The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry are two of my very favorite Christmas stories. Both of these stories are able to instantly bring to mind clear memories of past Christmases, and times spent with my family. Click the titles if you would like to read the stories online. They are both definitely worth the time it takes to read.
As I mentioned in a previous Memory Monday, my family is a bit... dramatic. My dad's parents started a home town theater in West Yellowstone, Montana and my grandfather was a drama professor for years. Acting, orating, speaking and dramatic readings are one of the most clear and vivid pictures I have of my grandfather, and certain milestones in my life are remembered by which story Grandpa was telling.
These two stories were stories that he told over and over again. Both stories are bittersweet, although the ending to The Gift of the Magi is most definitely happier than that of The Little Match Girl but both embody something inherent to the spirit of Christmas.
In O. Henry's story, the husband and wife are willing to sacrifice their most prized and valued possessions to purchase something nice for the other. Their desire to show the love they have for each other is stronger than the desire to maintain their possessions, and learning this is a greater gift than any trinket or bobble, no matter how nice, could be.
Anderson's story appears far more tragic, and it took me a while as a child to appreciate and understand why the story was told at Christmas time. The story leaves us with the idea and the hope of a better place. Our little match girl is alone, cold, and unloved. When she begins striking the matches she is supposed to be selling in a vain attempt to keep warm, she sees a glorious image of food, warmth and love, directed and given to her. Desperate to maintain that vision, she strikes all of the matches and is found in the morning frozen, with a wide smile upon her face. I admit that I don't have an easy line or idea about what this story means about Christmas. I have a much stronger reaction to this story when I listening to a recitation of it, or reading it on my own. But, I have a gut reaction to this story, that makes it feel like Christmas and love.
I know that this is largely due to my grandfather, because of his love for the tale, but regardless, this is a story that resonates with me, that leaves me questioning, thinking and wondering about the true meaning of Christmas.
Both of these are stories that I strongly recommend you seek out if you are unfamiliar with them. What Christmas stories do you hear every year? What memories do those bring?
Before I get started on what books I want to remember today, and the memories themselves, I need to give you a little background on my family and my childhood. Bear with me here. If you actually end up reading the whole story below... It's pretty funny, and totally true. (Welcome to my life... ;) )
So, my dad grew up in a theater family. His father owned a 'local summer theater' up in West Yellowstone, Montana (The Playmill, for anyone who's been out that direction) and my dad (the youngest of 7 kids) began performing in the Playmill when he was 6 or 7. I'm not kidding or exaggerating when I say it's in his blood, which very likely means it's in mine as well (even though I haven't done much in the way of acting) which may explain why I have a tendency to be a little over the top.
Anyway, rather than divulge more family history, I'm going to tell you a story, that will segue nicely into my Memory, for Memory Monday.
As I believe I mentioned, or hinted, I tend to be dramatic, and I can get pretty intense, especially when I was a kid. One day, as the family was getting ready to go somewhere nice (I was in a dress) my father did something that upset me, and I decided that I was tired of it. So, I informed the family that I was leaving, and they could just go on/be happy without me, and I walked out of the house. I don't think I really intended to run away, it was (as it so often is with nine year olds) more of a punishment for my parents. We had a very long driveway/road (about 3 other houses along the road) and I walked to the end of the driveway, and then turned to watch, expecting my dad to be right behind me, waiting to drag me back into the house. Apparently, it took them a while to notice I was gone, so it was a few minutes before my dad came after me. But, by then I was so mad! I couldn't believe that they had waited that long before coming to get me! So, I decided to run away for real, which meant I definitely needed to get a move on.
As I mentioned before, I was a nine year old wearing a dress that had previously been worn in my aunt's wedding... Stiff fabric and a long, straight skirt. So, I didn't move very fast. My dad caught up with my just around the corner, in the libraries parking lot (fitting, I suppose) and dragged me back to the car. He made me get in, we started driving. My dad asked me if I knew what happened to young girls who tried to run away from home. He sounded quite ominous, and he spent the next 15 — 20 minutes explaining to me what exactly happened to nine year old runaways... In a nut shell, I could look forward to being picked up by a pimp and turned into a crack whore. (Did I mention that I was nine, and that I'm not making this up?!)
My mom was horrified, my older sister completely scandalized, my little brothers oblivious, and me? I was belligerent. Every bad thing my dad mentioned — some guy will grab you and force you to be a prostitute/he'll take all your money/he'll make you take drugs/you will have no choices etc and etc and etc was met with a very sincere, well, I won't let him do that. I was a little afraid, because what nine year old want to believe that her possible future includes hooking for some greasy, smelly old guy while completely high on some toxic mixture of meth, crack and heroine?! But, I refused to let my dad know he was upsetting me, and I honestly remained convinced that I would be able to get away, or overcome said greasy, smelly old guy. I believed that they same way I believed, when my mom would tell me never to open the door to strangers when my parents weren't home, that I could just 'shut the door really fast if they were bad' and there would be no problems. I could handle it.
My mom and I were talking about this a while ago (well, she was actually kind of mocking me) and it got me thinking about why I was so convinced I would be able to handle the world's bad guys as some fairly scrawny 9/10 year old kid. I was looking through some of my old favorite books, when I had an epiphany. I had discovered why I was convinced I could take anything those evil nasties threw at me: Willo Davis Roberts. (GR profile)
I read Roberts voraciously. Some of her books were 'issue' books (Sugar isn't Everything about a girl who is diagnosed with diabetes, Don't Hurt Laurie about child abuse etc) but most of her books are more in the vein of The View from the Cherry Tree, Scared Stiff, Twisted Summer, Baby-Sitting is a Dangerous Job, and Meghan's Island. That is to say — a mystery where the young (generally 8-13ish) protagonist(s) ends up matching wits with the sinister bad guy, and the kids alwayswin! True, there are usually adults involved on the periphery, but there role is generally relegated to calling the police, or offering a small amount of moral support while their world collapses. It's always the kids who ultimately save the day, not only figuring out who the bad guys are, but also managing to subdue them until the police arrive, while also caring for the injured adult family member.
I read every single book by Roberts I could get my hands on. And a vast majority of the books I picked up involved a young kid outsmarting the adult criminal. So I ask you... What else was I supposed to think?! How could I not have believed I'd be able to 'take them down?' What we read often reflects on our realities, so in my reality, kids were definitely the heroes, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would be able to bring those suckers down. Those criminals had no idea who they would be messing with, and I was just itching to prove all these great abilities gleaned from Roberts wisdom.
