The Leaving

Altebrando, Tara. The Leaving. New York: Bloomsbury, 2016.

What a suspenseful read that I can’t wait to share with my kids.  I love how the book starts right in the middle of the story.  5 kids, returning home after years of being gone.  They are confused and remember very little. One has a tattoo. One has a foreign object in her stomach. One tries hypnosis. The mystery remains.  As does the mystery of the boy who doesn’t return. His sister Avery, whose own life is largely broken, seeks answers.  

Altebrando masterfully weaves together the stories of Avery, Lucas, Scarlett, and the others.  She writes initially from their complete confusion, filling in the history, and carefully revealing the mystery one small detail at a time.  She expertly develops individual personalities and relationships.  My readers will be fully engaged with each kid and with the mystery as a whole.  Altebrando plays with words...through Scarlett’s story most particularly.  My poetry book readers will especially enjoy this element within the overall scope of the book. In a world of dystopia, this book is different enough to excite and intrigue. Oh...and romance, just enough to keep my romantic souls happy.

I will be sharing The Leaving very soon with my 11th grade readers.  I really like that these kids don’t allow themselves to become victims of their circumstances. These circumstances are certainly extenuating - but our students can relate to the idea of being victims at a variety of levels.  The main characters here work hard, independently and as a team, to solve the mystery of their leaving and find a way to move forward with full and productive lives. I also like that the answers weren’t easy and that at the end questions remained about how well the future might go. Such is life and such are the books I love to have my kids read!

 

 

The Summer of Letting Go - Gae Polisner

Polisner, Gae. The Summer of Letting Go. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin, 2014.

Frankie Schnell’s burdens can seem overwhelming for a 15 almost 16 year old.  She blames herself for the death of her brother Simon 4 years ago.  She is certain that her mother blames her as well.  At 11, she wasn’t watching him closely enough at the beach where he drowned.  Her dad, who seems to hold the family together, might be having an affair with the neighbor.  And she is oddly and awkwardly attracted to her best friend Lisette’s boyfriend Bradley. Enter Frankie Skye. He is 4 and seems inexplicably attached to Frankie though he barely knows her.  His hurting mother hires Frankie to be a mother’s helper and a unique relationship is formed.

In spite of the burdens she bears, Frankie will be infinitely relatable to my readers as she experiences so much of what the typical teenager experiences.  She longs for a boyfriend and a first kiss.  She feels some distance from her best friends who is often occupied with her new boyfriend. Her parents don’t seem to get her.  She is at many levels just like my readers.

Frankie sure takes some wrong turns.  Easy answers don’t populate this book’s honest look at the struggles she faces. I appreciated very much the honest look at broken people. Some of my readers will also be fascinated with the look at reincarnation...is Frankie Skye drawn to her because he has Simon’s soul?  I can’t decide if I am frustrated with the lack of a definitive answer here or impressed with the author’s willingness to even entertain such an issue.  If you are looking for some solid consideration of reincarnation, though, you won’t find it here.

As much of the book centers around the pool and the beach, I could book talk it with other summer beachy reads - Sarah Dessen and the like.  I have lately been thinking about young protagonists who are dealing with broken parents in their lives, and at a more serious level, this book fits here as well.  It could work well with Linda Vigen Phillips’ Crazy and Laurie Halse Anderson’s The Impossible Knife of Memory. One certainty is that I will be talking about this title with my students very soon.

Con Academy - Joe Schreiber

Schreiber, Joe. Con Academy. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2015.
I don’t necessarily want to like Will Shea.  He is after all a con man - of the traditional kind, from a great big family of cons.  He has lied his way into the Connaughton Academy - a very elite private boarding school as a scholarship student.  His con doesn’t hold up for long, though.  Enter Andrea, a con artist herself, who recognizes the tell tale signs and, quite frankly, doesn’t welcome the competition. Who goes a who stays? They craft a bet to see who can con the most money out of the very self serving, very wealthy Brandt Rush. And so the games begin.  Along the way, Will has to deal with his rather unsavory father, figure out how to relate to the mysterious and attractive Gatsby, and of course, work his way into the Sigils...the necessary secret society.  What he finds out about himself, win or lose, makes his ride worth it.
I sure do love me a boarding school book.  This title has a nice spin or two.  I appreciate a male protagonist, my boarding school  canon is mostly populated by females.  I will enjoy having a boarding school boy to offer in my book talk. The con artist twist will be engaging for the students.  I’m not sure they have a true appreciation for the art of the con. Maybe some have seen the Oceans movies. A certain level of suspense exists, and students may be rooting for Will or for Andrea.  Engagement will certainly be encouraged because of these. Finally, I love a book that sends the message to our kids that it is never too late to reinvent themselves.  Crazy as it seems to we, the older and wiser, kids often feel trapped in the lives they’ve created or those that were created for them, at such young ages.  The ending here gently suggests that a way out certainly can still exist. I love that suggestion, unexpected and lovely, subtle yet impactful.

