Acronyms and Spinning the System

Finally got caught up on sleep today. It should have been yesterday, but I went to WASHYARG (Washington Young Adult Readers Advisory Group) in the wee hours yesterday morning. I was a little disappointed at the pickings this time. Many of the reviews were on books that hit our library shelves 6 months ago and the new book options were unknowns. Where was Wintergirls, or Highway to Hell or any other new ones. The only good books I saw were ones I read months ago; Kisses and Lies and Wild Magic (both of which I enjoyed immensely). I am reading the ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Wintergirls by LH Anderson now. It is disturbing--I will say why later on my goodreads).

Tonight I am representing the library at Sound Off at the EMP. I am tabling (another piece of library jargon that means standing behind a table, talking to people and showing off flyers for our programs and services) and am going to totally enjoy the teen bands playing. I am really glad I am not tired going into this. I am taking my camera and will hopefully get some good shots, and also will take notes to create a blog post for Push To Talk. I tried to dress casually cool for this, but I think I got a FAIL on that. I always wait too long to get dressed and end up having to live with what I throw on. Teens don't like it when you try to be like them; that makes you a poser, to use an 80's term. Hopefully it will be dark.

It's Coraline, not Caroline!

I am reading Coraline now. It is a very freaky para-fairy tale, along the lines of Grimm. I think the ending will come out ok though, unlike those depressing tales. Written for the 9-12 age group, but definitely for the strong of heart. I think teen and adult readers would find it just as captivating.

I also just finished Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, after I saw the movie with The Boy and his friend on Thursday last week. It was an excellent movie, although the plot was all twisted around from the book. The book was also excellent, if somewhat heavy on the swearing.

Without giving away too much...

In common: music, music scene in NYC, Nick, Norah, Tris, music executive, Thom and Dev, Caroline, Tal, Jessie the Yugo

Not the same: the search for Where's Fluffy, losing Caroline, the make out scene in the Marriott, Scott/Luthario, people thinking the Yugo is a cab, gum (can I just say "ewwww!" ?)

In the book, you get so much from both Nick and Norah's internal dialog. You see their thought process, their insecurities, how cool they really are instead of how cool they seem. You can't really get that from a movie without it getting really convoluted, confusing and irritating. So I recommend experiencing both.

Love, Loss and Disappointment

I am feeling much better than I was this weekend. Thank goodness for a lot of rest. I was so excited that the season 1 of Twin Peaks came in for me that my plan last night was to sit and watch as much as I could before I dropped from exhaustion. Unfortunately, I got it home and disk 2 was missing. I should have checked when I picked it up, but I was so excited. Then I was so bummed. So I watched disk 1, thinking I could skip disk 2 and watch the others, but of course there was a cliff hanger at the end of episode 2. Totally not fair! I am taking it back today and will probably have to wait a couple of weeks for another to come in. I hope someone turns in the missing disk.

A friend of mine was talking up the new Terminator show. I was skeptical, but when I heard that Summer Glau was in it, I had to see it. Luckily Fox was running the second episode online--wish they had the premier...--and it was really good. I like the actress playing Sarah Connor (Lena Headey), and John Connor (Thomas Dekker) is suitably cute in a teenager sort of way--he also played Zach in Heroes. There was a lot of action and the special affects were great. The story was good too, even coming into the second episode cold. So that is what I stayed up late watching instead of Twin Peaks.

I just finished reading Options by the Fake Steve Jobs. It was interesting and annoying at the same time. I enjoyed the writing but I really wanted to know what was real and what was fake in this parody of the Apple CEO's life. I hear that this book came out of a blog by the Fake Steve Jobs (AKA Daniel Lyons), which I can see being a fun thing to check out every now and then. This book covers the time when a lot of companies in the Silicon Valley were being targeted by an investigation by the government for options fraud. If you like sarcasm and imagining the neuvo rich as supreme a-holes, I recommend it.

Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb by Kirsten Miller

I really liked this book. It is definitely not a stand alone, so make sure you read Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City before you delve into this one. I know that I should probably start reviewing books I don't like so that my readers don't start thinking I am a chump that likes anything with pages...