Wanna know the craziest part? I went back and reread a few of my favorite Roberts' stories a few months ago and I can still believe what those kids get involved with! Her stories are just barely plausible enough to work, and if you don't think about it too hard, those kids really could have done everything she professes them capable of. While it's unlikely that they would be so lucky, by just the right combination of brains, luck, boredom and skill, it's a possible scenario!
Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gatley is the story of a Elsa, an ER nurse in her early 20s who wants to make a difference in the world. She is accepted as a relief nurse with an international organization and sent to Afghanistan in 2002 to help run the local hospital. Drama ensues.
I had a few problems with this book. And the bulk of my review will dwell on what I didn't think worked very well. But I do want to say that this book isn't bad. There is a market for this book, and I know people who would love reading this book. I, unfortunately, just wasn't one of them. But the book does have merit, and there were times when it was plain to see that the author had lived among these people and has an emotional attachment to their culture.
So, there are positive things to this book, and you won't be wasting your life if you decide to read it. However, I struggled with this book. It's an easy read, but I found my self speed reading, hoping to reach the end faster. I find it very hard to enjoy reading the book when I strongly dislike the main character. Elsa was whiny, annoying and naive. There's a part of the story, after she's been in Afghanistan for a while when she tries to convince her friend, Parween (and the other narrator of the story) that growing up poor in the poor part of Boston means she understands all the suffering any of the Afghanis have experienced.
She doesn't stop to think, and parts of other people's personalities rub off on her, (like Parween's impulsive thoughtlessness). She's incredibly self-centered, focusing only on things as they touch her. She can't imagine that life is bad in Afghanistan, or that other places are dangerous, or that her town is dangerous because she hasn't personally been exposed to it. If she doesn't see it, it doesn't really exist. It's like kids who see something bad on the news but think, 'that would never happen to me.' It got really old really fast.
I won't go into detail about the other characters, although I definitely could. There were a lot of people in the story, and all of them were rather black and white. They are good or bad. They are victims or fighters. They are happy or miserable. They are helpful or hurtful. And none of them felt real. I've heard a lot of people complain about authors telling rather than showing. This is one of the few times when I desperately agree. I can normally overlook that if I'm really enjoying the story, but in this case it made me want to pull my hair out. Everything I knew about any of these characters was because I was told that's how it supposed to be, not because the author just let them be that way. I didn't believe in anyone. I didn't believe their actions were reasonable or logical, and I didn't believe the situations they were in were realistic.
I also felt that the author was missing that happy median on details. We were either given very few, very sparse details about events, or overloaded with them. Some detailed accounts, such as the wedding ceremony was interesting, but most were not. It was just too much. The writing felt forced and murky and kind of like she was trying just a little bit too hard.
And the lipstick... I know this is a personal thing but I missed the lipstick point. I know that the author shares Elsa's fondness and need for lipstick, but I don't get it. And, there were times when I felt that the lipstick was more important than the story, and that the author relied on the lipstick to carry the story forward. It just didn't feel right to me.
Like I said before, I can see that this will be a book many people could enjoy. It just wasn't for me. Maybe someone else will have better luck.
*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher.
The publisher has also been kind enough to offer two copies of this book for two lucky (US ONLY) readers. (Sorry, the books are coming from the publisher, not me!)
If you are interested in receiving a copy, just Fill out the form by Nov. 29. I'll randomly select two winners on the 30th, and give you 48 hours to respond.
I mentioned before that I was going to be participating in the One Child reading experience. If you don't know what that is, you can read my original post HERE. To briefly summarize, Enthrill is a new publisher, trying new marketing techniques. They took this book and created a month long reading event. One Child is a thriller that you read in real time. Each day new chapters were released the same time the events took place within the story. The online reader also included links to facebook pages, business websites, news reports and more that made the real time reading experience realistic.
This book felt like a true story. It read like real life. I almost feel like these characters are real people. Jeff Buick is a very talented writer. So, now let me get to my review of this book, as well as the experience of reading it in real time. (And be warned... This is a long one, because there is a lot of ground to cover here!)
I just reading this early this morning, and I'm still reeling. The story includes everything that makes a good thriller. It contains realistic and sympathetic characters. People who are very clearly bad guys, people who are very clearly good guys, and several people who inhabit that shady in-between area where you aren't quite sure just where they fall. It has a conflict, a climax and a slightly unbelievable resolution that you totally eat up anyway, because seriously?! That's just what had to happen!
For all that this book had everything that makes for a great thriller, there was so much more to it that just another thriller/conspiracy story. This book makes a political statement, asking us to become more aware of our situation and the problems facing others. It takes a very real issue in America, the war in Afghanistan, and it asks Americans to take a closer look at why we are there, what we are accomplishing, and what more needs to be done there. And the best part about it? It does all of this while keeping us totally entertained, completely absorbed in the story and never makes you feel like you are being pushed or beaten over the head with the information. The book, quite simply, tells it like it is.
That is what I think was the best part about this book. It's honest. The sections of the book that take place among the American soldiers in Afghanistan is painfully real. While reading, you can feel the fear and adrenaline from the soldiers, and understand the fear, anger and pain of the Afghani people. It would be interesting to talk to someone who has been over there fighting how accurately Buick portrays the conditions, because they felt horribly real to me. It makes my heart hurt that this is what some people face every day. There's the danger of unexploded land mines being stepped on by children or animals, the angry Taliban soldiers storming through your town, not caring who they hurt in an effort to kill the soldiers fighting them, people afraid of who will next burst through the door of their homes with guns held at the ready. It's tragic and painful to read. I can only imagine how much harder it must be to live it.
There are four main story lines within this book. Initially, we don't see a connection between any of the stories, but eventually, they all pull together and we are able to find the connections, and determine how each player and each movement sets the stage for what is to come as each story line finally becomes one.
So, our first story is Kadir and his three daughters. Halima is the eldest, and she dreams that she changes the world. Next, we have Carson Grant and William Flemming. Flemming is an incredibly wealthy big-shot on Wall Street, and Carson is his newly promoted Division Head of the High Frequency Trading Unit of his Wall Street Corporation. Third is Russel Matthews, a reporter going to Afghanistan to bring the truth about the situation over there to the people in America. We also meet several soldiers in Afghanistan who help us understand what life is really like. And finally, we have U2, preparing for a rock concert in Moscow, and the team lead by an ex-CIA agent trying to bring it down.
