Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favorite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pup with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he walked away from Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle’s death.

In a year when everything’s broken, Tom realizes that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

Thomas Mackee feels as if he has nothing left to live for. His family is split apart; he no longer communicates with his closes friends and almost lost everything if not for the compassion of those friends he cut off. For as much as Tom seems to hate the world, the further we go along and find that Tom is struggling with hating himself. After an event that leaves him in hospital, Tom ends up pleading with his Aunt Georgie to let him stay. A decision that eventually puts Tom on the path to who he really wants to be.

Georgie is pregnant. To the man she broke up with for seven years. Who has a son from another relationship. Georgie and Sam have a careful relationship. What it is neither can really decide or talk about. For Georgie and Sam, silence is normal. Until Tom appears and unintentionally creates a channel for communication, and Georgie and Sam might have a chance to finally work out exactly what they mean to each other.

Francesca and Justine work at the Union pub, the pub where Tom’s flatmates stole $2000 from while they were working there. Tom decides that it is up to him to repay the debt. Francesca and Justine knew Tom through high school, and were cast aside when Tom lost his uncle, yet they never stopped caring. Slowly, Francesca and Justine find that they are getting their Tom back, and will do everything they can to help Tom return to who he used to be.

But Tom doesn’t only have his own life to worry about. His father is a former alcoholic whose drinking problem forced Tom’s mum and sister to relocate to Brisbane. His father abandoned Tom to fend for himself, and never once looked back. His favourite uncle was killed in a terrorist bombing attack, the one person Tom relied on for good, true, honest advice. His sort-of ex-girlfriend that he is still in love with is in Same and has moved on, refusing to communicate in any form.

In a life where everything seems so tangled, will Tom be able to work out, what it is he truly wants before it is too late?

The Piper’s Son is the fifth novel from Australian author Melina Marchetta, and is set five years after the events of Saving Francesca. Yet, it is not necessary to have read Saving Francesca to understand the story, as believe it or not, this is the first Marchetta novel that I have read. That may come as a surprise to some who knows Marchetta’s work, but I now know why Marchetta is regarded as one of the best young adult authors in Australia.

The Piper’s Son was one of the most captivating and engaging books I have read this year. I could not get the characters out of my head, constantly wanting to pick up the book and find out what happens next. Through the perspective of Tom and occasional flashes into the mind of Georgie, I’ve discovered two characters that I care about. Tom is troubled and flawed, needing love and acceptance, even if sometimes he shrugs it off and pretends like nothing can tough him. Georgie is that aunt that you wish you have – caring enough to let you stay when you have nowhere else to go and perceptive enough to know that something is wrong, even if you don’t want to talk about it. From the beginning of the novel where nothing goes right for either Tom or Georgie, to the end where you find that maybe, just maybe they can make their lives work in a positive way; you are there with them, each step and failure along the way. Failure that reminds you that they are just a human as anyone else.

Set in a modern day Sydney with references and mentions to recent events from everything to the Lord of the Rings to the London terrorist attacks, Marchetta has created a world that is gritty and instantly believable and recognisable as a world that we belong to.

I highly recommend this to everyone, no matter the style of novel you like to read.

Publication date: March 2010

Pages: 328

Rating::

Teaser quote: He went to the sent box praying that somehow the email got rejected. No such luck. Twenty seconds earlier anabelsbrother sent taramarie a message, now with the words cheers, or see ya, or whenever. But signing off with the word, love.

Stephanie Kuehnert’s new book, Ballads of Suburbia, is our Book of the Month here at yaReads. We think Stephanie is a pretty amazing story teller and is a breath of fresh air in the world of Young Adult fiction. She deviates from the regular YA formula and her books are confronting, edgy, and real. It’s great to see someone pushing the boundaries. She was kind enough to answer some of our questions about Ballads, for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

If you had to choose a ballad that fits your own life story what would it be?

Okay, this is seriously the hardest question anyone has ever asked me! It’s hard for me to choose just one because different phases of my life had different songs. I guess, I’d have to say “The Young Crazed Peeling” by The Distillers though. There are things that don’t apply literally (I’m not from Melbourne, I didn’t have an abusive dad, though my mom does blame herself for me growing up troubled a bit), but it’s basically to me about getting through your rough teenage years where you’re bored and troubled and as Brody sings “you can wash it all down, swallow your story, get smacked up, yeah and go down in drum roll glory,  but it won’t solve it, committing self inflicted crime.” And then you’re “liberated from those sad side city streets”, find love, speak truth, and  ”it hit me, I got everything I need. I got freedom and my youth.” Basically my troubled youth ended well, and gave me a gift of creativity, and I finally did find good love.

You’re obviously heavily influenced by music. What are your top three bands/artists of all time?

Nirvana, Hole, and Social Distortion, all of whom I discovered between the ages of 12 and 14.

Where does your musical influence come from?
Somewhere around age 10 or so music became as essential to me as food, water and air. I got into the Beatles first, through my parents. Then we got MTV and I started getting into alternative rock like REM, Jane’s Addiction, Depeche Mode and Faith No More as well as heavier stuff like Metallica and Megadeth. I had a couple friends who were always discovering new bands first, like one of them got Nirvana’s first album Bleach right before Nevermind came out and they got huge. One of them got stuff from a cool older cousin. That was where I heard Hole’s first album and I remember that friend brought the first Nine Inch Nails album to my 12th birthday party and we were like “The devil wants to f*** me in the back of his car?!?” BAD-ASS! But really it was Nirvana that had the hugest influence. Something about how Kurt Cobain screamed, it just soothed all that hurt inside and I wanted more music like that. So I bought bands’ albums that he mentioned in interviews. That’s how I discovered the Sex Pistols. Nirvana and The Sex Pistols were my two favorite bands in junior high and from there I went on to discover more punk. Punk gave me voice and a sense of release. It all comes from that.