The Empress's Tomb is a great sequel to Into the Shadow City. In this new book, Kiki Strike and the Irregulars battle to save one of their members from snobbery and death. When Oona Wong is courted by her long absent and criminal father, the rest of the group knows it is bad news. When several secrets being kept within the group come to light, the friends struggle with issues of distrust. As with the first book, there is adventure and intrigue all the way through.

I recommend this book to 12 and up. It does seem a little unlikely that Ananka's parents are so forgiving and lenient of her skipping school, sneaking out of the house and other bad behavior. Otherwise this one is as good as the last. Read it up!

Le Guin Again

Going to Ursula K. Le Guin's author event was like a blast from the past for me. Not only because I have seen her before, but because her author visit was so much like the author readings of old. When I first moved back to the Seattle area from Tulsa, OK, I was thirsty for literary entertainment. I so wanted to be smart and well read! I enrolled at Shoreline Community College, I joined a book group and I went to author readings. Most of the readings were from authors I didn't know, but I didn't care. I saw Ursula Hegi and Arthur Golden before I even read Stones from a River or Memoirs of a Geisha. There was a certain cadence to author visits then--they were definitely "readings." The author would read a chapter of their book, then answer a few questions from the audience--who were usually older folks with a lot of writers looking for tips--then sign books at the end of a very long line.

I have recently started going to author visits again and without even noticing the difference, been very happy with the changes that I have seen. Authors are not necessarily reading passages of their books at the beginning. Scott Westerfeld did not read ANY of his book to the audience at all! He just answered questions--it was more like a lopsided conversation. Other authors are doing theirs more like a lecture, giving information or background, talking about their subjects with enthusiasm and using their books as punctuation marks. I also like that the audiences have become more diverse--young and old, fewer writers asking their usual ~groan~ questions about how the author came up with a plot or how they do revision. Read a frickin interview why don't cha? Or better yet, one of the many books that authors write about writing: Steering the Craft, Anyone?

Ursula K. Le Guin read a section of Powers then answered those ~groan~ questions. Despite the celebrated book of the evening being a YA book, the youngest people I saw there would have been freshmen in college (aside from the smaller children being hushed in the corners). When I asked what inspired her to write a series for young adults, she told me that it was her agent's idea--they told her it would be easy to get teens to read anything. That is when I really groaned... It really isn't! They are picky! Le Guin is just lucky that she already writes amazing books! I did like hearing her and I enjoyed the poetry she read as well. I have read almost every book she has written and loved almost all of them. I keep her short stories around for when I am feeling stressed out and need a little literary pick me up. But man, is she behind in the author visit times...

And yes, I do realize that most of my complaints aren't caused by the author. She is awesome. Maybe it is just that the same people go to see her every time and ruin it for the rest of us? My main point is that I appreciate those authors that are doing more with their time, thinking innovatively and attracting more than the traditional fan.

Extra! Extra...

As promised, a review of Extras by Scott Westerfeld.

I don't know if I can gush enough about this one.

Set in Japan, many eons into the future, Aya Fuse just wants to get noticed. After the mind-rain wiped out all the brain damage forced on citizens of Earth at the age of 16, Aya's city turned to an economy based on fame and merit. In order to make "money" a person either has to do good for society or become famous. Aya definitely prefers the latter, finding the adventure of kicking the latest story a necessity of life. In her quest to do so, she infiltrates the Sly Girls clique--a clique so secret the members change their nicknames periodically to keep off the feeds. Their latest derring-do is surfing on top of ultra fast meg-lev trains. It doesn't take them long to figure out that Aya is not really one of them, but the story they have stumbled on is too city-damaging to keep under cover. More adventure follows, so make sure to check it out!

This book is great for ages 12 and up. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good story. It is fast paced--everything happens in less than 2 weeks--and we get a return performance from Tally Youngblood, the protagonist from Westerfeld's other books in the series. Although Uglies, Pretties and Specials sets up this book well, I don't feel that you have to have read them to enjoy Extras.

Have I mentioned that it has hit #1 on the New York Times Children's Chapter Books best sellers? Oh yes, yes it has! :)

Yay! Ursula K. Le Guin in ... 2 hours!

