Author Visit with Raymond Wong
9 years ago
Showing posts with label Teen Hi/Lo Fiction. Show all posts
Deanna Lambert is desperate to get away from Pacifica. Three years ago, her father caught her and Tommy in the back seat of his car and nothing has been the same since. With a tarnished reputation, and no one to rely other than Lee and Jason, Deanna is floating through life, wishing she had a second chance. Deanna wants nothing more than to be wanted and needed. Could this be the reason why she let a seventeen-year-old boy take advantage of her thirteen-year-old self? Is that why she concocted a plan to escape Pacifica with her brother, Darren, his girlfriend, Stacy, and their baby, April, because they will need her and want her help? In order to leave, Deanna applies for jobs to earn money, but when she takes the job at Picasso's Pizza, she learns that she will work alongside the they very man who stole her innocence. Although no one knows she is working with Tommy, something in Deanna shifts. She wants nothing more than to scream and destroy Tommy for what he did, but he has this hold on her that she can't shake. Just when thing couldn't possible get any worse, Stacy goes missing leaving April and Darren behind, which initiates a chain of events that lead to one inevitable truth: Deanna will have to find her own way out of Pacifica, away from her parents and away from Tommy. For the first time in her life, Deanna will confront the past and decide to deal with it. In this emotionally driven story, Deanna must look deep within herself to find the courage to go on with her life and learn to forgive and love who she is.
Critical Evaluation:
Wow. Oh wow. I mean...wow...Sara Zarr has written a story that is not only honest, but is unbelievably heart-wrenching and difficult to read. Deanna has wanted nothing more then to be loved and wanted. When Tommy started to notice her, she actually thought that someone may actually love her like the couples she reads about or watched on television. However, what she got was a lifetimes worth of pain and heartache. What angers me the most about this story is that Deanna was a 13 years old when Tommy molested her and the one who is punished is Deanna; I am calling it molesting because Tommy convinced her in every aspect that this is what she wanted so she willingly participated in the acts they committed. What's worse is that her own father refused to press charges against Tommy because he didn't want people knowing that he caught them in the back of Tommy's car having sex and he punished her by shaming her very day of her life. Deanna, at the time, was willing to do anything for Tommy because she truly believed he loved her, but, when he told the whole town about their intimate moments, she became the town pariah. From what it sounds like, Tommy is just a big idiot who said he didn't mean to hurt her, but, from his behavior, its obvious that he realized how big of an idiot he really is. On top of Deanna's ruined reputation, she is living in a battle zone where her brother, who got his girlfriend pregnant, are living in the basement and their mother is in complete denial about the dysfunction and their father is not helping the situation by making hurtful comments. Moreover, Deanna is also having a hard dealing with the fact the her friend, Lee, is dating her best friend, Jason, because (to Deanna) the one person she could always have to herself is with another. Deanna constantly feels like the third-wheel and wishes she could fade into the background, but, after getting the job at Picasso's and seeing Tommy again, she is faced with a dilemma: let everything continue as they are or confront the people who have hurt her the most. What Deanna does not see is her true self, which is a loving, powerful, and dependable, loved young lady. Sure she made mistakes in the past, but no one is perfect and forgiveness is what will set us free so we can live our lives in peace. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to see themselves in Deanna whatever their circumstances.
Information about the Author:
According to her website:
Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction, Teen Hi/Lo Fiction
Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 9 & up
Books Similar to Story of a Girl:
Awards & Recognition:
"Sara Zarr's first novel tells an engrossing story with exquisitely drawn characters. Story of a Girl is the rarest mix: It's both impossible to put down and the kind of book that stays with you long after you've finished reading it."
—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska
"This is a hell of a good book."
—Chris Crutcher, author of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
"Throws a sharp right hook at the assumptions people make about girls who have sex early."