The story is crafted perfectly. The pacing is wonderful, the story flows beautifully and the characters are believable. I really enjoyed reading this book and felt like I truly got to know the characters. The only real complaint that I have with the story is the ending. It was just a little bit too pat, and a few events were a little bit too unbelievable for me. Carson Grant is a naive idiot, and I never really felt like I was able to like him. His character felt a little bit flat to me. Part of his limited character depth, I think, comes from the fact that the woman he is engaged to, Nicki, is an almost superfluous character. She is dying of Cystic Fibrosis, and I felt that she was never anything more than a device. She provides "depth" to Carson's character, a little bit of drama, and is there for consequences. She was never really developed as a person. Instead, I felt like she was developed as a disease.
Other than my problems with the Carson/Nicki dynamic, I loved the characters in this book. Not all of them are people I'd like to meet on the street, but most of them (even Carson) felt like people that I might. It's possible I could run across someone just like almost any of these characters. It's not too likely that I'd run into a psychotic Russian who gets his thrills from killing people slowly, but I'll probably run into someone who has served a tour or more in a foreign war fighting for liberty and the right to life.This is definitely a book that I will read again in the future, and one I would recommend for others. I'm going to be looking to read more by Buick in the future. I'd like to see how I feel about a book of his reading it in one straight shot. But for now, Buick is definitely someone to watch for. One Child is so much more than I expected it to be, and I strongly recommend that you go out and read it now. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, about the experience because you have to say something about that-
This book was the most unique book I've ever read because of the way it was released. As I mentioned, it was released in real time, with different chapters becoming available every day so that the events in the story unfold as you are reading about them. You are able to view the social networking pages of many characters, and are able to watch the reports that Russel Matthews sends from Afghanistan.
Although I truly enjoyed the little extras that came with the book, only having access to a limited number of pages every day stifled a lot of the excitement and adrenaline that I usually feel when reading a thriller/suspense novel. I was more invested in the characters than the events, because the chapters kept cutting off. I am a pretty fast reader, and rarely take more than 1-3 days reading a book. When I read, I prefer to read one book at a time, focus all my reading energies into that story and those characters and read it. Because this book provided me with daily cut offs, I found it really easy to distance myself from the events of the story and there were times when I'd leave it for a few days so I would have more to read when I came back to it.
The 4 videos that were released with the days events also reaffirmed what I already knew. I am more emotionally involved in what I read than in what I see or am told. The book made me cry, made my heart hurt. Watching those same events on Matthews video reports didn't even really make me sad. They were just kind of there. But that isn't the fault of the videos, it's just how I am. A really well written sad scene in a book can make me sob. A similar scene in a really well done movie just kind makes my throat hurts and my eyes tear up a little.
The timed release was a great idea and really made a difference in how the story made me feel, but I don't know that I loved it. I loved the idea, and enjoyed the execution but don't know if it's something I will be looking to repeat. However, I definitely plan to re-read this book sometime in the future and I strongly encourage you as readers to pick up a copy. It makes you think a lot more than I ever expected it too. I know that Halima has changed my world. Are you going to let her change yours?
My interview with Jennifer Echols, the wonderful author of Forget You! Click HERE to read my review!
Jennifer was kind enough to agree to an interview after I read and loved Forget You. She is also the author of several other books for teens, including Going to Far, another romantic drama, and several romantic comedies, including Major Crush, and The Ex Games. You can learn more about Jennifer and her books at her website, found HERE.
First, I would like to say a huge thank you to Jennifer for agreeing to take part in this interview. It's great to have this chance to talk with you.
Ashley, I really appreciate the interview. Thank you!
So, when did you first start writing stories?
I think I was working on my first novel in third grade or so. My mom was reading Watership Down, which is about rabbits. My novel was about squirrels.
What did you want to be when you grew up? Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I was interested in writing, art, and music, and I pursued all three into college. My first college major was music education and composition. I wanted to be a composer and a high school band director. I was so interested in music intellectually, but I just wasn’t good enough. Writing was a creative outlet I felt much more comfortable with. In fact, I wrote a short story about band for the college literary magazine, people seemed to like it much better than any music I’d ever written, and I never looked back.
Why do you write young adult novels? Was that a conscious choice, or something that just sort of happened?
I finished writing my first novel when I was 20 and still reading YA myself. After that I wrote YA and adult, back and forth, but I guess YA was a part of me when I got my start and I never left. I still think YA novels are some of the best books out there.
Do you have any plans or desire to switch over to the Adult side of the aisle?
Since selling my first YA novel, I have written three adult novels, but they haven’t sold. Every time this happens, it breaks my heart, but publishing is a hard business and I knew this going in.
You already have several published novels out. Both comedic and dramatic. Were there any unique challenges to writing Forget You that you hadn't come across before?
This book is probably the one that’s most personal to me. The characters and events are fictitious, but I have felt all Zoey’s pain before. I have been that good girl who makes bad decisions. So I’m finding it a little harder than usual to share this story and listen to what other people say about it and about her.
Which of your books was the most challenging for you to write?
Endless Summer, because it is a sequel, and everything had to match what I’d written in The Boys Next Door.
Do you ever just sit back and think, "Wow. I'm a writer!"
Yes I do. Every single day I make sure that I reflect on the long, hard road I traveled to get here, and I am thankful that I finally have the career I always wanted.
I love getting new book recommendations. So, I have to ask. What do you read? What are your favorites?
Kiss It by Erin Downing and The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting were absolutely wonderful. And I hope everybody will check out the amazing When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer, which is coming out in November. One of the coolest things about being an author is that you get to read other writers’ novels before they’re published!
Are there any books you can identify that have had the most impact on you as a person, and as a writer?
The best class I ever took was an American Moderns course at Auburn University. We read The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner, The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, A Lost Lady by Willa Cather, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and the collected poems of T. S. Eliot. Every one of these books made me see the possibilities of writing in a new way. The only book we read that wasn’t new to me was The Great Gatsby, and this wonderful professor made even that seem brand new. Have you ever taken a class like that?
Do you have a current work-in-progress? If yes, is there anything you can share with us about it now?
I’m finishing my next romantic drama for MTV Books. It will be published in July 2011, and it is called This Novel Has Such A Fabulous Title That I Can’t Even Tell You, or possibly OMG This Is The Best Novel Title Ever. My editor and I haven’t chosen which one yet but I will let you know.
