ARC review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

I wasn't certain of anything anymore, except the New Orleans was a faithless friend and I wanted to leave her.

The year is 1950 and Josie Moraine wants more than anything to leave her current life behind. Her mother, a brothel prostitute on Conti Street, pays little attention to Josie, and when she does, it's usually because she wants something from her. The gruff brothel madam, Willie Woodley, looks out for Josie, keeping (or getting) her out of trouble, and is more of a mother to her than her own.

When Josie befriends Charlotte Gates, a wealthy girl who lives Uptown, she becomes even more convinced that she needs to leave New Orleans. It isn't long into their first meeting that Charlotte convinces Josie that her way out of New Orleans is to apply to Smith College in Massachusetts.  Figuring out how to afford and get accepted to Smith becomes an obsession for Josie, one that she is willing to go to almost any length to accomplish.

But the mysterious death of a wealthy man in the French Quarter soon causes Josie to become embroiled in a police investigation, brought upon by her own mother, which causes her to question her loyalty to all the people involved in her life.

Out of the Easy is a brilliant sophomore effort by the author who brought us one of the most moving, important books written in the last ten years, Between Shades of Gray. And while nowhere near as moving as her first novel, Out of the Easy is just as compelling. Sepetys once again shows her prowess at throwing her readers into a story with a hook that reels them in and then keeps them turning the pages with meaningful, empathic characters and a riveting plot. And the fact that Sepetys can write a brothel madam whom readers can empathize with shows what a master she is at the craft of writing. I mean, hearing or reading the words "brothel madam" doesn't exactly conjure up the warm and fuzzies, ya know? But Sepetys still finds a way to get you on her side.

Despite the fact that Out of the Easy is a drastically different book than Between Shades of Gray, don't let that steer you away from reading it. In fact, that should actually make it more appealing: it proves that Ruta Sepetys isn't just a one-trick pony and that she is a well-rounded author. And while Ruta may say that historical fiction is "the ugly girl at the dance" as she recently did in her speech at the ALAN conference (alluding to what a hard sell it is to young readers), I'm going to have to mix my metaphors here and say that Sepetys is that ugly girl's fairy godmother, getting her to dance with the handsome prince at the ball.


 
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Expected Publication: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Philomel
Pages: 348
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC acquired at the NCTE conference

You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace

Alison Pace has made a name for herself in the literary world by writing novels that revolve around dogs (my favorites being Pug Hill and A Pug's Tale for the obvious reason that I'm a pug owner). In You Tell Your Dog First, Pace takes her love for dogs and creates a personal series of essays that give her readers a better idea of why dogs are such an important part of her life and writing career.

With her trademark wit and humor, Pace not only shows that she gets dogs, but she gets dog-people too. In fact, I think I might be so bold as to call her the quintessential dog-person.

Despite her often self-deprecating humor and the assumption she makes that much of what she does for her dog would be considered loony to non-dog-people, Alison comes off as quite reasonable and charming. She is not the dog equivalent to the "crazy cat lady", but you get a small sense that she feels that way about herself . I, however, found her to be quite endearing and amiable, someone everyone would want to be friends with.

But with scenes like this, I don't know who could read this book and not get a good chuckle, dog-lover or not:

I didn't look at my boyfriend throughout the meal. Instead of living in the moment, or dealing with the reality of it, I busied myself with thinking about how much worse it could be. I thought: At least my sister isn't picking up Maude and suggesting that everyone pass her around the table. Because, really, she did that sometimes.

"Is it time?" I distracted myself imagining Joey saying.
"Oh, I think it is!" I imagined my uncle answering her.
"Pass the pug!" I could almost hear Nana exclaiming.
"Pass her indeed!"

As I imagined my family clapping rhythmically together, swaying from side to side and passing around a pug, as had happened before, I made it through dinner with my boyfriend sitting across from me, and my parents' Jack Russel terrier sitting happily beside him. I imagined everyone, en masse, bursting into a variation of Pass the Dutchie on the Left-Hand-Side. That never happened, but I imagined it anyway.

I find this scene hilarious for two reasons:
1) The association Pace makes with passing a pug around the table and the ridiculous song from the 80s about passing a joint around.
2) My husband and I used to play "pass the pug" when our pug Frank was a puppy to keep him from falling asleep too early and therefore wouldn't sleep through the night, so when I read "pass the pug", I immediately went to my own visions of my husband and I sitting on the couch passing a pug off each other for the better part of an evening.

I find Alison Pace's writing both endearing and intellectually stimulating and not just because it's mostly about dogs, but she has a breezy and whimsical style that always challenges my thinking with her word choice and punctuation. There are a few essays in this book that are perfect to share with students when talking about craft. I'm looking forward to using them as mentor texts.