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

My most recent love affair with a book has involved Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. This comes shortly after reading Tithe: a Modern Faerie Tale, Ironside; a Modern Faery's Tale and Valient: a Modern Tale of Faerie, three books by Holly Black which I should also review. I just noticed how all the subtitles are very similar, but are not quite the same. Holly Black is also the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles, which I haven't read but have heard good things about. Enough ramblings and on to the review!

I loved everything about this book, from the quotations at the start of every chapter (which I barely remember to look at in other books) to the protagonist's relationship with her best friend and boyfriend. Aislinn is everything that Isabelle in Twilight should have been, and more. This book has all the adventure and tension that Twilight had, but also gives a strong female role model that girls can admire.

Aislinn has seen the faerie world all her life, and if the faeries ever found out, the nicest thing they would do is put out her eyes. Now she has been chosen by the Summer King to be his queen, a role most girls would love to fill, but Aislinn has already found the love of her life and the offer of queenship is not as light and summery as Keenan would lead her to believe. How will Aislinn keep all the things she loves in her life without letting both Faerie and the mortal plane fall to wrack and ruin?

Melissa Marr's writing is both both beautiful and dark. Her research into the history of faerie shows through-out the book, woven into the story making it a highly believable world. I would recommend this book to age 16 and up, maybe younger if they are advanced readers. There is no explicit content, although Aislinn does stay over at her boyfriend's house with the permission of her grandmother at one point. The only thing I would say is missing is a strong female friendship for Aislinn. All of her friendships feel very shallow aside from the one with her boyfriend.

Books and Other News...

With everything else that has been going on, I forgot to be excited about Kirsten Miller's new book:


I was lucky enough to be one of the first holds on this one, even though it is coming out tomorrow and I put the hold on it today. If you liked Kiki Strike: inside the Shadow City, you should really check out this one, too. I will post more about it later, after I have actually read it ;) (notice that I said "check out" and that the link goes to the library catalog...)

In other news, I did not get the job that I interviewed for last week. I am not very upset about it, because I got good feedback on the interview and I still have my position to apply for--which is the one I want anyway. Also, I heard that one of the other people that applied was very qualified--so much so that they would have been crazy to pass her up. Ach well, das tut mir leid.

Better Than Running at Night by Hillary Frank

My first review in a while.

This book surprised me with its honest portrayal of a girl's first year at art school. Ellie meets Nate at a costume party her first night staying at New England College of the Arts. He is mysterious and alluring; flattering in all the right ways. Ellie feels they are soul mates and draws lines of fate between their similar pasts. As the semester wears on, she realizes that there is more to herself than the past and quickly outgrows Nate's flighty adventurousness. She sometimes regrets her decision to leave him behind, but sticks to her resolve and moves on.

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the feelings of first love were genuine. I also loved hearing about Ellies experiences in art school, having never taken art classes myself. Frank does a great job ballancing the stereotype of art for the sake of art vs serious students trying to improve their skills. I would recommend it for older readers, 16 and up for content, reading and maturity level.

Review: Uglies, Pretties and Specials

I love this series. I have not been this enthusiastic about a YA series since I read Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Scott Westerfeld is a magician with the written word. No description is wasted; everything in the story is pertinent, beautiful and ugly and well captured in words. There is no awkwardness of text.

Uglies begins the story of Tally and Shay, two teenaged girls who are almost old enough to turn Pretty. For the residents of Ugly town, the ultimate dream is to turn pretty. Everyone does it at the age of 16--just like getting a license. However, fate will take that dream away and turn it into a dark reality for Tally and Shay.

In Pretties, the operation has happened but Tally knows there is something wrong. She and her boyfriend Zane take a cure together, but Zane gets sick and the two of them have to go to further and further extremes to stay bubbly.

Tally and Shay are Cutters in the newest book Specials. Cutters are an extreme arm of the Special Circumstances--an elite secret police. They are charged with finding New Smoke--where all the excaped Uglies and Pretties go after they get the cure for their bubleheadedness. Things get out of hand and suddenly a war has broken out. What will Tally and Shay do to set things right?