Well, thank you so much Jennifer for answering all my questions! My final question, just because I love them, what is your favorite pair of shoes?
In 2005 I ran my first 10K and the end of my middle toe kind of fell off. It was just a really bad blister. So I went to a local running store and said to the owner, “Please choose a pair of shoes for me that will not make my toe fall off,” and he did and I am on my fifth pair. They are Nike Equalons. This is probably not what you were asking, LOL! -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — -- — ---
This was an awesome interview! Thanks again Jennifer for taking the time to talk to share with us! I'm looking forward to your new release, and to picking up some copies of your older books. And, if I ever decide to run a 10K, I'm definitely going to be looking for some Nike Equalons!
This review is also part of Once Upon a Bookcase's Body-Image and Self Perception month. More information is viewable here.
Cynthia Voigt has been one of my favorite authors since I read her Tillerman Saga in elementary school. After those 7 books, I was eager to read more, because that's what you do with an author you love, right?! I read several more of her books before I lost interest in a lot of my old favorites in favor of Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie. Real life drama, trials and pain didn't hold a candle to trying to figure out the mystery before someone else died. However, as I've gotten older, I find myself drawn more and more to those stories I loved when I was younger — stories of people facing terrible obstacles and learning to overcome.
Izzy, willy-nilly by Cynthia Voigt is a novel I skipped over as a kid that I now wish I had not. It was painful, gritty, realistic and honest. How is it all of those things you ask? Because of Izzy (Isobel). Izzy is a great character. Although the book begins with her in the hospital after her car accident, we learn through interactions with other characters and Izzy's own thoughts that before the accident she was a nice, well-liked, intelligent person. She was one of three sophomores on the cheerleading squad and learning Latin, she gets along well with almost everyone and has a lot of friends. So really, she was your average high schooler. Can I just add that I loved that Voigt gave us a genuine person for a cheerleader, and not those flat, stereotypical, petty awful girls most stories seem to portray cheerleaders as?! (Sometimes, a cheerleader is just a normal person too...)
Anyway, back to Izzy. She accepts an offer for a date to a party from a senior she isn't interested in simply because he's a senior, and really, how cool is that?! Turns out, when said senior is over-confident in his driving abilities while under the influence, not so cool at all. Before I get into the real meat of Izzy's struggles, I want to address one more thing — At the party, when she asks her date to take her home (she's conscious of her curfew!) she notices that he's a little bit drunk. Another senior (one she actually has a crush on) offers to take her home. Her date takes issue with that, and, not wanting to seem any lamer than she already does for needing to make it home for curfew, she blows it off as no big deal. She acts like everything will be fine, and leaves with a boy, knowing that he is too drunk to be a safe driver. Turns out — he drove the car into a tree. What bad things have happened to you because you wanted to 'save face' and what bad things have you managed to avoid?
Izzy wakes up in the hospital, broken. They try to stabilize her leg, but as another fever comes on, and the infection spreads, they are forced to amputate her right leg, removing everything just below the knee. A previously active, healthy, lovely young girl is suddenly rendered basically immobile and completely unable to do many of the activities that previously felt completely natural. At first, she doesn't realize just how serious things are. And then, she uses her walker for the first time. Izzy slips into a deep depression she tries desperately to hide from those close to her. Her family tries to be supportive and they are there for her, but they don't know how exactly to treat her. Her mother tries to act as if Izzy will go right back into the life she left behind — all her same friends, all the boys calling, everything. It's hard for Izzy, because she knows that nothing is ever going to be the same again. Already her friends are drifting off. None of them really know how to talk to her anymore, and it's obvious every time they talk to her, or come to see her that they are deeply uncomfortable with the situation, until, for the most part, they just stop coming. Enter Rosamunde. Rosamunde is a girl in Izzy's grade who doesn't seem to care what other people think. She dresses to be comfortable, and speaks exactly what she's thinking. There is very little guess work involved in a conversation with Rosamunde and this comes as a relief to Izzy. Everyone steps lightly around her, careful to avoid any subject that might upset her or make her aware of her new disability. Instead of tiptoeing around, Rosamunde laughs at the line of left shoes, all lined up together in Izzy's closet, missing their mates.
Izzy has never had to struggle with self image before. She really had everything going for her. Popularity, a loving family, an active and healthy body, etc. Right after the accident, she isn't truly capable of dealing with these changes, because anything related to this has always been so far out of her realm of experience. I don't know how Voigt manages it, with this and every other book I've read, but Izzy was so real. Her voice was powerful and authentic. I felt almost voyeuristic watching her suffer at night when no one was around, suffering in silence with all the lights turned off, so no one would suspect she was still awake. Because her suffering was so realistic, it was incredibly empowering to watch as slowly, day by day, she faced awkward situations and learned how to deal with them. Rosamunde was there for her the whole time, sticking around to push, pull and prod her into life again, and sticking around long enough to help her up when she's down.
I don't know how I would handle something as devastating as loosing a limb. It changes every part of your life and is something that never 'goes away.' It's always there, and will always remain a part of you that you need to learn to live with and accept. While I definitely hope that I am never forced to deal with something as traumatic as losing a limb, I hope that I handle it as well as Izzy. It isn't easy for her, and it takes a long time to get there, but Izzy learns how to accept her new life. And, once she stops thinking of herself in terms of 'crippled' she finds that it's easier for others to overlook that as well.
WARNING: This review contains more spoilers than normal.
