Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

After being completely creeped out by "172 Hours on the Moon" I wanted to read something that was going to make me laugh.

A book with "Dying Girl" in the title? Really?!

Yup. The "author" (main character, Greg Gaines) sums it up best:

"I do actually want to say one other thing before we get started with the horrifyingly inane book.  You may have already figured out that it's about a girl who had cancer.  So there's a chance you're thinking, 'Awesome! This is going to be a wise and insightful story about love and death and growing up. It is probably going to make me cry literally the entire time.  I am so fired up right now.' If that is an accurate representation of your thoughts, you should probably try to smush this book into a garbage disposal and then run away...My point is this: This book contains precisely zero Important Life Lessons, or Little-Known Facts About Love, or sappy tear-jerking Moments When We Knew We Had Left Our Childhood Behind for Good, or Whatever."(p 2-3)

Awesome.

As promised, there were no real life lessons.  There was a whole lot of cursing (mostly by his crazy friend, Earl).  And it made me laugh out loud...a lot!!  Greg is dry, sarcastic, self-deprecating, and extremely funny. 

This really isn't a book about "the Dying Girl"...but much more about a teenage boy trying to navigate life in general.  I give it 4/5 on the Rez Recommends scale.

As a side note, if you are looking for a "wise and insightful story about love and death and growing up", you MUST read John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars".  I didn't review it on this site...mostly because I was too overwhelmed to write about it at the time.  It's brilliant.  Extraordinarly funny and smart.  And I cried my eyes out.  It's now at the top of the "Ms. Martin's Favourites" list over on the side.  As another reviewer put it, "I was undone by this novel." 

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

After reading Mary Roach's "Packing for Mars" (about all the quirky things about space travel) I was in the moon for something space-y.  So, I picked up the creepy-looking "172 Hours on the Moon" by Johan Harstad (no one should ever take photos of an eye that close up...eyelashes that zoomed in look like some kind of weird spider legs!!).

Harstad is a Norwegian author, and this book has been translated into English (and a bunch of other languages - it's an award winner back in Norway).

The premise?  It's 2018 and NASA is trying to rebuild interest in the space program.  So, with the popularity of reality TV, they decide to hold a lottery, where three teens - chosen by lottery from entries all over the world - will join a four astronaut crew and land on the moon for a one week trip.  Oh, and the real reason?  There's a secret base on the moon that was built back in the 1970s, and there's been some kind of signal received by NASA and they need to investigate.

The three teens chosen - Mia from Norway, Midori from Japan, and Antoine from France - all have different reasons for wanting to make the trek.  But they have no idea what they're getting themselves into.  As soon as they arrive on the moon, things start going horribly wrong.

"172 Hours on the Moon" was a fast-paced read, with a lot of suspense and spine-tingling creepiness.  But, I do need to ask...what it is with Scandanavian authors and dark, depressing novels?  I don't want to give anything away, but if you're looking for a neatly tied up, happy ending, this is NOT the book for you. I'd give it a 4/5 on the Rez Recommends scale.

Summer reading begins!

Even librarians have difficulty finding time to read a lot during the school year (well, at least this one does!).  I've been doing a bunch of reading on food and cooking - and most recently, space travel (Mary Roach's "Packing for Mars" is awesome!).

But, now that summer holidays are here, it's time to dive back into some fiction reading...and I can't wait.  Soon, I'll be working my way through the 2012 Teens' Top Ten nominees.  Plus some of the other titles that have been on my "to read" list all year!

So, grab some sunscreen, a comfy chair and a great book...and let's get reading!

The lists are in!

The Teens' Top Ten 2011 winners have been announced:

1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins


3. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick


4. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore


5. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa


6. Matched by Ally Condie


7. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson


8. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White


9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver


10. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Which books do YOU think should have been in the Top Ten? (click here for the list of 25 nominees)

Also, the 2012 White Pine nominees have been announced. The fiction titles are:

• Ashes, Ashes - by Jo Treggiari


• Beat the Band by Don Calame (sequel to Swim the Fly)


• Blood Red Road by Moira Young


• Chance to Dance for You by Gail Sidonie Sobat


• Death Benefits by Sarah N. Harvey


• Fifth Rule by Don Aker


• The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong **WINNER!!**


• Motorcyles & Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor


• Something Wicked by Lesley Anne Cowan


• Way it Is by Donelda Reid

I've ordered all of these books and they should arrive in the library very soon!