You Tell Your Dog First is the perfect book for the dog-lover in your life or if you're just someone trying to figure out just what makes dog-people tick. So you could read this book for entertainment OR for research purposes. :)


You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace
Published: November 6, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Pages: 232
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Book provided by the publisher

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

I could've sworn I reviewed this book last summer when I read it, but alas, it went unreviewed, which is a crying shame because this book is beautiful. And with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day coming up and Black History Month approaching, this is a book that needs to be on everyone's radar.

One of the reasons kids (and adults for that matter) find history so boring is because they are forced to read "un-biased" texts void of any voice. Told from the perspective of a "grandmother-like figure who would allow me to focus on major historical milestones that affected both her family and the rest of the country," Kadir Nelson creates a history of the African American experience full of, well, Heart and Soul.

Once you put a book like this in the hands of students, suddenly history comes alive. I am not ashamed to admit that I teared up a couple times while reading this book. For a non-fiction text to do that is quite a feat.

This would be a great mentor text to use with kids about voice and writing about history through someone else's lens.



Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Published: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 108
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: Book checked out from my local library

Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green

The teen years are full of awkward, angst-filled moments. But if you thought your teen years were awkward, you've got nothing on Teen Boat, a boy who can turn from teen boy into a boat at will. The tag line of this graphic novel says everything you need to know about it: the angst of being a teen, the thrill of being a boat. And with that, you get an idea of the quirky humor and ridiculous yet intriguing premise.

This is a graphic novel that one might initially dismiss as fluff, but don't allow yourself to only be enamored with its quirkiness; there's a lot happening beneath the surface too. Upon first reading, I'm sure I missed all the symbolism permeating the story because I was just so delighted by the quirk factor. I think I will have to encounter a second reading very soon because I know there will be things I missed the first time around.

This book was a delightful surprise and I'm looking forward to reading more of Roman's work, especially after getting the chance to talk to him at NCTE/ALAN.

Dave draws in my copy of Teen Boat!

My personalized copy of Teen Boat!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering (like I was), the John Green of Teen Boat! is not the same as the John Green of VlogBrothers, The Fault in Our Stars, and Looking for Alaska.  Thanks Alyson Beecher for clearing that up for me! :)


Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green
Published: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 144
Genre: Graphic Novel
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Copy acquired at the 2012 ALAN conference

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

ARC review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

That whole day, being with Willem, being Lulu, it made me realize that all my life I've been living in a small, square room , with no windows and no doors. And I was fine. I was happy, even. I thought. Then someone came along and showed me there was a door in the room. One that I'd never even seen before. Then he opened it for me.

When Allyson Healy takes a trip to Europe with her best friend Melanie the summer before her Freshman year of college, she quickly discovers that most of the trip is drudgery: filled with schedules, a motherly tour guide, and tourist trap after tourist trap. But close to the end of their trip, in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Melanie and Allyson ditch their tour group to attend an underground performance of Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night. That is where she sees Willem for the first time, a ruggedly handsome Dutch actor performing in the play, and there is an irrefutable spark. So when their first chance encounter leads to a second, Allyson decides to ditch her normally good girl persona and take a risk, choosing to run off to Paris with Willem for the day.

That decision vaults her into one of the most tumultuous years of her life, filled with angst and self-discovery, and perhaps even some love along the way: love of herself and of others.

True to Gayle Forman's touching, sentimental style, she writes a page-turning narrative full of heart and soul in Just One Day. I must admit, I was a bit dubious of Allyson's intentions midway through the novel, and even found her to be a tad too emo and angsty for my liking. At certain points of the story I even found it extremely difficult to empathize with her. But I should not have doubted. Forman once again proves her writing chops and shows her readers how to truly craft a three-dimensional character.

There were so many beautiful moments in this book, and they all revolve around Allyson's journey of self-discovery. The friendship she forms with the vibrant and flamboyant D'Angelo Harrison - AKA, "Dee" - is one of the most endearing parts of the novel and helps keep the plot moving. Dee is the perfect example of how a secondary character could steal the show, and would have, if plotted incorrectly. But in this case, he came in, did his job (offered some lightheartedness to some otherwise dark and dismal scenes) and then left Allyson to do the rest.

Equally as compelling is Forman's use of travel as self-discovery (which I am obviously a big proponent of given the theme of my blog). There is a particular scene in the book where Allyson is in Paris and she enters a patisserie where there is much celebration and the people inside ask her to join them even though she doesn't know a soul in the room. Her reaction to the events that unfold along with the reason for the celebration  proves to be one of the most beautiful and memorable scenes in the book, and a perfect case for why people should travel the world: to seek out those beautiful, unexpected moments that you can't get from, as Mark Twain would say, "vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Given that most people who have put this book on their to-read list know that there will be a second book told from Willem's point-of-view, the ending shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Though I have to admit, I'm glad we don't have to wait a year to read Just One Year, since the planned publication appears to be some time in 2013. I for one will be one of the first people clamoring to read it.

If you're someone like me who loves tales of travel and self-discovery, put Just One Day on your to-read list today!