When I first picked up this book, I, like most readers, had heard that this is a true story. Go Ask Alice is marketed as the true diary of a 15 year old girl detailing the destruction of her life after becoming involved with drugs. (Not true, but, more on that later.) In high school, I kept a journal. A very detailed journal. (I filled 9 large notebooks in 2 years...) Although absolutely nothing in my life relates to or compares to what Alice experienced, I did keep a journal during the same age bracket Alice was writing. Reading this book as if it were her diary was interesting for me, because I did not recognize this as an actual diary of a young teenage girl. Very little of the book focused on typical teenaged drama. She touches on major crushes, glosses over losing her virginity and gives an intensely colorful and detailed description of the wonderful colors and feelings experienced while high on acid... Hmm... The writer of this 'journal' rarely felt 15 to me. Her writing was too advanced and cohesive to be the true ramblings and musings of a lost (and generally high) 15 year old trying to sort out her problems and her life. It just wasn't realistic. The few times the narrator felt 15 were after being ostracized from her peer groups. She expresses feelings of confusion and loneliness that range true but even those passages were so short as to almost be an afterthought. I read this believing it to be true, but was confused more than once and had to really stop to think about it. No 15 year old I know writes or talks like this. (I am about to SPOIL the ENDING. You have been warned.) Perhaps the most disappointing thing about this novel was the ending. It leaves you with a feeling of hopelessness. Rather than being a triumphal story about a young girl overcoming her addictions, or a cautionary tale about a life of excess, it is a tale to those addicted to drugs that there is no hope for you. The end will never come, and you will be a user until you die no matter how hard you try to get away from it. Alice has got her life back on track. She is clean, living with her parents and she even has a new boyfriend who knows her past and accepts her for who and how she is. Everything seems to be going so well for her. It seems so hopeful and wonderful. So what happens? In an 'afternote' we are told that 3 weeks after Alice wrote the last page in her diary (remember, she's clean now) she ODs and DIES! Really?! She cleans herself up so that she can die in the end?! Sigh... Okay. Now that I've told you why I didn't love this book, I should tell you that I did like it. It made me sad. It broke my heart. Although it wasn't always delivered in a perfectly believable manner, the situations Alice discovered herself in were traumatic and portrayed quite well. If nothing else, this book made me feel. For the most part, I was able to ignore the parts of the story that didn't ring perfectly true until I had finished the read. It's a short book, and one that I would say is definitely worth the read. Even though some of the descriptions and the writing itself isn't always on the level a 15 year old would use, the language of emotion was. When Alice did speak about her emotions, I found myself easily believing the sincerity of the narrator's emotions, especially when feeling lost, lonely and homesick. So, although overall I DID enjoy this book, and I DO recommend it, I am going to warn you now — This book is a work of fiction, no matter what you have heard otherwise. Check out snopes.com for the specifics about this book. And, read the copyright page! It clearly states that this book is a work of fiction. My recommendation to you — Read this book knowing that it is NOT really the anonymous diary of a teenager addicted to drugs and is instead someone's story of what could happen to you if you find yourself mixed up with drugs. It's a horrifying tale that doesn't need to be marketed as non-fiction to accomplish it's goal. I would have enjoyed this book much more had I know beforehand that it wasn't really true.
Here it is everyone! A special thank you to author M. Clifford for taking the time to write up a post just for us. Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!
Most of the time when people read my novel, THE BOOK (www.dontreadthebook.com) , they come away proud of the passion they always had inside for the written word and for storytelling. Some people close the novel with a fresh desire to read more paperbacks or to buy their books from used bookstores and sign the inside cover so that someone will always know that they owned that book and loved those pages. A lot of people ask me what my intentions were in writing THE BOOK and there are many. To follow through on my promise to give you a unique guest blog post, I'll touch on the one motivation I haven't discussed very much — the redemption of the storyteller. In my novel, I definitely glorify story and the ability to read it freely from an honest source. Reading is a private and very personal act. Authors are who they are because they love telling stories. Creating an arc and then another arc and then another until they reached the end of a much larger one that began somewhere in the beginning. I'm an intentionally self-published independent author. I've never sought representation from a major publishing house or even attempted to get an agent beyond a few query letters six years back. I'm sort of a rare breed in that I am passionately supportive of the indie author and I encourage them to get their work read, edited and uploaded so that story-lovers can keep finding things to read. Not everyone is a storyteller, even when they've written a book, and that's sort of the negative element to the benefit of being able to self-publish. Stay with me because I'll loop this back to the beginning and it'll all makes sense in a minute. I have often read books that are waiting for me to open them the moment I enter a bookstore. Stacks upon stacks of shiny covers waiting. I know hundreds of thousands have been printed and I almost feel a responsibility to take one for that fact alone. And then, when I get home and start reading, I have felt by chapter four that I've already listened to four different voices. Three other people have written a few sentences here and a paragraph there. I'm sure of it. Although publishing houses do a good service for the written word by printing and distributing and marketing high-quality stories, they are a still a business. A for-profit business. They will alter a story if need be, or convince an author to do so, simply to sell more copies. I wouldn't be surprised if there are authors today that, after submitting their work, get a reply like, "Solid book, but please make all your characters vampires. Send it back and we've got a deal!" That is obviously an outrageous, dramatic example. My point is that altering an original work is akin to someone being interrupted during the telling of a campfire story. I included a similar scene in my book, sans interruption. Campfire storytelling is a wonderful pastime where novels begin and the mind of the creative person is sparked toward a future in writing. The desire to tantalize and entice people around them, to get them to the edge of their log as they wait to find out where the man with the hook on his arm is hiding. Now picture this budding author telling his story, only to be interrupted by someone else at camp who thinks everyone needs to know that "one of the characters was also a vampire. Okay... go ahead now. Finish the story." Even though plenty of readers could find that to be more beneficial to the story, I think it is important for readers to know that when they buy a book from a bookstore, or from someone that isn't an independent author, they may not be getting a single story. They are getting one that has been edited with scissors and tape and red pen from multiple handwriting styles suggesting alternate story lines, characters, etc. When you read THE BOOK, it is 100% mine. Every idea is mine and every line is mine (other than what I reference from classic and contemporary literature) because no one has the ability to control my writing. Although this was not my main motivation, not even in the top 10, I do think it is important as we move into this new age of digital reading to discuss the future of publication. I would be lying if part of me wasn't afraid for the authors who have written stories that other people control. Who's to say that on the 50th anniversary of THE SHINING by Stephen King, the sales department at the publishing house will not only create a new cover, but alter the story to explain that the reason the main character went crazy and attacked his family was because of a full moon and that he was actually a werewolf or something. Sure it sounds interesting when you hear the idea, but Stephen King may not be alive when that happens, which means that he would be unable to defend the characters he created. Is that really fair to do that to him or his characters? In a sense, the publishing house owns those characters... so...
