first & then - Emma Mills

Mills, Emma. first & then. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2015.

Jane Austen and Devon Tennyson, a very modern YA lady.  Could be the perfect storm of a book for this Literature teaching librarian. (And yes, I did mean to capitalize “literature.” If E.D. can do it…)

Devon is a sassy girl, and it’s probably a good thing that she is. Her cousin has come to live with her family after being abandoned by his own mom.  Devon is used to being an only child, and Foster is uniquely individual, making his presence in her life a challenge at home and at school.  Her best friend, her secret crush, really seems to be crushing on someone else.  And Ezra, the very quiet, somewhat taciturn star football player is becoming intertwined in her life in ways that are unexpected, and perhaps unwelcome? But Devon channels her inner Jane Austen and her own brand of sass and takes on her world anyway.

At first, I wasn’t sure about this book, and Mills just lured me in.  I thought it was going to be one dimensional.  I remember being eager to purchase this because of the allusions to Austen, and then as I started I was a bit lukewarm, but the layers.  Foster is just the coolest kid.  He belongs in the canon of cool kids in YA literature who are dealing with some level of the autism or asperger’s spectrum.  He brings out the best in the folks around him, and just insists on being himself in a way that most young (& old) readers can learn from.  I enjoyed getting to know Ezra along with Devon.  How can you ultimately not love a young man who will read both Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice in an effort to get the girl.

So, my kids will like that this book is edgy and real.  They will like that Devon is real and struggles and doesn’t always do the right thing or even know what the right thing is. They will like the reality of teenage relationships and parties and relationships.  They will relate to the struggle of family, the desire to please and the desire to stretch wings.  I will like that they will be learning to accept, enjoy, even admire the differences among people.  I will like that they are being reminded to look beyond the surface and get to know reality.  And I will surely hope that one or maybe event two or three will pick up some Jane Austen to see what Devon what talking about.

I will be focusing on my older girls for this as it seems more suited for them.  I can talk about other classic mashups, which I haven’t done a whole lot of before. I have both Jane and Catherine by April Lindner that are retellings, and I know that I can stretch my brain to find some more protagonists who admire a classic novelist...why I love, just love my job!

View fullsize

And while you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, I do love this cover...look at it!

The Start of Me and You - Emery Lord

Lord, Emery. The Start of Me and You. New York: Bloomsbury, 2015.

Sigh. How can I not like a book that relies so much on references to Miss Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Paige Hancock fancies herself to be Elizabeth Bennett. (Don’t we all?) But nerdy Max suggests she is more of a Jane and persists in calling her Janie for much of the book. The stuff of which dreams are made.

But Paige isn’t necessarily ready to dream. She is a year out from the loss of her boyfriend in a drowning accident.  She still, however, is getting “the look” of pity from many who surround her. She still has nightmares of drowning herself.  The school year is new, and she creates a list, prepared to live the rest of her life.  She will be more social; she will try new things; she will find a way to date her secret crush; she will swim.  Paige works hard at her list, but she is not completely prepared for what life brings her - most notably her friendship with Max, cousin of the secret crush AND for her divorced parents to begin dating...each other AND the stroke of her beloved grandmother, already suffering from alzheimer’s.

I really like Paige and know my readers will too.  She has issues with her overprotective mother. She has her best girlfriends to see her through the dark times.  She thinks she loves one guy, and all the while she is (spoiler alert; not really...we see it!) falling in love with the other.  She experiences much of the real experiences that my students are experiencing each day. I like that her parents are present, and even in the struggle, they grow closer.  I like the relationship that Paige has with her grandmother - precious.  As noted, I love the literary allusions.  At one point Paige notes, “He’d handed me a new mind-set, wrapped in literary references.” She uses “book lover’s math” to calculate how many books a gift card will get her.

I will enjoy book talking this lovely coming of age story in the fall.  My readers will fall in love with the story and witness first hand how Paige finds her inner strength and changes her world.  I love that her story will give my girls hope to life to its fullest. I think I might do a "Starting Over" slide in my book talk and showcase some of these strong young protagonists.  Oh, and I love that maybe a reader or two might be encouraged to give Jane Austen a try. Just maybe.

Influential Women Authors for International Women's Day

International Women’s Day has encouraged me to think about the influence of female authors on me over the years.  I am now and have always been an avid reader.  As a child reading took me to places and through experiences the real world didn’t offer me.  I am amazed at the memories that are coming back as I explore some of my early reading loves. Thanks to these women who were instrumental in shaping the woman I would become

My earliest faves...

Laura Ingalls Wilder - my earliest reading memories are in The Little House in the Big Woods.  I write a little bit about it here.  Suffice it to say I started these at age 8 and read and reread them over the years.  I introduced them to my daughter who, thank goodness, loved them as well.  It is possible I already have a brand new set for my future granddaughter. Well, someday…

Carolyn Keene - I’m not sure I am admirer of Carolyn Keene; I think I learned somewhere along the line that she is a pseudonym for several writers, but her heroine Nancy Drew - she was my girl.  I read the entire series living vicariously through her adventures, her travels, even her boyfriend.  

My secret teen loves...

Victoria Holt - We would make the trek to our little public library once a week, and I would bring home 6 books.  Holt’s were a mainstay. The internet tells me that Victoria Holt was actually Eleanor Hibbert.  Certainly when I was chewing up her shelf in the public library as a kid I had no idea that she wrote under a variety of names.  Honestly, these books remain a bit buried in my subconscious.   I suppose my current love for historical fiction is rooted here.  Of course, I still love a good romance.  I don’t do so much with the gothic now though except in YA. I read that one of her early influences was Jane Eyre which is one of my current favorites for sure.

Grace Livingston Hill - Just a shelf above or so I could find Hill’s books.  I am sure I read most of them.  These were simple and straightforward books. Generally a poor or orphaned protagonist would make her way bravely in the world ending up with true love and a strong faith.  I still read a great deal of Christian fiction.  The new stuff is a bit more creative and less formulaic, but I think Hill paved the way.

The classics...

Jane Austen - I wish I were one of those folks who could claim to have cut her literary teeth on Austen, but I became a fan as a young adult.  But such a fan I’ve become. I like to believe that Elizabeth Bennet would also have enjoyed a sassy Laura Ingalls and a resourceful Nancy Drew. I love her independent spirit. I have read all of her works and am preparing to teach her for the first time. She is wickedly insightful into human nature and while I love the glimpses I get into another time, her characters transcend time. She was brave in her time, choosing a literary career over more traditional paths.

Emily Dickinson - I often joke that I am drawn to spinster writers.  Perhaps I admire their dedication to the craft. One that I used to wish I could emulate.  I love her use of language.  I love to read her journal entries and explore her life through her poetry.

I could go on now about the women authors that I love to recommend to my girls now.  I am feeling like that is a separate entry to come soon.