Girl In Pieces

Blog Contributor: Rhiana Boutot

Girl In Pieces, by Kathleen Glasgow, tells us about the life of Charlie Davis, a seventeen year old girl who has already gone through more trauma and loss than a person should. The story picks up right after Charlie is admitted into a mental institution, and proceeds to follow her even out of the institution and out into the real world, where she is alone.

Glasgow's story is a heartbreaking tale of what it's like to grow up surrounded by loss, drugs, abuse, homelessness, rape, suicide, depression and self-harm. So before I continue on, I want to advise anyone who is easily triggered by any of these topics to avoid reading this book. I know some of these scenes were very heavy and hard to read personally, especially when most of the book is surrounding these topics and some scenes can go into graphic details.

Now that I've gotten any trigger warnings out of the way, I want to talk about how emotional this book made me. I don't want to spoil too much, but some scenes had me sobbing and texting my best friends to remind them that I loved them. The relationships between Charlie and the other characters are so realistic and raw, and I think that's what made me so sad. For example, the relationship between her and another character, Riley West, was so toxic and abusive; you knew what was happening before Charlie did. The entire relationship between those two was absolutely tragic and heartbreaking to read. I was really able to put myself into Charlie's shoes, even if I hadn't actually experienced what she was going through, and that made me appreciate the life I have more and more.

Also, I was NOT able to put this book down. Seriously, I finished all 398 pages in the span of a few hours. Though the story is not very suspenseful (like most of the books I read), I was still very captivated. As somebody who loves a happy ending, I had to read the entire book in one sitting to feel, not exactly satisfied, but content with the story. I felt like, if I stopped in the middle of the story, something worse would happen to Charlie (which I know is irrational, the book already had a set ending). The way Glasgow wrote this story was excellent, I was so invested in Charlie's story.

I would recommend this book to anyone! Unless you believe you might feel uncomfortable or triggered by some of the topics mentioned above, of course. The bottom line is this: Girl In Pieces was a depressing story, but it's a very important read to expand your worldview and remind you to appreciate the good things in life.

The Boy in the Black Suit

 

I'm spending my time reading from my list of "on decks" while I wait for some new titles by my favorite YA authors to be released in the fall.  One such title releases on October 8 by Jason Reynolds, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks.  Reynolds has an illustrator collaborating with him on this title, Alexander Nabaum, so we can be guaranteed that whatever creative notions are happening in this text, they will have superpowers.  Needless to say, I am very excited.

In the meantime, I just finished The Boy in the Black Suit, an uplifting story about Matt, a 17-year old who faces some tough times but still manages to work his way through due to caring people in his life.  The neighborhood feel of the book reminded me about why I enjoy the Track series so much, and Matt's realistic demeanor in facing loss is signature Reynolds.  The book also isn't without its quirky moments, which I always appreciate because to me, if it isn't goofy, it isn't true to being a teen read.  I also learned a new texting acronym smh, so I'm feeling pretty awesome about that as well.  Perhaps most notable about this book is the young characters who just keep on moving forward even when life tries to drag them way down.  

Dealing in Dreams

I don't usually blog about books that I have yet to finish, but this read by Lilliam Rivera titled Dealing in Dreams offers a hard to find quality that I have very much come to appreciate in a book- it's not predictable.  I'm almost half way into the novel, and I'm not caught up with predicting the outcome. I appreciate how Rivera unfolds the characters so the reader gets to know them a little better as the chapters develop.

The world of Dealing in Dreams is post disaster.  An event called the "Big Shake" demolishes the comfortable aspects of life on earth and the protagonist is the leader of the toughest gang in a place called Mega City.  Chief Rocka is a fierce and driven fighter, and she has to be; her gang, the LMCs (Las Mal Criadas) is on top in Mega City, and multiple forces are trying to compete for their status and power. 

Lots of readers may be tempted to label the novel a dystopia, but this has a different feeling from other popular YA dystopias.  It reminds me a lot more the Mad Max movies than it does the many other YA dystopias that I have been known to rave about in class.  Still, like many YA dystopia protagonists, Chief Rocka understands the world inside Mega City so well that she has managed to earn her way (almost) to the top of it, and there is a life beyond its well protected borders.  I am guessing new revelations are in store for her as the world which we know so well is never completely known to us until we see it from a new perspective.  I am just happy that I haven't figured it out already. 

Truthfully, two days ago I did not even know about this book.  I was looking for a title by Matt de la Pena on the suggestion of a student, stumbled on Rivera's The Education of Margot Sanchez but that was checked out as well.  I'm lucky to have found Dealing in Dreams.  Another Jason Reynolds title (surprise, surprise) is next for me and apparently, Marie Lu is releasing another Legend  title soon, Rebel.  Summer is still going strong, as is the pile of titles I am adding to my "on deck" list. 

Do you have a title "on deck" that you cannot wait to read?  Or a dystopia that you think is your favorite title?  Feel free to comment in the comments. :)

Characters We Remember

I'm currently reading a fun fantasy children's series titled Keeper of the Lost Cities, seven titles with an ensemble cast of elves trying to make their world a better place despite some really disturbing changes.  Like most fantasy, it's an escape read, and while I'm enjoying it, Harry Potter definitely resonates with me on a whole other level. 

Certain titles stay with us for certain reasons.  I could blog about any of the titles that have stayed with me, but instead, I will write about a title I read at the start of the summer, We are Okay, by Nina LaCour.  I checked LaCour's book out at the GPL on the recommendation of a student.  She wrote her final paper on this book, composing a really rich piece about the main character and the overall connectivity of this character's experience.  It was a beautiful essay, and I knew I had to read the book even though my list of "things I want to read this summer" kept growing, and growing, and growing. 

