Title: Geek Charming
Author: Robin Palmer
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 2.5/5
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: Film geek Josh agrees to rescue the most popular girl Dylan’s purse from a fountain in exchange for her cooperation in the documentary he wants to make about the popular kids at their high school.

Review: This was okay. Truthfully, I probably would have stopped reading it if my 1-year-old daughter hadn’t been asleep in my arms and I didn’t have another book handy to read instead.

It wasn’t bad writing, but I didn’t really care about the characters. Especially Dylan, the popular girl. She was such a caricature of a rich spoiled girl that I was laughing at her, not with her. And that doesn’t make for a good connection right off the bat.

Also, Josh’s voice wasn’t quite distinct enough from Dylan’s as they traded off narrating every other chapter, so sometimes that pulled me out of the story trying to remember who was talking to me.

It was a sweet story. But after a string of doozies, I’m ready for another great read. Submit your ideas in the Pick My Next Book at the right!

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Title: My Life in Pink & Green
Author: Lisa Greenwald
Category: Fiction, Middle Grade
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: 12-year-old Lucy’s mom inherited the family pharmacy, which is in danger of being foreclosed on.

Stopped on Page: 75
Why I Stopped: The main thing that bugged me is that Lucy is oddly gushing about her mom.

Old Mill Pharmacy doesn’t just carry the usual magazines like People and Glamour and Time. We have those, but we also carry magazines that are hard to find on the average drugstore news rack, like the Nation and the Progressive.

My mom’s a huge reader. She’ll read anything she can get her hands on, and especially stuff about people making a difference or taking a stand on complicated issues. She doesn’t just accept situations as they are—she’s always questioning things, so she likes to read magazines and newspapers that reflect that state of mind.

She’s one of those people who truly believe one person can change the world.

Ugh. Does that make anyone else feel a little green around the gills?

This is also one example from the first 75 pages where I felt like I was getting a moral lesson. Not in my fiction, thankyouverymuch.

Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Title: Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds
Author: April Lurie
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I saw it on the shelf at the library, and it looked interesting.

Summary: In the 1970s, 14-year-old April Lundquist lives in a Brooklyn neighborhood alongside famous mobsters.

Stopped on Page: 94
Why I Stopped: I never really got into this book because it didn’t make me care about the main character. It took about 50 pages before I even got a hint of what the real problem affecting her was.

I also had trouble getting into scenes because they were chopped up by the characters doing things in between every line or by the main character explaining what was going on.

Here, the main character is eavesdropping on a conversation between her older brother Matt and his friend Little Joe. I highlighted the parts that chopped it up—in my opinion—in bold.

“Come on, Matt,” Little Joe said, “I already told you, this is not a good idea. You don’t get it, they treat those girls like nuns. Lock ‘em up and throw away the key.”

Matt stood up. There was a strange expression on his face—a mixture of defiance and desperation. It was the way he looked when his basketball team was down by ten points, with only one minute left in the game. “Listen, Joe,” he said. “I don’t care. I just need to see her.”

Little Joe raised his arms in surrender. “All right, all right. I’m pretty sure she’ll be there, okay? Happy?”

Matt exhaled loudly. “Thanks Joe, I owe you one.”

Little Joe shook his head. “Nah, you don’t owe me nothin’. But I’m telling you, Matt, you better be careful.”

Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Title: Going Going
Author: Naomi Shihab Nye
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I read the plot summary online and liked the sound of it.

Summary: 16-year-old Florrie works at her family’s restaurant and gets outraged at the chain stores stomping all over the small businesses like hers.

Stopped on Page: 46
Why I Stopped: This book shoves the “issue” down your throat, making it no fun at all to read. I always try to support independent businesses over chains, and even I was annoyed by do-gooder Florrie and her self-righteous rants.

Here, it’s her birthday and she’s announcing her wish:

“Okay, guys, this year my wish is…hey familia, everyone listening? My wish is that none of you will visit or patronize any franchise establishment for the rest of this calendar year, starting today! That equals sixteen weeks, one week for each year of my life. This will be a serious project. We will support independent businesses for all our needs, as much as possible. Okay? Agreed?”

She goes on to quote Ralph Nader to her family. I’m not kidding. Nothing against Ralph Nader, but c’mon. This character is nowhere near realistic.

And on the completely trivial side, this book has too many exclamation points and too much italics for emphasis.

Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Title: Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 5/5
Summary: At a boarding school in the Australian bush country, Taylor Markham has been selected as the reluctant leader to represent the school in negotiations with their rivals, the Townies and the Cadets. But when the only adult in her life disappears and Taylor finds out the Cadet leader knows her better than she’d like, will she be able to hold it together and protect her kids from retaliation?

Review: When I finished Jellicoe Road, I smiled and set it down on my nightstand. Not 30 seconds later, I picked it back up and started reading it again from the beginning. The last time I did that was with the fourth Harry Potter. Actually, that might be the only other time I’ve ever done that.

So yeah, you could say I sorta liked this book…if for no other reason than I loved it. I actually convinced my hubby to read it, and he reads like one book every 6 months so it better be good if it’s going to join that exclusive club.

This book is the type of book that’s so incredibly well written so as to make me completely question my ability to ever achieve something even 1% as good.

This is just from page 2, and there’s more where that came from, I promise. The narrator is talking about having survived a car crash where her parents were driving.

Someone asked us later, “Didn’t you wonder why no one came across you sooner?”

Did I wonder?

When you see your parents zipped up in black body bags on the Jellicoe Road like they’re some kind of garbage, don’t you know?

Wonder dies.

But don’t take that one snippet to mean this book is all depressing. It’s not at all. It’s heartbreaking, yes, but also hopeful. And funny.

I’m going to sleep on it, but this one might just make my list of top 10 all-time YA favorites. And thank you to whomever submitted a suggestion for me to read Saving Francesca. I definitely will.

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