Historical Fiction Friday

For Historical Fiction Friday I bring a book that is more guy friendly. We cannot forget the gentlemen!

Summary: When Private Matt Duffy wakes up in an army hospital in Iraq, he's honored with a Purple Heart. But he doesn't feel like a hero.

There's a memory that haunts him: an image of a young Iraqi boy as a bullet hits his chest. Matt can't shake the feeling that he was somehow involved in his death. But because of a head injury he sustained just moments after the boy was shot, Matt can't quite put all the pieces together.

Eventually Matt is sent back into combat with his squad—Justin, Wolf, and Charlene—the soldiers who have become his family during his time in Iraq. He just wants to go back to being the soldier he once was. But he sees potential threats everywhere and lives in fear of not being able to pull the trigger when the time comes. In combat there is no black-and-white, and Matt soon discovers that the notion of who is guilty is very complicated indeed.

I want it Wednesday

I stumbled across this book today while searching Amazon. This book takes place in 1926, but I wanted to feature it on Wednesday instead of Historical Fiction Friday.

Summary: At fifteen, Iris is a hobo of sorts -- no home, no family, no direction. After her mother’s early death, Iris’s father focuses on big plans for his new shoe stores and his latest girlfriend, and has no time for his daughter. Unbeknownst to her, he hires Iris out as housekeeper and companion for a country doctor’s elderly mother. Suddenly Iris is alone, stuck in gritty rural Missouri, too far from her only friend Leroy and too close to a tenant farmer, Cecil Deets, who menaces the neighbors and, Iris suspects, his own daughter.

Iris is buoyed by the warmth and understanding the doctor and his mother show her, but just as she starts to break out of her shell, tragedy strikes. Iris must find the guts and cunning to take aim at the devil incarnate and discover if she is really as helpless—or as hopeless—as she once believed.

How's the new look?

As you can see I decided to change the new look, but I'm not sure if I'm digging it or not. Change is always difficult for me. Do you guys like it? Does no one care? Is anyone reading this post or viewing my blog? I'm going to post a poll on the right. Let me know what you think.

Historical Fiction Friday: Review

Sorry about being a day late. As some of you know its been a rough time for me. Yet, I trudge onward!

Louisa Cosgrove is born into a family of privilege. Her father is a doctor and her mother is a proper Victorian lady. Her brother, Tom, gets everything he wants because he is a boy. And as we all know boys are more important in the 19th century.

Unlike most girls Louisa isn't worried about the appearance of her dress, or the tip of her hat or if her gloves fit properly. She read a lot, far too much in most people's opinion. Louisa also wants to become a doctor and reads her fathers books and conducts little experiments, much to her mother's dismay.

As Louisa grows up she knows she is different and doesn't care. She doesn't want to get married(even if all proper young ladies marry and have kids). Louisa wants to be independent and help people. She wants to be a doctor. However, her dreams are cut short when she is taken away to an asylum. Louisa has no idea why she is there because she knows she isn't crazy. Who would put her in the asylum? Why do people call her Lucy? Is she really mad? There must have been a horrible mistake. She needs to escape.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. For once an author actually understands the Victorian Era. Ms. Eagland had enough details in this novel to keep in realistic but it wasn't overburdened and dull.The information about Victorian Era asylum life should both interest and shock students.


Mild Spoilers:

I liked the characters, but the one reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I thought the author could have done away with making the character homosexual. I thought this was unneeded considering the fact the issue is never really dealt with. Louisa is gay as if Victorian society would accept her without question. If my gay students in 2010 have issues one can only imagine what girls in the 19th century had to deal with. I also think things were wrapped up too easily.



End of Spoilers:

Still, I enjoyed this novel. I also think students who like historical fiction will enjoy this.

This book will be released on September 6, 2010.

Now I understand

Everyone always asks me why teen books are so depressing. I often tell people it's because teens are going through a lot of emotional stuff. They have a lot going on. Someone I was talking to said "But if they are sad then why read sad books? Why not read something happy?" I shrugged. I never knew that answer to that, until now. Now I understand.