—E. Lockhart, author of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and The Boyfriend List
"A heartfelt, realistic novel about being defined by one moment, one choice, and then having to reinvent who you are...An evocative, thoughtful read from a debut author to watch."
—Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Jingle Dancer and Indian Shoes
* "Realistic fiction at its best. Zarr's storytelling is excellent....An emotionally charged story...recommended for both teens and the adults who live and work with them."
—SLJ, starred review
Critical Evaluation:
Wow. Oh wow. I mean...wow...Sara Zarr has written a story that is not only honest, but is unbelievably heart-wrenching and difficult to read. Deanna has wanted nothing more then to be loved and wanted. When Tommy started to notice her, she actually thought that someone may actually love her like the couples she reads about or watched on television. However, what she got was a lifetimes worth of pain and heartache. What angers me the most about this story is that Deanna was a 13 years old when Tommy molested her and the one who is punished is Deanna; I am calling it molesting because Tommy convinced her in every aspect that this is what she wanted so she willingly participated in the acts they committed. What's worse is that her own father refused to press charges against Tommy because he didn't want people knowing that he caught them in the back of Tommy's car having sex and he punished her by shaming her very day of her life. Deanna, at the time, was willing to do anything for Tommy because she truly believed he loved her, but, when he told the whole town about their intimate moments, she became the town pariah. From what it sounds like, Tommy is just a big idiot who said he didn't mean to hurt her, but, from his behavior, its obvious that he realized how big of an idiot he really is. On top of Deanna's ruined reputation, she is living in a battle zone where her brother, who got his girlfriend pregnant, are living in the basement and their mother is in complete denial about the dysfunction and their father is not helping the situation by making hurtful comments. Moreover, Deanna is also having a hard dealing with the fact the her friend, Lee, is dating her best friend, Jason, because (to Deanna) the one person she could always have to herself is with another. Deanna constantly feels like the third-wheel and wishes she could fade into the background, but, after getting the job at Picasso's and seeing Tommy again, she is faced with a dilemma: let everything continue as they are or confront the people who have hurt her the most. What Deanna does not see is her true self, which is a loving, powerful, and dependable, loved young lady. Sure she made mistakes in the past, but no one is perfect and forgiveness is what will set us free so we can live our lives in peace. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to see themselves in Deanna whatever their circumstances.
Information about the Author:
According to her website:
Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of five novels for young adults, most recently The Lucy Variations, which the New York Times called “an elegant novel.” Her sixth, a collaborative novel with Tara Altebrando, came out December 2013. She’s a National Book Award finalist and two-time Utah Book Award winner. Her books have been variously named to annual best books lists of the American Library Association, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, the Guardian, the International Reading Association, the New York Public Library and Los Angeles Public Library, and have been translated into many languages. In 2010, she served as a judge for the National Book Award. She has written essays and creative nonfiction for Image, Hunger Mountain online, and Response as well as for several anthologies, and has been a regular contributor to Image‘s daily Good Letters blog on faith, life, and culture. As of summer 2013, she’s a member of the faculty of Lesley University’s Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. Sara also hosts the This Creative Life podcast. She is the current Salt Lake City Literary Death Match Champion. Born in Cleveland and raised in San Francisco, she currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, and online at www.sarazarr.com.
Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction, Teen Hi/Lo Fiction
Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 9 & up
Books Similar to Story of a Girl:
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Awards & Recognition:
- National Nook Award Finalist (2007)
- Starred Review from School Library Journal
- Starred Review from Booklist
"Sara Zarr's first novel tells an engrossing story with exquisitely drawn characters. Story of a Girl is the rarest mix: It's both impossible to put down and the kind of book that stays with you long after you've finished reading it."
—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska
"This is a hell of a good book."
—Chris Crutcher, author of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
"Throws a sharp right hook at the assumptions people make about girls who have sex early."
—E. Lockhart, author of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and The Boyfriend List
"A heartfelt, realistic novel about being defined by one moment, one choice, and then having to reinvent who you are...An evocative, thoughtful read from a debut author to watch."
—Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Jingle Dancer and Indian Shoes
* "Realistic fiction at its best. Zarr's storytelling is excellent....An emotionally charged story...recommended for both teens and the adults who live and work with them."
—SLJ, starred review
It's Leonard's 18th birthday and, instead of celebrating adulthood, he is planning to kill Asher Beale and himself. Ever since his parents' divorce, Leonard has felt abandoned and the person he used to called his best friend has made his life a living hell. Leonard is at his whit's end and he believes that the only way he can ease the pain is to die and to take Asher with him. Before committing this last act, Leonard has wrapped four gifts to give to people he cares about. The first gift he gave was for Walt (his chain smoking, Bogart loving next door neighbor). The second gift he gave was for Babak (his Iranian, violin virtuoso friend). The third gift he left was for his favorite teacher, Herr Silverman (Holocaust expert and one who never wears short sleeves). The last gift he gives went to Lauren (the Jesus freak whom he forced his first kiss upon). As Leonard gives away his most precious treasures to, his mission to kill Asher Beale starts to wane; at first, Leonard was ready and willing to end his life, but, after re-living the moments he has spent with those who matter the most, and why he wants to kill Asher, he starts to realize the core of his problems. As the countdown begins, Leonard's plan falls into the place and when he is in front of Asher Beale's window, the inevitable occurs and Leonard's life changes forever.
Critical Evaluation:
I can honestly say that I had to take my time reading this book simply because it hurt so much to hear about Leonard's life. This story is a raw and gut-wrenching story of a guy who had just about every awful happen to him and there was no one he could turn to. For the last six years of his life, Leonard has had to shoulder an immense amount of pain and his own mother and father couldn't take the time to notice that their once happy son is nothing but an empty shell. The quote that shook my soul the most was:
These people we call Mom and Dad, they bring us into the world and they don't follow through with what we need, or provide answers at all really--it's a fend-for-yourself free-for-all in the end, and I;m just not cut out for that sort of living.I cannot express how terrifying and painful it is to hear that so many young people, like Leonard, are out there, all alone, exposed to the evils of this world, and have no one, or no where, to turn to. The reason why Leonard wants to kill Asher Beale is because adults not only warped, and ruined, noth Asher's and Leonard's innocence, it was the adults who turned a blind eye to everything that was happening to these children. After the abuse, Leonard has been slowly dying inside and it literally takes an almost murder/suicide for him to realize that that the people who should have protected, loved, and supported him throughout this whole ordeal weren't there. I thank God for people like Herr Silverman because it is their strength, love, patience, compassion, and faith is what gives teens like Leonard a way out. Although Leonard has a long way to go, he can now do it knowing that he doesn't have to endure the pain any more and hope for a better for life and a better future. This book will live with me for the rest of my life because I never, ever want this to happen to my own children and readers will feel the same way when they come across someone who is suffering like Leonard. If you know someone who is hurting, or wanting to hurt themselves, DO NOT IGNORE THEM and get them help. More importantly, if you are a victim of abuse, you did not deserve this and nor are you to blame. If you feel like hurting yourself, please seek help because you are precious to those who love you and and everyone around you.
Information about the Author:
According to his website:
Matthew Quick (aka Q) is the New York Times bestselling author of THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, which was made into an Oscar-winning film, and three young adult novels: SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR; BOY21; and FORGIVE ME, LEONARD PEACOCK. His work has been translated into twenty-eight languages, received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, was an LA Times Book Prize finalist, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a #1 bestseller in Brazil, and selected by Nancy Pearl as one of Summer’s Best Books for NPR. His next two novels for adults, THE GOOD LUCK OF RIGHT NOW and LOVE MAY FAIL, are forthcoming from HarperCollins. All of Q’s books have been optioned for film.