We see a lot of this today with Quirk Classics and their new release of Android Karenina. I'm not opposed to taking old stories and putting a new twist on them, I think it's really smart. I hope to dabble in that at some point in my future. It's fun and it's creative, but it only illustrates my point further. How destroyed would Jane Austen be to known that her characters were mangled and reformed into something comedic and disgusting? To know that the lines that she cried over, that mixed with the ink of her pen, were now spliced with a graphic image of a zombie tearing into the fleshy neck of some matriarch from a rich family while she's reading quietly in her stately home. The difficult thing is that there is not an easy answer for this question. That's why a lot of people have enjoyed discussing THE BOOK after buying it, because I ask a lot of unanswerable questions. Do we treat these books as just a collection of words? One after the other, after the other and the other, until there are enough pages to be clasped together and wrapped with a hard linen binding? Or are they unique works of art that must remain perfectly intact, structurally sound, exactly as the artist intended? Does it make it okay to chop it up and change it simply because enough time has passed? Maybe. It's a good discussion to have. What is great is that my book is gaining attention during the advent of popularity with these mash-up novels. I think that in ten or twenty years we'll really see how people go about augmenting this idea further. Here's the real truth in the matter: the moment you edit or add to an original manuscript, a line is crossed. Again, I'm not saying crossing that line is bad. But it is crossed and respect must still be given to the original. How far then do we walk past the line before it is too hard to get back? And, by then, when we reach the point of no return, will people even care? As an author, I know I would be devastated to hear that a hundred years from now someone could take my characters and change them any way they pleased, simply to make a profit. Those characters are pieces of me and I love them, as any author would. I poured my soul into them. But, in the same breath, although I would not agree with the actions of someone disfiguring my work, I'll fight to the death their freedom to do so. And maybe therein lies the real question — How much of this is an expression of freedom, and how much is a defacement of public property? The reader must decide, because it's not stopping anytime soon. M. Clifford
Chasing Alliecat by Rebecca Fjelland Davis is the story of Sadie, Allie and Joe, three teenagers who live to mountain bike. Sadie's parent's have a strange relationship, and after their divorce, Sadie's mom sends Sadie and her sister to stay with Sadie's aunt so that she can go to Egypt to do archeological research with her ex-husband. Joe comes to stay with his uncle, (the husband of Sadie's aunt) because he is having a hard time adjusting to life without his twin. He's a little... damaged, and his parents are hoping a change of scenery would do him good. Allie is a mystery. She lives in this tiny Minnesota town and she's hurting.
Sadie is still a beginner as far as mountain biking goes, and she has decided that this summer she is going to start competing in actual races. Joe has raced a few times before, and is above the beginner stage, but still has a lot to learn (like smoking is really bad for your lungs). And Allie? Allie's just about a professional. She competes in the expert class races, and she wins. Regularly. I'm about to make a comment that is going to prove I think about things too much, but I felt a little bit like their level of biking expertise directly correlates to how bad the inner demons come at them. I liked that. To me, it's a subtle way of being able to let the pain and the confusion onto the page. Maybe no one else saw it. Maybe there wasn't really anything about it for me to see. That's okay with me. Pain translates differently for different people.
The main complaint I have with this book, is that Allie was just a little bit too. Too mysterious, too tortured, too aloof, just too much. Because there was just so much to Allie, some aspects of her character fell a little flat for me, and left me thinking that it was included to be included, because it makes for a more dramatic story. I didn't feel like all of it needed to be in there, or if all of it felt essential to the author, some of the issues could have been fleshed out and addressed a little better. Many of them, the way they were handled felt a little like an afterthought. It's vague, I know, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Anyway, other than that, I really enjoyed this book. I thought Sadie and Joe were both awesome characters, and I liked watching them adjust to each other, and get to know each other better. The characters, especially Sadie and Joe are the real core of this story, and they made is believable for me. My favorite parts of the book focused on the biking and the racing. It makes me want to hop on a bike and start trekking all over rural Idaho. It's probably a good thing my bike needs to be tuned up after the long winter here... If I tried to ride even half-way as hardcore as these kids, it would probably kill me.;)
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this book. It's a worthwhile story with solid characters who aren't afraid of their pain or their strengths. They do what they gotta do to survive and they keep their head above ground. It's a story worth reading full of characters worth knowing.
*Disclaimer: Received a copy through The Teen Book Scene, from the author, for an honest review.
Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson is the ultimate example of what middle grade fiction should be. The book has found just the right balance between the believable and the ridiculous. Let me explain:
Priscilla is your fairly typical 12 year old. She is starting to get interested in boys (giggle) she argues yells at her twin brothers who like to torment her, and she has a tendency to throw a 'Prissy Fit' when she doesn't get her way, and, she's started going through puberty. But, it turns out, now that puberty has started, she has turned into a human torch, and she now has the ability to shot fire from her fingers, as well as a few other powers here and there. Really?! As if puberty wasn't bad enough by itself, Priscilla now has to worry about spontaneous combustion.
I loved Priscilla. I would definitely be her friend, if I was 10 years younger. Even though she is only 12, she already has a very defined personality and sense of self. She's scared by what's happening to her, so she doesn't talk about it. She's worried about how her parents will react, and what is really going on with her, and she's starting to think that her parents are hiding things from her. So, she confides in her best friend, Tai, and later, her older brother Josh, who is really one of my favorite characters. He is such the perfect older brother.
I never once doubted that Priscilla was 12. There are some MG books you read and forget they are supposed to be 12, because they seem much older. But you never forget Priscilla's age. In fact, the only character in the entire book was me to believe, because I had a little time believing that Tai was as smart as she is. It's possible, but it was a little... far stretch. But, Priscilla was very dramatic, she thinks nothing is wrong with throwing a fit to get what she wants or as a tool to distract people from what's really important, and she definitely thinks that everything important in life is about her. Sound familiar? Ya, we've all been there.:)
But, when it really matters, Priscilla is able to come together and take care of what she needs. And she believes in herself. I think that this is something that adults often forget. May of the things that people think we are capable of is because they no longer believe in themselves. Priscilla handles an awful lot, and a lot of it is something that she probably couldn't have been able to handle. But, she doesn't think it that way. She has complete faith in herself, and even when she knows she's afraid, she knows what people are counting on her when it's important. So, she doesn't even consider failure, and she manages to just fine.
Priscillathe Great is a great book, one that completely enjoying. I cannot wait to wait to see what else can happen will happen to Priscilla. Seriously. If you enjoy awesome MG books, especially ones the end up having to do with people becoming superheros (win!) you are missing out if you read this book as soon possible!
