Leaving Paradise

Title: Leaving Paradise
Author: Simone Elkeles
(C)2007
Publisher: Flux
ISBN: 978-0-7387-1018-1
303 pp.

Is it possible to pull your life back together after you've been hurt?

What about trusting the person who hurt you?

Each person has to answer those questions for themselves when something happens in their life. I am a "keep moving forward" kind of person. So for me, the answer to that first question is a yes. That ability to pull my life back together isn't easy, but it's so deeply ingrained into my personality that I don't think I could be any other way.

For Maggie, that's a different story. She's scarred after being hit by a drunk driver and left for dead. What's worse, the drunk driver is her next door neighbor - her best friend's twin brother. At least, that's what the police report says.

This book can draw you in and make you physically hurt for Maggie and the situation she finds herself in. I found myself being annoyed and proud all at the same time as she slowly learns to push herself to be stronger. Some of it is the guidance she doesn't have at home, but all that changes when she starts working for Mrs. Reynolds to earn money to leave Paradise. (Oh! That's the name of the town.)

Meanwhile, we get to meet the drunk driver, Caleb. We learn about his year spent at the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the way his old life begins to unravel when he returns home to find nothing the same, despite his parents' desperate attempts to appear normal.

Caleb's story is a rare glimpse into what juvinile detention is like. Caleb, once a popular high school jock, is unknowingly transformed inside those walls. If he's learned one thing, it's that one mistake and your life will never be the same. What he doesn't realize until coming home, is that neither is anyone else effected by it.

So what happens when Caleb comes back into Maggie's life? Can she learn to trust him again? Can he let himself trust again?

The story ends rather abruptly. I got the sense of "where's the next page?" hanging over me when I finished it. It might bother some people, but I knew the sequel was coming out soon, so I was patient and found other things to read until then.

And now I finally have the sequel!

Rules of Attraction

Title: Rules of Attraction
Author: Simone Elkeles
(C) 2010
Publisher: Walker and Company
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2085-6
324 pp.

Isn't that a lovely cover. These scene does happen in the book too.

So, something I forgot to mention in the last post. There is some gang violence, some use of profanity, and yes the characters have sex. Don't let your grade/middle schooler read these books. I don't care how well they can read, there are just some of the things the characters in these books end up facing that they aren't ready to read about yet.

That being said, don't let those things turn you off from these stories either.

Rules of Attraction is the sequel, following Alex's brother Carlos. At the end of Perfect Chemistry, Alex's family packs up and moves back to Mexico. There, Carlos (the middle brother), gets into trouble and is shipped back to America to live with Alex in Colorado.

Do you think Carlos will be able to make decisions that keep him out of trouble there?

HAH! The boy has a bigger ego and even bigger attitude than Alex did in high school. I absolutely adore him!

Well, when bad decisions put the lives of his family and a new friend in danger, Carlos learns quickly that sometimes you have to rely on others, and sometimes it's alright to put your faith and trust in someone other than yourself.

Ms. Elkeles follows the same format; this time switching between Carlos and Kiara. Kiara makes a great balance for him. She's determined and loyal. She sees in him what almost no one else can; that deep down he really does want to be good guy. He just doesn't know how to become that person.

There was something else I forgot to mention in the last post. Because of the Mexican influence of the characters, Spanish is sprinkled throughout the conversations. It's not always perfectly defined, but even without knowing a lick of Spanish, you can understand what's being implied. What I love even more is that she generally uses slang words and phrases. To me, that makes a character come alive. I don't want a text book phrase that I can translate online, I want what someone would actually say.

I've heard that there's a third book coming out Spring 2011; Chain Reaction. I'm curious if this is planning to be about the third brother, Luis, or something else entirely. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Perfect Chemistry

Title: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
(C) 2009
Publisher: Walker and Company
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9822-0
357 pp.

Can I gush? Cause I'm going to sit here and gush about these books for the next four posts.

You were warned.

The cover attracted me. The title attracted me. The whole back of the book attracted me and I knew I'd never be happy until I read this book.

Imagine the suburbs of a major city. Most of them are pretty typical. They have a nice side and a not nice side. Where Brittany lives, it's rich, it's white, it's perfect. And where Alex lives, it's poor, it's diverse (in this case predominately Mexican and Latino), and you fight for survival. So how the heck are these two ever going to get together, much less see eye to eye?

