Three Cheers for Gary Schmidt!

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Published in 2004. 224 pages.
2005 Newbery Honor Book.
2005 Printz Honor Book.


My first exposure to Gary Schmidt came a year and a half ago when I read the young adult historical fiction novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy with my son and his fifth grade book club. The writing is beautiful, and we spent a couple of weeks in the book club looking at similes and metaphors, personification, and imagery. Set in 1912 and based on a real event, the story also teaches important lessons about racism and doing the right thing.

2010.26

The Wednesday Wars
Published in 2007. 264 pages.
2008 Newbery Honor Book.


This 2008 Newbery Honor Book (which is a prequel of sorts to Okay for Now) is a tender story of growing up and finding one's way in the world. The plot is centered around the main character's exploration of Shakespeare's plays under the direction of his seventh grade teacher. I'm a little too young to remember the Vietnam War, but that time period is used as an effective backdrop to the story.

2011.66

Okay for Now
Published in 2011. 360 pages.


What do Aububon's Birds of America, the Vietnam War, Jane Eyre, Apollo 11, and the New York Yankees have to do with one another? Each plays an important role in this fabulous exploration of "the transforming power of art over disaster," in a wonderful tale "about creativity and loss, love and recovery, and survival" (to borrow some phrases from the book jacket).

I simply cannot say enough good about this one! I will be surprised - and disappointed - if Okay for Now doesn't receive some awards of its own. By the way, I actually read it before I read The Wednesday Wars. (I don't think my reading enjoyment was diminished because of that, but I would have known a little about the main character of Okay for Now if I'd read The Wednesday Wars first.)

2011.55

I Feel Bad About My Neckby Nora Ephron

And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman.
Published in 2006. 137 pages.


This collection of personal essays is a quick read.

My favorite essay was "I Hate My Purse." I totally relate to Ephron's opening statement—

I hate my purse. I absolutely hate it. If you're one of those women who think there's something great about purses, don't even bother reading this because there will be nothing here for you. This is for women who hate their purses, who are bad at purses, who understand that their purses are reflections of negligent housekeeping, hopeless disorganization, a chronic inability to throw anything away, and an ongoing failure to handle the obligations of a demanding and difficult accessory (the obligation, for example, that it should in some way match what you're wearing).

The list of profundities in "What I Wish I'd Known" included one that made me literally laugh out loud—

When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.

Ephron addresses more serious issues too, albeit with humor. From the essay "Me and Bill: The End of Love"—

The way I saw it, if Bill had behaved, Al would have been elected, and thousands and thousands of people would be alive today who are instead dead.

And from "Considering the Alternative"—

But if the events of the last few years have taught me anything, it's that I'm going to feel like an idiot if I die tomorrow and I skimped on bath oil today. So I use quite a lot of bath oil. More than you could ever imagine.

2010.65

Fly On the Wall by E. Lockhart

Subtitled How One Girl Saw Everything.
Published in 2006. Audiobook read by Caitlin Greer.

At the Manhattan High School for the Arts, where everyone is "different" and everyone is "special," Gretchen Yee feels ordinary. She's the kind of girl who sits alone at lunch, drawing pictures of Spider-Man, so that she won't have to talk to anyone; who has a crush on Titus but won't do anything about it; who has no one to hang out with when her best (and only real) friend, Katya, is busy.

One day, Gretchen wishes that she could be a fly on the wall in the boys' locker room - just to learn more about guys. What are they really like? What do they really talk about? Are they really cretins most of the time?

Fly on the Wall is the story of how that wish comes true.

There were parts of this young adult novel I really liked. I think E. Lockhart does a great job with the voice of her protaganist Gretchen Yee - just like she does with Ruby Oliver and Frankie Landau-Banks. I think, too, that there are some important messages in the book about personal identity, about understanding the "opposite" sex, and about homophobia.

I also enjoyed the clever use of Spider-Man and Kafka's The Metamorphosis in conjunction with the telling of Gretchen's own transformation (literal and figurative), and I adore the paperback cover that illustrates part of that connection.

However, there was way too much unnecessary profanity and way too much discussion of "gherkins" and "biscuits" for me to really love this one. Especially once Gretchen literally becomes a "fly on the wall," the plot slows way down and I felt like I was being simply subjected to seeming endless descriptions of male anatomy.

I guess, all things considered, Fly On the Wall averages out to an average book for me. (But that doesn't diminish my overall love for E. Lockhart!)

2010.64

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pieby Jordan Sonnenblick

Published in 2004. 273 pages.

Heart-breaking. Humorous.
Heart-warming. Honest.

