The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I finished The Marriage Plot and Wuthering Heights right at the beginning of the year, and then I took up John Green's latest.  I don't want to post too much because I know so many people are reading the book.  Also, it was just so good, there's not a whole lot to say, or maybe, I am just not sure what to say.  In short, you are immediately in love with Hazel Grace Lancaster from the moment you read the first sentence.  This character is unique and real.  What she says about life and her disease is honest and funny and terrifying all at the same time.  I knew I would probably shed a tear or two at the end of the book...I mean, how can you not?  It's a Cancer Kid book, right?  When I read Jenny Downham's Before I Die, I was weeping at the end.  But what shocked me was that I teared up multiple times throughout, and then, of course, I was sobbing at the very end.  But I thought that this was fitting.  I mean who wouldn't cry all the time (like Hazel's dad) if you were going through all of this.  It's sad.  I am just so amazed at how Green got me to feel so much for these characters.  I also love how books like this help you put your life into perspective.  What I love about literature and this book is that we read it and we experience something that we might never experience in all our days.  It's tragic...but like the classic definition of tragedy....it enlarges and ennobles us.  We are better for having witnessed what happened to these characters and we can appreciate our own lives and the relationships we have.

One last thing I will say I loved about this book was the fact that Hazel was just around her parents and her few good friends.  So many kids and adults today are so concerned with the appearance of being busy and involved in every freakin' activity possible.  Sometimes I feel like kids and grown-ups might feel like if they aren't getting straight A's AND playing three sports AND being really popular AND taking music lessons on the side AND volunteering five million hours a week AND finding time to still cook and read for pleasure AND maintaining a perfectly positive attitude all the time....then they aren't doing enough.  But you know, that's just not true.  I think this book shows that what matters is relationships and family.  Basketball wasn't that important to Augustus.  And the people who knew he played or knew him in high school didn't really KNOW him.  What matters is knowing people and appreciating them for exactly who they are.  Conversations matter.  Time with people matters.  Friendships and relationships matter.  Not all that other stuff. Not that that stuff is bad, but it's not always that important.  I recommend this book to every person in the entire world.  It's a great story with a great narrator and great characters and a great message.  LOVED it.  I did.

A Monster Calls

I'd been wanting to read this book for a long time, and I finally got it finished.  I really enjoyed the book a lot.  The book itself is beautiful.  The illustrations bring the story to life in a haunting way.  The book tells the story of a young boy named Connor who's dealing with his mother's illness.  He deals with enough every day, and then even more when a monster shows up to his bedroom one evening.  The monster is as old as the world itself and as wise.  But Connor isn't scared of the monster.  You should be.  This monster is strong, powerful, dangerous, and all-knowing.  But Connor doesn't flinch.  The monster has been called by Connor.  The monster says that he will tell Connor three stories and that then Connor will tell the fourth.  The fourth story will be the truth.  The truth is that the book is great.  I teach only seniors right now, so it might not be as good a fit for this age group.  But I really think this is an absolutely fabulous pick for middle grades and early high school.  A great story.  This book will mean lots to readers for years to come.  It's just perfect.  Very important.

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola was so fun.  I am so excited to say that I was at Stephanie's release party for Anna and the French Kiss and the release event for Lola, and I am going to be there for Isla as well!  Three for three hopefully.

If you haven't read Anna, you must.  It's got France and old movies and kissing and boys and school.  It's good.

Lola didn't disappoint.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is about Lola Nolan, a girl with a very unique sense of style.  Lola wants never to wear the same outfit twice.  She dates an older guy, Max, who's in a band and completely cool.  To her at least, not to her dads.  But he's still Lola's boyfriend.  Lola's world is turned upside down, though, when her old neighbors, the Bells, move back in next door.  Lola and Cricket Bell have a history, and the last time Lola saw Cricket, she was heartbroken.  What is she supposed to do now that they are back?  Cricket's window is right across from hers.  And he looks good.  Even better than before if that's possible.  But she has Max, so that's all the matters, right?  Well, read the book and see.  Cool guys are great, but there's something about first loves that never leaves you.

This books was fun for many reasons.  One - it's set in San Francisco, so who wouldn't love to take some time to walk with Lola down the streets of the Castro?  The setting was a fun character in this book.  I also enjoyed Lola.  She was different.  She stood out, but not in a cool way.  I appreciated her style.  I was only annoyed with her a few times as I realized that I liked Cricket Bell better than Max.  I couldn't stand it and wanted to scream at her, "Go with Cricket NOW....can't you see...????" But of course, if only we all saw things clearly in the moment....But we usually don't.  I loved Cricket Bell.  He was the coolest dude ever.  Sweet and stylish and a bit awkward, he was the nicest boy.

