Named for a Creek

Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros

Much like The House on Mango Street, which I loved, I read this because my son hated it. While I feel hate is a strong word, I would be lying if I said I enjoyed this book.

Written as a series of vignettes, this tells the stories, mostly hardships, of Hispanic women of all ages. The stories of the young girls and teenagers were ok, enjoyable even, but once I got to the adult sections, I was completely turned off. I didn't care to read about abused women, women who were cheated on, and sex lives. These things aren't really my thing, and I found nothing redeemable for this section of the book.

The only way I can see that anyone would read this is if it was required for a college lit class, which, by the way, it was for my son. At least it only took a few hours to read, though I won't get those hours back.

Annoying Brothers

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

This came up as either a freebie or was really inexpensive for my Kindle one day. I thought I had read other books by this author (I hadn't, as it turns out), so I bought it. It's been sitting on the back burner for a while, but I have had two students who purchased this on their own and liked it, so I thought I would give it a try.

Steven is thirteen, in eighth grade. He starts out the book telling us how annoying his little brother is. Jeffery is five, and is, as most five year olds are annoying. Then one day, he takes a tumble from a stool in the kitchen, resulting in a bloody nose that requires a trip to the emergency room. Unfortunately for Steven's family, it was more than a bloody nose. Poor Jeffery is diagnosed with leukemia.

At first, no one really knows how to handle things. Mom is emotional, dad is reserved, Steven is a bundle of emotions. He makes bargains with God if he will just save Jeffery. He stops caring about school for a little while, he has nightmares. The family goes into debt, and that adds additional stress that no one needs.

One thing that doesn't change is Steven's love for Jeffery, despite his annoyingness. Steven would do anything for Jeffery, and Jeffery acts like Steven hung the moon.

I just knew this book was going to wreck me. Books like this usually do. I couldn't put this one down. I was riveted. It was a sweet story.

HP Wannabe

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

A couple of years ago, I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and LOVED the book. When I saw this had come out, I thought it was a follow-up, so I had to have it. In a way, I guess it is, since Fangirl is about a girl obsessed with the Simon Snow books, and writes fan fiction about them. This book is her fan fiction.

My biggest problem with this book is that it is a rip off of Harry Potter. Both take place in England. Both have a special, magical school. Both main characters are orphans and are the "Chosen One." Both have a know it all girl who is a best friend to the main character. Both have a best friend who come from a large magical family. Both have a school nemesis, and both have a nemesis who is out to upset the magical balance. Both have erratic headmasters.

One would think that being an HP fan would mean that I would automatically love a book that was trying so hard to be like one that is loved by millions worldwide, but I didn't. Mostly, I was aggravated. In fact, I started this book months ago, got eighty pages in, and put it aside because of my aggravation. I decided I needed to get it off the back of my couch, so I gave it another shot. I didn't start over though; I just picked up where I left off.

For the first four hundred pages, I complained about how much this was a wannabe of a book series I love. It's about Simon Snow, the most powerful mage, who is being hunted by the Humdrum (yes, a very scary villain name). He is coming back to his magic school, Watford, for his final year. His nemesis, Baz, hasn't shown up, and this is causing Simon some unrest. On Halloween night, the night that the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest, the ghost of Baz's mother comes to Simon by mistake to tell him he needs to find out who killed her/caused her death. When Baz finally gets back, Simon tells him about this visit, and they call a truce to discover this information. Meanwhile, they are also trying to figure out this thing with the Humdrum. Blah, blah, blah.

Where this book finally got good for me is where this became less like HP. Baz is the Draco character in this scenario, and he has a thing for Simon. He doesn't want Simon to know. He tries to hide it, but is ultimately unsuccessful.

There is, obviously, more to the story, but it wouldn't be any fun if I told you everything.

Dumb Boys and Silver Haired Girls

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

Notice I used the word dumb and not stupid in the title? I did it on purpose because the main character, Parker, can't speak, and is, therefore, dumb. He can't speak as a result of an accident that killed his father. There is nothing medically keeping Parker from speaking; it's the reaction of losing someone he loved so much. He has gone to therapy, but it hasn't helped.

At the beginning of our story, which takes place over a weekend (except for the very last chapters), Parker is at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. He is skipping school because it is Halloween, and he likes hotels. He also likes to steal from people in hotels. He sees his mark after she pulls out a wad of cash. They happen to be sitting at the same long table in the dining room for breakfast. She gets up, he takes the wad of cash out of her purse, and makes a clean getaway. Until he realizes he has left his journal behind. He wants his journal back, and she makes a deal (or two) with him. Thus begins their weekend of adventure.

Zelda, the silver haired girl, changes Parker's life in ways he can't imagine over the course of this weekend. She is the most unusual "girl" he's ever met, and with her, he finds himself.

I don't want to give too much away, but trust me, you want to read this. Realistic, young adult fiction, with just a hint of whimsy-it doesn't get much better than this.

Secret Societies and Boarding Schools

Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend

I picked this up because my daughter was interested in it. I don't always read books before her to make sure they are ok; this was a situation where I recognized the cover and the blurb sounded interesting. Honestly, I can't wait for her to read it so we can talk about it.

Ho. Lee. Cow.

Sadie is a lacrosse player from Oregon who receives a scholarship to play for a prestigious boarding school in Washington DC. As it turns out, her mother went there as well, but since Sadie doesn't know much about her mother, this was a little bit of a surprise. Being the new, not wealthy girl at a boarding school that caters to the daughters of the rich and well known, Sadie experiences some mild hazing.

One night, her first week there, she is blindfolded and taken to a trial by the Fates. She answers their questions, and is then returned to her room with a pin prick in her arm and a mysterious bruise that she doesn't know how she got. She has a pretty good idea who is behind things, and sure enough, is asked again to a secret meeting. In a way, she becomes a part of the cool crowd, except this crowd is a secret society, specializing in being do gooders.

The thing about secret societies is that they have their secrets. I won't share them here, but trust me when I say it is worth taking the time to read this to find out what they are. This book was so good that I have been ignoring my favorite Tuesday night tv programming (that I never miss-ever) so I can see how this book ended up. So worth it.

Fictionalized Childhood

Tru and Nelle by G. Neri

I cam across this book while watching one of the professional development videos that two of my library science professors have on YouTube. When they were describing it, I knew I needed to read it.

This is the fictionalized version of childhood friends Truman Capote and Harper Lee. It is no secret that they were neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama when they were children, but we (or at least I) don't hear much about this time in their lives. It is also no secret that Truman Capote was the inspiration for Dill in Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the great American novel.

In fact, there are a great many parallels between this book and Mockingbird, which is one thing I loved about this book. It was just like reading the exploits of Scout and Dill because Nelle and Truman were those fictional children. And since it is written at the lower end of the young adult novel spectrum, the potential to introduce younger children to these two authors (and amazing characters) is great.

In short, I loved this book.

Dark Artifices #1

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

This is the first book in the new series involving Shadowhunters. This time, they are at the institute in LA. People and downworlders are being murdered and there are strange runes being left on the bodies. The same runes that were left on the bodies of the parents of Emma Carstairs, so she believes that the murders are related.

The Clave cannot be contacted to help them solve the murders because fairies are involved, and the new laws exclude fairies. These murders also cause Mark Blackthorn, the oldest son of the Blackthorn family to be returned home, at least for a time.

More a murder mystery than anything else, this was a great read. I look forward to reading more in this series.