I'll Give You The Sun

TITLE: I'll Give You The Sun
AUTHOR: Jandy Nelson
RELEASE DATE: September 2014
PUBLISHER: Dial Books
PAGES: 371 pages 
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12

SUMMARY: Jude and Noah are twins and the very best of friends, together forever; until their mom dies in a car accident and both their lives spiral out of control. Noah was supposed to be the artist, but now he gets his thrills by jumping off the highest cliff to the water below. Jude was used to be confident and popular, but now she prefers to be alone while haunted by the ghost of her mother. Can the two put their past behind them in order to move forward together? 

   

FAVORITE QUOTE:  "Or maybe a person is just made up of a lot of people," I say. "Maybe we're accumulating these new selves all the time." Hauling them in as we make choices, good and bad, as we screw up, step up, lose our minds, find our minds, fall apart, fall in love, as we grieve, grow, retreat from the world, dive into the world, as we make things, as we break things. " (Jandy, )

WHAT I LIKED: I really enjoyed the different point of views: Jude as a seventeen-year-old and Noah's story being told from when he was fourteen. It helped you see how the past affected the future for both of the story lines.

READALIKES: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

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

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We Are All Made of Molecules

TITLE: We Are All Made of Molecules
AUTHOR: Susin Nielsen
RELEASE DATE: May 2015
PUBLISHER: Wendy Lamb Books
PAGES: 248 pages
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Comedy
OVERALL RATING: 3/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 

SUMMARY: Stewart is a socially awkward boy genius, Ashley is the most popular girl in school. Their worlds collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. Stewart always wanted a sister, but Ashley doesn't want to be seen with him in public. When Stewart's bully starts dating Ashley, Stewart thinks this can work toward his advantage. But when Stewart finds out what Jared, the bully, really thinks about his semi-stepsister, Stewart begins to wonder if he should step in and help the girl who makes his life hell every day.

FAVORITE QUOTE: "I have to wait another two years before I can hire a lawyer and get unconstipated." Just an example of how much an airhead Ashley is. 
   

WHAT I LIKED: Normally, it is easy for me to say I love the characters of the books I read. However, with this book, it was not the case. Stewart is a total nerd, who is socially awkward, and has a hard time making friends. Ashley is a total airhead who doesn't care who she puts down, as long as she maintains her spot on the social ladder. For the first several chapters, I absolutely hated both of the characters. However, the alternating point of views helped ease the annoyance of each character's story. It was nice to hear about one situation from Stewart's point of view and then hear the same situation told from Ashley's point of view in the next chapter. Overall, the message of the story is clear, and you're able to see the aspects of bullying from several different aspects up and down the social ladder.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: When I purchased this book for my middle school library, all of the reviews recommended it for grades 7-10. It was even part of the state of Texas's Lone Star Book List for 2016. I do not feel this book is appropriate for seventh graders. It's really pushing it for eighth graders. There are a lot of cuss words in the book (I always ask why the author feels the need to do this. Adding curse words into a book automatically makes me think it is not middle school appropriate). There are also mature scenes that involve drinking, and sexual situations (rape). 

READALIKES: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

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

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Before I Fall

TITLE: Before I Fall
AUTHOR: Lauren Oliver
RELEASE DATE: March 2010
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins
PAGES: 353 pages 
GENRE: Fantasy, Chick Lit
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12

SUMMARY: Samantha Kingston is the typical "popular girl" with her Mean Girl gang of three friends: Lindsay, Ally, and Elody. They wear matching slutty outfits and compete over who gets the most roses on Cupid Day. After school, there is a huge party, lots of drinking, and Sam plans how she is finally going to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, Rob. That is, until it all ends abruptly with a deadly car crash. Or does it? Sam wakes up to find herself repeating the same day over and over. 

WHAT I LIKED: I've tried reading other "Groundhog Day" style books before to find it repetitive (duh!) and boring. But in Before I Fall, Sam makes enough changes each day that it seems like a new day. At the beginning of the book, I really hated the character of Sam and her Mean Girl clique. But throughout Sam's last "days", she begins to see all this, and make some changes to not only make herself a better person, but to really help those around her.  

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I felt that the smoking behind the school, cutting class, and getting high in the school bathroom were completely unbelievable. Who, outside of TV Dramas, really does that? Maybe, I'm just totally naive, but that that was not my high school! Getting caught smoking on school grounds is worth three after school detentions? Seriously?!

READALIKES: Everyday by David Levithan

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