Ireland by Frank Delaney

I love listening to a good story, and I think telling one is an art.  This is one of the ideas that is at the heart of Ireland.  A captivating and mysterious travelling storyteller comes to Ronan's house when he is 9 and it changes the course of his life forever.  Why?  Because he is so drawn by the stories and the man that tells them, that he spends his life searching him out.  The dismissals, near misses and goodbyes are heartbreaking!  But thankfully, after going through so many different moods and emotions, this book ends on a happier note!

The chapters alternate between Ronan's life as he grows up, and stories, most of them about the history of Ireland.  But it's not a history book.  The stories are magical.  Many involve folklore, and have obviously evolved with each retelling.  This concept alone is fascinating to me.  Not everyone can tell a good story.  Knowing what to include, what to leave out, what to embellish, is a talent, and the chapters that include stories from The Storyteller, really stand out as excellent examples.  That is not to say that sometimes I wasn't so anxious to find out what was going to happen next in Ronan's life that I was tempted to skim over a story.  But don't do it!  They are worth reading.

There are so many bits of wisdom woven into the stories.  Here are a few I jotted down:

"Anytime a great man tries to do a wonderful thing, lesser men will try to stop him.  That is one of the laws of life."

"There's nothing braver than a man who knows fear and conquers it."

And because this is the first day of September and that makes me a little sad..."I welcomed August more than any month in the calendar, especially those last ten days when the gold is seeping into everywhere ."

I loved The Storyteller, and so was eager with Ronan as he sought him out and gathered information.  This search brings magical moments of discovery that actually made me gasp as I was reading.  Later in the book, Ronan experiences the death of a loved one, and his emotions are illustrated so well.  I could feel his pain, and loved how those around him recognized and verbalized the sadness this event brought.

I enjoyed reading this book so much.  The stories of Ireland, the art of storytelling, and the mystery that Ronan is trying to solve.  All three elements work together without competing and blended perfectly for me!  I couldn't put it down, but was so sad to finish it off.  The ending is well-
written and satisfying.  I am intrigued to read more of Mr. Delaney's books!

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This is the kind of book I would like to write.  Each short-short is powerful, pretty and just the right length.  I love to read slice of life, coming of age type books, and Cisneros creates this kind of style in a unique way.  These little stories involve many of the same characters, and the events and emotions overlap.  They weave together to tell us about Esparanza and her life on Mango Street.

I also enjoyed reading Cisneros introduction.  Don't skip it. I found it really insightful into her life, and therefore her writing.

Here are some samples of her writing:

"They are the only ones who understand me.  I am the only one who understand them;.  Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here..."

Or

"In English my name means hope.  In Spanish it means too many letters.  It means sadness, it means waiting.  It is like the number nine.  A muddy color..."

I love the way the words tumble out and create the mood they intend.  I think Sanda Cisneros is brilliant and very good at what she does.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book is magical!  I was drawn in so quickly and read it every chance I got!  It kept my attention, and even though the ending let me down a bit, I recommend it.

The very first chapter of the story describes the Night Circus.  These descriptive second person point of view chapters are interspersed through out the book and give you the overall affect of the circus. "Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do." The other chapters alternate--randomly--between the lives of a few main players.  Marco, Celia, Herr Thiessen, Bailey, and a few more I'm forgetting.  They are told in third person, but each provides a rich story in itself, and it only gets better as they weave into one another.  The chapters are dated, and toward the middle I found myself remembering to look at these, and they help piece the story together.  At one point you are switching back and forth between two stories exactly a year apart.  Thrilling!

The book itself felt like a magical night circus.  Some parts followed as you thought they would, but others were unpredictable.  "Aspects settle temporarily and then vanish into distorted shadows once more, never remaining steady for more than a moment." You are unsure who is really magic, and who is playing along.  The characters are eccentric, but important.  Heroes, victims, and sometimes they surprise you!  I'm usually the first to be annoyed with description, but the pictures are painted so well in this book!  I felt myself imagining details that I usually don't bother with when I read. Just like every element works together to make the circus,"each part melding seamlessly into a whole,"  so do the parts of the book.  The dreamy, poetic writing, the elegant, quirky characters, and the secretive, illusive chapters all work together to make the book feel magical and mystical.

Sadly, when the book begins its ending, it loses some of its charm.  I felt like I didn't believe or understand how the circus was dependent on Celia and Marco, I never really understood why Marco couldn't leave London to travel with the circus, and even though I loved Bailey--his story was a little muddled.  Maybe I wanted the book to be longer because I was enjoying reading the story so much.  For me it ended too quickly.  While I liked the resolution, it seemed almost sudden and without enough explanation.  I felt like I had to read between the lines too much.

