Zac and Mia

TITLE: Zac and Mia
AUTHOR: A.J. Betts
RELEASE DATE: May 2016
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
PAGES: 292 pages 
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 

SUMMARY: Zac has leukemia, after a bone marrow transplant, he is counting down the days he has to spend in the hospital til his immune system is back up so he can return to a normal life on his olive farm in Australia. Mia has osteosarcoma and isn't accepting her cancer as easily as Zac. Mia is angry; she screams at her mom, pushes her boyfriend away, and plays loud music in the hospital room next door. When Zac tries befriending Mia and showing her that her chances of survival are high, they embark on an adventure that ends up changing both their lives forever.

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "When I was little I believed in Jesus and Santa, spontaneous combustion, and the Loch Ness monster. Now I believe in science, statistics, and antibiotics." (Betts, )

WHAT I LIKED: This book showed two different reactions to living with cancer. Zac understands cancer is a part of his life and has learned to deal with all of the shortcomings. Mia will not accept the fact that she has cancer, even hides it from all of her friends. Overall, this is a great way to show there are always two ways to handle a situation: deal with it or hide from it. Only one of those reactions is going to make the situation better.  

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Reading a book about two kids with cancer, you know the ending is not going to be "happily ever after". So other than the fact that ::spoiler alert:: someone dies, the book was a really great read. But doesn't every one hate when reading a book and investing time into a character only to see them not survive till the last page? 

READALIKES: The Fault In Our Stars by John Greene

BOOK TRAILER: 

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

TITLE: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
AUTHOR: Teresa Toten
RELEASE DATE: March 2015
PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press
PAGES: 289 pages
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 3/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 (language)

SUMMARY: A therapy group of teens with OCD try to cope with their complicated lives by taking on the personalities of superheroes. Adam Spencer Harris immediately falls for the newest member of their group, Robyn, as soon as she walks in the door. When she chooses the superhero Robin, who else can Adam be, but Batman? But while Batman is busying saving everyone around him, from his group, to his mother, and little brother; who will help save him? 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "This was love? It was like being held hostage by a terrorist. The feelings from hope to horror were crazy intense and changed on a dime. If only he knew what she thought. Why couldn't girls tell you exactly what they were thinking the moment they were thinking it? The world would be a better place, yes, sir." (Toten, 131)
   

WHAT I LIKED: My favorite part of the whole book was when the group of superheroes decide to take a field trip to Adam's Catholic church. The group treat the place like a theme park, so impressed by the Holy water, the priest and the lighting of the candles. I, personally, have never been to a Catholic church, and have to admit, I would probably react the same way. I just remember laughing out loud throughout that entire chapter! 

READALIKES: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything

TITLE: Everything, Everything
AUTHOR: Nicola Yoon
RELEASE DATE: September 2015
PUBLISHER: Delacourt Press
PAGES: 310 pages
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12

SUMMARY: Madeline Whitaker suffers from Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) or the "bubble baby disease". She has not left her house since she was a baby. But other than that, she is a typical teenage girl: she takes classes over Skype, reads like crazy and plays Phonetic Scrabble every Friday night with her doctor mother in her sterile, sealed house. Life is perfect, until Olly moves in next door, and opens her world to experiences she never knew were possible. 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "When I was younger, one of my favorite activities was imagining alternate universe versions of myself. Sometimes I was a rosy cheeked outdoorsy girl who ate flowers and hiked alone, uphill, for miles. Or I was a skydiving, drag racing, adrenaline-fueled daredevil. Or a chainmail-wearing, sword-swinging, dragon slayer. It was fun to imagine those things because I already knew who I was. Now I don't know anything. I don't know who I'm supposed to be in my new world."

WHAT I LIKED/DIDN'T LIKE: I am combining these two questions for this particular book because the thing that I loved about this story is also the thing that constantly frustrated me. When reading Maddy and Olly's conversations, I literally found myself smiling and often laughing out loud. They're funny. But as my husband would say, "Who talks like that?". I would love to find two teenagers who discuss novels like Lord of the Flies and Pride and Prejudice. Heck! Find me two teenagers who have actually read both those books!

READALIKES: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

MOVIE RELEASE: movie release May 19, 2017

BOOK TRAILER: I was unable to find an official book trailer for this novel. However I found an interview with the author, Nicola Yoon, and she describes the storyline and her inspiration behind the book.

All The Bright Places

TITLE: All The Bright Places
AUTHOR: Jennifer Niven
RELEASE DATE: January 2015
PUBLISHER: Alfred A. Knopf
PAGES: 388 pages
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 5/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grade 9+ (curse words, sex, and mature situations)

SUMMARY: Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet in the most unlikely of places... six stories up on the ledge of the school's bell tower. They couldn't be more opposite, Theodore is the weird kid who goes an entire month wearing a cape, or comes to school painted red even though it isn't school spirit day. Violet is a beautiful blonde who is dating the most popular guy in school. But when a school project brings them together, both of their worlds open up to new things, neither one ever thought possible.

FAVORITE QUOTE: "Before I die I want to..." (Niven, 135). I really loved this part of the book (Violet - 145 days till liberation), because it made me actually stop and think about what I would write. After doing a little research, I found out there are real places around the world with boards just like in the book. You can find a list at this website: http://beforeidie.cc. I'm even going to include this idea in my Book Talk about this novel and leave it up on the board to give my students the opportunity to write what they would do.

WHAT I LIKED: Reading this book, I became completely obsessed. I absolutely could not put it down. I felt like Violet and Finch were my best friends, I laughed with them, I cried with them. Literally... real tears. Throughout the progress of this book, I could feel my mood changing. At the beginning of the book I felt sad and depressed with all of the talk about death and depression. But then when Violet and Finch start on their wandering adventure, I felt happy and alive, like I could do anything. Then at the end, it was nothing but tears; complete streaming down my face, snot dripping out of my nose, crying for the last fifty pages. There is nothing I love more than when a book makes me connection with the fictional characters to the point that I become emotional over a situation in the book. That is the kind of writing that makes authors awesome.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: nothing

READALIKES: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

MOVIE RELEASE: Production begins Spring 2016

BOOK TRAILER: