The Trouble In Me by Jack Gantos Book Review

The Trouble In Me by Jack Gantos
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Release Date: September 1, 2015

Fourteen-year-old Jack is sick of himself. When his military family moves to a new house in Fort Lauderdale, Jack realized this may be his opportunity to become someone else. Sadly, that someone else might turn out to be a bad kid. Jack decides that who he wants to be is his insane, juvenile delinquent next-door neighbor, Gary Pagoda. Gary steals things, lights things on fire, does dangerous stuff, and he doesn't give a shit about anybody. Not even Jack. This is it though, Jack can feel it. This is the moment he becomes someone else, someone who may not be a good kid but at least he is interesting.

A fictional memoir, this is supposed to be the moment when Jack Gantos went from good to bad. He made the shift consciously and with zeal. The problem is that it is boring. The book is just over 224 pages and it takes nearly 100 pages for Jack to light a damn fire on the grill. Readers are treated to 100 pages of Jack having flashbacks and filling us in on his family life, none of which is very interesting and could have easily been summed up in a page or two. Now, if something really interesting happened in the book, I may have been more interested, but beyond some well-placed lies and a desire to be like Gary, I never actually saw him become like Gary. Since the whole point of the book is the moment Jack "went bad", I kept waiting for it to happen, but it never did.

There are some disturbing scenes where Jack obviously makes the wrong decisions and is saved by random happenstance, but I never got the impression that Jack would ever be like Gary. Want to know why? Because Gary is a complete and total psychopath. Gary enjoys hurting people. He can't stop himself from compulsively doing horrible things to other people. He is in a constant need for a rush and usually that means doing something dangerous.

Of course, this "autobiography" is fictional too because there were far too many times that I as a reader thought, there is no way that this guy remembers everything in such vivid detail. It's not like he kept a journal back then to help remind him of things. And unlike A Hole in Me, there is no redemption for these characters, which made the whole thing feel rather pointless, like some kind of writing exercise that just went on for too long.

Believarexic by J.J. Johnson Book Review

Believarexic by J.J. Johnson
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Release Date: October 1, 2015

When fifteen-year-old Jennifer tells her family that she has an eating disorder and wants to be admitted to a hospital for eating disorders, her family doesn't believe her. Still they drive an hour and a half to the Samuel Tuke Center where the doctors confirm that yes, Jennifer is sick. Once there though, Jennifer starts to think she has made a horrible mistake. In here she isn't even allowed to go to the bathroom on her own. One of the nurses hates her and is accusing her of all kinds of terrible things. She can't call home when she wants. The treatment program is insane, but Jennifer knows that this place will save her life. Forced to examine her relationship with her parents, friends, and herself, Jennifer slowly begins to find herself again.

When I first became aware of this book's existence, my very first thought was, "I'm not going to read that."It's not because I thought the book sounded bad. I absolutely love the author and her books. It's that I have spent most of my adult life being very careful to avoid anything that would trigger my own eating disorder. When I was struggling with anorexia, books were the first place I went to get tips and tricks. I attended the book launch for this book and even though I bought the book, I did so mostly out of support, still unsure if I would be able to read this book. Then Jen started to speak and she spoke about all my fears and how careful she had been to not add tips and tricks (because she too read eating disorder books as guides) and how she never wrote down weights. And I knew then that maybe I could read it.

Like Jennifer, my parents were not aware of my eating disorder. I was proud of how well I hid it from them and a little bothered that they hadn't noticed. Was I not thin enough to warrant their worry? Like Jennifer, I sought help on my own, although I attended an outpatient support group rather than admitting myself to a hospital. Yet eating disorders are so incredibly individual. No one experience can encapsulate them all and Jennifer didn't try to. She took that time of her life, carefully crafted into a story that is both fiction and non-fiction and created a deeply moving and transcendent tale. Although there are lessons to be learned here, due to its autobiographical nature, not everything is tied up in a perfect bow, which makes the story all the more authentic. The hospital stay feels real and sometimes unfair and very very hard. Unlike some of the other girls in the EDU, Jennifer actually wants to recover and this puts her at odds with them sometimes. I cried with her when she was accused of cheating the system and rejoiced when she made progress in her recovery. I loved the people she loved, like Chuck, and loathed Nurse Ratched...err..Beverly.

The book itself is organized extremely well. Split into parts by the Stage that Jennifer is in at the EDU. More interestingly is how the book is written in third-person stilted free verse poetry in the beginning, but as Jennifer recovers and learns more about herself, it turns into a first-person narrative. As I understand it, this is because the author herself thinks of herself in this way. Pre-eating disorder vs. Recovering from eating disorder. I understand why the book was fictionalized, mostly for visibility within the YA genre, but I did wish it had been purely autobiographical. Mostly because setting this fictional story in the 80s makes it strangely historical fiction, which (as someone born in the 80s) I am not okay with.