Now for Ballads, how long did it take to write?

Actual writing time probably 2 years, but I wrote a really, really crappy book when I first started the creative writing program at Columbia in 2000/2001 called The Morning After. It had some of the same characters from Ballads, but it was a fictionalized version of my own life and that was not what I wanted to do. I had something to say about suburbia and I wanted to do it justice and find the write structure for it. So I shoved that manuscript in a drawer and went on to write my first published novel, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. In the middle of doing that, while I was in grad school, I took a class with Joe Meno and he did this whole lesson on ballads and that was when I realized I needed these confessional type ballads for my suburbia book. Still, I finished writing IWBYJR and then came back to Ballads in 2006. I need a lot of stewing time for my books. But the ballad structure was exactly what I needed. I wrote the book fast. I think the only scene from The Morning After that made the cut though was when Kara and Adrian meet.

***SUPER SPOILER WARNING***

Did you make a conscious decision to kill of Maya, or did the story kind of write itself that way?

I knew Maya was dead when I met her. Ballads, unlike IWBYJR, I wrote linearly. I wrote that epilogue first and when Kara had that vision of Maya, I saw her too and I knew that Maya was dead. I knew how she would kill herself too, but I had to discover the whys through the writing, let Maya slowly reveal them to me.

A lot of the characters in Ballads (Liam and Kara especially) say that love is for suckers, yet they both end up falling for the people they’re messing around with. Do you think that people can have no-strings attached relationships like they were both aiming for?

Kara’s story is not as uncommon as society would have us think. Why do you think teens (and people in general, I suppose) turn to self-mutilation, drugs and substance abuse to help solve their problems? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself and I would say no. I had a couple Adrian style relationships when I was younger and always got emotionally involved and got hurt. Now I’m a very emotional person so that is just me, but when I’ve seen other people do it, it seems like someone always gets hurt too.

Kara’s story is not as uncommon as society would have us think. Why do you think teens (and people in general, I suppose) turn to self-mutilation, drugs and substance abuse to help solve their problems?

Because as a society we don’t communicate well. That’s kind of the whole theme of Ballads, the whole tragedy of it. If parents had talked to children or children had talked to parents or other trusted adults or each other, things might not have happened the way they did. I hope this story creates a dialogue and gets people talking so fewer kids suffer in silence like the characters in Ballads and like I did as a teen too.

If Kara’s parents had stayed together, do you think she would have gone down a different road, or do you think she was destined to learn life’s lessons the way she did?

Well, it depends. If they stayed together for the right reasons and actually created a healthy environment, then maybe things would have been different. But “staying together for the kids” and creating this unhealthy silence wouldn’t haven changed things. Also Kara had other issues. She felt isolated and friendless, she might have still gone down the same path because of that. I don’t think anyone is destined for anything, there are always choices, but there are also always multiple factors that shape why we act the way we do.

***SUPER SPOILER WARNING***

Do you think Adrian will ever clean himself up?

Um, I don’t know. Part of me wants to hold out hope. Part of me is cynical because I have friends (ex-friends really) who are still in the throes of addiction and it seems like they will never come out. Adrian’s a lot like them because he just doesn’t care. If you don’t care enough to save yourself, you’re pretty much screwed. No one can save you but you.

For all those people out there who live by the motto “once a drug addict, always a drug addict” what do you have to say to that?

Depends what you mean by that. If it’s like a negative thing, like people can never turn their lives around, I think that is bullshit. There are always choices and opportunity for change. But it is a fight to overcome an addiction. I struggled with self-injury and even though I haven’t cut in eight years when a friend of mine was killed in a motorcycle accident last year, it took unbelievable willpower not to go back to old ways of running from pain. So yeah, you are always an addict in that sense where it’s not like you can just indulge again without consequences. But you can start fresh and turn your life around.

What would be your advice to teens reading Ballads that might be following a similar path as Kara?

Find someone trusted to talk to. Friends are good, but finding an adult is important too. There is no shame in therapy. My life didn’t turn around until I seriously started going to therapy. That combined with my art–my writing–helped me through my darkest times. Art is the best escape– no hangovers, no regrets, no scars. Finding some form of art–music, writing, painting, photos, film–to express yourself with is the best way to begin to heal. Along with talking. Talking is so necessary.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a few different things. It takes a while for the ideas to formulate so I do more than one thing at once until I really get going. I’m working on a book about a teenage girl and her alcoholic, still-teenage-acting mom trying to grow up and finally put down roots somewhere together. Then I’m working on a book with paranormal elements, that involves mythology and rock ‘n’ roll.

Kara hasn’t been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad-boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park….

Amid the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heartbreakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.

The blurb featured above doesn’t even come close to doing Ballads of Suburbia justice. This is not your regular dose of girl-meets-bad boy-but-finds-her-way-back-to-the-right-side-of-the-tracks kind of YA fiction. There is nothing censored, dusted over, or left out of this novel. I’m not even really sure you could classify this one as YA. Having said that, I think its something all angsty teens should read, and not because it has a ‘drugs are bad’ message, although it does, in a round about kind of way. Mostly, because it’s so real and I reckon there is a whole bunch of teens wandering around suburbs just like Oak Park, feeling just like Kara does, thinking there’s no escape. Ballads is a tale about choices and how those choices can affect us for the rest of our days.