I still think you should read The Night Circus, and I'd love to hear what you thought!

The 100-year-old Man who Climbed out the WIndow and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

This was a fun book to read!  I thought the story was hilarious, and it is reminiscent of books like Candide, or The Alchemist in the way that the main character is taking a life-changing journey.  BUT it doesn't take itself to seriously, and the story borders on ridiculous. 

The chapters rotate between Allan (the 100 year old man who climbed out his window), the chief inspector that is following him, a couple other men who are trying to find him on both sides of the law, and then chapters that are flashbacks.

I enjoyed the stories of Allan's past lives and adventures the most.  These parts are why people compare this book to Forrest Gump, but I really think it transcends.  Through quirky coincidences and choices, Allan has crossed the path of many famous people and had influenced history all over the world!  I thought these episodes were creative and fun to read.  And really well thought out.

It took me awhile to get thorough this book, but not because it was boring.  I was busy, and it is the kind of book that you can put down and come back to.

I recommend it!

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

This book came highly recommended to me by my friend Sara.  It is really good.  It is really sad.  I think it would be great to read in a classroom with middle school-ish aged kids because it could lead to so many different discussions.

Sasha is 10 years old and in love with the security Stalin's communism provides for he and his father.  He is strongly loyal and very excited to join the Young Pioneers.  Suddenly everything he knows and believes in is turned upside down.  It is sad and frightening as you realize there is no winning or happy ending possible.  If you aren't turning in others, you are guilty.  Its a theme we've read before, but so powerful when you read it through the eyes of a child.

This was also my first experience listening to a book on CD with a couple other people.  I listened to it with my son and my mom.  We were all mesmerized.  I was stressed the whole time about what horrible thing was going to happened next.  BUT the character is OK.  The ending is promising.

I really prefer reading to listening, so I'll be tracking down a hard copy of this.

The Age of Miracles

This story begins with the announcement that the Earth is turning more slowly.  Instead of 24 hours, a day is now 25 and a half hours long, and gaining.  So the conflict and setting are definitely science fiction, but the story is more of a coming of age.  Julia tells the story and the majority takes place when she is in 6th grade.

I loved this book.  It's hard sometimes for me to determine if the book is really that great or if it is just the exact sort of thing I like to read.  I liked Julia.  I could relate to her.  I loved the poignant moments that just seem so true and universal and sad. 

Julia tells the story with maturity, she uses a wide vocabulary, she uses similes, she makes comparisons, but for me it works.  I did keep imagining she was a couple years older, but her age is important to preserve some of her innocence.  She's writing from the future, and sometimes makes comments alluding to the big picture of her life.  For example, "Maybe everything that happened to me and to my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing.  It's possible.  I guess.  But I doubt it.  I doubt it very much."

Karen Thompson Walker uses this scientific phenomenon to illustrate how people interact with each other.  Especially how we respond to change, differing views and having faith.  I enjoyed thinking about how these things would play out, but didn't feel like she was forcing sociological theory on her reader. "I guess every bygone era takes on a shade of myth." and  "This is just to say that as strange as the new days seemed to us at first, the old days would come to feel very quickly the stranger."

I loved the characters, I loved the slow, thoughtful pace of the writing, and I loved Julia's story. Here a couple more reasons why.

"My most recent school picture, in which my eyes were half closed, on the verge of a blink, rendering moot all the time I had spent selecting the cream-colored mohair sweater I wore on picture day."  So relatable! When I was in 8th grade I had PE before pictures, and we had to run the mile. I had probably spend 30 minutes curling my hair that morning, for nothing.  School pictures are so horrible.

"This was the first of the white nights.  We would later learn to shield ourselves, to carve out small patches of darkness amid the light, but that first clock night was radiant......my ceiling stars were invisible that night anyway, just like the real ones were, every one of them washed out by our nearest, dearest star."  I love the poetic almost sing-song narration.

I really liked this story. It has a few swear words in it, but I would still recommend it to young adult girls.  I was hoping to recommend it to my sons, but because there are scenes where Julia buys her first bra (so good), and many moments where she is trying to understand boys, I think it's more suited for a female audience.

I read this after reading this review (warning: it contains spoilers).

The Spellmans Strike Again Lisa Lutz

So I looked through my archives and figured out that it was WAY back in 2009 that I read the first three books in Lisa Lutz's Spellman family series.  I really enjoyed them at the time because they were so different that other stuff I was reading.

