The Fault in our Stars

     In a single word - AMAZING!  The Fault in our Stars by John Green is one of my favorite books of all time.  It is laugh-out-loud funny and sobbingly tragic within sentences of one another.
     The characters are some of the most believable I have ever read.  Hazel, Augustus, and Issac feel like friends I formed iron bonds through tragic circumstances, although the other characters were not as developed.  
     The dialogue was brilliant.  It held the beauty of Shakespeare, the simplicity of poetry, and the depth you only get from surviving a trip through Hell.
     The description of Spring in Amsterdam made me homesick for a place I have never been.
     The title refers to a line from Julius Caesar.  Cassius tells Brutus, "The Fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves..."  It is the perfect title for a story of three teenagers facing terminal cancer.
     Hazel starts her story on the day she meets Augustus at the cancer support group.  She has terminal thyroid cancer that makes her unable to breathe on her own.  Suffering from depression, her mom insists she go to therapy.  One of those dreaded events she does each week, until the day Augustus appears in the group.  Hazel does not want to fall in love and devastate any more people than she has to with her death, but she can't stop falling in love with a boy who metaphorically holds the object of death in his mouth but doesn't smoke it.
     Augustus has been in remission from Osteosarcoma since his leg was amputated.  He knows the risks he faces falling in love with Hazel; his last girlfriend Caroline died from cancer.  In fact, he can't stop staring at Hazel when they first meet because she looks so much like Hazel.  He knows that losing the person you love is a grenade going off inside, but he knows love means something in this world that loss and death cannot diminish.
     Isaac loses his eyesight from his own cancer, but through his loss he sees life and love more clearly than before.  Although Isaac's girlfriend Monica swears to love him forever, she breaks up with him the night before the surgery to remove his eyes.
     He rages to Hazel, "Always was a promise!  How can you just break the promise?"
     Hazel replies, "Sometimes people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them."
     "Right, of course.  But you keep the promise anyway.  That's what love is.  Love is keeping the promise anyway."
     Through his loss, he gives my favorite line of the book.  This is my new definition of love.
     It has been a long time since I read a book by choice and found myself underlining lines and passages that were so powerful I knew I would want to come back to reread them later.
     Although this book has teenagers as the main characters, the language and sexual scene make it inappropriate for some teenagers.  However, it did fit into the book and the characters' situations; it was not done gratuitously.             

The Son of Neptune

     Another great book by Rick Riordan.  Percy finds himself in California this time, fighting Gorgons who won't die.  These Gorgons are greeters from Bargain Mart with big buttons on their vests and silver trays loaded with free samples.  Although Percy puts up a good fight, these Gorgons keep coming back to life.  Death has been kidnapped and the monsters reform as fast as Percy can kill them.
     As Percy escapes on a free sample tray, he encounters Juno and carries her across the Tiber River to Camp Jupiter.  By doing so, Percy loses the protection of the River Styx and chooses a life of pain and possibility.
     Percy becomes a member of the Fifth Cohort with the two kids who save him from the Gorgons - Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque.  After the nightly war games, Frank is claimed by his father Mars.  Percy, Frank, and Hazel are sent on a quest to free Thanatos, the god of death, from captivity in Alaska.
     On their way, they face many monsters and have wonderful adventures.  I love the new characters in the book.  In Greek tradition, they meet a blind man who sees and knows everything.
     Ella is another favorite.  She is a small, kind-hearted Harpy that remembers everything she reads, including prophecies.  One of my favorite parts of the book is when she falls in love with Percy's cyclops brother - Tyson, my favorite character in the series.  They were very cute together.
      I also like the Hyperboreans, bright blue, peaceful giants, living in Alaska  For some reason, they seemed to fit Alaska well.  I could visualize them going through Alaskan life at peace with nature and immune to the angst of the humans and monsters below.
     Arion was another fun character.  Who wouldn't love riding a gold-eating horse at the speed of light?  He also has a trash mouth, but we never have to actually hear the words, since Percy is the only one who understands horses.  
     Of course, I also like Octavian.  In the ancient days of Rome he would have read animal entrails for signs.  At Camp Jupiter, he reads the stuffing of stuffed animals instead.  That made Nick and I laugh hysterically.    
     My favorite part of the book occurs at Iris' store called Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles or R.O.F.L. for short.  The store is protected by a brilliant rainbow that blinds the monsters trying to get inside.  When Polybotes demands Iris kneel before him, a dark object flies out the window and lands at his feet.  Polybotes yells, Grenade" and orders everyone to the ground.  When it doesn't explode, he looks more closely.  He roars in outrage, "A Ding Dong?  You dare insult me with a Ding Dong?"  It was so unexpected that I couldn't stop laughing.  What a great thing to throw at a giant threatening you to show how little you think of his threat.  A great life lesson in that analogy, as well.  
      The book was fast paced and full of adventures, romance, and monsters.  I enjoyed the writing, the variety of new characters, and the humor.  It was a wonderful addition to the series.  It is going to be really hard to wait for the next book that comes out in the fall.                 