Well, that would be giving away the book and I don't plan on doing that. Instead I'd really like to tell you about some elements that make this book stand out.

1 - The format keeps you moving forward. Chapter 1 comes from Brittany's perspective. Chapter 2 switches to Alex. It goes back and forth from there. This shift really allows you get to know each character in a personal way.

2 - LIFE IS NOT PERFECT! There is continual pressure on these two from home, from school, for all these negative outside influences, even from each other. Don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending, but that doesn't mean that getting there will be filled with rainbows and unicorns.

3 - The characters have flaws. They make stupid decisions. Even though I genuinely have nothing in common with them, it's those flaws and those mistakes that help me relate to them. It makes me root for that happy ending all the more.

4 - The woman wrote an epilogue that takes place 23 years later. I love her just for that.

This, and the next 3 books I'm going to talk about, are billed as Teen Romance. I don't consider myself much of a romance reader. I have a few on my shelves and I'll pick one up occasionally if a friend lends it to me, but I am far from being addicted to them. It wasn't the romance that drew me into this book, and it wasn't what kept me reading page after page late into the night.

It was the clash of cultures; the struggle to keep moving forward that had me hooked. It speaks of a place and people that are dear to my heart. It was someone else speaking out about injustice and forgiveness that made me want to share this book with you. If you believe people can be forgiven; that they can move forward after making a bad decision, then you're not alone.

Wet Dog!

Title: Wet Dog!
Author: Elise Broach
Illustrator: David Catrow
(C) 2007
Publisher: Puffin
ISBN: 978 - 0142408551
32 pp.

OK, so I don't plan on putting pictures books up here all that often, but I thought I'd share this one. I read it last week to the kids and they were enthralled.

The "too-hot dog" in the "too-hot sun" just wants to cool off, but everywhere he goes to cool off, the people just tell him "Shoo! Go on now! Shoo!" It probably doesn't help that "he shakes and he shakes with a happy-dog smile, wagging his happy-dog tail."

I have a few other books illustrated by David Cartow, each one more comical than the last. He does a great job helping to get the story across.

If you pick this one up to read aloud, may I suggest trying it with a slightly southern-ish accent? That's how I read it and the kids love it.

A Year Down Yonder

Title: A Year Down Yonder
Author: Richard Peck
(C) 2000
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN: 0-439-43842-X
130 pp.

It's been a few days and I haven't had a chance to read anything. I'm currently in the middle of setting up the church library. Thankfully that's almost done. Well, since I haven't had much time, I thought I'd pull a few books down that I had read before. The next three are all by Richard Peck, one of my favorite historical fiction authors.

Our main character, Mary Alice Dowdel, is living in Chicago in 1937. It's the time of another recession, forcing parents and children to make some interesting choices. For Mary Alice, that means going to live in a tiny town with her Grandmother.

As the cover suggest, she takes the train "down yonder" with her Philco radio in one hand and her cat, Bootsie, in the other. As she says right off in chapter 2, "Everybody in this town knew everything about you. They knew things that hadn't even happened yet." (p. 9). The books details the trials and tribulations of a year spent in a new place with an old women set solidly in her ways. But it's the antics of Grandma Dowdel that keep the story moving along - from stealing "punkins" to a snake in the attic - this book will have you rolling on the floor.

Still, woven into the humor is a novel that speaks of learning from the past, knowing how to face the world, and having a strong sense of family. Grandma Dowdel was just what sheltered Mary Alice needed at this time in her life. Though she dreaded living there, in the end, she didn't want to leave. But as Grandma said, "It'll be alright. I don't lock my doors." (p. 128)

If you're looking for a quick read that makes you laugh and cry with each turn of the page, try this one. And for more Grandma Dowdel stories, look for A Long Way from Chicago and A Season for Gifts.

The Pinhoe Egg

Title: The Pinhoe Egg
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
(C) 2006
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
ISBN: 978-0-06-113124-0
515 pp.

Think of a book as a glimpse into a character's life. A series lets to take a longer look and gives you the chance to watch that character grow and change. That's what I saw in The Pinhoe Egg. There's a space of time between meeting Eric "Cat" Chant in Charmed Life and seeing him again here. He's a little older now; maybe a little wiser. It's amazing how much I missed his character.

