"Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan

I wish I could somehow get into David Levithan's head and see how he comes up with how he is going to write his books. Two Boys Kissing focuses are many boys and their lives, but the title references Harry and Craig, two boys that are no longer together, but who have decided to break the world record for longest kiss. The rest of the characters are intertwined into their story in such a beautiful way. My favorite part of this book is the way it is told, as posted on the Goodreads description, "all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS." It's brilliant. I had read the description of the book so I knew that it was told in an nontraditional way, but I didn't understand it what it meant until I read the book. 

This book was great. Levithan really gets into the heads of each of these boys and I felt like I could know each of them. The story that captivated me the most was Cooper's. With each passage, my heart broke for him. I have read quite a bit by Levithan (though, sadly, not everything) but this could just be his most brilliant book yet. An absolute must read!

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore" by Joan Lowery Nixon

Remember my review of Stolen Children?  Well that book made me crazy nostalgic for Joan Lowery Nixon's The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore.  Thankfully I was able to score a copy at my library.  The novel opens with Christina getting approached by an odd couple while waiting for a her friend at a local burger place.  It confuses her, but she doesn't spend much time dwelling on it.  She is far more focused on getting the funds for an upcoming class trip. She is very upset when her grandmother refuses to pay for it.  Next thing Christina knows, she has been kidnapped and is being held prisoner in someone's basement.  She ends up getting rescued, but what will she do when she realizes that everyone believes that she was in on the kidnapping?

Sadly, this book didn't hold up quite as well as I thought it would.  It felt a little outdated and the story seemed a lot more unbelievable than when I read this book as a young teen.  The basic idea for the plot is rather interesting, but the way it plays out is unlikely.  It's hard to believe that Christina's parents and grandmother wouldn't give her the opportunity to explain herself but instead immediately believe that she had been involved in her own kidnapping.  It also seems that if they really had thought their daughter had tried to deceive them, they wouldn't have been so quick to welcome her back home.

*Spoiler* Christina does manage to prove her innocence, but that also felt a little false.  The ending was rushed and it seemed to build up to an ending the reader wouldn't be able figure out themselves.  I'm not saying that all mysteries need to be written with the reader's sleuthing skills in mind, but the "villain" kind of comes out of no where.

This book has a lot of nostalgia going for it, but it definitely didn't hold up for me.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

In Honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day...

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

I heard so many great thin's about this book prior t' readin' it. Just about every review gave it 5+ stars and made it sound like t' book o' t' year. I guess I went into it with too high expectations since I felt like it didn't quite live up t' t' hype. I'd be quite surprised if haven't heard about Katie McGarry's Pushin' t' Limits.

Noah lost both o' his parents in a house fire and since then has lost his younger brothers t' foster care. He gets supervised visits, but wants more. Echo has lost all memory from t' horrible night that port her almost went t' Davy Jones' locker. All she knows be that she be no longer allowed t' see her mother and her father and new stepmother have become over-protective.  She be now on a strict track towards business school and be no longer allowed t' pursue her dream o' bein' an artist. o' course t' two defy t' odds and fall madly in love.

 

This book deals with some uncommon topics and I appreciated that. It's not often that I come across a book about someone in foster care or one that puts aside all o' his needs in hopes o' gainin' custody o' someone else (at least not at this age). It's also not often that I come across a book where t' "bad parent" be t' mother. McGarry does give her characters and lot o' dept and a lot o' feelin'. I guess I struggled with how often I was frustrated at Echo and Noah.  It seems that they would do anythin' t' deny t' help offered by t' adults in their lives. Aye, I be all for characters that independent and self-sufficient, but when they have resources, they need t' use them! This was a really good book, but thar were several aggravatin' moments where I just wanted Noah and Echo t' get a clue and let others help them! 

 

This be certainly one o' those books that be a must read for t' year. There's always those books that define t' literature o' t' year and this book definitely makes that list! If you don't typically read many books, make aye this be one o' t' ones you do pick up.

 Happy Readin'!
-Melly

"Pushing the Limits" by Katie McGarry

I heard so many great things about this book prior to reading it.  Just about every review gave it 5+ stars and made it sound like the book of the year.  I guess I went into it with too high expectations since I felt like it didn't quite live up to the hype.  I'd be quite surprised if you haven't heard about Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits.

Noah lost both of his parents in a house fire and since then has lost his younger brothers to foster care.  He gets supervised visits, but wants more.  Echo has lost all memory from the horrible night that left her almost dead.  All she knows is that she is no longer allowed to see her mother and her father and new stepmother have become over-protective.  She is now on a strict track towards business school and is no longer allowed to pursue her dream of being an artist.  Of course the two defy the odds and fall madly in love.  

This book deals with some uncommon topics and I appreciated that.  It's not often that I come across a book about someone in foster care or one that puts aside all of his needs in hopes of gaining custody of someone else (at least not at this age).  It's also not often that I come across a book where the "bad parent" is the mother.    McGarry does give her characters and lot of dept and a lot of feeling.  I guess I struggled with how often I was frustrated at Echo and Noah.  It seems that they would do anything to deny the help offered by the adults in their lives.  Sure, I am all for characters that independent and self-sufficient, but when they have resources, they need to use them!  This was a really good book, but there were several aggravating moments where I just wanted Noah and Echo to get a clue and let others help them!  

This is certainly one of those books that is a must read for the year.  There's always those books that define the literature of the year and this book definitely makes that list!  If you don't typically read many books, make sure this is one of the ones you do pick up.



Happy Reading!
-Melly

“Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have)" by Sarah Mlynowski

I have yet to come across a novel by Sarah Mlynowski that I haven’t enjoyed by Ten Things We Did (andProbably Shouldn't Have) just might be my favorite.  Granted, a certain amount of disbelief is needed for this novel.  You have to be willing to believe that a seventeen-year-old girl would be allowed to stay behind when her father and stepmother move to Cleveland (after her mother got remarried and moved to Paris).  Of course, the parents don’t know that said friend’s mother stars in a play in another town and the two girls are living completely on their own.  You also have to believe that said father would deposit $1000 per month into his daughter’s bank account each month to cover “expenses” and doesn't realize that she is spending her income on things such as a hot tub.  Once you can believe these things, this is an awesome book!

This book has many laugh out loud moments.  As April learns to live on her own she makes discoveries such as what kinds of soap can go in the dishwasher (as you can imagine, she learns this the hard way) and which people in her life truly care about her and which ones don’t.  As I was reading, I felt that April was a very real character.  As the story progresses she takes the sort of risks that is to be expected when a girl her age is left completely unsupervised, but she learns so much from the decisions and by the end of the novel has completed one of the best character arcs I have seen in this genre.  There is one discover that April makes that I had to applaud Mlynowski for writing (trying not to spoil something incredibly plot important here).  I have run tons of YA lit, but I cannot really recall a writer that has put a main character in that situation.  I was blown away but so pleased that Mlynowski wrote that into her novel (Confused?  Again, don’t want to spoil anything, but if you email me, I’ll let you know which bit I am talking about). 

I really loved this book.  I am sad that it took me so long to get around to reading it.  After all, I love the Magic in Manhattan series, Gimme a Call and Monkey Business.  If you like girly books, this one is an absolute must!

Happy Reading!

-Melly

YALSA's Teens' Top Ten: VOTE!

You!  Are you a teen?  Do you know a teen?  Do you have a facebook/twitter/myspace (wait, do people still use myspace...)?  Then spread the word, and VOTE!

Happy Reading (and voting)!
-Melly