The Raft

by S.A. Bodeen
PRMS hardcover 231 pages
genre: YA survival story

This is a good one for kids who like quick reads. Robie is flying from her aunt's home in Honolulu to her parents on Midway Island when the plane goes down. A lot of the story is about this relatively shallow (IMO) teenager and how she reacts to situations. But there are some neat undercurrents that result in a fun ending. I enjoyed it and can easily recommend it to middle schoolers who like suspense. As Carol Scheffler said, "There are so few survival stories with female protagonists."

Eleanor and Park

by Rainbow Rowell
Hennepin County Library hardcover 325 pages
genre: YA relationships

Leslie Geissler told me "You HAVE to read this book!" I'm so glad she did. It was a bit hard to get past the use of the F-word (for me), but it was such an incredible story of two people who find friendship, then love, after being misfits for a long time. Eleanor is a very poor girl who wears strange clothing and has flaming red hair. She's not petite. Park is an Asian American who is quite attractive, but not typically masculine. They are wonderful characters to get to know. I need to buy this one for my collection.

Blue Moon Bay

by Lisa Wingate
Hennepin County Library paperback 377 pages
genre: Christian fiction

"For Seattle architect Heather Hampton, a trip back to tiny Moses Lake, Texas, is hardly in the plan. Yet because a promotion hinges on the sale of the family farmland, Heather heads to the last place she ever watned to go. She's determined to return home, signed contract in hand, the next day."

This was a wonderful book! Maddening at times - I actually had to set it aside for a bit - the relationships and characters were engaging. I empathized with Heather while I thought she should work on her communication skills. There was some mystery at the end, and of course everything works out. Some of these people wasted 16 years not resolving issues, though.

I hadn't heard of this author before. Book Club should be fun!

9/1/13
Book club WAS fun! It's always a joy to hear other people's opinions. I already took my post-it flags out of the book, but I marked sections where Heather expressed her love for her brother Clay, where she compared Clay's attitude to having faith, where she remembers her father talking about accepting Jesus and the way he loved unconditionally . . . there were a lot of good parts in this book. I mostly didn't like how her family kept secrets from her. We also had a good conversation about parents being partial to one child over another. How can people do that?

Spinal Cord Injury and the Family

by Dr. Michelle J. Alpert and Saul Wisnia
Hennepin County Library paperback 329 pages
genre: non-fiction

This is an amazing book - so much so that I'm ordering my own copy off Amazon. It is informative, positive, and has lots of examples from different people's lives. It covers an incredible range of issues for SCI individuals and their families.

I also liked (but not nearly as much) - Mayo Clinic Guide to Living with a Spinal Cord Injury. I didn't read a lot of it, but it was definitely informative and had helpful graphics.

I absolutely could not get much out of a third book I got at the same time. I've already returned it and don't remember the title, but it was written by two doctors who are apparently unaware that lay people do not have their medical knowledge.

Added 2/6/14
I finished reading all of SCI and the Family. What an incredibly well-written book. The authors are compassionate, helpful, realistic, and encouraging. They talk about physical issues, parenting, sexuality, dating, and different types of relationships. I'm glad I read this. I hope that it reaches a large audience of people who have been affected by SCI.

Deeply Odd

by Dean Koontz
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by David Aaron Baker
genre: paranormal adventure, mystery

This one actually had me wondering what would happen to Odd. It was so very dark in places . . . I still like the very first Odd Thomas book the best. This one was hard to listen to in places with the demons and the evil. I liked Edie Fischer, though thought her unusual addition to Odd's life to be a bit too coincidental. I liked the interactions with Alfred Hitchcock's ghost, though I still prefer Elvis Presley - again, the first story is best! This is a new release, but I'm already anticipating the next installment. I haven't ever read any other Koontz books, but I love this character. As always, Baker does an excellent job voicing it.

Bugged me: repetitions. I understand Koontz including info from other stories to "catch" readers up if they haven't read the other Odd Thomas books, but he repeated within this book. For example, Odd explaining Stormy's interpretation of the afterlife to Mrs. Fisher and then again to Alfred Hitchcock. It gets old! It was fun to read some of the reviews on Amazon. I should pay more attention to my writing! But as always, this blog is just my spot to record my reactions. I liked this book a lot.

Ask the Passengers

by A.S. King
Hennepin County Library hardcover 293 pages
genre: YA coming-of-age, GLBTQ

Astrid Jones isn't sure of a lot of things. Feeling unloved (by her parents, friends, etc.), she sends her love to the airplanes that pass overhead as she lies on the picnic table in her back yard. Her "best friend" Kristina is popular and cute in the small town culture of Unity Valley. Her dad gets stoned. Her mom is a perfection / control freak. Her little sister Ellis just wants to fit in. Her co-worker Dee is sometimes too aggressive, but Astrid loves kissing her. Her philosophy class is really challenging her to think about truth, life, and her paradox: Nobody's perfect.

My favorite scene: when Astrid and Ellis finally talk to one another about life toward the end of the book.

I didn't like this one quite as much as Everybody Sees the Ants, but King is an amazing writer who captures the thoughts and moods of teenagers. The small-mindedness and gossip of this small town will resonate with lots of kids.

Pendragon: the Lost City of Faar

by D.J. MacHale
personal copy paperback 386 pages
genre: YA fantasy adventure

Like: Cloral, Spader, Faar, reading it rather than listening to it as an audiobook
Dislike: ponderous storytelling style, Mark being a wuss about Andy Mitchell the bully and not telling Courtney about the problems with him and the journals until the end, the author's use of outdated slang terms . . .

I don't think I'll continue with this series. I just don't enjoy his writing style (especially compared with Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series which are super-quick and engaging reads).