Book Review: Language Arts by Stephanie Kallos

Language Arts is really the story of Charles, who at middle age is continuing to navigate through a life that hasn't always been ideal.

The reader doesn't really need to know much about the plot of Language Arts. Charles is divorced, but friendly with his ex wife. They really have to be friendly because their son, Cody, is a low-functioning, non-verbal autistic child who will soon be twenty-one.

At the beginning of the book, we get different perspectives and time periods. Along with Charles, sometimes we get the POV of his daughter, Emmy, and also Cody. There are also sections about a nun who is suffering from what appears to be Alzheimers and lives in the same care facility as Cody. The story sometimes jumps abruptly in time, also. We relive Charles' childhood with him, and it's apparent that something traumatic happened at school when he was ten.

Eventually Language Arts settles down and we see only Charles' perspective, transitioning easily from past to present. I'm not sure why Kallos decided to forgo the other perspectives, but I found myself much more engaged after the simplification. I enjoyed Kallos' style and found her descriptions and analogies interesting.

The addition of the Palmer Method of penmanship adds much to the story, especially since I remember being taught this in school. (Even though the linked article says this method lost popularity in the 50s and I wasn't in grade school until the late 60s.) I don't remember practicing all those loops, though.

The ending is satisfying and surprising. I love when you get to the "Aha! That's why.....!" at the end, and Language Arts is definitely fulfilling in that regard.

While I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to adult readers, I think Language Arts has limited appeal to teens. I think as a reader, you need to have more life experiences in order to really relate to Charles.

Published by Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, June 9, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
416 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Audio Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See is a meandering, character driven story that is compelling because of its stunning prose.

The story takes place during WWII, and we follow two separate characters that end up crossing paths at a most desperate time for both of them. Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father who works at the Museum of Natural History. She has been blind since she was six years old. Her father, a master at woodworking, makes her a model of the city to help her learn to navigate it herself. When Paris is invaded, they escape to the walled coastal town of Saint-Malo to take refuge with her father's reclusive uncle. Her father begins construction of a model of Saint-Malo for Marie-Laure. Her father has also brought what may be a priceless artifact from the museum for safekeeping. This diamond has a cursed legend to go with it, and will cause some additional problems for these characters. Marie-Laure's great uncle also has a secret radio that he shows her.

Werner is a German orphan boy who lives in a home for these children with his younger sister. He becomes fascinated with radios and when his expert skills are discovered by the Germans, he is sent to one of Hitler's schools for young boys where they are educated and trained to be everything a Nazi should be. After he leaves the school, his assignment is to seek out resistance fighters who have secret radios. Throughout the entire book, Werner feels guilty about what he is forced to do and the consequences of his actions. But he sees no way out.

The different settings come alive as they are described, as do the characters. Eventually Werner and Marie-Laure's paths cross, but the story isn't over yet. The way the relationships are woven together is fascinating. Doerr does a great job of wrapping up all the different threads, actually ending the story in the present.

As I said, what makes the story is the writing. The audio narrator (Zach Appelman) does an excellent job and has a neutral voice that is easy to listen to. The story is written in the third person without much dialog, so the voice was always the same. I think it takes a lot of skill to narrate a story like this without it becoming monotonous. And this wasn't.

One really picky complaint is that at least three of the main characters' names start with the "V" sound (W in German, I guess.) I'm bad about keeping track of names, so this similarity kept confusing me. There are also changes in time periods, but in big blocks of chapters that are well identified, so it didn't confuse me.

All the Light We Cannot See won't be a book for everyone, but it has great appeal for those who enjoy literary, character-driven, historical novels. Most teens would not fall in this category, but I have a select few who may enjoy this.

Published by Scribner, Simon & Schuster audio, 2014
Audiobook obtained from the library
531 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

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Book Review: Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

I enjoyed Sweet for a light, superficial read with a heavy dose of drama.

Laurel is going on a cruise with her best friend. It's a special cruise because there will be a lot of celebrities celebrating the launch of Solu, a diet sweetener that's going to change how everyone loses weight.

Laurel is shy and doesn't really want to mix with the celebs. She's also happy with her somewhat rounded figure and resents that she's expected to lose weight. She decides not to partake of Solu. She also gets embarrassed by one of her childhood celebrity crushes, Tom Tom, who runs into her on the dance floor and then kisses her!