You have to love it when the doctor lays all this horrific stuff on you and then tells you not to worry. It's like saying, "Here's thirty-seven pounds of assorted chocolates. Try not to think about food, though." Or "Look! There's Renee Albert in a bikini. But please try to keep your mind on algebraic functions." [page 235]

Author Jordan Sonnenblick's website.

2005 ALA Teens' Top Ten.

Sequel - After Ever After (2010).
2010.59

13 Little Blue Envelopesby Maureen Johnson

Published in 2005. 321 pages.


First line: As a rule, Ginny Blackstone tried to go unnoticed - something that was more or less impossible with thirty pounds (she'd weighed it) of purple-and-green backpack hanging from her back.

Brief summary (from the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data): When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.

Why I read this book: I've been hearing good things about young adult novelist Maureen Johnson's work for a while, but I hadn't read any of her books until now. Tricia of Library Queue had recommended 13 Little Blue Envelopes to me as a short, quick read published in 2005, as I worked to finish the Countdown Challenge. (Tricia's review is here.)

A few random thoughts: Very nice read, particularly good for the Read-a-Thon! Ginny had her very own personal, miniature version of The Amazing Race - and, like the racers I admire most, learned more about herself in the process. I especially loved hearing about her adventures in Amsterdam and Copenhagen because, although I've never been there myself, I did recognize much of it from the photos and souvenirs that my sisters and I compiled into a scrapbook for my parents from their trip there a few years ago.

Something notable: 13 Little Blue Envelopes was an ALA Teens' Top Ten for 2006 (as was Peeps, which I also recently read.)

For more fun: Check out Maureen Johnson's website, including some FAQs about 13 Little Blue Envelopes. (I'm also now following Johnson on Twitter.) A sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes, titled The Last Little Blue Envelope, is scheduled for publication next spring.

From the peanut gallery: My 14-year-old book-loving daughter says, "I thought Suite Scarlett was cute, so I want to read this one."

2010.63

Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood

Published in 2005. 335 pages.


I loved this novel that was part the journey of a woman from childhood to adulthood, part a mystery tale, part an exploration of faith, and part the story of a marriage! It was heart-breaking and faith-affirming. It was filled with both sorrow and hope.

This is part of the description of the novel on goodreads:

Lizzy Mitchell was raised from the age of two by her uncle, a Catholic priest. When she was nine, he was falsely accused of improprieties with her and dismissed from his church, and she was sent away to boarding school. Now thirty years old and in a failing marriage, she is nearly killed in a traffic accident. What she discovers when she sets out to find the truths surrounding the accident and about the accusations that led to her uncle's death does more than change her life. With deft insight into the snares of the human heart, Monica Wood has written an intimate and emotionally expansive novel full of understanding and hope.

The title of the book comes from a poignant Bible verse:

The full soul tramples upon the honeycomb,
but to the hungry soul, any bitter thing tastes sweet.
- Proverbs 27:7

Any Bitter Thing was a finalist for Beliefnet's 2005 Best Spiritual Book of the Year. I'd never read anything by Monica Wood before, but I think I'll have to look for her other work. Her website is here.

2010.67

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Published in 2005. 312 pages.


First line: After a year of hunting, I finally caught up with Sarah.

Plot summary (from the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data): Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.

Why I read this book: I put Peeps on my to-read list a while ago, after my now 19-year-old daughter recommended it to me and I picked it up via BookMooch. Because I needed four more books published in 2005 for the Countdown Challenge, I decided now was the right time to read it.

A few random thoughts: This is a very readable sci-fi novel that combines science with myth in a plausible manner. The book alternates between chapters that move the plot forward and chapters that explain some of the science of parasites. With its 19-year-old protagonist, I think the book skews toward the upper end of the young adult age continuum - and it certainly entertained me as an adult. I thought of Will Smith in I Am Legend a few times as I read about Cal's hunting trips.

What Scott Westerfeld said about Peeps on his website: "Some days you wake up, and you just have to write a vampire novel." (Read more here.)

From the peanut gallery: My 14-year-old book-loving daughter says, "Creative take on the stereotypical vampire. But it freaked. Me. Out."

2010.61

Counting Down and Wondering

I just realized that the Countdown Challenge ends in less than two weeks - on 10/10/10. As I need to read eight more books to complete the challenge, I guess I'd better get focused! Do you have any great recommendations for short, quick reads published in 2004, 2005, or 2006?

In visiting the challenge blog and 1 more chapter, the blog of the host, 3M (Michelle), this morning, I also realize that I haven't seen 3M around the blogosphere for a while. (Her latest post is dated April 2, 2010.) I'm wondering if everything is okay with her. Does anyone know?