Divergent ~ by Veronica Roth

If you liked The Hunger Games, and have worked your way through the series and are looking for something new, pick up Divergent by Veronica Roth. I blazed through all 45o pages in just 2 days...it's that good.

In this new dystopian thriller, at the age of 16, all citizens choose which faction they want to join. Each faction is distinguished by a particular characteristic or virtue that defines how they think people should live: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence). Beatrice is torn between her family's faction, Abnegation, and her sense that she belongs somewhere else. And then, as she goes through the tests prior to making her choice, she discovers something shocking, and potentially dangerous that will alter her life forever.

Divergent is suspenseful, brutal, exciting...and has many of the characteristics that made The Hunger Games such a popular series. Don't miss this one!

The Sky is Everywhere ~ by Jandy Nelson

There's something powerful about the use of words...and when an author has a gift for describing things in exactly the right way, a book can be absolutely magical. The Sky is Everywhere is one of those magical books.

Lennie's sister has just died and she's feeling completely lost. She doesn't know how to be around her best friend, Sarah ("For the first time in our lives, I'm somewhere she can't find, and I don't have the map to give her that leads to me"). She's suddenly and overwhelming confused about two boys: the new guy in town, Joe, whose musical passion and zest for life overflows, and Toby - her sister's boyfriend, who is the only person who seems to understand her grief.

The Sky is Everywhere was one of the most beautiful books I've read in quite a while. The author - Jandy Nelson - knows exactly how to combine words to perfectly capture feelings and settings....probably because she is a poet - this is her first novel. Interspersed throughout the book are poems that Lennie writes and scatters around her town...every one breaks your heart a little:

Grief is a house
where the chairs
have forgotten how to hold us
the mirrors how to reflect us
the walls how to contain us
Grief is a house that disappears
each time someone knocks at the door
or rings the bell
a house that blows into the air
at the slightest gust
that buries itself deep in the ground
while everyone is sleeping
Grief is a house where no one can protect you
where the younger sister
will grow older than the older one
where the doors
no longer let you in
or out
(Found under a stone in Gram's garden)

This is one of the Teens' Top Ten nominees...and I will be stunned if it's not in the Top Ten - or even top 3!

Cottage reading!

I just got home from a friend's cottage, where I blazed through a few more titles - one from the Teens' Top Ten nominees list, one because I was looking forward to reading another book by the author, and one I'm reviewing (not yet published) for VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates):

Orson Scott Card ~ The Lost Gate: this one is on the Teens' Top Ten nominees list, but, I just don't think it's going to make the top ten. I should say, Orson Scott Card is one of my favourite authors - and I think Ender's Game is brilliant - which made The Lost Gate that much more disappointing for me. It wasn't bad - it just felt too overdone...that so much effort was put into the mythology/back story, that the actual story was a bit lost. It just didn't live up to its potential.

Lauren Oliver ~ Delirium: I loved Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall (which should be one of this year's Top Ten!) so I couldn't wait to read Delirium...and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped. In Lena's world, "love" is considered a disease - and at the age of 18, everyone is "cured" from it. This dystopian novel was brilliant - intelligent, new ideas, fast-paced, engaging. I read all 441 pages in a single day...and as one friend commented as I finished the book, "wow, you raced through that last chunk!"

Jeyn Roberts ~ Dark Inside: I received an advanced reader's copy (i.e. the book isn't published yet) because I'm writing a review for it for VOYA. I don't want to spoil the review, but let's just say, I think this is going to be a popular book! Creepy, post-apocalyptic, horrifying - I'm sure it's going to be a teen favourite.