My life is a wreck right now. Things are not what I expected. Things seem to be unraveling. I'm just a mess. So I thought now was the perfect time for some teen angst.

Maddie comes from a good home. Both parents love her, she has friends at school, things are good until she hits puberty. That's when she has an uncomfortable visit at the doctor's office. The doctor tells her to start watching what she is eating. Maddie is short, curvy and has curly brown hair(OMG its me!) and since she's not growing up she can only grow out. Deciding to take matters into her own hands Maddie starts to diet. She doesn't want to be fat anymore. She wants to be thin and beautiful.

She takes her dieting to an extreme and logs onto the website thinandbeautiful.com to find out how to lose weight. She also finds friends there that give her support. Meanwhile her life in the "real world" is slowly falling apart. Her grades are slipping, her long time friendship is destroyed and her relationship with her parents is suffering as well.

The book takes place while she is in rehab and flashes back to how she got there. Maddie believes there is nothing wrong with her, but others think different.

Overall, I liked the book. My own dark mood may have played a factor into liking this novel. I needed angst. I got it. Now I understand why teens read angst filled novels. They feel connected to the characters, feel like someone is sharing in their pain. They like to know that there are others out there like them. And maybe for just a minute you look at the main character and say "wow her life is way worse than mine."

I want it Wednesday

Its been a while since I spotlighted a book that would appeal to male readers, so here I go. This sounds like a book that would appeal to my patrons.

Summary:
Coming up in the inner city, Kwame and Romeo Braxton never had anyone except their Nana and each other. So when big brother Kwame caught two years for doing nothing but keeping the wrong kind of friends, their lives were turned upside down. And things are about to get shaken up one more time-

Romeo is seventeen and the star quarterback for the Tucker Tigers. He gets all the attention he can handle from the honeys-and the big-time college football programs. Deciding where to take a scholarship should be Romeo's biggest problem, but these days it's the last thing on his mind-

Not only is Kwame finally getting out of jail, their absentee mother Pearl is back on the scene, and Rome's girl Ngiai says she's ready to get serious. Oh, and a couple of thugs beat Pearl nearly to death and wrecked Nana's crib.

With everything in their lives out of control, Kwame and Rome are at a serious crossroads. Now they'll have to decide who's really got their backs, and what kind of future they're ready to step up to.

This book will be released July 27, 2010

Teen Angst 101

I'm back from Italy and man it rocked. Of course some moments were better than others. Who knew Italy was so friggin hot in the summer? Holy oppressive heat Batman! Or that 5 minute walks are really 20 minutes long? Still the scenery was amazing and the artwork breathtaking.

For my first post back I decided to review By the time you read this I'll be dead.

Daelyn Rice's life sucks. She's tried suicide a few times, and has failed. One was so extreme I was like what...seriously? Who tries that? Things aren't going well for her so one day when she logs onto her computer she finds a website that is dedicated to people who want to kill themselves. They talk about their crappy lives, and how they want to end it. There is also a how to guide on how to conduct suicide, which is the least painful method and which one is the most accurate.

One day while in the park Daelyn meets Santana, a young man with his own demons. She wants nothing to do with the annoying teen, but as time goes by she realizes he's not as bad as she first thought.

I liked this book a lot more than 13 Reasons Why. The main character in this book seemed a lot more real and a lot more desperate. Unlike the main character in 13 Reasons Daelyn has legitimate reasons to off herself. She wasn't put on a hot butt list. She had to deal with bullying and molestation.

The book doesn't hold any punches. Its a frank and sometimes scary view of those who think about suicide. And while I loved the book I do take issue with Daelyn and Santana's relationship. I didn't buy the author's message(but I won't give it away). The ending may have some students annoyed. I know I was a bit put off by it.

Still, I think this is a great novel. I highly recommend it. And for students looking for another teen suicide book then they should give this one a go.