Before I Fall

By: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Teen Fiction
Stars: 2 out of 5
Samantha Kingston has it all. The money, the friends, the boyfriend, what in the world could go wrong? On the night of Cupid Day, everything did go wrong. After a house party, on the way home, an accident happened and Samantha Kingston died. But then she wakes up the next day – Cupid Day. Sam has to relive the day she dies seven times. Each time she figures out that she must save a girl who Sam and her friends drove to suicide, the greatest boyfriend ever turns out to be her geeky childhood friend, she has taken her family for granted and the friends she thought she knew aren’t the best people. Can Sam fix the mistakes she had made that day and save a life while trying to save her own?

I am in a Teen Lit Book Club and this is this month’s book. It sounded interesting a girl reliving her last day on Earth to try to fix the mistakes she has made but it really just is a book version of the movie Groundhogs Day. I thought retelling the same day seven times was a bit too much. Four days would have been sufficient to tell the story. And the ending really bothered me. The main character learns that she has to save the unpopular girl from committing suicide and the way she does it does not fix the problem, it seems as though it makes it worse. It does not seem that Sam lived out her purpose. I don’t know, I just had some questions at the end and I cannot wait to discuss them at book club. I would like to say though that if you don’t like teen books or morbid teen subjects are probably not going to like this book that much.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By: Stephen Chbosky
Genre: Fiction
Stars: 5 out of 5
Charlie is a freshman in high school and to cope with the stress he begins writing letters to a stranger. He writes about his experiences and his feelings throughout the course of the year. Charlie meets two seniors Patrick and Sam, step siblings who welcome Charlie into their world with open arms. They introduce him to the world of drinking, drugs and cigarettes. Then there is Bill, Charlie’s English teacher who gives him extra books to read because he is “special” and Charlie’s family who is dysfunctional and normal at the same time. All the while Charlie is still coping with the death of his Aunt Helen who was the only person besides his immediate family to ever buy him “two presents” for his birthday and Christmas. This is a coming of age story where Charlie must learn to “participate” in the world that he has now entered while keeping his insanity.

This is one of those books that you hear about every now and then and you see on the “noteworthy fiction” table from time to time. It has been on my list to read for quite some time now and I only recently picked it up from the library to read. Once I started read Stephen Chbosky’s novel I was intrigued. Written in the form of a series of letters, you learn that Charlie is a freshman in high school and he is having trouble “participating” and is still dealing with the deaths of his best friend Michael and his Aunt Helen. From the very beginning it seems as though Charlie may have some kind of social disability and it’s absorbing to read about his experiences with his new friends Patrick and Sam. From then on, you are thrown into Charlie’s world of love, drinking, drugs, friendship and issues with family. At the end, there is a twist that explains Charlie’s behavior and you finally understand. I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it to you too. It’s a great coming of age story that I would categorize with the classic The Catcher in the Rye. So if you haven’t had to read it for school, then pick it up for pleasure; I am sure you won’t be disappointed!

The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones

By: Rick Riordan
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Stars: 5 out of 5
Amy and Dan Cahill’s grandmother Grace has just passed away and has left behind a game for all her relatives. The Cahill family is the most powerful family in history and it is a chase to see who can find out all the power that the family holds. Amy and Dan decide to partake in the journey instead of taking the two million dollars offered to them. Outrunning their cunning and mischievous relatives who will do anything to eliminate their biggest threat, Amy and Dan Cahill put aside their differences and begin the hunt for the next 38 clues that will lead them to all the family secrets. Can Amy and Dan figure out the first clue and beat their relatives to the next one all while staying out of danger?

This is the first in a series of ten books that can be found in the children’s department. Since I am back in school my time for pleasure reading has diminished quite a bit and when the last book in this series came out I decided it might be fun and an easy read to read this book. I must say I was not disappointed. Rick Riordan, the same author of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, wrote an enjoyable and pleasant read even for an adult like me. It has suspense, mystery and things about history that I did not realize or learn in school. I picked up the second book and I cannot wait to enjoy it. In other words, if you want a fun yet easy read or want your kids to learn and like a book, try The 39 Clues series. I am positive you won’t be disappointed.