Kara’s decent into darkness essentially starts when her parents split up. They moved to the suburbs so they could live out their happy all-American fantasy of being a perfect family, only it didn’t quite work out that way. Not even close.

Kara is hurting and she’s looking for someone, something to make it all stop. Her quest takes her to fairly innocent places at first. Alcohol, cigarettes, a bit of pot. And it works, for a while, but soon enough, the pain starts to push through the mask and she knows she’s going to need something new.

Enter Adrian. Who needs drugs when you’ve got Adrian? He’s sexy, badass, and he likes Kara. No one has ever liked her before, not in that way. Who wouldn’t be pulled in by his trance? Before long, though, it becomes obvious that Adrian is bad news. He’s into hard drugs and he’s unapologetic about it. Soon the high of being around him isn’t enough either, and Kara jumps on the junkie wagon.

What I loved about Ballads is that the narrative does not, in any way, lay blame on Adrian for Kara’s drug use. Although she goes through some seriously messed stuff, Kara makes a choice, a whole bunch of them actually, and the narrative recognises that the reason Kara becomes addicted to heroine is because she allowed herself to. She didn’t need Adrian’s influence – hell some could argue that he didn’t ever actually influence her to use, but he certainly never tried to stop her – her pain and despair was so great that if she hadn’t gotten it from Adrian, I’m certain she would have found it elsewhere.

Kara’s problems essentially started at home, though I don’t entirely believe its fair to blame her problems on her parents, either. For me, it seemed that Kara is the kind of girl that was always going to at least dabble in illicit substances. Would she have taken it to such extremes if her family life had been more stable? Who knows. It’s impossible to say, but there are plenty of kids from well adjusted families that end up as heroine junkies. For some, I think it comes from within. Ballads acknowledges this and lays it all out on the table, judgment free. I bet that every single person will take something different from this novel, and that’s why I think everyone should read it.

This one comes with one hell of a warning folks. If you’re looking for something warm and fuzzy, don’t read this book. If you’re looking for a teen romance that takes a walk on the wild side, don’t read this book. If you’re looking for something that ends up all good and well in the end, then don’t read this book. If what you’re looking for is a real life read that will break your heart, fill your eyes with tears, and force you to face the hard questions head on, then this is absolutely, most definitely the book for you. If you’re looking for a book with complex and deep characters, then this is the book for you. If you’re looking for a read that will keep you thinking long after you finish the last word, then Ballads of Suburbia is a must-read for you.

Kara’s tale is a raw, hard-hitting lesson on just how much guts it takes to fight your way from the dark side into the light. Stephanie Kuehnert’s effortless prose and outstanding imagery will leave you standing front and center, right in the middle of all Kara’s chaos.

Be prepared to have your beating heart ripped right out of your chest.

Rating::

P.S - If you’ve never known someone that’s affected by drugs the way Kara and some of her friends in this book are, I hope that you can look upon her story in a non-judging way. And if you, or someone you love has been kissed by drugs, then I hope you can take something of Kara with you into your days. Her story is more than just a fictional tale.

Ecstasy. I’d always thought I might try it one day. I’d heard kids at school talking about getting wasted on the weekends. They made it sound awesome. I pictured the roughly made tablets with their tiny butterflies. An amazing experience inside a tiny pill.

My body ached and my face was sore – I guess from smiling so much. I don’t remember ever laughing more. A new world had opened up for me, a place where I was confident and beautiful and a hot guy like Lewis wanted to be with me. That morning I figured life couldn’t get any better. How could something that made you feel like that be bad for you?

Meet Mia. She’s only just turned fifteen and she’s always been in Sophie’s shadow. Not that she minded, not really. Without Sophie, Mia wouldn’t have a social life. Without Sophie, Mia would probably be a nobody. So when Sophie takes Mia to a party one night and offers her an ecstasy tablet, Mia doesn’t even think about saying no. Before she even realises what is happening to her, Mia is flying high – and loving every minute of it. Armed with the artificial confidence the drug provides, Mia is invincible, and her newfound radiance does not go unnoticed.

Enter Lewis. Very hot. Sweet and charming as hell. Suddenly very interested in Mia. Lewis is no stranger to ecstasy. His parents are away a lot and Lewis is often left to fend for himself. It’s not hard to turn into a party animal when you’ve got no parental units to keep you in your cage. The more Mia hangs out with Lewis, the more ecstasy she takes. Before she even knows what is happening, Mia can’t socialize without it.

Slot in Sophie here. Sophie is supposed to be Mia’s best friend, but since she’s been hanging out with Lewis and his crew, she’s changed. Sophie can see what is happening to Mia, but when she tries to talk to her about it, Mia reckons that she’s just jealous and blows her off. Sophie has a whole lot of other stuff going on in her life and she really needs her best friend right now … but is that even Mia anymore?

In Ecstasy is all about the downward spiral. For Mia, its one that is fueled by drugs and an overarching need to fit in, feel popular and be loved. For Sophie, while it may have started like that for her, her painful journey takes a bit of a different turn. With both girls so disconnected, who is going to save them? Who is going to snap them back to their reality?