This is the story about a flawed heroine who knows that she needs help, but discovers that recovery is a lot of work both physically and mentally. Jennifer has clearly put her heart and soul onto these pages and I think it will speak to many people, not just those with eating disorders.

Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews Book Review

Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews 
Illustrations by Bryan Collier
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Release Date: April 14, 2015

Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews got his nickname by weilding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A child prodigy, he was leading his own jazz band at the age of six and got to play on stage with Bo Diddly around the same age. Now, Trombone Shorty is a Grammy-nominated artist.

This is the story of music and love and determination. It's about being true to yourself, of doing whatever you have to do to do the thing you love to do. Finding an old trombone on the street, Trombone Shorty was playing when he was just out of diapers. He carried this huge trombone around with him and despite its size, he could really play. I absolutely loved everything about this book. The illustrations are incredible, so vibrant and full of energy, just like the setting of New Orleans. There is so much heart and passion in the story too, the words singing on each page, full of their own kind of jazz. And how adorable is this picture of little Trombone Shorty playing on stage with Bo Diddly? Precious.

Trombone Shorty, thirteen-years-old:

Blizzard by John Rocco Book Review

Blizzard by John Rocco
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: October 30, 2014

The years is 1978 and John Rocco's family experiences a major blizzard, one that dumps 53 inches of snow on his town in Rhode Island. Too deep to even open the front door, they have to crawl out the windows. Cars are buried. School is cancelled. Neighbors can't get to the store. John comes up with a plan for walking in the snow and become the neighborhood hero.

Because I write these reviews weeks before they post, I really hope that this posts while there is substantial amounts of snow near me. Considering I live in NC, most likely we will have an ice storm, but I can still hope for snow. Yes, I am one of those. I adore snow, even as an adult, and don't see it as the horrible travesty that everyone else seems to think it is. Even when I lived up north, snow and me were best buds. (ask my mom about the Boston Christmas Parade during a snowstorm)

Perhaps that is why I really embraced this book. It brought back very fond memories of childhood. Tunneling through the snow, being out all day in it, sled riding. With sparse text and beautiful illustrations John encapsulates the terrible beauty that this blizzard brought to his town. The reader is meant to understand that this isn't just some snow, this is the mother of all snowstorms. This is too much snow. The added element of ingenuity and neighbors helping neighbors is also a nice touch, one that links the struggle between man and nature.

El Deafo by Cece Bell Book Review

El Deafo by Cece Bell
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Release Date: September 2, 2014

When Cece Bell was four she became ill, so ill that she lost her hearing. Diagnosed as profoundly deaf, Cece had to navigate the world of the hearing as a deaf child. At school she has to wear a giant hearing aid called the Phonic Ear, which draws a lot of attention, but also has a major advantage--she can hear the teacher wherever she is in the entire school. With this secret super-power, Cece names herself El Deafo. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different and lonely. As Cece juggles school and friends, the familiar struggle of finding self is compounded by finding who she is in the hearing world.

Yet another autobiographical graphic novel, El Deafo is about feeling different, but one with universal appeal. Although young readers will learn a lot about how it feels to be deaf, I think they will also be able to relate to having a first crush, not knowing how to make friends, feeling like an oddball, and having something that sets you apart. Using anthropomorphized rabbits, Bell carefully recreates her life, although she admits, not always in the right order.

I have to say, I was a bit torn when I first saw this book. Although I understand Bell's choice of a rabbit as her foil, I was instantly skeptical because it reminded me of all the picture books out there that use animals rather than people, mostly to avoid any issues with race. Being a book featuring a disability, I found this an odd choice, especially since it is semi-autobiographical, but once I began reading, I didn't have as much of an issue with this. My bigger concern for the book is that it is extremely didactic. The way in which Bell talks to her audience, it is clear that she is trying to teach her hearing audience about what it is like to be non-hearing. For me, the story lacked any kind of plot line or through line. This sounds petty, because this is after all someone else's life, but I think the story could have been framed in a different way that would not feel so teachy. There is also the added aspect that Cece fought very hard against the deaf world, refusing to learn sign language, which would make this book inappropriate for deaf children, once again relegating this to a learning book for the non-disabled. Intermediate level books often have a certain level of preachiness in them, some point that the author was trying to drive home, and although that is not inherently bad, it can definitely detract from the book. Especially if it is lacking in a plot.