This weekend I read #4, there are still two more in the series, and I enjoyed it just as much.  That being said, it kind of felt like a TV series to me.  The characters kind of do the same stuff and say the same things.  The mysteries are new, and I can never quite figure them out, so that's good, but there isn't a lot of change.  Actually in this book, Izzy and Rae both make some choices and appear to mature a bit.  But for me, this was just sideline stuff, and almost felt forced.  I realize I'm not really selling it.  I like the Spellmans, the characters and their stories.

SO the bottom line is, this is a fun, light read.  If you've read the other Spellmans, this will follow suit.  If you haven't, I recommend you pick up The Spellman Files.  I think you'll like it.  Just beware of a few F-words that come out of left field.

Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan

My 6th grade son read this book for Battle of the Books at school.  I was intrigued that he enjoyed a book with not only a girl's name in the title, but a picture of her on the cover!  He told me I had to read it, and I loved it!

Naomi lives with her brother and Great-grandma.  They live in a trailer park, Gram makes all her clothes, and her brother has some physical challenges.  So you can imagine Naomi struggles a bit to fit in.  Luckily, she is surrounded by people who love her: her teacher, the librarian, and the neighbor lady, make up for the friends and parents she is missing.  Life is going OK until her mom comes back into town. 

Naomi explains, "One of her (Gram's) favorite sayings was that the good and the bad of any situation were sometimes the same.  When I was little I had trouble holding my brain on that thought, but now it was starting to make sense." Their mother has plans for the future that are scary and lead to Naomi, Owen and the grandma taking a road trip to Mexico.  I liked how the situations have enough conflict to feel real, but they are kept age appropriate, and nothing too horrible happens.

Naomi keeps a notebook full of lists.  I loved this habit of her character.  On the back cover of my copy of the book, it says: "Things I am Good At: 1) S
oap carving 2) Worrying 3) Making Lists.

I love the writing style and the way the words are pretty, but feel natural.  "Her fingers were nimble and gentle.  It felt as though she was playing the piano on my head." or "Gram said Fabiola's mission in life was to feed the world with a smile."  This book has won a few awards, and I think they are well deserved! 

I loved the story, the characters and the writing style!  I recommend it.

Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple

My sister gave me this book for my birthday, and I LOVED it!  I recommend it for sure.

The story is told through a series of documents: e-mails, receipts, bills, letters, interspersed between first person accounts written by Bee.  Bee is an eighth grader at a prestigious middle school whose father works at Microsoft and whose mother has become kind of a recluse in their big crumbling home on Queen Anne.  If you're from this area, you'll love the Seattle references, if you're a mother who has ever been involved with PTA, volunteering, or over anxious moms, you will crack up knowingly. 

Here's an example of Bee's mom, Bernadette.  She's describing how her heart starts racing when she lays down to go to sleep.
"It sucks in any benign thoughts that might be scrolling across my brain and attaches visceral panic to them.  For instance, during the day I might have mused, Hey, I should pack more fresh fruit in Bee's lunch.  That night....it becomes, I'VE GOT TO PACK MORE FRESH FRUIT IN BEE'S LUNCH!!!  I can feel the irrationality and anxiety draining my store of energy."  Funny, right?  And sort of relate able?  Thats what I loved about this book.

And a quote from Bee, "We'd pass icebergs floating in the middle of the ocean.  They were gigantic, with strange formations carved into them.  They were so haunting and majestic you could feel your heart break, but really they're just chunks of ice and mean nothing." 
She's thoughtful, quirky and someone you want to be friends with.

As you read, you get to know both of these women, and the documents do a good job of piecing the story together.  You get to see both their perspectives, their Dad/husband's, and a nosy neighbor's.  It is written cleverly and I don't think the story is too predictable.  Some parts maybe, but she manages to develop even stereotypical characters into something more.

This is a story of a family who has been distracted and lost touch a bit with each other.  Through some funny and some tragic events they come back together.   I really enjoyed Maria Semple's writing style and the characters she created.  I laughed, I cried, I hope you'll like it too.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I really liked this book!  I don't know much about Ernest Hemingway and I knew nothing about Hadley, his first wife..  If you're an expert, you might not enjoy reading this fictional account of their romance and life together.  But, I believe Paula McLain really did the research, and sought to portray an accurate but fresh perspective.