What I love about both of Perkins' books is that she keeps you hanging on until the very last minute for things to work out, but it is so, so very very very worth it.  It sort of reminds me of You've Got Mail, you know, a good, well-planned story.  You are so on the side of the characters.  You so want them to get together.  You are hanging on the edge of your seat.  You know they like each other.  You know it.  They know it, but it just hasn't happened, but....when you get to that last frame, and you get that one kiss and you know that they will live happily ever after...it's so perfect.  That's how I felt reading both of these books.  Sure there are twists and turns along the way, but I just sighed at the end of both and almost burst with happiness for the characters.  So, for those who like a fun YA love story, read these.  They are really cool.  And I feel great recommending both of these to my students, too, because these characters are good, responsible kids.  They are just going through life dealing with the same stuff that we all did:  school, boys, parents, freedom, love, you name it.  I absolutely can't wait until Isla.  I am so happy for Stephanie Perkins.  She is a super nice person and I love that her dreams have come true.  These books are so enjoyable.  Read one now! :)

Monstrumologist: The Isle of Blood

Dude.  Awesome.  No words.  I can't really say much about the third installment in the Monstrumologist series except that it's thrilling.  I have enjoyed (well maybe enjoyed isn't the right word...this stuff is really gruesome....) every moment of these books.  If you haven't read them, you must.  I can't wait to see how the series concludes.  I'm so glad that Yancey will be writing the fourth book.  This is horror and mystery and suspense at it's best.  And what's more, I love Yancey's writing.  The voice of Will Henry is so honest, so real.  These books are amazing.  Read them now.

Sisterhood Everlasting

I read all the Traveling Pants books years ago and loved every moment of them.  Each girl had her unique personality and they all eventually ended up back together and back on the same page no matter what obstacles got in their way.  I guess I identified most with Carmen as I read the books.  I saw this new one on the shelves and had to pick it up.  The girls have grown up and are 30 now?  I'm 30 now.  What are these ladies up to?  I had to know.

I will say this.  I was shocked as I read the first few chapters.  I couldn't believe the girls had let themselves go.  No one had kids yet.  Each had a career.  But they'd lost touch.  So when Tibby reaches out from Australia to bridge the divide finally, I was just as excited as Bee, Lena, and Carmen to get a ticket to Greece for a reunion.  However, the reunion isn't what they imagined.  From early on Brashares throws you a curve ball with this book.  For the longest time I wasn't sure what to think, but I went with it and I finished the book.

I can't really say too much more, but I can say that you get a look into each girl's life, of course.  Each of these sisters has faced challenges that many of us young ladies face every day:  questions about life, marriage, children, career, balance, etc.  It's hard.  It's hard for the.  I appreciated what I saw each woman working through because I did think that their problems were real.

I did have a few issues with the characters, though.  When I first met back up with Carmen, she's a famous actress on a crime show and she doesn't eat and she's a size 2??  I seriously wondered if this really could have happened to her?  Carmen was proud of her curves.  She didn't let people bully her around, and now she's just a robotic actress mindless attending premiers and parties with her executive producer fiancee??  I didn't buy it.  Bee's store made sense to me, and Lena's too, as well as Tibby's, but I think I was most disappointed in Carmen when I saw where these girls were years later.

It was a fast read, and I did like it.  I wanted to get to the end and piece everything together.  And of course, like all the other books in the series, what matters here is friendship.  Life will bring us changes.  Life will disappoint us.  Life will shock us.  Life will lead us places we didn't imagine going.  But in the end, we have friends to help us on that journey.  These girls always end up back together and they pick up where they left off.  That's what real friends can do.  They can forgive and move on.  They can start over every day if they have too.  As a young mother, wife, teacher, friend, daughter, sister, everything - I know how it can feel like you are not meeting the needs of everyone in your life, but you just gotta do your best.  And you must find some people to lean on.  Real friends are hard to come by, so you must reach out and try again, even if it's been a while or even if life seems too busy.  It'll be worth it in the end and sharing life's moments with those you love is the most important thing of all.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

It took me a bit to get in to this one, but in the end it was definitely worth it.  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is about a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell whose father was killed in the 9-11 terrorist attack.  When Oskar accidentally breaks a vase in his parents' bedroom, he finds a mysterious little key in a small envelope.  Determined to find out what the key meant to his father and what lock it opens, Oskar journeys all over New York city meeting people from all walks of life and asking questions about his dad and his feelings and life and the universe and so much more.