Taking Flight by Michaela DePrince Book Review

 Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela DePrince & Elaine DePrince
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 14, 2014

Michaela's life has had its share of trials. Born in war-torn Sierra Leone, Michaela's idyllic family life is shattered when her father is murdered by "debils", young rebel men armed with guns and machetes. Forced to live with an abusive Uncle who hated Michaela for her spots (Vitiligo) and how she already knew how to read, Michaela's life was centered around starvation and avoiding abuse. Then, Michaela's mother dies and her Uncle, unwilling to care for the girl, takes her to an orphanage. There, she is able to make some friends, but is still mistreated by the Aunties, always given less food and worse treatment due to her Vitiligo and superstition. She is told that no one will ever want to adopt her because of her spots and that she is in fact, the devil's child. What Michaela does find one day at the gates of her orphanage is an old magazine with, what she believes to be a fairy on the cover. Michaela soon learns the word Ballerina and vows that one day she too will dance on her tippy toes just like the woman in the picture. But dance lessons are not a reality for little Michaela. Michaela's life is once more disrupted when the debils murder her teacher and her unborn child in front of Michaela and a few weeks later the children are forced to leave their orphanage, walking to safety in Guinea. The children, already promised to parents in America, hold on to their sliver of hope that they will soon leave. All except Michaela who is told that no one wants her. Her mat-mate, promises that she will ask her new mommy and daddy if they will take Michaela too. On the day that the children are to meet their new parents though, Michaela learns that she and her friend are going to be adopted together and they will be sisters forever. But Michaela and Mia's new mom doesn't know that Michaela wants to be a ballerina and she didn't bring any dancing shoes with her. There is a promise though, if Michaela wants to learn to dance, she will.

Thus begins Michaela's journey from war torn orphan to star ballerina. This book could hold a good deal of meaning and hope depending on where you come from and what part of this story really speaks to you. From the perspective of someone who wants to adopt an older child one day, this book was a very important reminder that these children come with a past. That their pasts can be extremely deep and dark. Some of these early memories seem so vivid for such a young child, but after watching an interview with her mom, Elaine DePrince, she explained that as Michaela told her about her past in jolts and snippets, she wrote them down and kept them for her. This book was being written from the day Michaela was picked up in an airport with her sister, and Elaine was simply keeping those stories until the day they would be needed. Michaela, as do many older adopted children (older meaning over the age of four) have so many triggers. So many fears. In that respect alone, this is a very important book for parents who are planning on adopting an older child, domestically or internationally.

More than that though, there is this added hope for Michaela. Through years of dedication and pursuing a dream that began at the gates of an orphanage, Michaela sought out a dancer's life. What she didn't know was that despite the drive, a dancer's body, and parents who supported her, breaking into the world of ballet when you are a black child (now a woman) was an even bigger challenge. Confronted with prejudice and dealing with her own feelings of otherness because of her Vitiligo, Michaela struggled with her role in the ballet world. But she never gave up or even considered another option.

Like many autobiographies of this kind, it isn't the most well-written, but Michaela is a dancer not a writer and I am perfectly okay with this. There are parts that seems to drag a bit, but then this is someone's life, not Hollywood. When it comes to autobiographies, what I want to understand is how a person thinks and feels and what motivates them. I expect authenticity, not Hemingway. More importantly, we should come away with a deeper understanding of someone else's life. A deeper appreciation for the things they have gone through and how they got to where they are today. Taking Flight was a beautiful presentation of a life that has seen both beauty and tragedy, from a girl who never quit dancing.

Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece by Patricia Polacco Book Review

Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece by Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: August 12, 2014

Trisha is terrified to speak in front of an audience. She can't even read her essay aloud to her class. Which is why it is surprising when Trisha ends up in Mr. Wayne's drama class. Given a job painting scenery, Tricia secretly memorizes all the lines of the play as she listens to the cast rehearse. Then, when the lead actress suddenly moves away, Mr. Wayne calls upon Tricia to take the part not only because she knows the lines, but because he believes that she will make his play come to life. With careful coaching and coaxing, Mr. Wayne helps Trisha overcome her stagefright and find the masterpiece within herself.

My mother was always obsessed with Patricia Polacco's books. As a kid, I remember going to the library and her checking them out all the time. I always thought this strange, because I found these books to be terribly boring and overly long, but my mother loved them. She still does. I think I may understand now.

These books are rather text heavy as far as picture books go. The stories are sometimes sad or melancholy, dealing with topics that older children will be able to relate to better. Here's the conundrum, I would say that most of her books are really for children around seven to nine. However, that is the age in which kids begin to read to themselves rather than having someone else read to them. Of course, parents can still read to their children at that age, but at that age I wanted my mother to read me The Hobbit and The Mouse and the Motorcycle rather than picture books.

This is all anecdotal of course, but the point is, I think this story is really one that adults will like more than the kids. That feeling of nostalgia. It's not that the story is bad, in fact, it is quite beautiful in both language and illustrations. It's why I think these books do so well though. Adults love to read them and since they are the ones who buy them, the books continue to be popular.

I would love to hear something to the contrary though. Did you have a favorite Patricia Polacco book as a kid or were you, like me, subjected to them because one of your parent loved them?