The story is great.  Hadley meet Ernest on a trip to Chicago and there is magic.  She was living a dull life, and suddenly she has this connection and as they develop their relationship, I think she becomes the woman she wanted to be.  Or at least starts on that journey.  I liked her from the beginning and found her so relate able.  I like that she was an ordinary woman, and while she points out flashier girls in her circle, she isn't self-deprecating.  She has confidence and feels worthy of her surprise romance.  I hate reading stories of girls who constantly comment that they can't believe their boyfriend/lover/husband would fall in love with them.  Gag.  Hadley isn't that way at all.  She loves her husband and commits herself from the start.

I also like seeing and learning about people before they came into their own.  Hemingway was nothing, he was broke, he was struggling to make friends and get published.  I like seeing that more vulnerable side of someone you know is going to become so successful. 

This is the first book I've read by Paula McLain, and I really like her writing style.  I'm curious if this is how she always writes, or because it is written in first person, if this is the voice she gave Hadley.  Either way, it was great.  For example, "The nest of fish was crisp under a coarse snow of salt and smelled so simple and good I thought it might save my life.  Just a little.  Just for that moment."  Beautiful!

Or this conversation when Hadley was feeling a little lonely for Ernest and maybe sad.
     I sighed. "I think it's going to rain all day."
     "Don't kid yourself.  It's going to rain for a month."
     "Maybe it won't after all."
     He smiled at me.  "All right, Tiny. Maybe it won't."

It must be hard when telling a story that many of your readers have a pretty good idea of the ending, not to painfully foreshadow.  McLain is careful in her writing, so when she does, it's successful.  This is a good example.  "It was the end of Ernest's struggle with apprenticeship, and an end to other things as well.  He would never again be unknown.  We would never again be this happy."
    
In this story, Hadley does a lot of thinking and reflecting on their marriage.  I found the underlying thoughts (not the circumstances) very familiar, and thought provoking.  They meet up with one of Ernest's friends and she comments that he "saw and understood what was good in us." Just like those people who you feel the most yourself around, it's great to have friends that make you feel that way about your marriage.  There are a lot of thoughts she has and soul searching she does toward the end that I thought was really good.  But I can't discuss it without giving too much away.  I'll just tell you that I think she does a lot of things right.

Another thing I found really relate able was Hadley's need to feel connected and to feel successful.  I wish so bad she had worked or had something to fill up her days with when they first go to Paris.  Later she makes time to go out with friends even if she's not in the mood.  I think that is so important!  Simple get togethers and events have saved me so many times.When her friend suggests that she give a piano concert, she thinks  "It would take so much more time and effort..." but then "I began to wonder if a concert might be good for me after all."  And "My playing wouldn't change anything about his habits--I wasn't naive enough to think that--but I thought it might give me my own focus and outlet, beyond the details of Bumby's feeding schedule and exercise regimen." AMEN.  I would give this advice to any woman who stays at home with her kids, find something apart from them to work on and feel successful doing.

Right after they get married, Ernest who had been gravely injured in WWI, tells her:
     "After I was shot, when my head was still in pretty bad shape, a very wise Italian officer told me the only thing to really do for that kind of fear was to get married."
    "So your wife would take care of you?  That's an interesting way to think about marriage."
    "I actually took it to mean that if I could take care of her--you, that is--I'd worry less about myself.  But maybe it works both ways."
    "I'm counting on that," I said.
Maybe this is why things didn't last?  Ernest stopped trying to take care of Hadley and was consumed with taking care of himself.

Read this book.  Really, I think you'll like it.  It's the best thing I've read in a while and has put me back in the mood to devour some books!

P.S. When you're reading you'll probably want to look up photos of Hadley and Hemingway.  Here's a pretty one from her wedding day I found.

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

Every Christmas my husband picks out a book for me.  I love the tradition, and he often picks books that are perfect for me!  I really enjoyed this one, but only recommend it hesitantly.

One Thousand White Women is historical fiction, developed from an actual event that took place in 1854.  A Northern Cheyenne chief asked a U.S. authority for 1,000 white women to marry 1,000 men in his tribe.  His thought was that the children of these marriages would help his people assimilate into the white culture.  He wasn't taken seriously, and it wasn't long before all his people were either slaughtered or forced onto reservations.  BUT this story imagines what it might be like if the request had been granted.  What kind of women would have gone?  What would their experiences have been?  Would it have helped relations?

