Reviews
I haven't been good about posting my reviews over the last couple of weeks. I will briefly mention a couple of adult books that I have read and liked: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Both books were very good; full of vivid description and very believable story lines--despite that The Time Traveler's Wife is based on Sci-fi. I am planning on reading The Painting: A Novel by Nina Schuyler and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini next.
For Teens:
Maybe by Brent Runyon: This book is by the same author as the non-fiction book, The Burn Journals (which I plan to read very soon). Sixteen year old Brian's older brother died recently in a mysterious car crash. Brian doesn't know how the crashed happened, but he fears it was suicide. His family is in mourning and none of them are dealing well with the death. They have moved to a different area and school and all have withdrawn from each other. As time moves on, Brian and his parents must find a way to move on as well.
Brian is definitely a growing teen in all its awkward painfulness. He wants to have sex. Now. And he isn't that picky about who it is with. He is picky about who he dates, though and this keeps him celibate for a while. When he does loose his virginity, he realizes that sex is more than a physical act and impacts everyone involved.
I recommend this book for ages 15 and over, due to some sexual content and casual underage drinking. Also, while some of this book is funny, it is also fairly depressing and dark, so I would suggest it for more advanced readers.
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl by Barry Lyga is also a coming of age novel. In this book, Fanboy is coping with a broken family and being teased and bullied at school. Fanboy (as the nickname implies) is a fan of comics and graphic novels and is hoping that publishing his own graphic novel will be his ticket out of town and out of his difficult life. Fanboy has one friend who loves comics but also loves LaCross. When a LaCross game interferes with the boys planned outing to a comic convention, the boys part ways. In steps GothGirl! She likes his graphic novel and will do anything to help him get it noticed by Bendis--a well known graphic novel artist--even if she hates Fanboy with a passion. It turns out she hates herself more and Fanboy has to learn that sometimes all you can do is be there for your friends.
This is a great book that deals with a lot of key issues; divorce and feeling alienated from the absent parent, bullying, friendship, suicide and hopes for the future. Fanboy goes from feeling alienated from fellow students and parents, to realizing that everyone has hang ups and that his own behavior may be causing some of his problems. Overall a great book.
I recommend this book for older teens, aged 15 and up.
For Teens:
Maybe by Brent Runyon: This book is by the same author as the non-fiction book, The Burn Journals (which I plan to read very soon). Sixteen year old Brian's older brother died recently in a mysterious car crash. Brian doesn't know how the crashed happened, but he fears it was suicide. His family is in mourning and none of them are dealing well with the death. They have moved to a different area and school and all have withdrawn from each other. As time moves on, Brian and his parents must find a way to move on as well.
Brian is definitely a growing teen in all its awkward painfulness. He wants to have sex. Now. And he isn't that picky about who it is with. He is picky about who he dates, though and this keeps him celibate for a while. When he does loose his virginity, he realizes that sex is more than a physical act and impacts everyone involved.
I recommend this book for ages 15 and over, due to some sexual content and casual underage drinking. Also, while some of this book is funny, it is also fairly depressing and dark, so I would suggest it for more advanced readers.
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl by Barry Lyga is also a coming of age novel. In this book, Fanboy is coping with a broken family and being teased and bullied at school. Fanboy (as the nickname implies) is a fan of comics and graphic novels and is hoping that publishing his own graphic novel will be his ticket out of town and out of his difficult life. Fanboy has one friend who loves comics but also loves LaCross. When a LaCross game interferes with the boys planned outing to a comic convention, the boys part ways. In steps GothGirl! She likes his graphic novel and will do anything to help him get it noticed by Bendis--a well known graphic novel artist--even if she hates Fanboy with a passion. It turns out she hates herself more and Fanboy has to learn that sometimes all you can do is be there for your friends.
This is a great book that deals with a lot of key issues; divorce and feeling alienated from the absent parent, bullying, friendship, suicide and hopes for the future. Fanboy goes from feeling alienated from fellow students and parents, to realizing that everyone has hang ups and that his own behavior may be causing some of his problems. Overall a great book.
I recommend this book for older teens, aged 15 and up.
Labels: Adult, Book Reviews, Teen
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