Tom tries to make it up to Laurel. He is also very conscious of healthy eating and isn't taking the Solu either. He's attracted to Laurel, and a relationship develops. One that his publicist is not happy about.

I felt like there were two parts to Sweet. The first half is all about the romance. I was frustrated at the lack of tension or build up of what was to be the book's main premise. At about the halfway point, the plot takes off and never stops. Solu isn't what everyone thought. It's highly addictive and has deadly consequences.

Sweet has a cute romance and ends up being really exciting. The premise is unique which is always worth extra points. It's not a book that will stick with me forever, but it is well written, even with the excessive teen drama, and held my attention. I enjoyed Laybourne's Monument 14 series better, but this one is worth a read if you are interested.

Published by Feiwel & Friends, June 2, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
288 pages

Rating: 3/5

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2015 EBook Challenge - Post Your June Reviews

Here's the sign up page for the 2015 EBook Challenge, if you're interested.

You can see my progress for the entire year on my 2015 Challenges Page.

Here's a place to link up your reviews for May, if you haven't yet.

You can link up your JUNE Reviews below:

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DNF Thoughts: Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton

If you are really into ballet and want to read everything you possibly can about it, then Tiny Pretty Things may be the book for you.

For me, it was just too slow. I read over 20% of the book, and still felt like I was being introduced to the characters. Nothing significant has happened except a lot of complaining about the other dancers.

And the characters are quite stereotypical. There's the prima donna who is upset she didn't get the lead. There is the new girl who did get the lead, and is African American. There is the one struggling with anorexia. There's the Asian girl who has a controlling mother. A lesbian who hasn't come out. And there are guys too. And a romance.

The narrative switches from character to character, and I was able to follow because the characters are distinct enough (and I've read plenty about them.) Mostly they are whining and trying to get what they want.

I think something is going to happen. At least I hope it is. But I had enough of this world and these characters, and I didn't care what was going to happen. Not a bad book, by any means. Just not the book for me.

Published by HarperTeen, May 26, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
94/448 pages

Rating: DNF

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It's Summer!

Today is the last day of school for me. Every year I grab some books off the library shelves and take them home with me to read for the summer. So here's this year's choices:

One Shot at Forever, by Chris Ballard

Butter, by Erin Jade Lange

The Glass Sentence, by S. E. Grove

The Waking Dark, by Robin Wasserman

For All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han

The Young Elites, by Marie Lu

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Boy Nobody, by Allen Zadoff

Positive, by Paige Rawl and Ali Benjamin

Some of them are nominees for the Abe Lincoln High School Book Award  and others are just some that I've wanted to read for a while. It's going to be a very busy summer, so we'll see if I can get through all these plus the review books I have scheduled.

I'll do my best!

So what do you think? Any opinions on these choices? Which books should I read first?

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Book Review: The Cage by Megan Shepherd @megan_shepherd

I really enjoyed Megan Shepherd's The Cage for its unique premise and variant characterizations.

Cora wakes up in a strange place--a place where the land changes from desert to ocean to mountains very quickly. She discovers a boy, Lucky, and they explore together and find a bizarre, primitive town. And three other teens in the same situation.

It doesn't matter where they explore, they always end up back where they started. There are puzzles to solve in each store and they are awarded tokens that allow them to buy things. When the music starts playing in the diner, food appears.

They are visited by a strange humanoid person, who is most definitely not human. They are given three rules. They must solve the puzzles. They must stay healthy by eating, sleeping, and participating in health assessments. And...they must procreate. For the third rule, they are given 21 days to comply.

The reader feels the confusion of these teens. You want to scream, "Why??" right along with them. The characters all react very differently to this new situation. Some are more easily accepting and try to be happy. Some continue to explore and withdraw from the group. Most of them have secrets. But Cora simply cannot accept her fate and will do anything to find a way to escape, even when she has no idea what is outside their enclosure or how she will get back to Earth.

Cora eventually establishes a relationship with one of her captors. He tries to convince her that she has it pretty good compared to other humans in captivity. She tries to convince him that she can never be happy in this situation.

The beginning is a bit slow, and for a while I felt we were spinning our wheels. But about halfway through, things begin to move and get very interesting.