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard is the perfect reminder of why I love, and prefer, contemporary fiction to almost any other genre, except maybe a fairy tale retelling.:)
Grace was initially a hard character for me to like. She was hard for me to relate to because she is very much a wallflower, going out of her way to not be noticed and she doesn't stick up for herself. She lets people walk on her and take advantage of her. And if there is anything I've ever consistently been, it's outspoken and very vocal about my 'rights' and interpretations on life. I always have a harder time relating to these character types though, but what really made it the hardest to relate to Grace was her fascination with Mandarin that bordered on, and sometimes crossed into, stalker-ish obsession. Things like, walking by her house, hoping to get a glimpse of her. Memorizing her school schedule before classes start and taking a lower lever class, just to be close to Mandarin. I have never organized my life around another person this way, and can't understand why you would. It doesn't seem healthy to me.
When they are paired up, at Mandarin's request, for a school project, Grace is in shock and cannot believe her good fortune. Pieces of Mandarin begin to filter into Grace's personality, and she embraces them fully. She believes that everyone watches her now, as they do Mandarin, wishing they could be in her place. She lets Mandarin run everything, being careful what she says around Mandarin so as not to offend her, or to tip the precarious balance of their new friendship.
For the entire beginning section of this story, Grace is completely in awe of Mandarin and there is definitely a bit of hero worship going on. But the real strength in both Grace and the story comes as Grace begins to notice the cracks in Mandarin's image where reality doesn't quite line up with expectation. Grace ignores these for as long as she can, but eventually, the cracks are so wide they are impossible to ignore and Grace must accept that Mandarin is not as together, confident, or in control she seems.
It is always hard to acknowledge flaws within your idol. This is a natural post of most adolescent's lives, when they begin to realize that their parents, who have always been 'perfect' are, in fact, merely human, which makes them fallible. Grace realizes this about her mother far earlier than most kids do, and she is very unforgiving of it, but it takes her quite a while to notice it in Mandarin.
Perhaps Grace 'broke' when she realized at such a young age that her mother wasn't perfect, that she was flawed. This might be why, when Grace notices Mandarin at the exact moment she realizes her mother's flaws and imperfections, she becomes fixated on her, almost as a substitute for where her mother falls short. Grace is obsessed with Mandarin, in awe of her, and believes that everyone else must be as well. It nearly consumes her. It isn't until Mandarin's faults become impossible to ignore and Grace begins to understand the real Mandarin beneath the flippant attitude, that she finds the pieces of herself realigning, coming back together. It is painful, it hurts, but it allows the healing to begin.
Like Mandarin is a powerful novel about growing up full of real characters, intense emotions and lessons about life. It's a novel I can easily see myself reading again in the future, and I will most definitely be watching for Hubbard's upcoming releases.
Oh ya, and can I also just mention how nice and refreshing it was to read a YA book that wasn't completely dependent and focus on the love interest?! Romance has it's place, but lately it feels like it's place is everywhere. It's nice to read a story without the boy drama.
*Disclaimer: I received this book as part of Banned Book Tours.
Sudden Moves by Kelli Sue Landon is about the sudden disappearance of Michelle's classmate, Katie. When Katie and her family don't return from a spring break trip to Florida, Michelle panics, because she let Katie borrow a treasured family heirloom before leaving, and now she's unsure about whether or not she will get it back. She begins to investigate with the help of her, like, best friend? Tami, and Katie's almost, but not quite boyfriend, Brad, who Michelle has a serious crush on.
I feel bad writing this review, because I had hoped to like this book. But, I struggled with it from the very beginning. I didn't feel like the writing was very approachable. It felt very... mechanical, like someone trying to write teenagers who has had very limited contact with them since their own high school days. I felt like the characters were unbelievable, especially the adults. Every adult in the story was easily duped by these kids. The dialogue was wooden and forced, and the character interactions were awkward overall.
While reading it, I felt like Landon couldn't quite make up her mind about how she wanted her characters to be, and what direction to take them. As a result, there were a lot of inconsistencies as well as moments that just didn't fit in with the rest of the story. A lot of it just didn't make sense, and the details didn't add up. There were more than a few scenes I personally felt were unnecessary, and they seemed to have been added in just for the drama, because everyone knows you can't be a teen without the major drama, but none of these dramatic scenes added anything to the story. Like Michelle and Brad going to the under 21, soda only club (on a dateNotDate) and having Michelle getting into a screaming-shoving match with the 'queen bee' because she made a snide comment.
I never felt the drama of the situation, and I never felt a connection with the characters. Landon does have potential as a writer, and her story idea was good. I feel like a little more research and more direction within the writing would have been great additions to the story. Pick your 'angst', don't try to include it all. Having a book with a disappearance, main character trying to solve said disappearance, drama with a demanding, controlling and sometimes drunken mother, absentee dad who is always on the road as a trucker and may or may not be happy to be home with mom when he does stop, best friend drama in all ways, stereotypical high school mean girls with several almost cat-fights and then tossing in a love interest who is actually pining away for the missing girl just gets to be too much. Cutting out about half of the drama would have made the story better.
It wasn't a horrible book, but it wasn't one that really drew me in either. It's not one I'll ever read again, and I doubt I'll remember much about it in the future.
*Disclaimer: I received this book from the author for an honest review.
Father of Lies by Ann Turner is set in Colonial Massachusetts, just before the start of the Salem Witch Trials. 14 year old Lidda is struggling to find her place within her family and Salem Village. She's always been different. She's a dreamer who loves to dance beneath the trees and hates the restrictive garb she is required to wear but she lives in a time period that expressly forbids each of these behaviors.
As if her life isn't hard enough, Lidda has suddenly begun hearing the voice of a man inside her head. She doesn't know what's going on, but she knows it isn't good, and more importantly, she knows she cannot tell anyone. Especially when the charges of witchcraft start flying around. Lidda's new internal friend has enabled her to distinguish between truth and lies and her newfound insight is creating problems. She believes that these so-called 'afflicted girls' are nothing but bored and powerless girls spreading lies to gain importance and power for themselves. But, she also knows that if she says anything, the repercussions will be devastating.
As soon as I heard about Father of Lies, I knew I was interested. The Salem Witch Trials has always been one of my favorite periods of history to learn about, and I love historical fiction interpretations of the Witch Trials.
Somehow, when I read the description initially, I picked up on the Salem Witch Trials, and missed the fact that our main character is bi-polar. When I started reading the book, several of Lidda's traits struck me as strange, and I thought to myself that Lidda seemed Manic Depressive (the correct diagnostic term for bi-polar disorder) or in the early stages of Schizophrenia.