Kate McCaffrey’s portrayal of the drug scene is terrifyingly accurate.  If you’re thinking about taking drugs, or you know someone who may be thinking about it, reading something like In Ecstasy first might be a smart move. While Mia’s story isn’t applicable to everyone, and not everyone who takes drugs gets addicted, In Ecstasy is an excellent representation of what can happen if you do.

I can’t say that I enjoyed reading this, but I’m certainly glad that I did.

Rating::

It’s the first day of Term One, and Luke and Anna are on opposite sides of the student-teacher divide. School is the last thing Luke feels like - how can he feel halfway to good when his father is sick, his mother is sad and his older brother is painfully present?

Anna’s life still revolves around love, friendship and homework, but she’s a graduate teacher now. Can she cope with a bullying co-worker, a persistent ex-boyfriend and a class of unforgiving Year Elevens, and still find time to help Luke?

Luke is one depressed teenager, but if you ask me, he’s got pretty good reasons to be so down. His dad is sick – really sick – and life at their place just isn’t as peachy as it used to be. But that’s not where it stops. Luke has other problems, too, he just can’t figure out what they are. He’s got this awesome girlfriend, but he doesn’t want to be with her anymore. Why? No one knows – not even Luke. He’s got these awesome friends, but he keeps shutting them out. Why? No one knows – not even Luke.

Anna is graduate teacher, fresh out of university. Of course she’s worried about her first full time teaching position, but she never anticipated as many stumbling blocks as she encounters. For absolutely no reason at all, one of Anna’s superiors takes an instant disliking to her and does everything she can to ensure Anna’s first year on the job is anything but easy. Luckily for Anna, she’s got a wicked mentor assigned to her, who becomes more like a best friend than a colleague.

Then there’s the whole thing with Anna’s ex-boyfriend. He left town – and her – a while ago, but now he’s back. He’s back, and he wants Anna back too. Anna’s head screams run but he heart… well her heart tells her to stay. What does one do, when presented with such a scenario, especially when he hurt her so badly before?

Luke and Anna’s worlds collide when Luke walks into English at the beginning of the year. She’s his teacher, but by the end of the novel, they’ll mean more to each other than simply student and teacher. In a bizarre twist of fate, Anna’s sister is marrying Luke’s brother. Being intimately linked like that is weird for them at first, especially Luke, but as he gets to know Anna more, he stops thinking of her as his teacher and starts thinking of her as someone he could grow to trust, someone he could grow to care about.

Halfway to Good is narrated through both character’s perspectives. The advantage that this novel has over singularly narrated novels is that the dual narration concept leaves nothing to the imagination. Readers don’t need to assume anything because both stories are sprawled on the pages for all to see. It’s fantastic to see how Luke and Anna impact on each other’s lives, and I loved not having to draw my own conclusions for once. Interestingly, because Anna is older than Luke, her perspective provides a different kind of slant to the story, adds a certain depth that is sometimes lacking in regular YA fiction. I still think that teenage readers will be able to relate to Anna, though. She’s only a first year teacher and her thinking patterns aren’t too ancient that the kids wont get where she’s coming from.

Halfway too Good is a solid read, and one that enthusiasts of general, contemporary young adult fiction will love. I fell in love with both Luke and Anna, and I wanted so badly to help heal their aching souls. Narrated through both a male and a female perspective, this is one of those universal novels that I reckon both boys and gals will get into. Can’t get much better than that.

Rating: :

When the love of Anna’s life and recently acquired boyfriend dies tragically in a car accident, she isn’t sure how she’s supposed to go on with her life. The only problem is, she can’t really grieve the way she wants to because no one knows that they were an item, especially not her best friend who also happens to be his sister. Anna never told Frankie because he wanted to be the one that broke the news. Now he’s gone, she’s doing everything possible to protect their secret and respect his wishes.

Then Frankie’s parents invite Anna to come along on their annual family holiday to California in place of their beloved (and dead) son and brother. Not really wanting to let Frankie down, Anna accepts. But she’s nervous. Zanzibar Bay was Matt’s favorite place on earth. How will Anna cope being so close to something he loved so much, without him?

Then Frankie decides that this summer is going to be all about boys. A different boy each day, making it their twenty boy summer. For someone like Frankie, twenty boys in twenty days sounds fabulous, but for someone like Anna, there is only one boy. There has only ever been one boy, and the way she’s feeling right now, there won’t ever be another one, either. Being the good friend she is, though, Anna goes along with Frankie’s game, and she becomes very good at pretending she’s participating in Frankie’s little challenge, when really she’s just watching on.

But then they meet Sam and Jake and Anna realises that maybe she’d like to play the game after all. Not for twenty boys, because that’s totally uncharacteristic for a girl like her, but Sam is special enough that maybe she could play for one boy.

Things are running along smashingly until Frankie finds Anna’s journal, and all the letters she wrote to Matt, all the details of their private affair. And Frankie is livid. The girls have the showdown of their lives and they realise that the one thing they had in common might just be the very same thing that tears them apart.

I have to say, I really didn’t like Frankie. She’s shallow, ignorant, selfish and just plain annoying. I had real trouble understanding why someone like Anna – who is none of the aforementioned things – is friends with someone like Frankie. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Frankie isn’t a complex character, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about her enough to try and decode her mysteries. Anna, however, was a joy to get to know. I loved her flashbacks to her time with Matt and I could really feel her love and adoration for him. And when she met Sam, I really felt her conflict. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be scared of loving someone new for fear of forgetting the past, especially when the past is all you have left of someone.

Twenty Boy Summer is Sarah Ockler’s first novel and it has a very Sarah Dessen feel to it, which is a compliment of the highest kind. I can’t wait to see what she produces next.

Rating::

There are lots of interesting things about Beatle. His name isn’t really Beatle, for one, but the name ‘Beatle’ is a pretty fitting nickname, since his real name is actually John Lennon – for real. Beatle’s eccentric, astrological crazed mother is a huge fan of the pop group, The Beatles, and I reckon that’s all I need to say about that!

Another interesting thing about Beatle is the fact that he’s a twin, but he’s no ordinary twin. Beatle’s sister, Winsome, was born 45 days after Beatle, making her birthday fall on a completely different day, in a completely different year to Beatle’s. How many twins can say that about themselves?

And then there’s Beatle’s limp. Beatle had a stroke a couple of years ago and his gimp walk is something that is a constant reminder of his ordeal. A stroke sounds like something only old people experience, but Beatle is living proof that old people’s health problems can plague the youthful, too. I reckon all these things together make Beatle one pretty interesting character.

Then, on freaky Friday the 13th, in a remarkable twist of fate, Beatle meets Destiny, and his story gets even more interesting…

Destiny McCartney can’t freaking believe that this Beatle guy’s name is really John Lennon. I mean, come on, how trippy is that? He she is, Destiny McCartney, just minding her own business at the bus stop after a disastrous Friday afternoon, and along comes John Lennon. Of course, he’s not the real John Lennon – the musical genius – but you have to admit, it’s pretty freaky all the same. The irony is certainly not wasted on her, or him, for that matter.

There are lots of interesting things about Destiny, too. She’s the second youngest sibling in a family of nine kids. Although most of her siblings are in their twenties and beyond, a lot of them still live at home. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a house full of so much chaos!

Another interesting thing about Destiny is that she’s always up for a bit of fun. In a bout of boredom one afternoon, Destiny and her friends answer a ‘Stalker Wanted’ advertisement in their local newspaper, thinking that the person who paid for the advertisement is the one who wants a stalker, but then a whole bunch of crazy things start happening to Destiny and her family and she realises that maybe, just maybe, she’s made a huge mistake. What kind of person answers a ‘Stalker Wanted’ advertisement anyway?

The most interesting thing about Beatle and Destiny, though, is not how much they like each other, but how much their lives are already so intertwined, and they have absolutely no idea. Beatle and Destiny’s freak meeting on that uneventful Friday afternoon proves that maybe fate has a little more control over our lives than we really care to admit. Some people are just meant to be.

Beatle Meets Destiny is a belly aching, hilarious read. Destiny and Beatle are such unique characters and their story is like a breath of very fresh air. Set in Melbourne, Australia, Beatle and Destiny’s story flows effortlessly off the page into what felt like was a real-life drama. This is one book that I think would make a rocking, Indie Australian film. I hope someone out there in film-land thinks the same one day.

This is Gabrielle Williams first novel for young adult and I sincerely hope that it is not her last. I’d recommend this book to anyone, of any age, gender, or nationality.

Rating::

Elisabeth’s hand trembled as she lifted the jar of warm liquid. She wanted to run away and scream that it was all a mistake, but instead, she took a deep breath and poured her urine over the plastic pregnancy tester. A few drops spilt on the bathroom tiles.

She shivered, it was so unfair. They’d only done it a few times and it hadn’t even been that good. Not like it was in books or movies. She looked at her watch and crossed her fingers as her brother rattled the door handle.

‘I’m busy!’ she yelled.

‘All right, keep your hair on.’ He walked away. Then the blue lines appeared. Elisabeth stared at the tester and knew that now she had to make a choice.

When seventeen-year-old Elisabeth falls pregnant, she has a tough choice to make: keep the baby, or make alternative arrangements. Choices represents possible outcomes for both scenarios. Libby’s narration shows readers how Elisabeth copes with life after choosing to keep the baby, and Beth’s narration shows readers how Elisabeth’s life turns out after she has an abortion. So let’s talk about both perspectives…

When Libby’s parents flip out after learning about her pregnancy (and her desire to keep the baby), life becomes very tense at Libby’s house. She realises that she can’t live there for too much longer, not if she wants to have a healthy, stress free environment to bring up her baby. So, when Darren – Libby’s boyfriend, and the father of her baby -  tells his parents, although they’re awfully disappointed and angry with them both, they at least offer to help. They set Darren and Libby up in an apartment and Libby sets about finishing school via correspondence. Sounds kind of perfect considering the situation, right?

Right.

When the baby – little Daniella – comes along, Libby and Darren realise just how hard their lives have become. Darren starts his first year at uni while Libby is stuck at home with a screaming infant, no support, and no clue how to raise a child. Is life so perfect now? I think not.

Mixed into all that is Beth’s story. Same girl, different nickname. Same pregnancy, different outcome. Beth doesn’t tell Darren that she’s pregnant and takes herself off to the clinic to take care of the whole thing. Darren’s not stupid, though, and he knows something is up. He never really mentions anything about it, and just sends her an envelope of cash and a small, apologetic note. Soon after, he starts dating another girl and Beth starts on a path of self-destruction. Not eating and vomiting when she does eat becomes common practice for Beth. But her story isn’t all bad. She goes to uni (which is something Libby does not do) and she makes new friends, participating in all kinds of teenage rites of passage. Beth’s life ends up following a very different path to Libby’s.