If you like these books, then you might like Just One Day (and vice-versa):
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman


Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Expected Publication: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenille
Pages: 368
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC acquired at NCTE conference

Final book tally of 2012

I was disappointed I didn't make it to 100 yet again this year. Granted, I read over 300 books when you count picture books, but still. My goal is to always read 100 novel-length books. Anyway, here is my final tally:


93. The Reading Workshop: Creating Space for Readers by Frank Serafini
92. Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble
91. Bossypants by Tina Fey*
90. My Stroke of Insight by Jill Taylor Bolte*
89. From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
88. Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
87. Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo*
86. The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
85. Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans
84. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
83. You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace
82. Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
81. Little White Duck: A Childhood in China by Andres Vera Martinez and Na Liu
80. Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead*
79. The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond*
78. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
77. Brixton Brothers: The Case of the Case of Missing Identity by Mac Barnett*
76. Fire in the Ashes by Jonathan Kozol
75. The Wanderer by Sharon Creech*
74. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett*
73. The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney
72. Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle
71. Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green
70. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo*
69. Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm
68. Guys Read: The Sports Pages edited by Jon Scieszka
67. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
66. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick*
65. Swim the Fly by Don Calame*
64. The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm
63. Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli
62. Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson*
61. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos*
60. Bad Hair Day by Carrie Harris
59. Ten Things Every Writer Should Know by Jeff Anderson
58. Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin*
57. Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen*
56. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson*
55. Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher
54. Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
53. Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
52. American Grown by Michelle Obama
51. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys*
50. Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner
49. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
48. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson*
47. Split by Swati Avasthi*
46. The Literature Workshop by Sheridan D. Blau
45. Chime by Franny Billingsley*
44. Blind Spot by Laura Ellen
43. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy*
42. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket*
41. Insurgent by Veronica Roth*
40. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
39. A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle*
38. Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm*
37. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler*
36. The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood*
35. When She Woke by Hillary Jordan*
34. Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton*
33. Cold Cereal by Adam Rex*
32. See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles
31. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare*
30. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis*
29. Chomp by Carl Hiaasen*
28. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen*
27. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber*
26. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins*
25. Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri
24. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink*
23. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi*
22. Naked Reading by Teri Lesesne
21. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson*
20. What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali
19. Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
18. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness*
17. The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis*
16. Reading Ladders by Teri S. Lesesne
15. Wonder by RJ Palacio
14. Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel
13. The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hasselbeck
12. Classics in the Classroom: Designing Accessible Literature Lessons by Carol Jago
11. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
10. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson*
9. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
8. The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin*
7. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
6. Matched by Ally Condie*
5. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
4. No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman*
3. This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel*
2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
1. Our Only May Amelia by Jenni Holm*

*Indicates audiobook

Audiobook review: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

Before she was known as The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond was a city girl through and through.  When Ree decided to uproot her life in L.A. due to a dead-end relationship, her plan was to spend some time back home in Oklahoma before uprooting her life again and moving to Chicago. Chicago was the perfect place to start a new life: it had all the draws and conveniences of big-city but was just one plane ride away from her family back home.

But then one night while out with some friends at a bar in her hometown, she met a cowboy whom we only know as Marlboro Man. Ree found herself falling head over heels in love with Marlboro Man and her plans for a new life in the hustle and bustle of Chicago were soon replaced with preparations for life on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere. This was not the life she had planned for herself, but as Ree displays with great insistence throughout the course of the book: the heart wants what it wants.

If ever there was a feel-good love story, Ree Drummond has it. I love watching her show on Food Network every weekend and I equally love watching her family interact. Ree proves in this heartwarming memoir about the man who swept her off her feet that she's no slouch as a writer. As someone who tends to shy away from cheesy romance novels, Ree manages show me that cheesy romance memoirs are worth my time, most likely because she doesn't take herself too seriously. Her sassy, self-deprecating humor is a perfect antidote to all that is cliche in the world of romance writing.   

After listening to Ree narrate her own story in this audiobook, I have to say that my admiration for her continues to grow. As someone who was used to the conveniences of a suburban existence, Ree displayed virtually no resentment toward her new husband when she moved to his ranch in the middle of nowhere. She made the best of her situation and realized her happiness was with her husband, not in her surroundings. I wish I had been able to be so adaptable in my own love story.

I hope despite Ree's busy schedule with her new show that she doesn't stop pursing other book ideas. Listening to this memoir made me hope for more than just cookbooks to be authored by her in the future.


The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond
Published: February 1, 2011
Publisher: William Morrow/Harper Audio
Pages: 341
Audiobook length: 11 hours, 3 minutes
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults

My Top Ten Favorite Books of 2012

As does everyone with a book blog this time of year, it's time to reflect on my top faves of the year. I'm not going to categorize them and say, "These were my top YA picks" and "These were my top picture book picks". No I will spare the long, drawn out posts and just say, out of ALL the books I read, YA, middle grade, picture book, non-fiction, etc, etc, these were my absolute favorites. Links for each book take you to my reviews.