I like the idea.  I think it's interesting to look back at a moment in time and how different circumstances may have affected it.  The story is told through journals and letter of the fictional May Dodd.  She is a likeable character, and she is well-written.  Toward the beginning as the women are travelling west on a train, a less-experienced friend asks May for marriage advice.  She tells her "it is my limited experience that the best way to make them happy--if that is your true goal--is to wait on them hand and foot..."  I think this is a good example of the writing style.  While it is sometimes funny, I almost feel like it is too forced.  I'm not sure if I've felt this way before, but it bothered me that the author, a man, spoke so intimately of how it felt to be a woman: childbirth, marriage, motherhood.  It just wasn't believable.

But I did like May.  One great quote from her is, "I have found that the best, and certainly simplest defense of one's faith, or lack thereof, is the truth."  I've thought about this a lot.  I tend to sugar-coat things I'm afraid others don't agree with.  It is usually better to just stick with the facts.  There's another part where May is describing the dancing around a fire.  She's poetic with phrases like "frenzy of color," and "rhythmic heartbeat of the earth."  I love her summation of the event, "How the gods watching must have enjoyed their creation."  Beautiful isn't it?

The story sometimes feel a little cliche, but I do think the author is able to acurately address the enormous cultural gap between the Native Americans and the white settlers during the late 1800's.  For the white women, I think some of the happiness they discover living among the Native Americans seems realistic.  Working hard and not having time to sit around and worry about trivial things.  They intimacy of family and how the women help each other out.  But for me it just doesn't quite hit the mark for me.  I finished it, but I didn't think it was amazing.

Also, there is some horrible violence.  I skimmed it, but it is awful.  I also felt like the wedding night scenes would have been just as effetive if they had been edited way down.  Do you know what I mean?  You can create the scene without having to describe everything, seriously.

Smuggler's Island

I think this is the first book I've read by Avi, but I've always been interested in checking him out because he has recieved so many awards, and turned out so many successful books.  My 11-year-old son told me several times that I had to read this book, "it is really, really good."  He doesn't often get excited about books, so I was curious to see why he liked it.  He explained that it is "non-stop action."

And I agree, there is no waiting around for things to start. This book takes place on a tiny island during prohibition.  Shadrach decides to solve the mysteries of the men smuggling alcohol on to their island.  He is fueled by the control the head bad guy has over his parents and the other adults of the island.  From the start, he is daring and finds himself in dangerous situations.  They were a little too much for me, but apparantly that's what kept my son interested and reading.  I realize it's fiction, and that it's good for young people to stand up for what is right, but again, as a mom, I don't want kids to put themselves in these horrible situations!

Also, there's this awful scene where his dad is going to follow through with a punishment, and the whole thing is really uncomfortable for me to read.  He doesn't do anything, but then his son is more motivated to catch the bad guys because he knows his dad has given up.

I think the story is clever, and has enough twists and turns to be an exciting book.  I didn't love it, but because my son did, you or your kids might.

mennonite in a little black dress by Rhoda Janzen

The subtitle of this book is "A Memoir of Going Home."  Rhoda Janzen is an accomplished, smart, funny woman.  This memoir mostly takes place during a sabbatical she takes in her early forties when she has gone through a divorce and then is seriously injured in a car accident.  She has a dry sense of humor and has a unique story to tell.  Because she has chosen her parents' home for her sabbatical, she delves into several aspects of her childhood. I think reading stories about growing up in different sub-cultures of the US is interesting and I think her background growing up as a Mennonite qualifies.  

Janzen fits in a lot of funny stories from her childhood.  One part that was hilarious to me is when she lists "In order of least to most embarrassing, the top five Shame-Based Foods for Mennonite youth lunches."  What follows is a list and detailed description of leftovers and portable food that her mom would pack for her lunch.  This reminded me of Melissa in This Life is in Your Hands  describing how her mom would pack her homemade yogurt in a glass jar for her dessert, while her peers were eating Twinkies.  I like things that are widely universal, and I think wanting the foods other moms packed for your classmates is one of those things everyone relates too.

Because her marriage has ended, and it was rocky throughout, Janzen has found herself dating again.  I thought her commentary on this phenomenon was funny.  Her husband was brilliant, but mentally abusive.  I think her "sexiness" criterias might just as easily be "rules for attraction."  She says, "In my opinon, sexiness comes down to three things: chemistry, sense of humor, and treatment of waitstaff at restaurants.  If the sparks don't fly from the beginning, they never will.  If he doesn't get your sense of humor from the first conversation, you'll always secretly be looking for someone who does.  And if a guy can't see restaurant servers as real people, with needs and dreams and crappy jobs, then I don't want to be with him, even if he just won the Pulitzer Prize."