Q spent the first few years of his life in Philadelphia before being raised just across the Delaware River in Oaklyn, New Jersey. He graduated from Collingswood High School (class of 1992) and La Salle University (class of 1996), where he double-majored in English and secondary education. He taught high school literature and film in southern New Jersey for several years, during which he coached soccer and basketball, chaperoned trips to Peru and Ecuador, initiated a pen-pal exchange with students in Namibia, and counseled troubled teens.
In 2004 Q made the difficult decision to leave teaching and pursue his dream of becoming a fiction writer. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College in 2007 and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from La Salle University in 2013. He lives with his wife, novelist/pianist Alicia Bessette.
Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction
Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 10 & up
Books Similar to Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock:
- Th1rtreen R3asons Why by Jay Asher
- More Than This by Patrick Ness
Awards & Recognition:
From Amazon.com
"Books like Quick's are necessary...We should be grateful for a book that gets kids, and the leaders they'll become, thinking about the problem now."—The New York Times
*"Quick's use of flashbacks, internal dialogue, and interpersonal communication is brilliant, and the suspense about what happened between Leonard and Asher builds tangibly. The masterful writing takes readers inside Leonard's tormented mind, enabling a compassionate response to him and to others dealing with trauma."—School Library Journal, starred review
*"Quick's
attentiveness to these few key relationships and encounters gives the
story its strength and razorlike focus...Through Leonard, Quick urges
readers to look beyond the pain of the here and now to the possibilities
that await."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review"Over the course of one intense day (with flashbacks), Leonard's existential crisis is delineated through an engaging first-person narrative supplemented with footnotes and letters from the future that urge Leonard to believe in a "life beyond the übermorons" at school. Complicated characters and ideas remain complicated, with no facile resolutions, in this memorable story."—The Horn Book
"...the novel presents a host of compelling, well-drawn, realistic characters-all of whom want Leonard to make it through the day safe and sound."—Kirkus
"Quick is most interested in Leonard's psychology, which is simultaneously clear and splintered, and his voice, which is filled with brash humor, self-loathing, and bucket loads of refreshingly messy contradictions, many communicated through Leonard's footnotes to his own story. It may sound bleak, but it is, in fact, quite brave, and Leonard's interspersed fictional notes to himself from 2032 add a unique flavor of hope."—Booklist
When Hurricane Katrina hit the town of Pass Christian, Laurel's happiness washed away with the deaths of her mother and grandmother (M'Lady). After moving to a new city, Laurel tried to start all over again, but no matter how many stories she told, or wrote, those stories could not heal the pain and then she met Kaylee. After moving to Galilee, from Jackson, Mississippi, Kaylee showed up on Laurel's doorstep at the right time because she never felt so alive. Just when things couldn't get better, Laurel tried out for the cheer squad and then she met T-Boom. T-Boom was everything a girl could want, but it was the blue tattoo that said "Gumbo" that reminds her of M'Lady's gourmet gumbo and the smell of the salt and the sea, T-Boom was Laurel's savior and nothing could be more perfect until T-Boom opened up the dime bag of Moon. How could she refuse or question the man she was going to love for the rest of her life, but Laurel had no idea what his kiss and powder would lead her to. What should have been a perfect life led to events that not only shattered her family, and friendship with Kaylee, Laurel's addiction led her to places that she never meant to be. T-Boom promised her that one day they would get clean, but it seemed that day would never come and then Moses appeared. Luckily for Laurel, she finally found the angel M'Lady was always talking about because it was his words that forced her to make another difficult choice: go to rehab or die on the streets. This road wasn't going to be easy, but life rarely is and Laurel has to decide if she is willing to deal with her pain or become a mural on the Meth Head row.