Winter Girls

     Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is one of the most intense books I have ever read.  When Lia and Cassie's families begin falling apart, the girls try to control the only thing they can control in their lives - their weight.  They make a vow to one another to be thin.  Cassie does not have the willpower that Lia has, so she resorts to bulimia.  She loses her life in a dirty hotel room, alone, after calling Lia 33 times.  The guilt is excruciating for Lia and her own demons return to haunt her.  Not only does she begin starving herself again, she is also haunted by the ghost of Cassie.  Lia is a lost wintergirl, not dead, but not alive either.  Everyone tries to help her come back from this living death, but only Lia can decide if she will take the easy way out and join Cassie or if she will fight hard enough to live.
     This book touched me deeply.  I loved a wintergirl and she killed herself seven years ago.  I know how hard this world is when your eyes see things that just aren't there.  It is so hard to see girls struggling so hard to be enough in a world that has no place for imperfections.
     The writing is brutal and stark and poetic and beautiful and hauntingly painful.  I couldn't get Lia out of my mind for days.  Every time I picked up the book, I couldn't stop reading.  It was hard to leave her lost in the winter until I could pick up the book again.
     Some people told me they felt this book was inappropriate for girls because it gave them ideas about anorexia and bulimia.  I think the issues go so deep that a book is not going to push someone into this life.  It is not glamorized, but Lia does have ways to convince people that she is fine when she is clearly not.  I would definitely read the book before suggesting it for a teenager to see if it was appropriate for him/her.
     This book was haunting and changed my life profoundly because I now understand the world through a wintergirl's eyes.  Although Lia will stay with me for a very long time, I am glad that I can leave her world.  Here's to the wintergirls.  I hope this book helps us change our views of weight, beauty, and perfection.  

The Sense of an Ending

     The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes frustrated me.  It is a metaphysical book that deals with human emotions of guilt, loss, and rejection.  However, it holds itself above the world of banal emotions and never allows the reader to truly feel anything.
     The plot is slow to develop, although it covers a lifetime in 163 pages.  With a slow plot, distant characters, and philosophical wanderings, it is a difficult book to read.
     The ending was disturbing and reinforced my opinion of the entire book.  Although I learned to dislike Veronica through Tony's eyes, I wondered why she chose to pay for the sins of the people she loved.  Did she feel the guilt of the stupid mistakes we all make when our whole life is ahead of us without the wisdom to tread lightly?
     

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Peanuts

     I love this title!  It pretty much sums up my life, and the fact that it was a birthday gift from my brother makes it even more perfect.  This book of wisdom pairs up a lesson on the left with an example cartoon from Peanuts on the right. 
     One lesson is "How to Eat Ice Cream" and shows Snoopy and Woodstock eating ice cream together on top of Snoopy's dog house.  Snoopy says, "I always have the vanilla on the bottom and the chocolate on the top."  When Woodstock answers, Snoopy replies, "You like to have the vanilla on top and the chocolate on the bottom?  That's interesting.  It takes all kinds to make a world."  What a wonderful world it would be if we could all see that we like different kinds of ice cream, but it takes all kinds to make a world. 

43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You

     Ignatious B. Grumply is a grumply old man who has had writer's block for 20 years.  He rents a home for the summer so he can finally write the next book in his ghost series.  He discovers he is also living with a young boy, the boy's cat, and a protective ghost named Olive.  They will have to learn to live together or "die" trying. 
     This is a really quick read.  The book is told through letters, newspaper articles, drawings, reports, and advertisements.  Each character has a chance to share his or her point-of-view through the different medium used through the book.
     It is a great book if you have a child in upper elementary that enjoys books or for a read-aloud with mom and dad.  Even though it is short, it isn't a good choice for struggling readers.  Ignatius has a huge vocabulary, and he uses words like "beseechingly" and "conciliatorily."  The change in medium every few pages also makes it a struggle for some readers, but a delight for others.  A cute love story told in an original way.       

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

       The bullies finally push Michael too far and he shocks them with electricity.  Unlike a taser, Michael's electricity comes from the inside.  The cute cheerleader, Taylor, sees what happens and begins to probe  Michael's secrets.  After discovering they both have super powers, they begin investigating their pasts.  They were born at the same time in a California hospital testing new MRI technology.  They are shocked to discover that of the fifty-nine babies born there with them, only seventeen survive.  Taylor and Michael are two of the lucky ones.  Unfortunately, Dr. Hatch has left the information on the Internet to lure in the missing teens.  Dr. Hatch kidnaps Taylor and Michael's mom, knowing Michael will try to rescue the women he loves.

     This book was a little slow to start, but once it got started, it was hard to put down.  The characters were interesting, especially the teens living in Dr. Hatch's laboratory.  The teens powers were all very different, including the way they used their powers for good or evil.  I liked the way the bullies in the story became the ones helping Michael on his mission.  The only thing I didn't like was the almost sadistic side of power being shown at the end of the book.  

     I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to adults and teens who enjoy science fiction/fantasy or action/adventure.  At 326 pages, it is a more difficult book for reluctant readers, but with a great book talk or movie trailer, many would be willing to give it a shot.