There are some great ideas as she reflects on her family's religion which she has moved away from.  She quotes her mother saying, "When you're young, faith is often a matter of rules.  What you should do and shouldn't do, that kind of thing.  But as you get older, you realize that faith is really a matter of relationship--with God, with people around you, with the members of your community."

I also liked Janzen's realizations about virtue.  She says, "I have come to believe that virtue isn't a condition of character.  It's an elected action.  It's a choice we keep making, over and over, hoping that someday we'll create a habit so strong it will carry us through our bouts of pettiness and meanness."  I love that.  We choose daily what we are going to do.  And we hope that by making good choices over and over, we will be come more resilient to making bad choices.  I can see this in so many areas of my life.  Gossiping, exercising, cleaning...when I choose the better way over and over, it becomes more of a habit.  Even if it doesn't get easier, I do believe that good habits prevent us from entertaining bad ones.

The main thing that bothered me about this book was that many times the funny, quirky even annoying stories felt forced.  I feel like maybe Janzen made a list of all the entertaining and interesting stories from her life, for example her sister-in-law, bad dates over the years, random weirdos from college, and then orchestrated how to fit them in to the time frame of this memoir.  Sometimes it was in the form of a conversation she had with someone during her sabbatical, and I wanted to say, really?  Did this happen or is it an easy way to squeeze in a story you know will be entertaining?  When she went back in time to explain different elements of her marriage and relationship with her ex-husband, I could follow along and understand the relevance.  But many other times I felt like it was too far of a digression, and the only reason for including the anecdote was to get a laugh.  While her philosophical discoveries were sometimes spot on, other times they felt more like a tirade, and kind of forced.  I know I can be critical, but for me it seems like she was trying to prove how funny she was.  I wanted her to quit trying so hard because I think her intended story was enough.

I enjoyed many parts of this story, but over all too many parts irritated me to give it a glowing recommendation.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

When I started this book, I thought it would be a fluffy teenage romance.  Although it's a bit cheesy, I could see that a younger me would have enjoyed the playful banter and the excitement the main character feels when she meets a boy that is interested in her.  As the book goes on, I thought it dealt with several layers of emotion that are realistic for teenagers.  I think the main characters are clever and interesting and I actually really enjoyed reading this book.

The two main characters are Hazel and Augustus.  They both have cancer.  Hazel was given a terminal diagnosis, but responded miraculously to one of her treatments.  So now she lives with her oxygen tank, her worried and caring parents, and attends community college.  Gus is in remission, and is immediately interested in Hazel when they meet.

The reason I think this story works is that it explores how having cancer has changed these kids' perspective on life and living.  They have some great insight to life, but are also burdened with forboding of the future.  I think it works.  Gus wants to be a hero, he wants the mark he leaves on the world to be important.  Hazel is worried about how many people she is going to hurt when she dies.  They bond over a book they've read that seems honest and insightful about living with cancer.  I liked them both.
There are times when I laughed and times when I cried, that's usually a good sign for a book, right?

My one complaint, which forces me to add a caveat is that *Spoiler* they have sex about 200 pages in. It doesn't add anything to the story, it doesn't change their relationship, it isn't addressed at any point later in the book. I can't figure out why John Green included this scene in his story unless he thought that it's what teenagers wanted to read. I think it is lame.

Since finishing this book, I keep seeing John Green books pop up on lists.  Apparently he's really popular right now.  This is the first book of his I've read, and I'm interested to see if I like his other ones.

small as an elephant by Jennifer Jacobson

I thought this was a well-written story, but I have struggled to review it.  I liked the writing style and I think young readers will enjoy all the excitement.  Jack is a logical protagonist who tries his best to help himself in difficult situations.

The premise of the story is that Jack's mom is bipolar, and she leaves him alone at their campsite a few states away from their home.  Jack is 11.  He knows that if the authorities find out what she has done, that there will be dire consequences.  He is fiercely loyal to his mom and understands that she is not herself when she is "spinning."  I think that Jack is a perceptive boy, and that his choices are age appropriate.  He is well-developed and interesting.

My struggle with the story is that he is ABANDONED, LEFT ALL ALONE!  As a mother this is terrifying to read and I just want him to trust the level-headed adults that he meets on his quest to find his mom and return home.  Also, I am concerned about young readers reading this and thinking that they too could survive in such circumstances.  Jack doesn't have it easy, but let's face it, in real life HORRIFIC things could have happened to him.

The title is clever and Jack has a poignant memory of touching an elephant at the circus as a young boy.  I liked how elephants brought him comfort and the powerful moment of enlightenment involving an elephant at the end.  The chapters begin with elephant quotes or facts, which string the story together well.