Oskar is a peculiar child to say the least.  Not a huge fan of child narrators, I was a bit annoyed with him at first.  He'd say things that, in my opinion, didn't sound like a nine-year-old at all...even a very strange one.  However, as I continued reading the book, I did get to know him as a character better, and I felt that perhaps some of his strange behavior was ok because of what he'd been through.  It was clear to me that he was a strange kid before his father's death.  I liked him in the end, and as you read the book, no matter what you think of the narration or style....you feel for the kid.  He's been through a horrible tragedy and I think we'd all be allowed to do whatever it took in order to deal with those feelings.

The book has an interesting subplot involving the Oskar's grandparents.  I enjoyed this plot line but didn't feel that it really connected to Oskar's story in the end.  To me it just all seemed a bit much.  Unrealistic.

What I can say, though, is that there are some heartbreaking moments in the novel.  Oskar's mother struggles daily to understand and move on from her husband's death.  As a reader, it hurt so much to see how strained and awkward the relationship between Oskar and his mother was at times.  They are a new kind of family now that Thomas (the father) is gone, and it broke my heart to see them struggle with finding ways to feel and think and be without their dad.  It's been ten years since the tragedy, yet it seems like we are all still figuring it out.  Yes, people move on.  Yes, the smoke and dust settle, but lives are never the same.  After reading this book I was reminded of the importance of family.  Every day on the news we see that people have been hurt or killed.  By weather, storms, tornadoes, accidents, terrorists, gunmen who kill people in public places...it doesn't really matter what gets you in the end.  Death comes for us all.  People are left behind by their loved ones every day, and it's never easy.  We do what we can to deal with the loss and hopefully we are surrounded by a few others who can help us through the days that follow.

As we approach the tenth anniversary of September 11 and as I digest this book, I feel like we need to simply remind ourselves how lucky we are to be here living and learning in this country.  Each day is a gift.  It's so easy to get swept up into the business that is life and school in America.  Yes, we must work hard.  Yes, we must do our jobs.  Yes, we must read books and complete assignments and write papers.  But let's always remember that people and relationships matter and that the books and papers and discussions help us to understand ourselves and our world better.  Let's remember that life can change in an instant and it won't matter what score you got on your last Calculus exam or English essay.  I count myself blessed that I am not Oskar, that I did not lose someone I know in the terrorist attack.  By reading his story, however, I am reminded of what I must do.  I must love my family as much as I can each moment because you never know what each day holds.  So, I do recommend this book.  It's different, but moving.  I am glad I read it and my heart goes out to all who lost loved ones ten years ago and those who lose loved ones at any time.  Life is never the same, but love is still here on earth for those who are left behind if we hold on to the people around us and make the most of every moment.

Beauty Queens

I started this book and got stuck moving to a new city in the middle of it, but I finally finished just the other day.  This book is just hilarious and I loved every moment.  Bray pokes fun at everything under the sun related to reality television, beauty products, girls' self-image, Victoria's Secret catalogs; you name it, she's got a witty remark about it.

If you haven't heard about the book yet, basically the contestants for Miss Teen Dream are on a plane and it crashes on a "deserted" island.  The girls hold out hope for a while, but realize eventually that no one is going to come save them.  Taylor Renee Krystal Hawkins, Miss Texas, takes over and insists that the girls continue practicing their pageant routines, but other girls aren't quite agreeable to that.  They make huts and figure out how to get fresh drinking water and learn about who they really all are.  What they don't know is that the island isn't deserted and just down the shore in an underground volcano lair, the Corporation has some business happening.

Part Lord of the Flies, part Miss Congeniality, part Austin Powers, this book is extreme fun.  I loved the unique personality of each girl.  Each young woman had her own "issues" she was working through, and what young woman doesn't?  These girls were smart, fit, and tough, but they weren't perfect.

What I do appreciate in the end, though, is that for all the silliness and obvious hits that Bray makes at the issues and messages bombarding young women today, what's underneath is a good message.  No these girls aren't perfect, but they are who they are.  They embrace themselves the good and the bad.  I really loved  every page and I think most girls will get a kick out of this book, but really appreciate that they can be who they want and take control of their own lives and self images.  Tons of fun, this one!