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I have never in my life declared a book my favorite. There are too many good books out there to call one book the very best. That is until I read The Fault in Our Stars. I don't even know where to begin to explain how perfect this book is. People who walk around lamenting over the fact that young adult literature is bereft of any sort of literary sophistication need to get their heads out of the sand and start reading some because if they read TFiOS, they'd stop declaring that YA lit isn't "literary" enough for them. Clearly these people have not read John Green. If this book doesn't win a Printz award come January, there is no justice in the world.

2. Wonder by RJ Palacio
Auggie Pullman is one of the most memorable, lovable characters in all of children's literature. Wonder is destined to become a classic. Period. It won the hearts of so many readers within just a few short weeks of being it published and continues to win the hearts of many more as we get closer and closer to award season. Like with TFiOS, if this book doesn't win some sort of heavy medal in January, I call foul.

3. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
It has the heartbreak of Charlotte's Web coupled with the joy of Because of Winn-Dixie. Yet another book that is soon to become a classic.

4. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Chrstopher Healy
Want to know what happens after "happily ever after" in fairy tales like Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel? In The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, we discover that the Princes Charming who saved the aforementioned princesses were, let's just say, less than the handsome dreamboats we imagined them to be. This is one of the most memorable audiobooks I've listened to in recent history and that is all thanks to the sheer comic genius of actor Bronson Pinchot, who not only narrates this audiobook, he performs his heart out in it. All of Pinchot's voices are brilliant, but my personal favorite is that of Prince Duncan, who sounds more like a surfer dude who's fallen off his board one too many times than that of the dignified prince one imagines to have married Snow White. I can't wait for the second installment.

 
5. Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Steven Salerno
I have a confession to make: I don't like baseball. But in between the pages of any Audrey Vernick baseball book, I become a baseball fan. She works really hard to craft a narrative full of voice: whether it's silly humor in her Buffalo books, or quiet respect and reverence as with her nonfiction picture books like She Loved Baseball and now Brothers at Bat. And to write such a brief narrative full of voice is no simple task, but Audrey is a master at it.Thus the reason that this is one of my favorite books of 2012.

6. Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
Born in Ethiopia and adopted to a Swedish family, Marcus Samuelsson has one of the most fascinating upbringings and genuine human interest stories of anyone in the food world. This frank memoir is one of my favorite food memoirs I've read in recent history.

7. Book Love by Penny Kittle
In this book, Penny Kittle addresses the contention most high school teachers seem to have that reading and writing workshop is just a "middle school thing." Not only does Penny show that workshop absolutely belongs in the high school classroom, but she allows us to see that it's a necessary part of the high school English and literature experience if we are to prepare our students for college and careers beyond the classroom. I hold this book on the same pedestal as I do The Book Whisperer. It's that good.

8. Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
In this second installment of the Birthright series, Anya Balanchine continues her story in late 21st century New York. After some enlightening discussion with Gabrielle Zevin at NCTE/ALAN, I discovered that she felt the same way I did that this series is not a dystopia as it has been labeled by many and she told me that she wrote it more as a character story/family saga. Based on that conversation over our mutual disagreement over genres not to mention my love for that fact that despite Anya's stoicism, she still has a fierceness about her, this book had to be included in my top 10 favorites for the year.

9. Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky
You know how there's a whole genre of books out there called "fractured fairy tales?" Where  an author turns the fairy tale archetype on its head somehow? Well, I've decided to coin a new genre of picture books called "fractured ABC books" and Z is for Moose is one of them. This ABC book gets hijacked by a Moose who is distressed over the fact that he was not selected for the letter M. What happens as a result is one of the silliest, most entertaining picture books of the year.

10. What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali
If you haven't already seen the poem inspired by this book, please do yourself a favor and go watch it right now. In this memoir/series of essays, Mali gives further explanations for the moments that inspired different lines from the poem. Not only that, but the purpose of this book, as Mali states in the introduction is, "Someone needs to remind teachers that they are dearly loved. I'm that guy."


What were your favorite books of 2012?

Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle

"What our students read in school is important; what they read the rest of their lives is more important."

High school teacher and literacy coach Penny Kittle knows something that many English teachers don't: kids don't actually read the books they're assigned in class. And far too many kids are graduating from high school not having experienced the joy and pleasure of living inside the pages of a book, let alone many books. And that's just the problem. Administrators, curriculum writers,  and law makers assume that in order for students to become better readers they must only read intensively and not extensively. They forget that in order to become expert readers, students must build stamina. They can only do that by reading. A lot. Sometimes even books that are too easy for their reading level. And that's where the expertise of the teacher comes in: when do you pull back and let students experience the joy of some "brain candy" and when do you decide the right moment to challenge their thinking and give them a "reach book" as Penny likes to call it.