The ending leaves very little resolved as far as the big picture. But there are some stunning revelations that made me very anxious for the next installment.

The Cage has a bit of a sci-fi vibe, but there's not too much technical information to really make it hard science fiction. It has been compared to The Maze Runner, and I can relate to that comparison, but The Cage is unique enough and adds some additional elements. The Cage is mostly a tale of survival, and it takes everything they have because they are up against seemingly insurmountable odds.  I think a lot of teens are going to love this one.

Published by Balzer + Bray, May 26, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
400 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Stacking the Shelves - Just a Couple

Hope you are enjoying your day! Here are the books I managed to acquire this week:

For Review:

Out of Darkeness, by Ashley Hope Perez from NetGalley

Couldn't resist the historical aspect

Violent Ends, by various authors from Edelweiss

That's going to be it for me. How about you? Any good ones I missed this week? Please leave me a link in the comments and be sure to visit our hosts, Team Tyga's Reviews. Thanks for visiting.

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Feature & Follow Friday - Writing Reviews

Happy Friday, and Happy Memorial Day for those of you in the States! I hope you have a great weekend. Let's get it started with some Follow Fun!

How do you write your reviews? - Suggested by Blue Books and Butterflies

That's a hard one. Here are some thoughts. (I'm writing this like I do my reviews -- pretty much off the top of my head.)

I'm not a big note taker or quote marker. I may jot down a key word or point while I'm reading, but not often. I think that's because....

I like me reviews to be about impressions. I spend very little time on a summary -- only the main points, and never spoilers. I usually tell even less than the published blurb. I want to tell you HOW I FELT about the book. Not about the book. Did I like the characters? Was it exciting, sad, romantic? What didn't I like?

I usually write my reviews very quickly. I try to end with who should read the book and why.

I write most of my reviews almost immediately after I've finished reading the book.

My reviews are short. You have too many books on your TBR, so I'd like you to get through your feed quickly so you can get back to them!

This is the way I read reviews too. I usually read the first paragraph, skip the summary, skim the middle, and look for the "why I liked it" (or didn't) at the end.

I think my method may be a bit unconventional, but that's OK. I don't have a huge following or get many comments, but, as I've always said, this blog is mostly for me and sometimes my students if they need help finding a book.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know your thoughts in the comments or leave me a link. I hope you come back soon. Don't forget to visit our hosts, Parajunkee and Alison and see all the participating blogs.

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Book Review: At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

At the Water's Edge is a unique, wonderful, lyrical book that left me with such a good feeling. It is a love story, but so much more.

Madeline Hyde and her husband, Ellis, of Philadelphia, are kicked out of her husband's house and they are cut off from the family fortune. Ellis and his constant companion and best friend, Hank, come up with a hair-brained scheme. They will travel to Scotland to hunt the illusive Loch Ness monster, to redeem Ellis' father and get back in his good graces. You see, Ellis' father had suffered much public humiliation when he tried to prove he had photographed the monster. It's 1945, and Scotland is in the thick of WWII.

Maddie reluctantly joins them, having no other choice. After almost losing their lives during a torpedo attack, they end up in a tiny, remote Scottish village in an inn that has none of the high-society perks they are accustomed to. Everything is rationed and there is little food and a lot of work to be done. Left alone much of the time, Maddie befriends the staff and even begins to help out around the inn, without her husband knowing. She soon realizes what a cad her husband is. She finds out more and more secrets about him that shed him in a very undesirable light. He treats other people horribly and Maddie doesn't know how to go about getting rid of him. Soon, she fears he will harm her or have her committed. Things deteriorate rapidly.

She begins a relationship with Angus, the caretaker of the inn, and soon finds herself unable to resist his charms. She's playing a very dangerous game though, and she knows it.

Who would ever combine a hunt for the Loch Ness monster with WWII in Scotland? I don't know how Gruen comes up with these ideas, but she makes it work. The characters are priceless. I loved every single one of them, even the "bad" characters. They were all vividly portrayed. The story isn't action packed, but it still sweeps you away and the atmosphere is perceptible.

I really enjoyed At the Water's Edge. I lost myself in this world with these characters, and who can ask for more than that?

Published by Spiegel & Grau, March 31, 2015
Copy obtained from the library
354 pages

Rating: 5/5

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