I gave it to my 13-year-old to read and he really liked it.  He read it in one night and we had some good discussion about it.

Sudden Flash Youth: 65 Short-Short Stories

Edited by: Christine Perkins-Hazuka, Tom Hazuka and Mark Budman

I really liked this collection.  In college I was introduced to the concept of "short-shorts" and I think they are a fantastic literary form!  For the sake of this collection, submissons were limited to 1000 words, and had "an exclusive focus on childhood and adolescent situations."  So of course I thought it was great.

With 65 stories, I obviously would rate some better than others.  There are a few that deal with dark subjects, but I can only think of two off the top of my head.  And they are short, and you can not finish one and still enjoy the rest of the book.

One of my favorites is "The Quinceanera Text," which of course deals with generational cultural differences and values.  But it is sweet and the young girl realizes the importance of her gift. "Will you teach me some of Juanita's recipes?  She smiled,her black eyes disappearinginto the wrinkles lining her face. "I teach you everything I know."  Love.

Another one I really liked was "The Burden of Agatha" which deals with an all too familiar adolescent emotion of guilt.  It is sad, but so relateable.  "Chalk" has a similiar theme.

"Friday Night" is good.  "Kaddish is a prayer that says how great and exalted God is.  You're supposed to recite it when someone dies, even thought that's probably when you don't believe in God the most....you think: eithert God doesn't care or He can't do anything about it."  I realize that adults are writing these adolescent thoughts, but they are powerful anyway.

"Dodgeball" totally captures what it feels like to think your actions can change what others think of you when really, it's still up to them.  I loved "History," when the girl recalls her teacher telling them, "we believe things are true because we've seen pictures, but then he said, someone had to make those pictures.  Someone had to decide which details were important enough to write down."  Which reminded me of a conversation I had years and years ago with my uncle who is a photojournalist.

Reading all these well-written concise stories really made me want to teach.  The conversations and writing assignments that could spring from them seems endless!  I loved that I could read one or two in the 5 minutes I gave my kids to brush their teeth and use the bathroom. 

They are inspiring and thought-provoking and for the most part very, very good. 
Check it out!

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

I really liked this book! It has kind of a dreamy feel, and very little dialouge. The narration is told in present tense, "all of my life I have longed to be alone in a place like this.....to be in a place where there was only silence." Trond is 67 and has just moved to a remote cottage in the woods in Norway. He has been successful in life, but is grieving the loss of his wife and sister. The story switches back and forth between present day, and the summer of 1948 when he lived with his dad in another remote cottage. It is kind of like a conversation with your grandpa where he tells you what he's doing now, but then shares poigniant moments from his childhood. "The feeling of pleasure slips into the feeling that time has passed, that it is very long ago, and the sudden feeling of being old." I love the way he says that!
One story I liked was a memory he has of his father. Trond was afraid to cut back some stinging nettles because he thought it would hurt. His dad pulled them up with his bare hands, and then said, "You decide for yourself when it will hurt." This becomes kind of a theme. When Trond is physically hurt or exhausted, he remembers those words and pushes on. I think it works on another level too. He is mourning his losses, but he is still in control. He can choose when it will hurt.

I really liked his explanation of how the people in town knew him.  He hasn't lived there long, but he has been friendly and made contacts.  That isn't the same as making friends. "People like it when you tell them things, in suitable portions, in a modest, intimate tone, and they think they know you, but they do not, they know about you, for what they are let in on are facts, not feelings, not what your opinion is about anything at all, not how what has happened to you and how all the decision you have made have turned you into who you are."  And he goes on.

This is a bit of a spoiler, but he doesn't have a lot of years with his dad. In one of the present day chapters, he explains, "I close my eyes every time I have to do something practical apart from the daily chores everyone has, and then I picture how my father would have done it or how he actually did do it while I was watching him, and then I copy that until I fall into the proper rhythm, and the task reveals itself and grows visible, and that's what I have done for long as I can remember..."

There are significant moments and memories, but if you are looking for an action packed story, or even tidy resolutions, this is not your book. I noticed a real contrast between the last book I read, which also switched back to memories of the past, but followed a more traditional story line including conflict, rising action, climax, denoument, etc.  Out Stealing Horses doesn't follow that pattern at all.

There are questions left unanswered and characters you never really understand.  But for me, it totally works as a novel.  I liked how one summer has affected his whole life, or at least how he feels about his life.  As he dreams or remembers different moments and details of that summer, you can see the significance.  I thought about moments or conversations that proceeded to deeply affect the rest of my life.