9/9/09 to 10/10/10
Tracking My Progress

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Closeby Jonathan Safran Foer

Published in 2005. 356 pages.


I would not have ever read this book if it hadn't been September's pick for the "book lunch girls." I'd seen it around - but because I was put off by the cover, I wasn't interested enough to even find out the subject. This is part of the description on goodreads:

Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, and pacifist. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Unique and compelling, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was the perfect read for the weekend of the ninth anniversary of 9/11. I found it to be sad as well as healing.

In some ways, this book reminded me of Slob. It also made me think of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Here is Tricia's enthusiastic review at Library Queue. Melissa at Book Nut was somewhat indifferent in her review.

A friend told me that she'd heard that a movie was going to be made of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Here is the IMDb entry. It will be interesting to see how the book transfers to the screen.

2010.56

The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy

Published in 2010. 322 pages.


I love Cinderella stories. Pink is my favorite color. I'm all about "girl power." Combine all three of these elements and you've got a book that I'm sure to love!

The goodreads site describes The Cinderella Society as follows:

Sixteen-year-old outsider, Jess Parker, gets the chance of a lifetime: an invitation to join a secret society of popular girls dedicated to defeating the mean girls of the world. The Cinderella Society guides all new recruits through its top secret ultimate life makeover. It’s all part of preparing them to face down the Wickeds and win. Determined not to let the Cindys down, Jess dives in with a passion. Finally, a chance to belong and show the world what she’s made of.

This young adult novel was a quick read, and I had a hard time putting it down. There was so much that I really enjoyed, including a good-looking but flawed boyfriend and a wise grandmother, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. I definitely plan to read the sequel, Cindy on a Mission, when it is published next year.

In the final analysis, though, I wish that the book had been a little more focused, that it had had a little more oomph. I was a bit disappointed. I just wanted a little more.

By the way, my 19-year-old and 14-year-old daughters both loved the book!

For more information, check out the following:

• Alexa's Rave Review on Not Enough Bookshelves


• Author Kay Cassidy's Website


• The Cinderella Society Facebook Page


• "Too Real Thursday: Kay Cassidy and Senior Traditions" at The Contemps

2010.48

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Published in 2010. 309 pages.


I really enjoyed this most recent episode in the adventures of Stephanie Plum when I read it a couple of weeks ago. I think that the silliness - including Lula's latest diet approach and the presence of a bunch of Hobbits - was just what I needed. That is, in addition to my Ranger fix!

2010.47

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

Published in 2010. 299 pages.


First lines: This is my life: The alarm goes off at five-thirty with the murmuring of a public-radio announcer, telling me that there has been a coup in Chad, a tornado in Texas. My husband stirs briefly next to me, turns over, blinks, and falls back to sleep for another hour. My robe lies at the foot of the bed, printed cotton in the summer, tufted chenille for the cold. The coffeemaker comes on in the kitchen below as I leave the bathroom, go downstairs in bare feet, pause to put away a pair of boots left splayed in the downstairs back hallway and to lift the newspaper from the back step.

Last lines: This is my life. I am trying.

It had been some time since I'd read an Anna Quindlen novel, although I remembered those I'd read favorably. In June I'd put Every Last One on my to-read list - I think because my sister added it to her to-read list on goodreads - but it was Florinda's review at the end of July that prompted me to check the book out from the library and actually read it rather than just leave it on my ever-lengthening to-read list for some undetermined date in the future. What a great decision!

Quindlen's writing is simply beautiful. Here is a favorite passage:

You can't plan them, although I suppose those people who meditate and practice yoga think you can, but there are those moments when we experience physical happiness despite ourselves, before our minds remind us of the reasons we shouldn't. A slight breeze, a warming sun, a little bird music: Your senses say something before your good sense says something different. if only we could be creatures of the body more often. [page 276]

The story is evocative. I think every mother will be able to understand the worries and the joys that Mary Beth Latham finds through her relationships with her children. While I recommend that the book be read without much prior knowledge of the plot, I offer this edited version of a passage to which I definitely relate:

The dead place is still inside me because Nancy has said aloud only what has been a whisper ever since I half woke in the hospital. Now it is screaming, the voice that says [something bad happened] because I was not careful enough, attentive enough, good enough, awake enough. Not enough. [page 215]

2010.50

This Is What I Did by Ann Dee Ellis

Published in 2007. 176 pages.


After reading Suey's recent review at It's All about Books, I just had to pick this young adult novel up from the library.

