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.