The main character, Marin, is spending the Christmas break during her freshman year alone on a cold (and later snowy) college campus in the northeast.  Marin's story is unique; I loved how LaCour created something deep, original, and worthwhile.  Marin's Christmas break is full of separate reckonings with past, with present, with future, and with self.  It's a really slim book; you can read it in a day, but it unpacks an unforgettable story. 

I think Marin will stay with me for a while, joining characters like Oskar Schell from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Werner and Marie-Laure from All the Light We Cannot See.

Have you met characters that will stay with you?  You can use the comment section to share.  

Pet Sematary

Blog Contributor: Rhiana Boutot

In Stephen King's Pet Sematary, Louis Creed and his family are expecting to live out a quiet life when they move to Ludlow, Maine. Though, that is definitely not what they get upon arriving in the rural town. For one thing, there is a cemetery full of dead pets in the woods behind the family's beautiful new home. And wasn't that cat dead, only a week ago? Ludlow seems to be full of unspoken mysteries, many of which have a dangerous air surrounding them. 

Of course, Pet Sematary is a horror novel. While the book may not have traditional horror aspects (i.e. vampires, ghosts and ghouls, "jumpscares", etc.), this book is still terrifying. The book - like all King novels - messes with your mind. The realistic characters makes it easy for readers to imagine themselves in these otherwise outlandish scenarios. For example, the way Louis is written allows the reader to envision themselves doing everything he does. I don't know about you, but I find that alarming - especially when you know what happens at the end of the book.

However, even if the book is more psychologically scary, that doesn't undermine just how frightening bringing back the dead is. Particularly because of how the dead act after they are resurrected. They don't seem quite... human anymore. Also, the lore surrounding the burial grounds and the entire process of resurrection is chilling. It seems like there is something supernatural occurring, and that in itself is enough to make Pet Sematary King's scariest novel.

Although the book might surround the literal horrors of resurrections and the tales of ancient burial grounds, what interested me more was how King portrayed the different ways each character dealt with the loss of someone close to them. Such as how Louis was irrational and didn't think of the consequences of his actions (though, of course, that could just be the burial ground's strange powers). Some characters completely shut down when it came to death (Louis' daughter and wife, Ellie and Rachel), and some saw death as a completely natural stage of life (Jud Crandall). The diverse ways each character grieves makes it easy for readers to find a character they can relate to.

I would recommend Pet Sematary to people who like horror novels, and especially to anyone who isn't bothered by gore and more adult themes. I will say, some of the more explicit details did make me want to put the book down because I can't STAND blood. Yet the suspense of the book, combined with King's brilliant writing, kept me going. As mentioned above, this is definitely King's scariest work.

4 X Jason Reynolds, The Track Series

Full disclosure-  I am a HUGE Jason Reynolds fan.  And I am probably the least likely person in the world to offer you an "objective" blog about anything he writes.  Reynolds has the sensibility of Langston Hughes with language that is both lyrical and fun, and he has the distinctive rich character work that signifies some of the best new adult and YA writers publishing right now.

There are four books in the series, and after being so drawn to the bold colored covers for a long time, I pretty much devoured each book over April break, and then raved to colleagues and students (and my kids) about Reynolds, about the Track series, and other books that I have already blogged about and may blog about in the future.  Each book has its own main character, hence the four titles in the series, and they all run for the same coach.  If you have ever been on a team or in any club that offers you some challenge and good times away from your day to day life, you could connect with this book.  I won't tell you my favorite in this series, but honestly, they are all pretty much my favorite.

Thank you, Mr. Reynolds, for writing great characters that we feel like we already know and that we know we will always remember.  Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu.

  

American Street

Even though her name is Fabiola, her American friends and family begin to call the protagonist, Fabulous.  She reluctantly takes on that alias, just as she reluctantly makes her way through Detroit's west side, a far cry away from her home in Haiti. 

The reader meets Fabiola on her trip to see family in America, and her mother is detained by U.S. Immigration in New Jersey.  Assured that her family in Detroit are "taking care of things," Fabiola finds herself fully engaged in life as an American teen, a life complicated by her well known cousins, the so called Three Bees.  Her reaction to this unexpected immersion is genuine, and her character is relatable.  Ibi Zoboi also takes a chapter here and there to offer the perspective of the other characters in the novel, making the lives of those that live on the corner of American and Joy all the more relevant to the reader.  

What exactly does it mean to be labeled a resident alien?  If you are curious, read American Street  and Fabiola's story.

Hey Kiddo

Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka brings the reader into the perspective of a younger Jarrett working through his childhood.  Jarrett mostly lives with his grandparents as his mother battles addiction.

The images Jarrett creates on the page reflect his coming of age and the whirlwind of emotional experiences he has in his reality.  The reader sees these experiences through the memories of Jarrett, both the collective family memories before he was actually born and the memories that he actually has as a younger child as well a young adult.  Along with the challenges Jarrett faces due to his circumstances, the reader can also connect to his more universal experiences that are just part of growing up. 

As this year's One Book, One Region selection, you should have no problem finding this great read on shelf at all of our libraries.  Jarrett Krosoczka visits Fitch students on September 18. 

Calling All Bloggers!!!

Summer just barely started.  No really, today is actually the last day of school.  I can still hear celebrating all over the place with Groton kids running off the school buses in hopes that this summer will be looooooooooonger than ever.

Maybe it's too soon to ask you to blog, or maybe, it's just the right time for all of us to relax and write for fun.


If you are interested in summer blogging, email me:  amckenna@groton.k12.ct.us.

I hope you had an amazing school year and that your summer slides by at a nice slow pace!!!