This series is a good read for teens of all ages. Specials claims to be the last book in the series, but we now know that there will be a fourth called Extras. I am excited to get my hands on it!

Review: Black Tattoo

Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven is in the style of Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, although less whimsical. Set in London, Jack's life is absolutely normal. Everything that happens to him is typical, it just figured that it is his cool friend Charlie that gets the magic powers and is going to save the world. The Scourge is coming and he wants to wake the dragon and send the world back into the void from whence it came.

Although it is a thick book, it is a quick read. The story moves along nicely and while you don't get a good feel for the characters, you get just enough to keep things real. As real as they can be when Hell is a mole on a dragon's back and the devil's favorite passtime is watching demons play gladiator games. Don't worry, God will put them all back together again.

Sam Enthoven has done a good job creating this mythical world and making the fantasy realistic enough to hold your attention. The sheer girth of the book would tend to make me recommend it to older readers, but the story line, language and content lend it to being a good read for all teens. My 12 year old son loved it.

I haven't been able to log in for a while, so I haven't posted. I am not sure what the problem was.

I have been reading very sporadically lately; a little bit of this and a little bit of that, until I started the All Seattle Reads book, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I am really enjoying this book, immersing myself in it as I haven't done with a book in months. It is the story of a son of immigrants from India. The characters have the benefit of coming to the United States as intellectuals, rather than refugees. The son is encouraged in that tradition, as well as the others of his Bengali family. He struggles with the differences between the culture of his family and that of his country, at first rejecting his heritage but finally coming to terms with it. I find myself hoping that there is a similar book about some of the immigrant cultures of our area; Somali and Ethiopian.

I have been working a lot at other libraries lately. I find that I prefer the busier ones. When I am subbing, I don't have any alternative tasks that I can work on, aside from some of the programs I am planning for QNA, so if the library isn't busy, I can be quite bored. The programs I am working on rely on a reply from other agencies, so there is not always something to be done for them. I need mental stimulation to stay alert.

New Inspiration

On Tuesday I met with a fellow librarian to go over book talking. It is a bit strange, but the only book talk I have ever done was at my interview. I have tried to interest the teachers and librarians at my schools to have me come in and do one, but I have had no takers so far. It was a good afternoon with tea, scones and kitties, gross facts and fun titles. She also sent me home with Black Holes, a nifty graphic novel placed in Seattle in the 70's. It is dark and it is weird and just what I like in a graphic novel. I am still reading Maus and enjoying it very much.

Oh wait, I am transgressing. We had a nice couple of hours, discussing book talking and library politics. It got me excited for my first book talk and I have been looking up good titles in non-fiction to include in my reprotoir. I also worked at COL yesterday and got to interact with the ya librarian there. She is just always so upbeat and innovative. I like conversing with her and she always gives me new ideas without even meaning to. I should really carry a tape recorder.

I have finally received some responses from my librarians and schedulers, so I know when I am doing my lunch table and I am having a meeting with the book group organizers. I am making plans for my poetry party in May. Yay!

Eastern Sun, Winter Moon

The autobiography of Gary Paulsen, Eastern Sun, Winter Moon is the chronicle of of a remarkable childhood. Born during WWII, young Gary lives with his mother in Chicago while his father is away in Europe, fighting in the war. Mother works in a munitians factory and Gary stays home with a neighbor that drinks red wine and talks to the radio. When Mother comes home, she washes of the grime and becomes another woman-a movie star type beauty that draws all the men's eyes. When Father has a "friend" in France, Mother also gets a "friend", which disturbs Gary and sets the stage for future indiscretions.

When the war ends, Mother and Gary go to live with Father in the Philippines. After a cross country drive, a bout of chicken pox and a long boat ride with stops in Hawaii and Japan, Gary finally gets to meet his father. At 7 years old, Gary does not feel very connected to his father, but does feel that his mother should be faithful to him no matter what. From the soldiers and sailors Gary has learned to swear, how to "shoot a crap" and what sex is all about. From his parents he learns that he hates drinking and what it does to people and from his parents servants he learns about the Philippine lifestyle and eventually goes "native."