Death Coming Up The Hill - Chris Crowe

Crowe, Chris. Death Coming Up the Hill. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2014.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to get this book into my library or what led me to it just now, but I’m so very glad it is here! A novel written entirely in haiku.  I think that statement bears repeating - a novel written entirely in haiku-976 of them to be exact.  And exactness is crucial. 16, 592 syllables - one for each of the casualties in Vietnam in 1968, the year in which the novel is set.  Just. Wow.

 

Ashe’s story is one uncertainty and tragedy, but ultimately grace and sacrifice.  He is just trying to survive 1968.  He knows his parents’ marriage is on the verge of ending, and his mom’s unexpected pregnancy to another man is surely the catalyst.  His dad is angry and demanding.  He is determined to take care of his mom.  He falls in love with a “hippie.” And together they try to process the chaos of the Vietnam war and the chaos in their own lives.  Sometimes it feels like altogether too much. This glimpse into this volatile time in American history is a priceless one. One might think that much might be lost in the strictness of form, but the setting is fully fleshed out, the characters developed in lovely detail. In many respects students will be drawn to this books, because while the setting and the war are crucial, Ashe in many ways transcends time. Current students will relate well to his concerns and his triumphs - another strength to this story.

I love that after the story ends, the Crowe writes about the struggle he had in writing this book. Students who are aspiring writers can learn from his persistence.  Students often believe that the first thing they write is the best thing they can write.  He also talks about the process of revision with the complications of the form - such a lovely illustration!

I look forward to book talking this title, and will soon.  I am grateful, I have a couple of more opportunities this year to do so.  I can pair it with titles set in the sixties or titles about war or books in verse.  I love the versatility of this title.

 

Say What You Will - Cammie McGovern

McGovern, Cammie. Say What You Will. New York: Harper Teen, 2014.

Amy and Matthew are quite a … couple… or not.  I guess it depends on which you are talking to and when.  Their friendship is a precious one. Amy has Cerebral Palsy and has, until her senior year, led a fairly sheltered life.  Matthew is suffering from OCD and doesn’t really even know it. After he is brutally honest in his assessment of her life, she works toward getting to know him because he appreciates that honesty.  Instead of adult aides, she persuades her parents to hire high school students to help her navigate her day.  She urges Matthew to apply. He does, and the relationship that develops is awkward, intriguing, and all the while very engaging.

 

I believe that my readers will continue to be drawn to this book.  I love that both of these kids are somewhere outside of the realm of what teens define as normal and that this book illustrates so very effectively how their hopes and angst are just the same.  We learn that Matthew can truly “hear” Amy, in spite of the fact that she relies on a computer to do her talking. We watch Amy push Matthew to seek treatment for his OCD and step outside of his comfort zone. We also  see very clearly that they don’t always understand themselves nearly as well as they understand the other.  Together, yet apart, they navigate first jobs, first dates, a disastrous prom, first semesters in college, first love and so very much more.

I wasn’t necessarily as prepared for the very much more.  I didn’t anticipate the complexity of Amy’s first intimate encounter and all that it would lead to.  Oddly, the characters had seemed so fully realized to me up until that point, seemed strange to me for a bit.  But...I’m thinking, that my students might say, that is when they were the most genuine.  I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I guess this is vague, but I am always excited when a book provides talking points for me and my readers.  I love getting to know them just a little bit better. And I love any book that invites my students to accept others in spite of differences.  I so enjoyed, for example, the acceptance that Matthew experiences at his place of work.  They accept him for who he is; mock him just a little; and stretch him too.  I love the examples these character set.  

McGovern tackles a tough story and does so with originality and grace.  A neat, neat read!