by Dale Peck
ages: 14+
First sentence (ARC): “I have a secret.”
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

Sometimes, regardless of plot or characters or even how the book ends, a particular voice in a book (or of a book) totally and completely wins you over. Sprout is one of those voices: observant, witty, sarcastic, yet full of heart, longing, and desire. He completely won me over, in spite of the meandering plot and Kansas stereotypes in the book (which bothered me more than I care to admit).

In fact, Sprout’s observations — on his friends, his life, and eventually his love, Ty — are the reason to read this book. After his mother’s death, Daniel Bradford — Sprout — and his father move from Long Island to Hutchinson, Kansas (which is 45 minutes up the road from here). His father has not dealt with the death well; he drinks and collects stumps, preferring to hide in the trailer on their land outside of Hutch than get a job. Sprout takes out his anger in words — on the page, in carrying around his mother’s dictionary — and in making himself as unique as possible, hence the green hair. It’s only when, during the summer before his junior year, Mrs. Miller — the English teacher in charge of getting students ready for the state essay competition — singles him out as someone who can achieve greatness that Sprout begins to confront his inner self. Which not only includes dealing with his mother’s death, but also his gayness in a community that is not known for its tolerance, and finding first love with someone who is more broken than he is.

Hands down, my favorite passage was this:

Without missing a beat, Mrs. Miller rattled off a stream of obscenities so fully and completely unexpected that I fell off my chair. Mothers were defiled, and their male and female children, as well as any and all offspring who just happened to’ve been born out of wedlock. As for the sacred union that produced these innocent babes, the pertinent bodily appendages were catalogued by a list of nicknames so profoundly scurrilous that a grizzled Marine, conceived in a brothel and dying of a disease he contracted in one, would’ve wished he’d been born as smooth as a ken doll. The act itself was invoked with such a variety of incestuous, scatological, bestial, and just plain bizarre variations that that same Marine would’ve given up on the Ken doll fantasy, and wished instead that all life had been confined to the single-cell stage, forever free of the taint of mitosis, let alone procreation.

It’s not an easy book to read; especially near the end, when Sprout’s and Ty’s life get entangled, it’s difficult and depressing. But, ultimately, Sprout finds something we’re all searching for: an inkling of a place and hope in his own life.

by Sara Zarr
ages: 14+
First sentence: “

I procrastinated this, because I had no idea what to say.

On the one hand: powerful, powerful story of a girl trying to get past a BIG mistake she made because she was lonely and wanted attention… and the guy told everyone. She the rep now of being the school slut (even though she’s never done it with anyone else). To make it worse, her dad can’t forgive her, and she can’t forgive herself. How does one get past that?

On the other hand: totally and completely depressing. The family is totally messed up, and I wanted to scream at the parents: parent already! Hard to read when you have a 13 year old girl yourself. At times, I found myself crying in frustration and disappointment at how totally wrong ALL their lives had gone. (Then again, that’s a sign of a really good story.)

Not exactly a cheerful, take-you-away kind of book. But a good one for discussing.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

I know I talked about this a bit in my review of the book (and technically I shouldn’t count it since I saw the movie first, and this breaks the rules I’ve set up for myself), but I haven’t watched a movie adaptation of a book in a while, and I wanted to keep this little feature going.

I should also start with a couple of confessions: I saw this movie when it came out, in the theater, and I liked it from the start. Which means, I’m not a Janeite. For all my love of her novels, I don’t mind it when they play with them and interpret the story a bit.

But, as I said in my review of the book, while this is a decent love story (and James McAvoy is quite dreamy), it’s not history. The whole Tom LeFroy love angle of the book was a blip, a passing mention. Not much is known about her relationship with him, and even Jon Spence is inferring much from her novel and what is known about both Tom and Jane. There’s really not that much there… especially not enough to make a 2 hour movie out of.

That said, I think they did a good job capturing the essence of Jane Austen — her conflict with propriety, her wit, her observations of people. We know so little about her, that it’s fun to infer what she might have been like based on what she did write. And while those inferences probably aren’t anywhere near the truth (dang you, Cassandra, for burning all those letters!), that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to speculate.

Which means, I can’t be too upset at all the liberties they took (mixing up times and places and names, creating instances which probably didn’t happen). Anne Hathaway did a good job capturing Jane’s curiosity with and frustration at the world; James McAvoy was perfect as a foil for her sharp tongue and brilliant mind. Which, for me, is really all you need in a good movie (like this).

Verdict: the movie is a LOT of fun, but check out a biography of her, too.

by Sarah Ockler
ages: 15+
First sentence: “Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day.”
ARC sent to me by a publicist.

Anna was in love with the boy next door, Matt. She and Matt and his sister, Frankie, were the ultimate triumvirate: they did everything together, but Anna kept her feelings to herself. Then, on her 15th birthday, everything changed: Matt kissed her (of course she kissed him back!). They hid their relationship from their parents and his sister, he promised that he’d break it to Frankie when they went on their annual pilgrimage to Zanzibar Bay in California. Except, he died — heart failure from a defect no one had caught — before he could get the chance.

Fast forward a year. Anna and Frankie are still friends, struggling through the grief of losing a brother (and a something-more-than friend, though Anna is Long Suffering and True and hasn’t told anyone). Frankie’s taken to being wild — smoking in her room, flirting (and sex) with boys — partially to see if she can get some kind of reaction from her parents, and partially to reinvent herself. Anna is lost, hanging around Frankie because she’s loyal, not really because she understands how to help, or even how to fully deal with her grief.

Then Frankie’s parents invite Anna to go with them to Zanzibar Bay, the first time they’ve been back since Matt’s death. And Frankie invents this game: 20 boys in 20 days: they should be able to help Anna dump her “albatross” (her virginity) and make it the A.B.S.E. (absolutely best summer ever). Anna goes along, but only halfheartedly because she’s still in love with Matt, and is determined to be faithful to his memory. Besides: if she falls in love with someone else, doesn’t that mean Matt will be erased?

I’m torn about this one: it’s an interesting look at dealing with grief, and with the unexpected loss of a loved one, whether it be a friend or a relative. I liked the romance Anna has, both in flashbacks with Matt, and her learning that she can love again with Sam, the local surfer boy. However, I cringed at everything Anna and Frankie got away with — and they got away with a lot; understandably, Frankie’s parents were grief stricken, but it made them really lazy in the parenting department. I also don’t know if the shedding of ones virginity — especially as a one-time affair — is really a valid method of dealing with grief, which is what I ultimately saw it being used as in the book, which made me uncomfortable.

At any rate, the characters — especially Anna — are interesting and complex, which is difficult to do when dealing with intense emotions and situations. And, while everything is not perfect in the end, everything will be okay.

Which, sometimes, is all you can ask for.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.