This technique of narrating two scenarios through the same character is extremely well done. The experience of falling pregnant changes Elisabeth, and the decision(s) she makes about the outcome changes her even more. Personally, I actually ended up liking the Elisabeth that has the baby more than the version of her who didn’t – and that has absolutely nothing to do with her actual decision to keep her child (I’m not pro-life, I’m pro-choice). I didn’t like the girl that Beth became: the moods, the destructive behaviour. While I understand an abortion is a huge thing for a teenager to process, I felt like shaking her and screaming at her that it was her choice, deal with it!

If you’re interested in reading about teen pregnancy scenarios, then this book is definitely one you should read. I enjoyed it entirely, even the bits that frustrated me and made me want to shake the character

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Alex Sanchez is the author of many young adult books featuring queer characters and relationships. His books have won many awards and he is regarded as one of the most popular and influential writers of fiction for gay youth. Some of his titles include The Rainbow Boys trilogy, The God Box, So Hard to Say, and Getting It. His latest novel, Bait, is in stores now. In celebration of Gay Pride Month, Alex was kind enough to sit down and answer a few of our questions. Here’s what he had to say…

What made you decide to write books about gay teens?

I didn’t set out to write Y.A. Lit. When I wrote my first novel, Rainbow Boys, I was simply writing the book I wished I’d had available to read when I was a teen—a book that would’ve told me, “It’s okay to be who you are.” Part of who I was then was a very normal teenage boy trying to sort out love, friendship, sex, and sexuality.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing with your life?

Prior to becoming a full-time author, I worked as a website manager, organizational development consultant, juvenile probation officer, family counselor, scuba instructor, college recruiter, movie projectionist, agent trainee, movie production assistant, theatre usher, stock clerk, and tour guide. Who knows what else I might be doing?

We’re featuring The Rainbow Boys trilogy on our site this month for Gay Pride Month. Where did the inspiration for those books come about?

A lot of the inspiration came from seeing young people nowadays who have the courage and opportunity to come out and be themselves in high school. When I was in high school, the term “coming out” didn’t even exist. The early 70’s was a time when gay people were practically invisible. I thought I was the only one in the world with my feelings. This was back in the dark ages—before Will & Grace.

Which character – Jason, Kyle, or Nelson – came to you first?

I began writing the book in 1993, so I don’t remember which character came first. I wanted to write a love story between two teenage boys—that’s where Jason and Kyle came from. And I wanted to write about the friendship between two boys—that’s where Kyle and Nelson’s story came from. The triangle between the three boys is what makes the story hang together.

Why did you decide to write this series through three different points of view, rather than just one character’s perspective?

I wanted to allow the reader to experience how three very different gay and bisexual teenage boys experience the world differently.

Do you have a favourite out of the three boys?

Each boy captures an aspect of myself—and of universal human drives. Jason struggles to love himself. Kyle wants to find someone to love. Nelson wants to find someone to love him.

Jason loses his college scholarship when he comes out. Do you think this kind of thing is still a common occurrence in modern America?

Unfortunately, homophobia is alive and pervasive in America. I recently received the following words in an email from a boy who came out at his school:  “I ended up getting kicked off of like five activities. And I didn’t make the football, basketball, or baseball team even though I was captain in all three my junior year. And I wasn’t sure whether they’re allowed to do that. I mean, I’m not a bad athlete or anything.”

What do you have to say to teens that might be in Jason’s position?

Keep reaching out.  Never close up.  Never give up.  Hang in there.  You will get through this.  You are a wonderful human being.  Love, respect, and accept yourself for the beautiful soul you are.

While all three boys in The Rainbow Boys eventually come out, and are relatively happy with their decision to do so, not all teens are so lucky. What advice do you have for teens that might be struggling with coming out?

Coming out can be a very freeing thing. You no longer have to hide who you are, censor what your say, and watch what you do. Being honest and open enables you to feel confident about yourself and more able to form closer relationships with people. But because homophobia is so pervasive in our society, you never know how others will react. A big part of coming out is whether you’re prepared to deal with anti-gay reactions that may come from your being open. There is no rush to come out. TAKE YOUR TIME. The most important thing is that YOU love and accept yourself for who you are. Don’t do anything before you feel ready. It’s your life and your choice. Only you can decide if, how, with whom, and when to come out.

Where can questioning or gay teens find information that might help them through their self-discovery?

If you’re a teen and want to talk with someone, contact one of the organizations listed at my website, www.alexsanchez.com. And read all my books! They will help you.

Peace, Alex.

For the month of June, yaReads will be featuring books and resources specifically for gay and lesbian teens and readers of gay and lesbian teen books. This is the first of many reviews that are scheduled to appear this month. Rainbow Boys is the first book in a three part series.

Jason Carrillo is one very confused kid. On the one hand, he’s got it made. He’s the star of the basketball team and is most likely heading to college on a basketball scholarship. He pulls good grades and he’s also got one killer hot girlfriend. He’s been dating Debra for almost two years now and everyone thinks they’re the ultimate golden couple. That would all be totally perfect if it weren’t for one thing: Jason thinks he’s gay. To some kids, that might not be a problem, but for Jason it’s the mother of all problems. You see, Jason’s dad is seriously homophobic and Jason knows that his father would never accept a gay son. Life at home is already hard enough, what with the way his parents fight all the time, and Jason doesn’t want to cause his mother any additional stresses on top of the ones she’s already dealing with. And what about the kids at school, his friends, and his team mates? How would they react to his being gay? Life for Jason is painfully confusing.

