Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt ☆☆☆☆

Amazon recommendation based on my wishlist. I was so excited to read this that I had to drive across town to get it from another library because I didn't want to wait for that library to ship it to mine. And I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is about a girl that has to drive across country to college with her ex that broke up with her two weeks before for another girl he met on the internet. Yeah, cruel and unusual punishment. But this story was so so so much more.

The first notable thing about this book is that it is set in alternating points-of-view. You get to see both sides of the story, his and hers. It's not a writing style I typically read, but being this was the second book I read recently with that style I was familiar at least. What was unfamiliar and interesting was that it was set in alternating time periods also. And it wasn't confusing! The story begins when their road trip begins, yet as you alternate between each of their voices, the story goes back in time to show their different views on how they first met and how their relationship started and progressed. You get to see how they fall in love in the midst of experiencing their breakup and it is amazingly written.

This book was so well written and engaging that I read it in one day, which doesn't happen for me. Even my favorite books take three days to a week to read. (The ones for school I typically read in a day, but that was because I procrastinated and had to go without sleep to get it read in time.) I just couldn't put this story down and it was reading so quickly. And this book made me feel incredibly smart, I figured out what was going on early on in the book before it was revealed and it was not obvious in the slightest. I love books that are constructed so well that if you really pay attention you can work it out. It shows that the author has a lot of foresight about what is going on behind the scenes in her book and where she intends to go with her information.

So why did it lose a star if I'm speaking so highly of it? Careless errors. I hate typos and the most careless they are the more I lose faith in the book. So there was one main typo in it, but I could excuse it: doing instead of going as it should have read. A one letter mistake can be forgiven even if it throws off the whole sentence. What I couldn't forgive was the author and/or editor not paying attention to the story itself. I don't know how many people remember the great movie mistake in Pretty Woman where she goes from eating a pancake to eating a waffle because of the way the scenes were cut together, this story did that....not once, but twice. The first happened during the first time Courtney and Jordan went out to eat and she picked up her hot chocolate to drink and set down her coffee. I though I read something wrong and went back over it several times. A few chapters later, Courtney is sitting at lunch with her best friend who picks up her chocolate milk to drink, then drinks from the soda she's holding, then drinks from her chocolate milk. And no, she didn't have two drinks. Besides, who drinks milk and soda together?

So this story was freaking awesome beyond awesome and if you can get passed those two errors and the typo then it's the perfect book to read this summer. So stop reading this review and pick it up already!

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles ☆☆☆☆☆

Oh, thank you my library staff! Wandering around the young adult section (as I do so often) I saw this book displayed on the end of the shelf and totally judged the book by its cover. I had to get it right then and there, no exceptions. I mean how could anyone resist this cover? :)

So this is one of the first times I've ever read a book with alternating voices. The last one being Time Traveler's Wife. It was a bit confusing. I was so engrossed in the story that I'd start reading the next chapter without remembering to switch voices. Those moments were hilarious though.

This book made me disappointed in myself though. I live on the border, I speak Spanglish, as does everyone else here. This book is FULL of Spanglish. And yet, I had to use the translator on my phone to follow along in certain points in the book. A lot of books that use Spanish will let's say ask a question in Spanish while the other character answers them in English while somewhat repeating the question so that you can get the jist of it in context. This one didn't do that. Which, in it's context was a good thing because she wasn't going to understand anything that he and his group said so it definitely worked. But I was disappointed that I didn't know as much as I should. A lot of the dialogue I hear on a daily basis and never really know the exact meaning, I have a general idea of the meaning, but that's it.

When I first started this book I wasn't all that impressed. The characters were both super cliche. She was a rich white girl and head cheerleader, he was a Mexican gang banger. But the way their characters developed, the things you learned about them, was realistic, fluid, and amazing. I tend to read before bed a few chapters a night, when I got to the half way point of this book and went to read my few chapters I literally couldn't put it down. My son came into my room when he woke up asking why I never went to sleep....and it still took me until noon before I finished it. That's impressive to me. In fact, it made such a difference in my perspective that I bought the sequel on Amazon immediately because there was a wait list at my library and I didn't want to wait. That review is on its way....

The only true complaint I would have about this book was the ending. It felt rushed and almost forced. Things didn't naturally progress as they had in the rest of the novel. But as good as the story was I was perfectly okay with that. And then.....there was the epilogue. Eww, could have completely done without that, thank you very much. It was unnecessary and more than forced. The best I could describe it would be someone's attempt at fanfiction after the novel. I'm hoping the sequel makes up for this, but I'm looking past it regardless. :)

UTEP - College of Liberal Arts - Class of 2011

I GRADUATED!!!!

Today I received my Bachelor's Degree for Creative Writing with a minor in English and American Literature. Graduated with honors, cum laude. I don't feel any different, but yey! I did it!