Out Stealing Horses is poetic, in fact the final chapter begins with a paragraph that is repeated word for word a couple pages later.  Petterson's writing is so pretty, thoughtful and dreamy that I forget it was written in Norwegian.  So I am also impressed with Anne Born who translated it.

By Bread Alone by Sarah-Kate Lynch

This book surprised me with it's substance.  It took me a while to read the first couple of chapters, and I judged it incorrectly.  When I finally dove in, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story.  I don't like when authors' hold a key plot line over your head for chapter after chapter the way the family tragedy was kept a secret in this book.  But I will say that the way it is revealed felt perfect and realistic.

The home that Esme is living in now is a tower.  Each bedroom is on a different floor, and it is called the "House in the Clouds."  I think this is also symbolic of the different layers of the story.  Esme bakes bread every morning, and it makes her happy.  When the book begins, she has stopped baking it and her family is worried.  Her family is fun and quirky, an almost too good to be true husband, a 4 1/2 year old son, her grandma that raised her, her father-in-law and a dog.  Of course they all add something unique to the book.  The current story is speckled with Esme's flashbacks of the summer she fell in love and learned to bake pain au levian. 

I'll warn you that the flash-back-bread-making (love-making) scenes are more risque than I like to read.  They are few and brief, so I finished this up, but I don't want to shock anyone.

The descriptions of the bread, however, are mouthwatering, and I am interesting in seeking out other books by Sara-Kate Lynch.  There are also hilarious moments, like getting gum stuck in her hair, a quince bouncing down the stairs, or the blinding of the goat.  I could see thisstory adapted into a successful movie.

I liked the way the book unfolds and ultimately the insight that Esme gains.

I recommend this hesitantly, because of the reason I mentioned above and some conversations she has with an old friend that are a little crude.

This Life is in Your Hands by Melissa Coleman

In 1968 Melissa Coleman's parents purchased property in Maine with the dream to live off the land.  They build their home, they planted and cultivated crops, and raised their children in a simple, value-driven environment.  They were organic and back to the land before it was popular.  Their story is fascinating.  Melissa does a great job of helping the reader catch the vision of what her parents believed in and worked hard to create.

This is a memoir, but it ends when Melissa is 9 or 10, so the first half or so isn't really from her memories.  I mean, obviously there are memories sprinkled in, but she has heavily researched what was going on with her family during that time.  There are excerpts from her mom's diary, quotes from visitors and apprentices, and facts from books and news articles.  She pulls them together very well, but it was a little much for me.  It seemed a little too documentary, for example, "Cold pinched the inside of Papa's nose as the first rays of sun bloomed behind the darkened points of fir and spruce surrounding the snow-covered clearing."  This is when she is one, so I guess she's trying to paint a picture, but for me it was distracting and felt too forced.

Aside from the sometimes dreamy over descriptions, I enjoyed this story.  You want to cheer for Eliot and Sue who are working so hard to live the principles they believe in.  Melissa has fond memories and I believe includes every moment that she clearly remembers from her childhood.  There's a great memory of being at the public library.  Growing up on a remote homestead, you can imagine that she is lonely.  "The books surrounded us like wrapped presents.  It was only by opening them that you could find out if they held anything special...In a good story, the characters were telling a secret that you knew was true because you remembered it from somewhere deep inside."  I love that, and I think it shows what a good writer Melissa Coleman is.

From the beginning of the book you know there is going to be a tragic ending.  It's mentioned on the cover, and even hinted at through out the story.  This kind of bothered me because there is a sense of foreboding and I kept thinking...is it going to happen now...

Ultimately this is a well-told story about a family.  Starting with the parents and their passion and dreams.  I think because their story is unique, it's really interesting to read.  I recommend this book, but I didn't LOVE it.

because of mr. terupt by Rob Buyea

This is a charming story of an inspiring 5th grade teacher.  It is told through 7 narrators, all students in the same class.  While they are sometimes cheesy, and maybe stereotypical, I thought their individual stories and perspectives were great.  I really enjoyed this book!

Because of mr. terupt deals with some grown-up issues like divorce, teen pregnancy, special needs students, guilt and death.  But they are all treated and discussed very age appropriately for the characters and the audience.  I passed this on to both my 13 year old and 11 year old sons and they both thought it was a really good book.  I think male and female readers in their age range will like it. 

It's a quick read that deals with sadness and frustration, but is ultimately uplifting and happy!