I'm going to interrupt my review of the book to make a comment about research. My Bachelor's degree is in Psychology. I found myself questioning the research Ann Turner did on Manic Depression. It wasn't that her information (the symptoms of Lidda) was wrong, exactly, more like incomplete. I felt like her research came more from a google search than legitimate, peer reviewed research. Her cycles of mania and depression were more what popular culture tells you should be happening than what current research says is what happens. I felt like much of Lidda's symptoms are pop cultural misconceptions, and not what is actual research tells us happens. I also felt that the symptoms Lidda demonstrates are more indicative of the beginning stages of Schizophrenia than Manic Depression. I don't want to take up my entire review with the current research on Manic Depression, so if you want to know more, shoot me an email and I'll discuss it with you in more detail.
Anyway, other than my minor annoyances with inconsistencies in Lidda's symptoms, I really enjoyed Turner's perspective on the Salem Witch Trials. I've always believed that the 'afflicted girls' were making it up. There are a lot of theories out there about why these girls made the claims they did, but what has always made the most sense to me is the idea that the girls made up the initial stories to keep themselves out of trouble, and things spiraled out of their control. Once things got so out of hand, the girls knew they couldn't stop it because they would be in even more trouble than the initial trouble, and they were, for the first time in their young lives, important, influential and listened to. These young girls, with ultimately no control over their own lives were able to control and dictate the fate and future of their entire village.
This is very similar to the viewpoint Turner takes, but the eyes in which she has us view that world is incredibly unique. Lidda really is hallucinating. She does experience many symptoms, that if mentioned, would make people believe she was either tormented by a witch, or in league with the devil herself. So, it was very interesting to watch a young girl who was 'afflicted' in the midst of the 'pretenders'. Her perspective and evaluation of the girls who claimed to be tormented by witches was very intuitive and insightful. At one point, while talking to Ann Putnam, long believed by historians to have been the ringleader, and driving force behind the accusations, Ann tells Lidda that she is afraid of what is happening, but her eyes and facial expression instead show excitement. It is the same with each of the girls Lidda talks to. They claim to be afraid, but each of them is clearly caught up in the drama and undeniably excited by the attention and newfound power.
Lidda's interactions with her hallucination are also intriguing, and are somewhat designed to make us question whether it is a legitimate hallucination, or an actual demonic possession. I felt strongly for Lidda. Colonial Salem would have been a difficult and frightening time to live for anyone, but it would have been made far worse by the addition of a disorder that no one understood, that makes you question your own sanity.
Overall, I did truly enjoy this book. As I mentioned, the examination of the afflicted girls by someone who truly did have a mental condition was fascinating, original and well done. I personally would have liked the story better for several reasons if the author had not labeled it 'bi-polar' but it worked very well as a plot device. The characters were strong and their relationships believable and well thought out. The descriptions of live in Salem Village were believable and well thought out.
This book boasts an original main character in a story that's been told before. If you are at all interested in the Salem Witch Trials, I do recommend this book.
(Note, this might not be the actual final cover, but I don't care — I like this one better, so I'm using it.:) )
*Disclaimer: This book was received through Around the World Tours.
Songs of a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson is a book with a lot of emotion, and a lot of heart. Calle is a young teen whose entire life is completely lacking in stability. Her dad left when she was very little, and her mom has bounced from relationship to relationship ever since. And with each new relationship (and often without them) they move to a new town. The mom drops a penny onto a map of California, and that's where they go next. That type of lifestyle is hard on anyone, but especially a teenager. Calle wants to fit in, to belong, but it's never a good idea to make new friends or get comfortable in an area when you know your mom could decide to pack up and move again at any time.
My heart hurt for Calle. Her mom tried to be a good parent, but it's fairly clear that she doesn't know how to be herself, which makes it awfully hard to take care of a teenager. The mom is always reinventing herself, and Calle desperately needs stability. Her mom is also very tight-lipped. She won't tell Calle anything about her absentee father, other than he left them a long time ago. Calle keeps asking questions, trying to understand where she comes from, but her mom refuses to answer her questions, even when the lies and contradictions are staring her in the face. Like the letter Calle finds from her dad in her mom's drawers, that make is obvious he's been trying to write to her for a long time, but her mom always hides the letters. When Calle confronts her about this, her mom focuses on the snooping, and refuses to address the letter itself. It really bothered me. There comes a time when you can't 'protect' your child anymore, and keeping the truth from them hurts them far more than any truth can.
Calle herself also bothered me a little bit, especially in her 'relationship' with Sam. I understand why she is initially attracted, interested and drawn to Sam. I really do. But after the third or fourth time he ignores her or treats her like trash, I started to wonder why on earth Calle bothered talking to him again. I understand that he has his own demons to wrestle, but that doesn't excuse his behavior, especially since he never really apologizes, or tries to make it right. Calle let herself be pushed around and stepped on by this kid over and over again and it really bothered me. I wanted her to be happy and I just didn't think this kid was the way to make that happen.
There was also a lot of drama surrounding the father. I know a large portion of the plot was Calle's mom keeping information from her, but I really wished we had been given more information about Calle's dad, both past and present. And, I won't spoil anything, but the resolution with dad was also rather unsatisfactory to me.
However, those two grievances aside, I really enjoyed this book, and especially appreciated Calle as a narrator. I don't blame her for being a little bit... soft. She's a teenager who has had no stability in her life, desperately looking for it. She speaks to that lonely teenager everyone has living inside them, that just wants/wanted to be accepted and be loved. For all the drama and tough stuff life has handed to her, she's remarkably strong and adaptable. She deals with a lot more than I've ever had to, and I was impressed by Calle many times. Although, I do have to say, she's a bit of an over-discloser. She shares an awful lot of personal and private information with an lot of people. I can't decide if she's just open about her life, or if she hasn't quite gotten the hang of who should hear what information, and when.
I also loved the idea of Calle's song journal. She strongly links music to memories, and writes down the memories and the songs associated with them, so she can hold on to them and keep them a part of herself. I smiled a lot reading this book, because I really like a lot of old music, and I recognized a lot of the songs that are associated with Calle's memories. I spent the next couple of days humming Mr. Tambourine Man which has a lot of significance to Calle.
I'd definitely recommend this book. Calle is a great character, and I think there is a lot to be learned from her and her story.
*Disclaimer: I received this book through Around the World Tours.
