Preview read courtesy of http://netgalley.com
"How You Ruined My Life"
By Jeff Strand @Jeff Strand
Publication date: April 3, 2018
Thanks to netgalley.com for providing this advanced readers copy.
Humor without curse words! A high school punk rock band without curse words! A book that would work in either middle school or high school without curse words!
"How You Ruined My Life" is a humorous story based on the premise of opposite finances. Two high school cousins who haven't seen each other in 10 years have to live together for three months. Rich cousin from California has to live with poor cousin in Florida. The author does a good job of creating the main characters' personalities including having the reader flip-flop back-n-forth over which cousin is the crazier one.
Written as if the Florida cousin is narrating the story to the reader, the first-person storytelling effectively conveys the desperate need for the cousin to have the reader on his side, while at the same time admitting how awkward his convincing is. Struggling readers may need some reminding that the style of writing is at times conversational, at times an internal dialogue, and at times a brief, stray off topic - just as anyone relaying a longer story might stray off topic.
The book comes across as a battle of wits and wills, pranks and pratfalls, while at the end there's a bit of a Bildungsroman. This sets up the possibilities of a conversation with readers if they would forgive and forget or hold a grudge, if they would go one with their intended paths or forge a new plan for their futures.
Though humorous books are sometimes a hard sell, I'd purchase this for my HS library (and recommend it to our MS library) because it's an accessible, light-hearted read.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Book Review: Reversed, a Memoir
Read courtesy of http://netgalley.com
Reversed - A Memoir
By Lois Letchford
Publication date: March 3, 2018
EVERY TEACHER, EVERY PARENT NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!
Resilience, perseverance, advocacy, inspiration, caring, love... it's got it all.
This story has great messages: go with your gut... think creatively... advocate for what you think is right. It's not eloquently written, but that's part of the point, too. Anyone can do what's right. Education doesn't have to be as prescriptive as it is, and Mrs. Letchford's experience gives hope that parents and teachers can find creative and effective ways to teach.
This book is on par with "To Sir with Love" by E. R. Braithwaite, "Small Victories" by Samuel G. Freedman, and Jaime Escalante's "Stand and Deliver." The only drawback in the whole telling is that the book was about her middle child, but the few times when she mentioned her youngest child, it wasn't very flattering - maybe realistic, but unnecessary to the telling.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who teaches and for any parent who sees a spark in their child that others don't.
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Book Review: You Will Be Mine
Book Review: You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston
Publication date: February 6, 2018
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
The author did a really good job of throwing the reader off the trail of the real killer in You Will Be Mine. I normally don't pick up mysteries or murder mysteries to read, but I liked trying to guess this who-dunnit. However, the other possible victims hung around too long for me to read the rest of the story as any more than a Scooby Doo mystery ... a little too unbelievable to be true. Leaving the potential victims in the thick of the story doesn't make the story scary and suspenseful for me; it makes it a "how dumb are these people, and how can I believe this story?"story.
The fact that this British tale is sold in the U.S. won't detract from the story. I saw one reviewer who thought that some of the references or allusions were too vague for an American audience. I disagree; the author's contexts were enough to guide the reader through the minor cultural differences.
I was bothered, though, by the bungling, inept law enforcement depicted throughout the story even to the end. A plot of the-police-can't-solve-a-crime-but-young-adults-can perpetuated the Scooby-like mood. In spite of the author's ability to get me to speculate about the wrong killer, moving the action forward by way of an entirely flawed police force was wholly dissatisfying.
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