Critical Evaluation:
The hardest part of this story is reading about all of the pain Laurel held onto. Not only did she lose her mother in grandmother in one of the biggest natural disasters in history, she had to cope with this loss the only way she could: burying it deep inside. The hardest part about death is there is no easy way to explain it, nor is there a way to escape the pain that we feel. For Laurel, the death of her mother and grandmother was just too much to bare and when she tried Meth for the first time, she started to feel alive again. For Laurel, she wanted to feel her grandmother and mother again and she saw T-Boom as the way back to them. All Laurel wanted was to be happy and, like most people, in need, she went looking for comfort in relationships and habits that quickly destroyed her friendships and family. T-Boom does seem to care about her, but, like most addicts, their number one priority is themselves, especially when it comes to acquiring their next fix or protecting their investments. Rather then helping and comforting her, T-Boom quickly abandoned her and that forced Laurel to pursue the dangerous path to her next fix. Unfortunately, this story is not unheard of because there are a lot of people who lose there way in life, especially when it's a result of tragic events. Teens, who are already mentally unstable due to adolescent development, have it the hardest when things go completely wrong and out of control. However, with every hopeless situation, there is always a silver lining. Moses was Laurel's intervention because he told her that she is not alone in this struggle, but, more importantly, he told her the plain truth that if she keeps doing what she is doing that she will die. Furthermore, he reminded her that she has a family who probably loves and misses her and her addiction, in many ways, makes her take everything she has for granted.I definitely needed a tissue because it's too easy to imagine ourselves in Laurel's shoes and we hope, and pray, that it will never happen to us.
Information about the Author:
According to her website:
I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.
I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and seeing your friends’ eyes grow wide with wonder. Of course I got in trouble for lying but I didn’t stop until fifth grade.
That year, I wrote a story and my teacher said “This is really good.” Before that I had written a poem about Martin Luther King that was, I guess, so good no one believed I wrote it. After lots of brouhaha, it was believed finally that I had indeed penned the poem which went on to win me a Scrabble game and local acclaim. So by the time the story rolled around and the words “This is really good” came out of the otherwise down-turned lips of my fifth grade teacher, I was well on my way to understanding that a lie on the page was a whole different animal — one that won you prizes and got surly teachers to smile. A lie on the page meant lots of independent time to create your stories and the freedom to sit hunched over the pages of your notebook without people thinking you were strange.
Lots and lots of books later, I am still surprised when I walk into a bookstore and see my name on a book or when the phone rings and someone on the other end is telling me I’ve just won an award. Sometimes, when I’m sitting at my desk for long hours and nothing’s coming to me, I remember my fifth grade teacher, the way her eyes lit up when she said “This is really good.” The way, I — the skinny girl in the back of the classroom who was always getting into trouble for talking or missed homework assignments — sat up a little straighter, folded my hands on the desks, smiled and began to believe in me.
Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction, Teen Hi/Lo Fiction
Reading Level/Interest:
Teen Hi/Lo for Grades 9 & up
Books Similar to Beneath a Meth Moon:
- Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins
From Amazon.com:
"A moving, honest, and hopeful story."
(Kirkus, starred review)
"Woodson
maintains tension throughout, making it abundantly clear how easy it is
to succumb to meth and how difficult it is to recover from it."
(Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"This
powerful, stripped-down novel chronicles a girl's journey from popular
cheerleader to homeless meth user to recovering addict...An outstanding
novel that succeeds on every level."
(School Library Journal, starred review)
"Woodson
takes us on the dark journey of addiction, mimicking the slow, hazy
spell of drug use with the lull of her poetic prose. . . . Laurel's
descent is brutally honest. . . . An intimate and compelling story of
survival."
(The Horn Book)
"As accurate as it is
heartbreaking; readers will be deeply moved . . . they'll sympathize
with [Laurel's] desire to find some way to feel better. . . . Readers
looking to understand the attraction of a destructive substance will get
a glimmer of understanding."
(The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books)
"Will
not disappoint readers. . . . Ends on a hopeful note: perhaps it is
possible to write pain 'into the past and leave some of it there,' and
reimagine a future."
(Booklist)