This Is What I Did is a very quick but gut-wrenching read. What I loved most was the unique way the story was presented, as if the character Logan is writing it and with graphics added. Immersing myself in its stream-of-consciousness feel, I really felt like I was getting inside Logan's head, and I had a hard time putting the book down. I also loved the palindrome notes that Logan's new friend Laurel gives him.

This was Ann Dee Ellis' debut novel. I'll definitely be looking for more of her work!

For more information:

• Ann Dee Ellis' blog.


• Natasha's review of This Is What I Did at Maw Books.

2010.44

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum

Published in 2010. 369 pages.


The Golden Spiral is the sequel to The Hourglass Door, with the third installment in the trilogy, The Forgotten Locket, to be published next summer.

Despite some lags in the plot and a few concerns about the quality of the writing, I do find myself invested in Dante and Abby's story.

My inner teenage geek definitely loves to think about the implications of time travel:

"The loop has to be closed," Leo repeated.

"I don't understand," I said. "What loop?"

"Certain things have to happen because they have already happened. And if those things don't happen one way, they have to happen another way." [page 224]

There is a Reading Guide at the end of the book that I think would be fun and beneficial for teens wanting to discuss how the book relates to their own lives. The questions include the topics of hobbies, support systems, memories, what makes for a good relationship, and making choices.

2010.40

Resistance, Book 1by Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis

Published in 2010. 124 pages.


In keeping with my recent (mostly) unintentional focus on World War II, I picked up this young adult graphic novel from the "new releases" shelf at the library - this time getting a view of the war in France. In the wonderful way that graphic novels do, it illustrates the evil of war in a very accessible way.

On the back cover, Jane Yolen (author of The Devil's Arithmetic) is quoted:

A forceful reminder of both the broad horrors and the small braveries of that period of history, things we should never forget.

I understand that this is the first in a trilogy. I eagerly await the next episode.

For an excerpt from the book and a reading group guide, visit the book's page on the Macmillan website.

2010.41

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

Published in 2009. 217 pages.


I really enjoyed this young adult novel by Utah author Sara Zarr. This was the first of Zarr's work that I've read, but it certainly won't be the last.

The title of the book works as a metaphor in several different ways. I loved how the various meanings were unfolded as the story progressed. I also love the cover!

Here are some favorite passages, which specifically address the main character's crisis of faith:

A couple of weeks ago at church I passed by a Sunday school room where Jody was helping the kids with a craft project, sitting in one of the tiny preschooler chairs, her braids hanging dangerously close to the glue and glitter used to decorate pictures of Jonah in the belly of the whale. I stopped and watched, not because of Jody, but remembering my preschool self and how my mom would hang my Sunday school craft projects on the fridge. And what was on the fridge kind of summed up my faith. It was my parents', really, only belonging to me by default and habit. [page 49]

I wish I understood what happened between then and now. I wish there was a way to put your finger on the map of life and trace backwards, to figure out exactly when things had changed so much ... [page 69]

In my sock drawer I find a mini cross-stitched potpourri pillow I made for 4-H a long time ago. It's pink and green, my old favorite colors, and in neat block print reads: FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY.

I hold it to my nose and close my eyes. Wanting to smell lilac, wanting to smell freesia. None of the good scent is left; it just smells old. I open my eyes and toss it in the trash can, wishing that there was something to have faith in, hope for, or be charitable about. [page 165]

I lie on the bed while I wait for Dad, my mind drifting everywhere, until it lands on a prayer. I'm surprised, and resist it at first, but it keeps coming back. It's not words, so much, just my mind going blank and thoughts reaching up up up, me wishing I could climb through the ceiling and over the stars until I can find God, really see God, and know once and for all that everything I've believed my whole life is true, and real. Or, not even everything. Not even half. Just the part about someone or something bigger than us who doesn't lose track. I want to believe the stories, that there really is someone who would search the whole mountainside just to find that one lost thing that he loves, and bring it home. [page 199]

Natasha's (Maw Books) review is here. Tricia's (Library Queue) review is here

Update on October 28: Last week it was announced that Once Was Lost was the winner of the 2009 Utah Book Award for young adult literature. Congratulations to Sara Zarr!

2010.9

In Search of Mockingbirdby Loretta Ellsworth

Originally published in 2007.
Audiobook narrated by Jessica Almasy.


Set in 1986, In Search of Mockingbird is a short, sweet young adult novel about a young girl's attempt to visit Harper Lee, author of her favorite novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Her bus ride to Monroeville, Alabama, becomes a journey to find herself.

