Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman

I started following Laura Silverman on Twitter because of her editing services and realized I should probably read her novel before thinking about hiring her to help with mine. I am so glad I did, because this is a great story.

Anise is stunned to learn she has to learn her Santa Cruz home, her friends, and especially her surfboard, for an entire summer in Nebraska. Her father insists they need to help take care of her young cousins while their mom recovers from a car accident. She turns her nose up at the landlocked state and looks down on the local skateboarders, until she meets Lincoln. He teaches her how to skateboard and to appreciate who and what she has in her life.

As the summer stretches on, Anise stops talking to her friends back home, afraid that they're too busy having fun to think about her. She's afraid of what's going to happen to her new friendship with Lincoln when she goes back to Santa Cruz. But more than anything, Anise is terrified that she's just like her mother, who's popped in and out of her life, always flitting through life without worrying about the people she's left behind.

I really enjoyed this story, especially the detailed descriptions of both surfing and skateboarding. If I was ten years younger, I might try both!

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

Frances Marion and Mary Pickford were best friends who helped shape Hollywood in its infancy. Mary was the face, the perpetual little girl, while Frances worked behind the scenes as a scenarist (writer). The book follows both women from their beginnings with “flickers” to wondering what kind of future they'll have when the “talkies” become popular. Their friendship, like most, has it's ups and downs, but they eventually fracture in a way that neither thinks can be repaired. 

I enjoyed this story because it taught me a lot about the early days of Hollywood, however, I felt at time that the conflicts between Frances and Mary were insanely petty. I felt like a story about women who were pioneers in the film industry was basically boiled down to arguments about men and who's trying to upstage who at work. The book was a quick read and kept me interested. 

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Miles, aka Pudge, decides to follow in his father's footsteps to attend boarding school because he has no real friends, so why not, he thinks. His roommate Chip, aka the Colonel, immediately takes him under his wing and introduces him to Alaska, who Pudge immediately falls for. Alaska flirts with him while reminding him she has an out of town boyfriend who she loves. Alaska and the Colonel bend the rules just as far as they can without breaking them and Pudge is enthralled. 

But that's before. After, everything changes. Pudge pushes everyone away, he goes to class but he's not really there. He just needs to piece everything together, and then everything will be okay...right?

This is the second John Green novel I've read and I honestly think this was a lot like Paper Towns, which was written after this. I found the two protagonists to be very similar as well as the girls they were obsessed with. Pudge worries about himself in relation to Alaska instead of what's actually bothering Alaska. He idolizes her and is selfish about her affections toward him and their other friends. 

This book was just interesting enough to keep me reading and since it's a short YA novel it didn't take long to finish. This is the first book that I read just because it's on PBS's Great American Read, which is kind of disappointing. However, I don't expect to instantly like every book on the list. 

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

Maya is a typical American teenager in a typical small town. The only thing that makes her different from everyone else in her town is her background. She's Muslim and her parents emigrated to the United States from India before she was born. She's torn between doing what her family wants and what makes her happy, as we all are. After a terrorist attack her family is suddenly plunged into violence and hatred from people in their peaceful community. 

DISCLAIMER:

I am a white woman in America and have no idea what it's like to be anything other than a white woman in America.

I was very excited to read this book, I love reading anything about different cultures, especially the ones that bring the culture into America. I was very disappointed, however, because Maya doesn't seem much different from other Muslim or Indian characters I've read about in the past. I enjoyed the scene snippets before each chapter, a kind of foreshadowing of events to come. I think the portrayal of the aftermath was very believable, as bigoted white folks are known for attacking minorities in this country. 

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, a Native American of the Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard, was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. This fictional account of his life is told by Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of the pastor who educates Caleb on Martha's Vineyard. Both Caleb's and Bethia's lives are marked by death when they are still teenagers. Bethia feels like Caleb is her brother and she stops at nothing to save his life. 

Bethia is a wonderful narrator, showing us exactly what life was like on the island in the mid-17^thCentury. As the daughter of a Calvinist minister, Bethia is torn between her religion and the Wampanoag beliefs she learns about from Caleb. Her home life is disrupted when Caleb comes to live with her family after the deaths of most of his tribe. This is exacerbated by the jealousy and hatred of Caleb by Makepeace, Bethia's older brother, because he believes a “salvage” shouldn't be smarter than an Englishman. 

As with Brooks' other novels, this is a beautifully written story of love, family, and hope. 

Ringer by Lauren Oliver

SPOILER ALERT:

This is book 2 in the Replica duology. I do not have a review of Replica because I read it before starting this blog. 

Three weeks after Gemma returns home and Lyra is reunited with the father she doesn't remember, the Suits come after the Replicas. When Gemma tries to warn Lyra she is mistaken for a Replica and herded into an abandoned rural airport. Lyra travels to Pennsylvania with Caelum, the Replica who helped her survive the fire at Haven. Lyra and Caelum search for Haven's “God” to save Lyra from the prions eating away at her brain. Gemma, once she's locked up with four Replicas who look exactly like her, can't convince anyone she's not really a Replica. After befriending one of her Replicas, Calliope, she realizes just how different the Replicas are. 