You see, Book Love my friends, is a revelation. It belongs up on the pedestal where I hold The Book Whisperer. While reading it can benefit teachers of any grade, and I highly encourage every teacher to pick it up no matter what grade you teach, Penny addresses the contention most high school teachers seem to have that reading and writing workshop is just a "middle school thing." Not only does Penny show that workshop absolutely belongs in the high school classroom, but she allows us to see that it's a necessary part of the high school English and literature experience if we are to prepare our students for college and careers beyond the classroom.

Filled with concise, logical arguments as well as emotional stories of Penny's own students to drive her points home, Book Love should be required reading in every high school English department across America. I finished reading the last half of this book on the plane home from NCTE thinking that it would be safe plane reading. Oh how wrong I was. I shed many tears for Penny's students in the last few pages of this book. Her love and commitment to them made me wish to be the teacher to my students that she is to hers. This is a book that is impossible not to think of the Maya Angelou quote (and I'm paraphrasing here): when you know better, you do better. Teachers, read Book Love. And then when you know better, do better for your students. They deserve so much more than the fake, passionless reading they are currently experiencing in classrooms across America. Get them out of the those SparkNotes and into the pages of a real book. LOTS of real books. Let them read widely and voluminously so that they can become lifelong readers. Fill your shelves with many different books, not just the handful of classroom sets of classics that don't even get opened when you "read" them in class. Give them a buy in. Let them drink the Kool-aid. Then and only then will those dusty classics sitting on your shelf seven months of the year actually get read.

Oh, and if you don't believe that students don't actually read the books they're assigned in class, I dare you to continue to feel that way after you watch this video.


Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle
Published: October 26, 2012
Publisher: Heinemann
Pages: 173
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Teachers

Audiobook Review: Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

When Anya Balanchine is released from Liberty Children's Facility, she wants nothing more than to go back to school and live a normal, peaceful life with her younger sister Natty. Unfortunately, wherever Anya goes, controversy and illegal activity is sure to follow, and it isn't long before the family business she wishes so badly to escape comes back to put a stranglehold on her. At first Anya spends a great deal of time and energy trying to break through the chains of her family business, but she soon realizes that escape is futile and she must surrender to what Michael Corleone and she now know is true: "Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in."

Because It Is My Blood is the second book in the Birthright series by Gabrielle Zevin, the first book being All These Things I've Done, which is where we learn that Anya Balanchine grew up in a world where coffee and chocolate are illegal, but her family runs a very successful chocolate company in Russia, selling their wares on the black market in the U.S. And just like All These Things I've Done, Because It Is My Blood has a quiet power to it. Anya is one of the strongest, fiercest female protagonists I've ever come in contact with and yet that ferocity is coated under a thick layer of stoicism and control. And despite her reserved nature, Anya is not cold. She comes across as quite likeable even though in the hands of a less dextrous author, I'm sure she would have come across as icy and robotic. I continue to marvel at what a contradictory yet empathetic character Zevin has created in Anya Balanchine.

Just as with the first audiobook, Because It Is my Blood is narrated by Ilyana Kadushin and she is every bit as perfect for the role of Anya as she was in the first book. If you read the first book and enjoyed it, there is no doubt in my mind that you will enjoy the continuation of Anya's story in Because It Is My Blood. 

My only real contention with this book is that it is categorized as dystopia when it reads nothing like a dystopia. In my review of All These Things I've Done, I called it dystopia-lite because while society has degraded and become more corrupt, it wasn't drastic enough to feel dystopian. There was no Big Brother, or factions, or an arena full of kids fighting each other to the death. Corruption was evident but not perverse as it is in most dystopias.

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
Series: Birthright #2
Audiobook Narrator: Ilanya Kadushin
Published: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 350
Audiobook Length: 10 hours, 51 minutes
Genre: Dystopia? <------ I'm still not convinced of this
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Audiobook received for review from publisher

 

Audiobook Review: Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

Born in Ethiopia and adopted to Swedish parents, Marcus Samuelsson has probably the most interesting and intriguing human-interest stories of anyone in the food world. But his story is not what rocketed him to the top of the food world, it was his talent. When a devastating cut from the soccer team he loved caused him to question his purpose in life, fatefully and blessedly, Marcus thought back to the love of his grandmother's Sunday dinners and decided to consider a career in food.

Marcus was curious and passionate. He had the desire the learn about traditional mother cuisines, but what really helped him stake his claim in the world of his food was his desire to play with flavors and textures that defy tradition.

This book has everything I love about a food memoir: passion, heart, drama, and mouth-watering descriptions. Samuelsson holds nothing back about his life: he discusses his own issues with race, the child he abandoned, and even talks smack about other chefs, namely Gordon Ramsay who, according to Samuelsson, is just as mean (and also bigoted) as he appears to be on his TV shows.

I loved this memoir and I adored listening to Samuelsson narrate his own auidobook -- I could listen to him talk ALL DAY. But I'm not gonna lie, I'm dubious as to whether he wrote this book himself. Any time a celebrity writes a book, I have to suspect that it was written by a ghost writer. The same holds true for Yes, Chef. Does that make his story any less important to read or less entertaining? No, not at all. But the dirty little secret of celebrities hiring ghost writers to tell their stories always leaves me wondering what percentage of them actually write the books that bear their names. My guess is that percentage is not very high and my gut suspicion is that Samuelsson gave a rough outline of his story to the person he or his publisher hired to write his story and then went off to judge an episode of Chopped.