I greatly enjoyed this book. Gary Paulsen is an imaginative author and this definitely shows up in this autobiography. The imagery is so vivid that you feel as if you are standing next to him on the deck of the ship and feel his shock when he bites off his tongue in a childhood game. It does feel, after the fact, that some of this might have been imbellished or made up, but the times were very different than they are now.

Gary Paulsen is the author of many teen books; probably most well know are Hatchet, The River and Brian's Winter.

Finally a Book Review

I do like the libraries that keep me busy, either by having lots of patrons with reference questions, interaction with patrons or other library staff or with projects. At COL last week I processed all of the new Adult fiction and non-fiction (stickers, changing in the computer, etc.) and scheduled all of the tax help in the meeting room calendar. Today at GLK I organized all of the tax forms into stand up bins and placed them on a rolly cart so they are easily moved and out of the way. Then we put up a winter display on the shelved they used to occupy. Of course, those projects never take long enough, so here I am adding some long needed book reviews to my blog.

I would like to introduce Saint Iggy by KL Going. My fellow TSL's will have at least heard of it and most have read Fat Kid Rules the World, which was by the same author. I enjoyed both books, but the second has transcended the first. KL Going has dropped all the gimicky trappings that she used to sell the first book and has really given us a look into the life of a child less fortunate. Born in the projects addicted to meth, Iggy wants to show everyone that he is a good person. He wants people to look past his druggie parents, ugly neighborhood and odd personality to see who he really is: a real person who does not do drugs or drink and wants to do good with his life. Let down by the system and his friends, Iggy falls into an selfless act that is both more and less than he had planned.

It made me cry. Nuf said.

The second book I read is a feel good book. Sleeping Fresman Never Lie by David Lubar is direct and interesting. He writes the story from the point of view of a "normal" teen boy entering high school as a freshman. There are issues all around Scott Hudson, but he has the tools to deal with them. He does not hate his parents, he loses friends but finds new ones, overcomes superficial first impressions, goes out for the school paper, the spring play and honors classes, when all his peers and brother are trying to avoid anything school related. He learns, he becomes, he grows, just like kids are supposed to. But I loved reading it. He was an interesting kid. He had a great english teacher like the one that inspired me in 9th grade. I was sad when it was over. Thank you David Lubar.

More Reviews!

It has been snowing in Seattle, so what else is there to do but read?

Patricia McCormick is the author of several books that depict the lives of normal, yet troubled teens. In Cut you find Callie in Sick Minds--what the kids interned at Sea Pines call the in patient treatment center that deals with eating disorders, substance abuse and behavior issues. Callie will not talk, cannot talk about why she is there or what is bothering her. Soon, through a series of memories and life changing events, Callie finds that she can no longer remain silent, either. Slowly and haltingly her feelings and worries come out and Callie finally finds herself on the path to wellness.

This is the quickest read in the YA section yet. Short does not mean bad, though. This book is well written and perfect for younger teen girls. It incites understanding in some and empathy in others. Callie is a 13 year old that started cutting herself to relieve the stress and anxiety in her life. Another girl in treatment seems to be doing the same, but to garner attention. There are many other girls with a miriad of problems, with quite a few of the signs spelled out in the book to help identify those problems.

On a completely different note, Peeps by Scott Westerfeld was quite charming. This scientific explanation for vampires was a lot of fun and very educational. Every other chapter had an explanation of different parasites. It was scary and interesting at the same time because although vampires are not real, parasites are and their descriptions here will make you think twice about eating rare meat or swimming in tropical rivers (both of which I have done! Eek!).

The story didn't flow particularly well at times, but the plot had quite a few twists and turns and vampirism as an STD was an interesting idea. This book definitely kept me interested, as do most of Westerfeld's books. Unlike his well known futuristic series that includes the books Uglies, Pretties and Specials, Peeps is set in our time in New York city. It is exciting and a little scary, and I recommend this book for older teens 16-20.

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.

Le Guin Reviews

Gifts, by Ursula K. LeGuin is the story of a brave young man that chooses to blindfold himself rather than use his wild gift of "unmaking" with the help of his childhood friend. Together they protect his land and people from his abilities and from outsiders that covet their land and livestock.