It wasn't until after I listened to this book that I discovered that 2010 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. I plan to re-read the beloved classic later this year, but in the meantime, In Search of Mockingbird was a fitting tribute.

2010.28

Calamity Jackby Shannon and Dean Hale

Illustrated by Nathan Hale.
Published in 2010. 144 pages.


I didn't like this sequel to Rapunzel's Revenge as much as I liked the original, but it is a fun interpretation of "Jack and the Beanstalk."

By the way, I enjoyed meeting Shannon Hale (for the second time) at the Utah Book Bloggers Winter Social in February.


2010.22

A Crooked Kind of Perfectby Linda Urban

Published in 2007. 214 pages.


A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a 2010 Beehive Award Nominee in Children's Fiction, and I found it to be a delightful middle grade novel about 10-year-old girl Zoe, who wants to play the piano.

As an accountant, I found myself relating a little to Zoe's mother, who is a controller. At Career Day, Zoe's mom explained her job this way: "In any organization there are distractions. Personalities. Drama. It is a controller's job to ignore these distractions and focus exclusively on the money" [pages 7-8]. (Boy, she is so right about the drama!)

One passage was just so laugh-out-loud funny:

At our next lesson, Mabelline Person gives me a CD and a stack of Perfectone songbooks: Marvelous Movie Memories, Hits of the Fifties, Hits of the Sixties, Hits of the Seventies, Hits of the Nineties.

"What about the eighties?" I ask.

There were no hits in the eighties," says Miss Person. [page 63]

I highly recommend A Crooked Kind of Perfect!

2010.20

Nocturne by Harrison Gradwell Slater

Published in 2010. 213 pages.
A novel with a soundtrack.

I received a complimentary copy of Nocturne from publicist Tricia van Dockum at Ollie Media.
Thanks, Tricia!
First sentence: What made you this way, Artemisia?

Brief summary of the plot: Hoping to leave behind a bad relationship, photographer Artemisia Talbot takes an assignment in partnership with musicologist Matthew Pierce for an article about Chopin's Paris. In addition to exploring the places Chopin lived in Paris, Artemisia and Matthew visit Warsaw, where Matthew purchases a diary that describes Chopin's ill-fated love affair with Maria Wodzinska. Unfortunately, Artemisia's former lover follows her to Europe, threatening to ruin her newfound happiness.

A favorite passage:

As she and Matthew walked toward Place Vendome, Artemisia marveled at the artistic achievements of the Parisians. "Artists are the canaries in the coal mine," Matthew said. "They are the indicators of the well-being of a city. Artists of all kinds have always flocked to Paris. That says everything."

What I liked about this book: First of all, I think that the idea of a novel with a soundtrack is brilliant! Nocturne is accompanied by a CD with 22 tracks of piano music by Chopin performed by Slater, and the music is beautiful. Just the night before I started reading Nocturne, I was talking to some book club friends about Gerald Elias's Devil's Trill and how interesting it would be to have a CD of the music that is mentioned in the novel. As Slater says in the Reader's Guide of Nocturne:

[The concept of a novel with a soundtrack] is an idea whose time has come, particularly in this age of multimedia, interactive media and new forms of communication. Nocturne is at the cusp of a new era of experimental trends in the publishing industry, all of which will make reading a more interesting and varied experience for everyone.

I also enjoyed the overall storyline of the novel. Perhaps the strongest aspect of the novel, the interspersion of the contents of Maria Wodzinska's diary with the contemporary happenings of the novel reminded me in some ways of People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. Beyond that, who doesn't like to read about the blossoming of love threatened by a deranged, obsessive stalker?

What I didn't like about this book: Somehow, despite the great potential, the book just doesn't come together in a very satisfying way. I sometimes felt that Slater wasn't sure what kind of book he wanted to write - or maybe that he was confused about his style. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a James Patterson suspense thriller, with short chapters, lots of action, and much dialogue. Other times, however, I felt like Slater was trying to write a literary novel, and the dissonance was jarring to me as a reader. In a couple of places, there were also some intimations of the occult à la Barbara Michaels, but nothing ever came of that. Worst of all, as I read, a term I learned from my high school composition teacher kept coming to mind - purple prose - and that kept me from simply enjoying the experience of watching the story unfold.

To share in the joy of words and music: While I didn't like Nocturne nearly as much as I wished I had, I don't doubt that there are readers - especially readers who are also music lovers - who would enjoy it more than I did. After I let my daughter, who is a music major, borrow the book and CD, I'd love to pass them along to another interested reader. Leave a comment if you'd be interested, and I will randomly pick one lucky reader from those who comment by Saturday, May 1.

2010.18