Next on the agenda.....graduate school this fall. I was already accepted at my school in their MFA Creative Writing program and I received a TA position in the English dept. But for now I have the summer to myself!

So basically, that's why my blog hasn't been active...finals and everything. Within the next few weeks it should start to become busy again. After all, summers for me are all about reading everything I can and catching up on movies I missed during the school year :)

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye ☆☆

This book was disappointing. The description on the back tells you of an American girl that moves to the Middle East where her dad is originally from so that he can live closer to his family and join the two cultures. The description also alludes to a Romeo/Juliet type of romance that brews between the protagonist and a Jewish boy that she meets. The disappointment develops in that there is no romance in the book at all. Sure, they weren't supposed to be friends and fought to keep their friendship, but that's about as far as it went before the book ended.

Besides all that, the story just wasn't all there. As much as an upsetting change as it would be expected to be for a teenage girl to be uprooted to a new country after her first kiss, she just goes with it. She doesn't show much anger at all, if any. There isn't really any drama that takes place with her directly.

The drama that does take place in this story involves the country itself and the problems that the people in the Middle East are facing at the time of this story. In that aspect, it is an interesting look at a culture we very rarely see in anything but a negative light. This was the last assignment for my Children's Literature class and we came to a conclusion that the only reason that this book was chosen for young students to read is because it is one of the only books about the Middle Eastern culture, rather than for any great story-telling merit.

The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales

The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales ☆☆☆

Surprisingly good book. However, by the mid-range star count you can tell I wasn't immediately impressed.

This was another class assignment as we were covering cultural studies through literature. This book delves into the Hispanic culture and how it shapes this girl's life and influences the choices she makes into her future.

My main problem with this book was continuity. At the beginning of the book you learn she is eight years old, but after a few chapters, suddenly her much younger brother is eight. There was never any indication to me or my class that years were passing rather than months. And the book kept hopping like that. By the time she's a teenager, the story slows as it progresses through adulthood and starts to make more sense.

The book is exceptional in tying everything together. Little traditions mentioned through her childhood, quips, family nitpicks, everything comes back throughout the story and nothing is wasted. Even the tequila worm itself makes it's way from the first chapter through the last. Canales also showed a nice perspective of a Hispanic girl that is smart enough to make it into a well-off private school and how she has to learn to be around rich white kids who made it there through money more than brains, all when she is so vastly different. The downside to this perspective though is you start to realize that the story is most likely more creative non-fiction than fiction after reading her bio in the back of the book.

All in all it's worth a read for multicultural studies and does show something new and different.
But if you get confused easily while reading then it may not be the best when it comes to following along in the story when the time periods change without mention.

The Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis ☆☆☆☆

Yet another book read as a class assignment. However, this was also a recommendation in the youth section of my local public library. And I can see why.

It follows the story of a young boy and his voice is ever present. He jumps from topic to topic as any kid voicing his direct train of thought would. You end up learning more about his family and the things going on in his life than you would think were necessary.

At first glance, with 1963 and an African-American family you're expecting a wide variety of racial disputes. However, the disputes found in the beginning follow a class and economic status dispute more. He makes friends with two extremely poor boys that my teacher and most of my class believed were white. I assumed otherwise, but there is no real answer to the question.

The racial disputes and real drama aren't until the end of the story. And I just have to say I was in tears. Sure I cry reading quite a few books, but never like this. I was crying so hard I had to put the book down and walk away until I calmed down. And that took a while. This book moved me in ways I hadn't expected it to. It became more than just a class assignment to me and it is a worthy read for anyone even slightly interested in this time period, or in the strong voice of a young 10-year old boy and how his life and mental state warp and change.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme posted by The Broke and the Bookish. A new top ten question is posed every week. I encourage you to start your own Top Ten Tuesday list. This week:

Top Ten Authors That Deserve More Recognition
This is an easy one for me. You want to know my answer?

All of them!

As an aspiring author myself I don't feel like enough writers get the recognition they deserve. A big part of that is also a issue of genres.

Many of us YA bloggers know the effects of being "caught" reading YA in a group of people who deem us as incompetent or childish because of our book choice. Of course with an experience like that there is no doubt to why YA authors don't get the credit they deserve.

I've done a research paper on feminist criticism in writing and found that female authors still don't receive the respect they deserve because the world is still vastly male dominated whether we want to admit it or not. And yet, majority of readers seem to be females. So there is the under-appreciated chick-lit genre for you.

In general I think that genres and the authors within them need more respect, their appeal needs to be expressed, and what better way than book review blogs. It is the bloggers that gain more recognition for deserving authors and I hope that one day when I finally publish that all the bloggers out there will spread my name on their top ten lists.

Happy Tuesday everyone! I went more psychological than straight list this week, but it was something I was more passionate about ;)