patiently through the next steps to publishing my own story.  Although, she was very kind and helpful, and her guidance kept me from obsessively checking my email every 1.3 seconds. 

I loved this book.  And it is absolutely because Khosi is a brave, vibrant character, and Ms. Powers recreates so perfectly not just the look of South Africa for me, but the smells, tastes, and feeling of walking the dusty streets of Khosi’s town.  Her use of the Zulu language throughout the novel allows the characters to be so very comfortable in their written skins that I had no problem stepping inside and becoming part of the story.  I can’t resist a story that invites me in so entirely.   I am even willing to forgive Ms Powers for making me cry while reading (because just about everything makes me cry now:  sneezes, bread, Volkswagons, you know, the normal stuff).

NIGHT ROAD: A NOVEL by Kristin Hannah (in stores April, 29, 2011)

Buy it here from
Better World Books

The Farradays are a nearly perfect suburban family.  Twin teenagers, gentle Mia and popular Zach, are model children of whom their adoring mother Jude can be proud.  When misfit Mia befriends the new girl, Lexi, Jude welcomes her into their household.  She can’t help but want to mother Lexi, who never had a proper mother and has moved around foster care her whole life.  What’s to lose?  Jude’s got plenty of love and advice to go around.  Things for Jude get complicated when Zach and Lexi fall in love.  That was never part of her plan, but then again, neither was the tragedy lurking on Night Road.

This book showed up one day in the mail.  Apparently, I’d requested an advanced reader copy from the publisher.  Must have been in one of my saner moments.  NIGHT ROAD is considered adult fiction, even though the point of view switches between Jude and the much younger Lexi.  I don’t normally read grown up books (literary Peter Pan that I am), but, hey, free is awesome!  Oddly enough, I felt very drawn to the teens and had a hard time connecting with Jude.  This is weird because I am totally a helicopter mom just like Jude.  I live to be in my kid’s business.  But when reading NIGHT ROAD, every time Jude showed up, I felt my boundaries instantly shrink under her sharp eye, just like a real life teenager.  Congratulations to Ms Hannah for capturing that teen feel so well.

I will admit it made me cry.  Then again, I cried when peeling a banana on Tuesday, so what do you want to make of it?

THIS LULLABY by Sarah Dessen

Buy it here from
Better World Books

Remy knows all about “love.”  She’s watched her mother tear through romances faster than a competitive eater on Coney Island.  As her senior year wraps up and the planning of another wedding for her mother is finished, Remy is ready for some fun with her girl friends during that in between time before college begins.  Unfortunately for Remy all her plans and carefully constructed rules are about to be ruined by one boy.  Dexter’s clumsy exuberance for life irritates Remy from the moment she meets him, but whether it is because he doesn’t fit into any of her expectations for boyfriends, or his refusal to follow protocol in the development of their relationship, or because she’s just too curious to see what he’ll do next, Remy can’t seem to stay away.

I’m a Sarah Dessen fan, most definitely, but this has been my least favorite.  Remy’s strict rules for relationships and inflexibility were simply too irritating for me.  I felt Dexter was just too good for her and that’s probably not how I should feel at the end of the book.

As a plus, it was tear free!

INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

Buy it here from
Better World Books

April was National Poetry Month.  So it was lucky for me that I picked this book up off the library shelf one day.  I was intrigued by the title and the beautiful cover art and tossed it in the bag without really looking at it.  So, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was an entire story told completely in poetry.

INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN is the story of a Vietnamese girl and her family told in three parts:  deciding to leave Vietnam during the war, crossing the ocean to safety, and learning to live in America.  Ha is the youngest sister to three brothers.  Their father’s whereabouts are unknown since the war began.  Mother must try to keep herself together enough to make enormous decisions for her family while grieving for her husband.

The story moves through the poetry swiftly and smoothly.  In simple, stark imagery, Ha shows us her life and the raw emotions she is dealing with during this time.  It was wonderful to see language used so effectively, no excesses, just the heart of the story pulsing out from the pages and into me.  Brilliant.

And, yes.  I cried.

FINALLY 12 by Wendy Mass (nominated for the 2011 Children's Choice Book Award!)

Buy it here from
Better World Books

During the same library trip where I picked up the last book, my daughter picked up Wendy Mass’s FINALLY 12, probably because it had a big birthday cake on the cover and she was still really excited about her recent birthday.  Since there is quite a difference between a 12-year-old and an eight-year-old, I needed to pre-read this book before I allowed my daughter to read it.   As I kid, I read plenty of books whose content was way out of my league and I'm no worse for the wear, but I wanted to be sure I knew what she was reading so I could prepare my answers (parenting cheat-sheet!) to questions that may come my way.

FINALLY 12 is the story of Rory, a girl with slightly over-protective parents who have been putting off allowing Rory to do many things until she turns 12.  Rory has made a list, a long, long list, of things she wants when she turns 12.  Getting a cell phone, piercing her ears, wearing make-up, going to a girl-boy party, shaving her legs, and riding the loop-de-loop roller coaster at the carnival are all on her list.  She methodically works her way through this list only to discover that what she wants may not be what she needs.

Once I'd finished reading this book, I practically ran to give it to my quickly growing up daughter.  Ms Mass allows Rory to learn for herself that perhaps there is no need to rush the whole growing-up gig.  I think it resonates well with young readers who also feel caught between wanting to grow up and still enjoy being a kid.  If you’ve know a girl from ages 8-10, I’d recommend you read this book together.

Oh, and despite the fact that this is an uplifting read, I cried.  I just love a happy ending!