Mockingjay

By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Teen Fiction
Stars: 4 out of 5
With the final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy we find Katniss Everdeen in the midst of the war against the Capitol. Her home – District 12 – has been bombed and is completely in ashes, she has escaped the Quarter Quell and is now recovering in the fabled District 13, and Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. Now Katniss must become the face of the rebellion – the Mockingjay – to revitalize morality among the districts and defeat the Capitol. But with Peeta being gone, Cinna dead and complicated feelings with Gale, Katniss is not sure what she wants to do. Will Katniss Everdeen become the Mockingjay, defeat the Capitol and live in peace after the war is over?

Oh my goodness! Finally the third Hunger Games book has come out! And boy is it dark and twisted. It was honestly a little slow in the beginning but about 100 pages in the action starts happening. Katniss comes out of her “mentally disturbed” and starts to fight against the Capitol. Suzanne Collins certainly uses her masterful trick of really a cliffhanger at the end of chapters with the clever return of Haymitch, and the death of important characters. At the end, I totally called the assassination of the President that Katniss commits and my pick for which boy Katniss should be with wins. All in all, it was a good end to the trilogy. However, the first book is still my favorite. But Collins left no questions left unanswered and made me seriously want to cry at some parts and altogether left a satisfying end.

My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge

By: Paul Guest
Genre: Poetry
Stars: 5 out of 5
A serious and hilarious collection of poems, Paul Guest writes about the cold that winter brings and the power of a lover. From airplane noise and traveling, to letters home, to a passionate crush, Guest mixes serious language about his disability with hilarious metaphors about traveling and having a bad mood. So what does a blend of these polar opposite narratives provide? A collection of poems that is intriguing to read.

I love reading poetry and I noticed that I had not read a collection in a while. So I was browsing NPR at work and came upon Paul Guest’s anthology of poems. I must say that Guest’s language is a lot of fun to read. Here’s an example: “It is our hope that this guide/will be a valuable resource/during this long stretch of boredom and dread/and that it may be of some help,/however small, to cope with your new life/and the gradual, bittersweet loss/of every God damned thing you ever loved” (page 9). My favorite poem is “My Crush” because I feel like everyone feels the same way as the author describes when it comes to experiencing a crush and his metaphors and descriptions of never seeing more “unsunned skin than/the bus driver or the chainsaw salesman” is amazing to me. I highly recommend this collection of poems to anyone not just lovers of poetry. I am sure you will get as much of a kick as well as an impact as me – at least that is my hope.

Summer at Tiffany

By: Marjorie Hart
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Stars: 4 out of 5
Marjorie Hart and her best friend Marty from the University of Iowa are going to New York City for the summer of 1945. Their sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma expressed that it would be easy for them to get a job at Lord & Taylor – a designer department store – easily and so the pair pack up and head for the big city. After being rejected by one department store after another, Marjorie and Marty finally land a job as the first female pages at the infamous Tiffany & Co. During the summer, they see celebrities like Judy Garland come into the store, go out to the hottest clubs, meet midshipmen and join in the celebration of VJ Day in Times Square. At the end of the summer Marjorie must make some decisions that will affect the rest of her life.

This memoir was certainly a charming one. For one, Tiffany’s is my absolute favorite store and so any book that involves the legendary jewelry show room will interest me. I love the details about the Fifth Avenue store and the celebrities that glide in and out. It also gives a different perspective on life in New York City during the summer of 1945 when the United States dropped the atom bombs and Japan surrendered to us. This is most definitely a fun, light summer read and so I would recommend this memoir if you’re looking for delightful book about a brilliant store and woman’s experience with it.

The Old Man and the Sea

By: Ernest Hemingway
Genre: Short Story/Fiction
Stars: 2 out of 5
It has been eighty-four days since the old man caught a fish. After a morning with a boy, the old man sets out to find a perfect fish. Venturing to far from shore, the old man snags a fish that is bigger than his skiff. The marlin begins dragging the old man and his skiff further and further into the sea. Bound and determined to bring this catch home, the old man never gives up being towed and harpoons the marlin. On the way home sharks begin attacking the carcass because of the scent it has left behind. After trying with desperation to fend off the sharks, the old man returns to shore with nothing but a skeleton left.

The Old Man and the Sea is another classic I have never read, as well as any Hemingway for that matter. I must admit that I did not particularly care for Hemingway’s style of narration. It was too repetitive and so made the story boring. I can understand why people fell in love with his writing style but honestly it did nothing for me. I am just thankful I never had to read this when I was younger because I am positive I would have never had the patience to finish it. Maybe I need to read another one of Hemingway’s novels to appreciate him and his works.