The Pinhoe clan and other families like them are old, OLD magical families that live around Chrestomanci Castle. The work their best to hide from the "Big Man", going so far as to keep spies at the castle. The leaders of each clan are the Gaffer (head man) and Gammer (head woman). When Gammer Pinhoe looses her mind (partly from a spell and partly from her own vicious nature), horrible things start to happen and soon the whole countryside is stuck in the middle of a family feud.

In the middle of this is Marianne Pinhoe. She's set to be the next Gammer even though she's too young and it's obvious that her magic is different from the rest of the family. These families use a sort of nature/herb magic which they call dwimmer. It just so turns out that much of Cat's magic is similar to this. Marianne, on the other hand, has enchantress level magic.

That was something I loved about these books. Not only did she make an interesting setting, but she made the magic different too. There are levels. Enchanters seem to be the most powerful (but there are only a few), whereas a witch or warlock are pretty much at the bottom (but there are lots of them). Chrestomanci and Cat, being nine-lived enchanters are the strongest in the world.

The egg is actually an egg and yes, it does hatch, but if you want to know what's in it, then you'll have to read the book. I was beginning to wonder why we never hear of brownies or sprites, gnomes, fairies, etc...and here she goes and uses this book to explain all of that. This is the last Chrestomanci book I have on the shelf. I'll be on the lookout for Mixed Magics and Conrad's Fate now.

I'll leave you with this quote from Ms. Jones...

"Each time I write a book, I try to say something new, with the result that each book turns out differently from the ones before - which surprises, puzzles, and pleases me in about equal proportions."

The Chonicles of Chrestomanci - Part 2

Title: Witch Week, The Lives of Christopher Chant
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
(C)1982, 1988
Publisher: Beech Tree Books (an imprint of William Morrow & Co.)
ISBN: 0-688-15545-6, 0-688-16365-3
211 pp., 230 pp.

There are two more books after these, but this was the end of her original quartet. There's quite a gap between the copyrights here, and even more between the first and the last book, but she does an excellent job keeping the characters and the worlds as if she had written one right after the other. It's a difficult thing to do...trust me.

Witch Week is a world exactly like our own, or at least exactly like the one Janet came from which is supposed to be like ours, except that people develop into witches there.

Oh! Did I not tell you about Janet? I suppose I haven't. She appears back in Charmed Life. Cat's sister, Gwendolyn escapes the castle by going into another of the worlds. When she moved, so did all of her doubles in the other worlds. Janet, being one of the doubles, moved too and ended up with Cat. Janet is much more pleasant than Gwendolyn ever was.

But getting back to Witch Week...That world is full of magic and witches, but it's illegal. So if you're caught, they burn you. It takes place at a school full of witch-orphans and troubled children. When a note shows up that states someone in class is a witch, things start to happen. Chrestomanci is summoned towards the end (the children think the name is a spell and are quite surprised when he shows up) and find a way of bringing the world back into the one Janet is from, since it never should have split off in the first place.

The Lives of Christopher Chant is my favorite book out of the four. Christopher is the Chrestomanci we've been reading about in the other three. It takes us back before he was Chrestomanci; before he even realized he was doing magic.

She shows us how and why silver stops his magic. We watch as Christopher looses life after life at an alarming rate. We meet Millie as a young girl. She turns out to be from a different world completely. And we get a chance to look at the castle from a slightly different perspective. I say slightly different since Christopher has much the same feelings about the place as Cat and Gwendolyn do later.

I loved the way she described all the different worlds. It makes you realize how many more books she could write using Chrestomanci's world as a jumping off point. The ending surprised me. I had predicted Uncle Ralph's character about half way through, but it was was happened in Eleven with Gabriel that I wasn't expecting, though I probably should have seen it coming.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci are great books. These four are bound up into a two volume omnibus for anyone who prefers to have less books sitting on the shelf. Don't ask me why, but I find those harder to read. I'll be reading The Pinhoe Egg next and probably have it done this weekend. It's the last Chrestomanci book I have on the shelf. I'm looking forward to meeting Cat again and see how he's grown.

Until next time...Happy Readings!