Still, after listening to this audiobook, I have a great respect for Samuelsson as a chef and am now determined to eat at one of his restaurants the next time I'm in New York or Chicago. His passion for food mimics my own: finding ways to honor traditional cuisine while amping up flavors and textures in new and unusual ways. Of course, Samuelsson's passion and talent is obviously much more legit and disciplined than my own: he's a professional chef and I'm just some schmo who likes to cook and eat.

If you like food memoirs or are a Food Network junkie like me, I highly recommend reading or listening to Yes, Chef. Though if you're also like me and love listening to Marcus Samuelsson talk, choose the audiobook over the hardcover.

Check out my review of Marcus's cookbook, The Soul of a New Cuisine.


Yes, Chef by Marcus Sameulsson
Published: June 26, 2012
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 319
Audiobook Length: 11 hours, 51 minutes
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Checked out from library

ARC review: Bad Hair Day by Carrie Harris

Warning: Bad Taste in Boys spoilers in the first paragraph. Read at your own peril if you haven't read the first book yet. 

Kate Grable became a national hero after she discovered a cure for the zombie virus that was running rampant through her high school. Little did she know that would just be the beginning of her fame and notoriety.

When Kate's brother Jonah discovers a dead girl at one of his gamer meetings, something suspicious is clearly afoot - something suspicious AND hairy. And now that something is going around trying to kill people. Could it be... werewolves? That's what Kate has to find out, and if she doesn't soon, she could be the next victim on the list of bodies that seem to be piling up.

In Bad Hair Day Carrie Harris reminds us what we loved so much about Kate in Bad Taste in Boys. She is just as sassy, geeky, and quirky in this go-around as she was the first time. And in this book, we even have the added benefit of seeing a jealous Kate when another girl tries to steal her boyfriend out from under her. And if you're familiar with Kate at all, given that thought, hilarity is bound to ensue, right?

What endears me so much to Carrie's books is that she doesn't hide behind her writing voice. What you read is what you get with her. Not only is her writing hilarious, but she really is that funny in real life too. Anyone who writes sentences like this is surely a comic genius:

The stupid car alarm was still going off, but no one came to investigate. I thought someone ought to make a car alarm that shouted "Free beer!" I bet loads of people would come for that.

And just so you don't think I'm writing a biased review here because I know Carrie personally, I will give one minor criticism of the book and that is I wanted the villain to be in the story more than he/she/it <----- don't want to give it away -- was. It sort of felt like this person/thing just appeared out of nowhere and I wanted to better understand his/her/its motivations. Yet despite my own preference for the villain to be more in the foreground of the story, this is still a fully developed, hilarious novel. The humor is what I and so many readers love about Carrie's novels. In fact, I did a book talk on Bad Taste in Boys this week, and after I read a short passage, I closed the book and immediately heard the voices of many of my students say in unison, "Oh! I want to read that now!" The writing just speaks for itself. You can't ask for more fun and camp than what you get in a Carrie Harris novel. If I ever find myself in a bad mood and need a good laugh, I now know that she is my go-to read for a for some cheering up - unless I'm in a bad mood AND nauseated, in which case, I'll steer clear of  Bad Taste in Boys with its frequency of vomiting zombies among its 200 pages. ;)

That is perhaps an added benefit of reading Bad Hair Day: those of you out there who are like me and have a low gross-out tolerance, the sequel will not gross you out nearly as much as the first one. For people (like some of my students for instance) who like to be grossed-out, they might be disappointed with this one - sorry, no black vomit this time. Oh wait, was that a spoiler? :)

Pre-order Bad Hair Day, purchase Bad Taste in Boys, and/or order her new e-novella Bad Yeti today:

 Bad Taste in Boys review
BTIB book launch event, July 2011
Carrie Harris classroom visit

Bad Hair Day by Carrie Harris
Series: Kate Grable #2
Publication Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Netgalley eARC

Audiobook review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

This book is the true story about me and my battle with leukemia and, (spoiler alert) in the end I die, so you could just read this sentence and then pretend that you read the whole book. Unfortunately, there's a secret word somewhere in this book, and if you don't read all of it you won't find out the secret word. And then the people in your book club will totally know you stopped reading after this paragraph and will realize that you're a big, fat, fake. 

Okay, fine. The secret word is "Snausages."

The end.

And with that crazy introduction, you know this book is not going to be your typical memoir.

If all you think of when you hear the word Beyonce is the breakout star of the girl group, Destiny's Child, or "married to rapper Jay-Z", then clearly you've never heard the name Jenny Lawson because she gave a whole new meaning to the name Beyonce. Does Giant Metal Chicken ring a bell to you? If it doesn't, clearly you've never read Jenny's hilariously irreverent blog, The Bloggess.