As usual, LeGuin does a beautiful job of creating new cultures and worlds where the human characters express feelings as we know them, enabling the relation to our reality. The blindness and its necessity are situations we can feel even though the reason, the gift, is a new concept. The story flows well and gives an excitement and fondness for literature through the main character's own love of the written word, the gift of which was won late in life.

In the second book, Voices, LeGuin picks up the story of Orrec and Gry many years later. They have left their upland home and traveled to many far off places, collecting learning and lore. Orrec has found that his gift is not of unmaking, but of making and has created many stories and poems of his own and won renown as performer and scholar.

In Voices, Orrec and his wife Gry travel to Ansul at the request of the Ald Gand, the ruler of that conquered land. Once there, Orrec hopes to gain access to the books of legend and learn from their pages. Unfortunately, in the invasion and the subsequent occupation, most books were destroyed. Those that were not are hidden away to protect them from the invading forces. Soon Orrec and Gry find themselves in the middle of a revolution against the Ald's with Memer, a young local woman who has taken them into her home and heart.

Voices deals with hard issues in its fantasy theme, some of which parallel today's world. Memer is a young woman in an occupied country where the invaders think that women should be hidden and that women found in public are asking to be raped. In fact, that is how Memer came to be. During the initial invasion, Memer's mother was found out in the open and raped by a soldier. Memer is a half-cast, born of both invader and invaded, but it is easy to see where her loyalties lie. Foreign customs, censorship and limited freedoms remind one of what peoples in an occupied lands must experience.

I recommend this book for ages 10 and up, based mostly on difficulty. While rape is mentioned, there are no details. This is an adventure of high order. Younger children might have a harder time getting through the first book to get to the second, but it is definitely worth the work. The book is set up perfectly to continue the story of Memer, Orrec and Gry, so expect a third book in this series.

Teen Book Reviews

Deconstructing Dylan
By Lesley Choyce

Dylan is having dreams and memories of a life that is not his own. The cause is something he does not want to face. As reality sweeps in, his new best friend has problems of her own to deal with and Dylan has to make some tough decisions on his own and learn to put his own problems on the backburner to support his friend.

Deconstructing Dylan is set in the near future, there is an invasion of person by advanced technology and Dylan’s girlfriend has a lesbian friend who is shunned by society and dies of a drug overdose far from home. Some of the issues dealt with are: anger with parents for withholding information, guilt for not helping a friend in need and coming out with a secret in a society that does not support the situation.

The book is well written, although it does have some irritating moments of repetition. The drug and alcohol abuse of the mother is never resolved. The problem is understated in the book and it is obvious that Dylan understands that it is not healthy, which makes it a low priority issue in the story. The imagery is beautifully done in the areas where Dylan is having memories or dreams. It definitely reads like a woman wrote it, though, even though the voice is Dylan’s, a 16-year-old boy. I think this book would speak more to younger teen girls than boys, perhaps ages 9-14.

The Coldest Winter Ever
By Sister Souljah

Winter is a Brooklyn girl at heart. Her daddy is the biggest drug lord in the area, and he treats his girls like queens. At least he does until he is picked up and thrown in jail for just about every charge in the book. Winter is forced to fend for herself in a hostile environment and make money the only way she knows how: hustling goods. She goes from the house of her sugar daddy, to her jealous aunt’s where she is betrayed by a neighbor to Child Services. After a brief stay in a teen shelter, Winter finally meets her nemesis, Sister Souljah and that is where the real trouble begins.

This book is very graphic. Sex scenes are told in detail. It paints an ugly picture of the Brooklyn streets and the mentality of the drug dealer. The term, victimless crime is never actually used, but it is easy to see that that is how the dealers see their job. Sister Souljah does a great job of integrating herself into the book and only coming off sounding slightly pretentious.

Due to the graphic nature of this novel, I would recommend it to older readers (16-20). I wasn’t sure I liked the story at first, but it definitely grows on you. As a middle class white girl from the northwest, I feel that I have gotten to see a side of our country that I have never experienced in reading this book. It is well written, despite the slang and the main character is amazingly well developed through her inner dialog.