But then he starts hanging out with Kyle. Kyle is gay – and everyone knows it. Kyle is soft and kind but also fiercely protective of his and his own. Kyle believes that he shouldn’t have to hide who he is … so he doesn’t. He’s also had a huge crush on Jason Carrillo for ages, so when Jason starts hanging out with him, Kyle can’t believe his luck. He didn’t even know Jason was gay, but he showed up at the gay youth group meeting so he has to be, right? Well, he sure hopes so. Suddenly, Kyle decides to make it his business and he provides a safe, comfortable space for Jason to be honest with himself about who he is. The events which unfold leave Kyle feeling a little spellbound.

Nelson, however, is less than happy about Jason’s appearance in Kyle’s life. Nelson and Kyle have been besties forever, not to mention Nelson has been in love with Kyle for almost as long as they’ve been friends. But Nelson isn’t like Kyle and he’s not like Jason, either. He’s an individual of great colour and personality who is totally unapologetic about everything and anything. Nelson is emotionally rock solid. He refuses to let people pierce his rainbow heart, but how will he deal with this new third wheel that seems to be entering his precious twosome?

As their worlds collide, Rainbow Boys documents the events with profound emotional maturity. Alex Sanchez is a gifted writer whose vibrant, dynamic characters and keep-it-simple prose will have readers turning the pages at an impressive rate. I read Rainbow Boys in just a couple of hours, and then went straight back to the beginning and started again. Because each character is at a different stage of their emotional development, there is something for almost any adolescent reader. While these boys are quite clearly gay, I believe the messages that are delivered are universal ones applicable to all society regardless of sexuality. Gay kids need more resources like this available to them, and straight kids need access to more books like this so they too can understand, love and respect gay people and their relationships in the same way that straight people expect society to treat their relationships.

The message is simple folks – peace, love, unity and respect.

Seven months ago on a rainy March night, Willow Randall’s parents drank too much wine at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it – Willow lost control of the car, and both of her parents were killed.

Now seventeen, Willow has left behind her old home, friends, and school – numbing the grim reality of her new life by secretly cutting herself. But everything changes when one of Willow’s new classmates, a boy as sensitive and thoughtful as she is, discovers Willow’s secret and refuses to let her destroy herself.

Before I say anything else, let me say that this is a very intense novel. I’ve never been a cutter but one of my friends at school dabbled in it for a while. I didn’t understand her and I don’t really understand Willow. I can’t get my head around the concept of causing oneself physical pain to ease inner pain. That, however, doesn’t mean that I didn’t sympathise with Willow in this novel. If anything, my inability to understand her position only stimulated my desire to keep reading, hoping that the novel might help me understand her by the end. As a non-cutter, I can’t say that Willow actually provided me with any greater understanding of why cutters do this to themselves. I can, however, say that after reading this novel I stand behind Guy’s (her male friend that intervenes) decision to do everything in his power to help her, to show her that there are other ways she can release her pain.

Guy is an interesting character. He hardly knows Willow yet it is very clear that he feels some kind of draw to her immediately. I often wondered if he hadn’t fallen for her immediately, would he have been so interested in saving her? I would like to think that he would have, but how will we ever know?

On that note, I’d just like to say that this isn’t a teen romance. Guy does not come in and sweep Willow off her feet and then suddenly she is cured of her cutting. Guy suffers greatly through his initial friendship with Willow and struggles with his conscious a lot through the novel. He’s a strong character that simply tries really hard to show Willow that she doesn’t actually want to hurt herself that way. Willow saves herself. Guy just shows her that she actually wants to.

Julia Hoban will strike a chord with many teens and adult readers everywhere with this one. Whether or not cutting is something you understand, you’ll be unable to stop reading. If for nothing else, you’ll want to know whether Willow actually destroys herself. I’m not going to tell you what happens because I think that would ruin the read for you, but I am going to tell you that this is one hell of an uncomfortable read. I hope that someone somewhere reads this and realises that whatever they’re going through, it doesn’t have to be a lonely one. There is help out there, even if you think you don’t need it or you don’t want it.

Willow speaks for itself. I don’t feel like I need to, or even that I should comment on its contents or outcomes. Read the novel and decide for yourself.

Rating: :

James is eighteen. He’s been accepted to Brown University and he’s got the whole world in front of him. Except that he doesn’t want the whole world, and he certainly doesn’t want to go to Brown. James isn’t like other boys his age. He doesn’t fit in, or at least, he doesn’t want to fit in. He finds kids his own age annoying, shallow. The thought of sitting through four years of college with other kids his age is like a nightmare to him.

So what does a kid who is smart enough to have been accepted to Brown want to do with his life if not go to college? James wants to move to the Midwest. Buy a house and just get a regular old job. He wants a porch where he can read, sleep and be alone.

James’s parents don’t understand him, and his mother tells him this one more than one occasion. His father is a high flying business executive that has very little time for his parental responsibilities and James’s mother is a bit of an artsy fartsy hair brain that can’t hold down any kind permanent, stable relationships. James looks at his parents and wants the opposite of what they have.

This is one of those novels where not a lot happens, kind of like Seinfeld episode. It’s a novel about nothing but it’s completely unputdownable. James is a quirky character and from the beginning of the novel it’s clear that he’s an unhappy person. I was eager to discover the source of his unhappiness. Maybe this is why I kept reading so incessantly. I can’t say with certainty that the root of his problems is divulged, but I don’t think the reader is supposed to walk away with a sense of finality after reading this book.