When I read Replica, I read all of Gemma's story and then all of Lyra's story. So this time I decided to mix the stories up. Lauren Oliver gives us the choice as to how we read this story and it's wonderful. When you have multiple narrators, most authors switch back and forth when they want to, meaning they're controlling how you read and interpret the story. But what if you could choose who to follow and when you follow them? Would it change your reading experience? 

I started with Gemma and read the first half of her part one before reading all of Lyra's part one, finishing with Gemma's. Part two was Gemma, Lyra, Gemma, Lyra. Part three was Gemma, Lyra, Gemma. 

This is a crazy book, however you read it. Oliver weaves science (prion disease) with the dystopian (the government using clones and “orphans” for human medical testing). While Lyra, our “Replica” isn't actually a clone and her friend Gemma is one of the first, they have uniquely different experiences. Gemma fights against Calliope, one of her Replicas, while Lyra fights against the disease the Haven “Gods” gave her, just to save Gemma. 

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Set in a faraway land, in another time, Caraval is a story of magic and deception. After all, it's just a game. But don't get carried away or you may die. Scarlett Dragna has been waiting her entire life to visit Caraval, partly because her grandmother talked about her visit as a young woman and partly because her father turned violent after her mother left. Any time Scarlett disobeys her father, he beats her younger sister Tella, and vice versa. When their long-awaited invitations to Caraval arrive the sisters escape their father with the help of a young sailor. Once they arrive at Caraval they realize he isn't who he seems, but nothing is as it seems. The sisters are separated and Scarlett must race against the clock to save Tella without letting the game drive her insane. 

This is a great story with lots of fun twists and turns. The characters are great, the pliable storyline even better! The only problem I have is Scarlett and Tella's violent father. At first there's no reason for his violence but as the story progresses we see what set him off. However, it seems to be a simplified explanation. 'Because X happened, man suddenly became violent.' Sounds extreme, even in today's environment. The ending was great and I'm looking forward to reading the second book when it comes out this summer. 

The Book of Dust, Volume One: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

This is the story of Malcolm Polstead, son of a tavern owner, friend of nuns, and protector of Lyra Belacqua. About a decade before Lyra's adventures in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy she is a baby being cared for by a priory of nuns in Oxford. But sinister people are trying to take Lyra away from the priory and Malcolm knows it. When a massive flood hits Oxford Malcolm and Alice, a teenager who works in Malcolm's family tavern, save Lyra and escape down river in Malcolm's canoe, La Belle Sauvage. They must struggle to stay alive and get Lyra to the safety of her father.

I was not impressed with this book, especially since I love the original trilogy. This is part one of a two-part prequel to His Dark Materials, an amazing Young Adult trilogy set in a parallel universe. I felt like Pullman was trying to make this story just as magical and fantastic as the other stories, and he couldn't quite pull it off. Parts of the story, like the giant flood, don't make sense no matter what universe you're in. It was just interesting enough to keep me reading and since I need to know how the adventure ends, I'll read part two when it's published. 

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

This is a collection of fifteen Norse myths, focusing on Odin, Thor, and Loki as well as the beginning and the end of the world. These adventure stories of the gods are funny, entertaining, and great for younger readers. Nowadays most of us know the Marvel comics/movie versions of these gods, which is a bit nicer than the original stories. I like the parallels to other religions and mythologies (like Odin sacrificing himself to himself like Jesus). Some of the stories are absolutely absurd but will at least give you a good laugh. I look forward to introducing my son to this when he gets a little bit older. 

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

On her Deathday, Alex is supposed to get her family's magical blessing and be welcomed as a bruja. But Alex doesn't want her power, so she plans a ceremony to rid herself of magic on her Deathday. Instead of losing her powers, she loses her entire family in the blink of an eye. She learns they've been taken to the realm of Los Lagos, where a monster known as the Devourer is waiting for her and her magic. Alex descends into the underworld, a place between life and death, where she must rescue her family (both living and dead) before their souls are devoured and lost forever.

Labyrinth Lost is a great adventure story that mixes the old with the new. Bruja is Spanish for witch and in many Latin American countries it's not something to be proud of, but in Brooklyn, in a day and age where magic is fading and technology is everywhere, a new type of hero is born. With issues that speak to the poor, people of color, and the LGBT+ community, this is a book filled with diversity, just like our modern world. 

Panic by Lauren Oliver

The day after high school graduation, the graduates in a small town in New York gather to participate in Panic, a high-stakes game intended to force the players to overcome their fears. Panic is voluntary and illegal, so secrecy is of the utmost importance. And the winner receives over $50,000 in cash. Two best friends compete in Panic, each for her own reasons. During Panic they befriend another participant whose motives for competing are heartbreaking and sinister. As the summer progresses the challenges become more intense and the police will do anything to stop Panic after someone dies. But the game's not over until only one person is left standing.

In typical Lauren Oliver style, Panic starts in the middle of the action. We learn who the characters are by watching them play the game. Their dreams and fears are revealed in what they would risk to win Panic. The book is fast-paced and nail-bitingly addictive. One question resonates throughout the book: What would you do for $50,000?