I am pretty sure Jenny Lawson would be in a nuthouse if she weren't so darned funny. Luckily for her, humor can sometimes mask insanity. So as long as she's entertaining people, who's she going to hurt, right? Then again, I probably shouldn't poke fun at her mental health given her long struggles with this very issue but, y'all, this is the craziest book I have ever listened to. It's 300 pages insane of babbling but at least it's funny, insane babbling. I mean seriously, the whole book is just one long, crazy stream-of-consciousness. And I'm pretty sure this book has something to offend everyone: expletives, highly mature themes, irreverence for topics that one does not normally joke about (case in point, the leukemia joke in the intro), and yet despite the fact that the reader is convinced that they should somehow be offended by at least some of the content of this book, they're too busy wiping the tears from their eyes from laughing so hard to worry about whether they actually find the material offensive. That's the mark of a great comic I guess: when you know you should be offended but you're too busy laughing to wonder what it is exactly you should be offended by.

No one is going to accuse this book of being a literary masterpiece any time soon -- frequent overuse of the word "totally" does not a literary author make -- but Lawson "totally" has the entertainment market licked. If you're in search of some brain candy, search no further.

Since I listened to this book on audio, Lawson's voice has been whirring through my mind as I've been writing this review, which means I've had to refrain from writing expletives a few times simply because she swears so often in this book and her voice was "totally" getting inside my head as I wrote this. Thankfully and unlike Ms. Lawson, my brain has a filter. ;)

The audiobook has the added benefit of bonus chapters and outtakes that prove even further the crazy snowball effect that manifests from her stream-of-consciousness way of thinking. I never knew stream-of-consciousness was something you could be talented at, but apparently Lawson is more talented than most. If you're a fan of audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to the audio as opposed to reading the book. Since it's read by Lawson herself, you have the added benefit of her tone and cadence to go along with her insane prose. If you are in need of a good laugh -- one that burns a lot of calories and induces tears -- and you don't offend easily, go out and listen to this book. 


Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
Audiobook narrator: Jenny Lawson
Published: April 17, 2012
Publisher: Amy Eihorn Books/Penguin Audiobooks
Pages: 318
Audiobook length: 8 hours, 41 minutes
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Audiobook checked out from library

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

You don't know what lonely is
until you've asked
for a table for one.

After discovering a devastating secret about her marriage, Marcie's mother drags her daughter from their Idaho home to New Hampshire for what Marcie initially thinks is just the summer. But summer comes and goes and Marcie sees no signs of her mother returning to Idaho. Now she must start at a brand new school as she longs for home and the boyfriend she left behind, not to mention missing the mother who, while physically present, has seemingly abandoned her daughter to drown in her own grief.

So not only is Marcie desperately homesick, but that yearning for her life back home is compounded by the fact that she must take care of herself and her mother. So when a handsome, popular boy starts paying attention to her at school, Marcie's loneliness forces her to question her already existing romantic relationship with her current boyfriend.

Love and Leftovers is Sarah Tregay's first foray into the YA world and oh boy did she begin on an ambitious note. Written entirely in verse, many might consider this an easier format in which to write, but they would be vastly incorrect. While a novel in verse is certainly easier on the reader, writing a whole novel as a poem means you must use such a precise economy of words. In poetry, one word has to do the work of five... or ten.

I loved the fact that despite being such a quick read, the story still has depth and breadth. The plot moves along quickly and yet there's still time to contemplate a great deal of empathy for all of the characters, not just the main character. This is one of those novels where there's no true antagonist. There are lots of people who make poor decisions, but not necessarily a  "bad guy" and "good guy." It's a complex and satisfying plot all done in about 1/3 of the words of a novel in prose. Lots of contradicting elements happening and yet it all still works. I hope this won't be Sarah Tregay's last novel in verse. I can definitely see this becoming her niche.

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
Published: December 27, 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 432
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Library copy

Thoughts on Bright Young Things and Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen

It's the roaring twenties and best friends Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey decide to leave their small town of Defiance, Ohio for the bright lights and bigger opportunities of New York City. While Letty longs to be a star, Cordelia secretly plots to find her long-lost father, bootlegger Darius Grey. Seemingly overnight, Cordelia is swept into a new world of money, influence, and danger.

After a falling out with Cordelia, Letty soon finds herself on her own in a city that will eat her alive if she's not careful. Will Letty's quest for stardom result in a one-way ticket back to Ohio? Will Cordelia's dream of finding her influential long-lost family turn out to be a nightmare?

Author of the guilty-pleasure series, The Luxe, Anna Godbersen chooses a new historical era to focus on in her Bright Young Things series, but no less indulgent. Taking place in the Prohibition era, the glitz, the glamor, and the lawlessness keep readers turning the page and clamoring for more.

