"My Name is Not Easy" by Debby Dahl Edwardson

I am really torn on my feelings about this book. The premise is very interesting and captured my attention, but overall I found the writing to be a little weak. Luke's name is not really Luke, but his actual name is too complicated for those at his new boarding school to pronounce (hence the title, My Name is Not Easy). He and his brothers are about to travel to Sacred Heart School, a Catholic boarding school in Alaska. He and the other students are not allowed to speak their native languages and have to learn to adjust to new rules as well as form new eating habits. He will soon realize that everything is not as it seems and that things are going to change more than he ever could have imagined.

I thought that the concept for this book was really interesting. I live in an area of the country where many students live in remote areas and either have to be bussed in to town from very far away or they have to attend a boarding school. Even though this is a common thing in my area, I never put much thought into it on a historical level. The whole process would have been completely different in the 1960s when rules and regulations were not the same as they are today. Some of the decisions made by the adults in this book angered me as I know that it could never be acceptable today for teachers to make such these decisions without first consulting a parent. It was a strange experience to realize at this time, it was perfectly acceptable and probably more common than I could imagine.

Despite liking this book, there are some things that could have been better. The novel is rather short but covers quite a bit of time. It spans over several years and doesn't always do the best job with pacing. I also thought that there were a few too many characters. Edwardson tries to cram an awful lot into too short of a novel.

I think that this is an important book. It has a lot of information that I didn't know so I'm sure that others could learn from it. In addition, I think it raises some interesting questions about the way the world worked in the 1960s which can also bring up how the world works today. I definitely see this being an excellent book to be used for high school students and wish that I could have read something like this when I was a high school student. I feel that I could have anaylized it much more effectively than most of the books I had to read then.



Happy Reading!
-Melly 

"Plan B" by Charnan Simon

This book needed more plot! The story in Plan B takes place over just a couple of weeks and there just wasn't enough to keep me fully engaged. While I get that this is the kind of book that is purposefully short, I wanted so much more out of the story.

Lucy has been dating Luke for about six months. When they find out that Luke's getting a scholarship opportunity, she decides they should celebrate and one thing (and a little alcohol) leads to another and as this book is about a teenage pregnancy, you can probably figure out what that thing is. Before long, Lucy figures out that she is pregnant and soon she and Luke have to figure out what they will do with their lives and the baby's.

I read this book mostly because my NaNoWriMo novel is about a pregnant teen and I was looking for some more perspective and inspiration. I have read an awful lot of books that focus on teenage pregnancy and lately have been focusing on what elements I need to include in my own work (as this is a topic I haven't personally gone through, a little help goes a long ways). Sadly I don't think I got much out of this read. I felt that the characters weren't very fleshed out and while the ending was bold, I felt that it was a lot of build-up with no result. At the very least, I would have appreciated an epilogue. I try to be well read and since I work in a library, I try to be aware of as many books as possible. I plan on reading at least one more book in the Surviving Southside series so as to get a better idea of how the series is formatted, but if the rest of the books fall as flat, I won't be likely to recommend them.

Happy Reading!

-Melly

"The Moon and More" by Sarah Dessen

There is just something about Sarah Dessen's books. I always dive in loving the story and the characters, but somewhere around the halfway point, I begin to lose interest.  Somehow the story looses me and I begin to care less and less about the characters and their potential outcomes. This was sadly the case for me with The Moon and More. Emaline has spent her entire life living in a small beach town where everybody know everybody. She spends her summer working for her family's rental business, making summer guests comfortable during their vacations. Her life is fairly simple, but big changes are headed her way the summer before she starts college. These changes include: a visit from her father (but not her dad, these are two different people. Her father is her biological parent. Her dad is the man that raised her from a young age) and half brother, the second is Theo who is part of a documentary crew that comes to town and his presence leads to change number three, Emaline's relationship status with her boyfriend, Luke.

Again, I started out really liking this book. I was engaged and was rooting for Emaline and the other characters in the book. But I reached a point where I just lost interest. The last two and a half chapters did manage to re-engage me, but there was a good chunk of the book that I felt like I read more out of obligation than anything else. I really do hate that Dessen's books do this to me because I hear so much great things about her (and I know I will make a least one reader upset that I don't share the love for this author). Possibly I am always more interested in the side story that is not romantic (for instance, I am way more into Halley and  Scarlett's relationship in Someone Like You than Halley and Macon's and wish that book focused more on that than the romance). I was very intrigued by the story of Emaline's family and their relationships, much more than I was Emaline's situations with Theo or Luke. I was even interested in spending more time with Ivy's character than with the romance element. I think fans of Dessen's work will love this one just as much, but it sadly just wasn't for me.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"It's Our Prom (So Deal With It)" by Julie Anne Peters

I have loved everything that I have read by Julie Anne Peters.  I am accustomed to her books being a bit groundbreaking and dealing with some topics that could be deemed nontraditional (loved Luna.  Loved, loved, loved Luna). I didn't quite get that same vibe from It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) though I enjoyed this book immensely.  Told from the point of views of Azure and Luke- this book tells the story of three teens trying to do the extraordinary at their school.  Azure is given the opportunity to restructure her school's Senior Prom so that it actually appeals to the entire student body.  She enlists her best friend Luke who manages to find time in between writing and directing the musical that tells the story of his coming out.  They also seek out help from their third best friend (and crush- yes, both Azure and Luke are crushing on the same girl), Radhika.  However, her overly strict parents have her on such a rigid and regulated schedule that her involvement is limited.  Throughout the novel the characters face the expected problems- how to pay for this extravagant prom, dealing with parents who aren't so okay with the plans, and that one student (and later teacher) that just isn't okay with the change in tradition.

I really liked how this book didn't focus on the fact that the two main characters weren't straight.  No one had a problem with the fact that the prom wasn't boy/girl couples only.  The parents were more concerned with the "piercing and tattoos" that were planned for the prom then with the fact the the girl leading the planning committee could possibly bring another girl to prom.  There were certain elements that I didn't care for as much.  I felt that the ending fell a little flat.  I didn't feel that there was enough of that particular story line for it to end the way it did (being vague here to avoid spoiling anything).  I really enjoyed the book up until the very end when things began to wrap up just a little too easily.  Maybe it was because I was beginning to realize that this book was a bit more generic than I expected.  Overall this was a fun book that I did enjoy.  There were no moments of real drama and nothing that left my jaw on the floor just a story of some very realistic teens striving to create the best prom and the best night possible.  

Happy Reading!
-Melly