Anna Godbersen writes descriptive, lush prose and I enjoy reading and listening to her beautiful, fluid sentences. However, my problem with so much description is that sometimes the plot feels like it's not moving forward. A lot happens in the first two books, but with so much description, the stories tend to feel like everything is standing still. This is not always a bad thing. The writing is beautiful after all, but it could be an issue for people who need action-packed plots to keep turning the page.


Two examples of my favorite descriptive passages from Bright Young Things:

We did whatever we liked and dressed in whatever we thought smart and broke rules for the sport of it -- diving into public fountains, mixing social classes as casually as we mixed cocktails.

The fading day had cast the grass the color of straw, and the guests were trailed by their own long shadows as they ascended toward the vast white tent.

I'm definitely looking forward to the third book, The Lucky Ones, which comes out on November 27th.

Bright Young Things and Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen
Published: October 12, 2010 and September 20, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 389 and 368
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: First book purchased, second book received for review (in audiobook form)

American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama

For me, planting a garden was a way to help start a national conversation about the health of our children, an issue I care deeply about, not just as First Lady but as a mother.  - p. 213 of American Grown

This is not a book about politics. I just want to clear that up off the bat. Just because I'm reviewing and praising a book written by Michelle Obama does not mean I'm using my blog to endorse any sort of political platform.

Then again, in a way, maybe I am. I think Michelle Obama's message and mission for making healthy food more accessible to all Americans is a necessary one. Obesity and the afflictions that accompany it like type 2 diabetes and heart disease are running rampant through our nation. So much of that has to do with the food we are putting in our bodies. In many underprivileged communities throughout the country, residents don't have access to fresh produce and even if they do, many assume they can't afford it. So they rely on the convenience foods and fast food restaurants that seem to permeate underprivileged neighborhoods to sustain their diets. 

So Michelle Obama began her mission to make a healthier nation very simply: by planting a garden on the White House's South Lawn. You might wonder how a simple garden can change a nation's eating habits, but with some seeds and some dirt, she was able to start a conversation. Students and organizations came to volunteer in the garden and kids started to show curiosity about the food coming out of the ground that they were helping to plant and harvest. My biggest takeaway from this book was the need for a sense of ownership in knowing where your food comes from. Kids are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they are helping to see them grow and flourish.

This book is organized by seasons and shows the plans for what was planted in the garden each season, along with accompanying stories about the positive change the garden has made in the surrounding communities along with around the country. There are vibrant, colorful pictures all throughout the book of garden harvests and faces of excited kids pitching in with garden maintenance. Mrs. Obama also shares the learning curve that came with planting the garden. Even though the White House has a team of landscapers, the plantings were not all successes and she shares with her readers what worked and what didn't.

The last section of the book gives a few recipes inspired by the bounty of the White House garden. The recipes section is very small, so if you buy this book or check it out from the library expecting it to be a cookbook, you will be sadly disappointed. American Grown is what it says it is in the subtitle: the story of the White House kitchen garden and gardens across America. After reading this book, you will be hard pressed not to feel inspired to plant your own garden or help out at a local community garden.

American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama
Published: May 27, 2012
Publisher: Crown
Pages: 272
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Book checked out from the library

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

They took me in my nightgown. 

Thinking back, the signs were there – family photos burned in the fireplace, Mother sewing her best silver and jewelry into the lining of her coat at night, and Papa not returning from work. My younger brother, Jonas, was asking questions. I asked questions, too, but perhaps I refused to acknowledge the signs. Only later did I realize that Mother and Father intended we escape. We did not escape. 

We were taken.

I have never been more riveted by a first paragraph than I was with Between Shades of Gray. Talk about a book that pulls you in from the very beginning!

Lina is fifteen years old in June of 1941 when the Soviet NKVD (secret police) come and take her family from their Lithuanian home. They are sent across the frozen tundra of Siberia to a prisoner work camp where they are forced to brave the cruelest of elements. Lina's only relief from her deplorable surroundings is in her art, risking her life to document events and messages she hopes will make their way to her father.

This is a story that needed to be told and Ruta Sepetys did it with such love and care for her family's history. While Lina is a fictional character, Sepetys was inspired by her own family history when writing Lina's story. The tag line of the newly designed cover is "One girl's voice breaks the silence of history." I am not usually a fan of tag lines on covers because they're usually really generic and cheesy, but this one so perfectly captures the spirit of this novel that I actually wish the tag line were more prominently displayed.

Most people are not aware of Stalin's systematic deportation of Lithuanians during World War II. It is literally a part of history that Sepetys brought to light by writing this novel. Yet another reason why reading enriches our lives: even though this is a work of fiction, it still manages to educate and enlighten.This is definitely one of the best historical fictions I have ever read. The world is better for having this book its midst. It's one that should be taught in high school literature and social studies classrooms.

Check out this interview with Ruta Sepetys where she talks about her inspiration for writing the book. It's eleven minutes long but it's worth taking the time to watch. It's one of the most fascinating author interviews I've ever watched.



Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Published: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Philomel/Speak
Pages: 352
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Library Copy