Peter Cameron writes beautifully and his characters – even those that are deeply flawed – are intelligent and engaging. This is one of those rare highbrow real literary young adult novels and I recommend it to all. It’s not chick lit; there is no Edward Cullen found within its pages but it’s definitely worth your money and your time. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You is one of those universal novels that will appeal to both male and female readers everywhere. Cameron is a supremely talented author and he will have you thinking about the deeper roots of humanity without even realising it.

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Celeste has body image issues, but its no surprise considering she cops it everywhere she goes. At school the kids constantly taunt her about her body and at home she’s in the shadow of her two cousins who are so beautiful that they’re model material – literally. Her cousin Kathleen has been entering herself in beauty pageants for ages now, and Kirsten is a supreme athlete. Celeste is … well, Celeste is just Celeste.

Then one day, Celeste’s Aunt secretly enters her into a plus-sized modelling competition. Celeste’s mother is overjoyed and thinks this is just what Celeste needs, but Celeste doesn’t agree. Don’t they understand how the kids at school will treat her if they see her modelling for a plus-sized clothing company? It would be the most humiliating thing ever, and Celeste isn’t sure she’ll survive it. So she devises a plan to spoil her chances of being selected. You can’t be a plus sized model if you’re not plus sized, right?

Right.

So Celeste decides that in order to preserve her dignity, it might be time to step away from the cookies, just for now. She embarks on a weight loss plan and is determined to lose enough weight so that the judges will think she’s not big enough for their competition.

Losing weight is hard. Actually, it bites the big one – badly. Apples are not nearly as interesting as cookies, not even close.

Celeste has other problems, too. Her long time best friend seems to have ditched her for the most popular girl in school – who also happens to be Celeste’s enemy number one. How will Celeste deal with this rejection on top of everything else?

Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies raises some interesting discussion points about body image. As Celeste begins to lose weight, everything in her life seems to fall into place. I have some pretty firm opinions about body image and when I was reading this I actually found myself feeling a little irritated that Celeste’s happiness increased as a direct result of her weight loss. I found myself asking ‘what kind of message does this send to the kids of the world?’ But I realised that because of my own views on the subject, I approached the novel with a very closed mind. Models has a whole stack of really important messages that I think are worth a detailed discussion. For example, yes, Celeste’s life does get better the smaller she becomes but she never lets herself become obsessed with dieting and it is important to note that she ends up at a much healthier body weight at the end of the novel. I think its important to realise that there are important messages about inner health woven into the text as well as messages about body image. If you approach the text with a body-image mindset only, you’re likely to be unsatisfied with the end result. You need to read it as a multi-faceted text, because that’s exactly what it is. While it may seem that Celeste’s family approach her weight-loss from a superficial perspective, if you read a little closer you’ll see that they’re all about Celeste’s health and mental well-being.

Models is like a really pretty dress made from two tone colour fabric: pretty and fresh whichever way you look at it.

Like with any novel that approaches a sensitive subject like this one, I’m sure anyone that reads it is going to want to discuss it somewhere. I am chomping at the bit to talk to someone about this so we’ve decided that we’re going straight to the source. We’re in the process of interviewing Erin Dionne about her novel and her views on the issue of health and body image. Stay tuned for more.

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We recently asked Maggie Stiefvater, author of the popular fey book Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception if she would be interested in reviewing one of her own fave YA novels. Maggie chose Saving Francesca by Australian author, Melina Marchetta.

This morning, my mother didn’t get out of bed.

So begins SAVING FRANCESCA, the story of Francesca, one of the few girls going to St. Sebastian’s, a previously all-boys school. The joys of going to St. Sebastian’s are numerous: the sounds of musical burping and farting echoing through the halls, male-centered theater picks, and the general feeling of living in a fishbowl as the thirty girls go about their business amongst the seven-hundred-and-fifty boys who also attend the school.

But this is only sort of a book about being a girl in a boys’ school. It’s a fact that needles Francesca, but not as much as it needles Tara Finke, a slightly hilarious feminist schoolmate, and certainly not as much as it needles Francesca’s mother, Mia. Mia is a vivacious, passionate, take-no-prisoners sort of person, and Francesca has been living in her shadow for her entire life — until the beginning of the novel, when Mia doesn’t get out of bed.

When Mia’s sudden and all-encompassing depression leaves her bedridden, Francesca floats adrift, not realizing how much she had used the framework of Mia’s beliefs — the ones she didn’t believe in just as much as the ones she did — to live her life. Though Francesca’s narrating voice is bright and entertaining, the reader soon sees through her actions that she is, as the title suggests, definitely in need of saving.

Lest this all start to sound rather heavy, depressing, and angsty, I have to mention here that this novel is not what you expect. It is whimsical and occasionally laugh-out-loud, pulling you from the darker moments for some well-earned humor before returning you to some poignant observation.

One of my favorite parts of the entire book is the relationships between the couples. Francesca’s mother and father have a relationship that feels real and familiar; I identified very strongly with pre-depression Mia and thought their dialogue was just pitch-perfect. Francesca’s changing feelings toward the other characters is portrayed so beautifully and subtly through the close first-person point of view that I completely bought her disdain to crush to love relationship progression.

And yet I know that no matter how I describe the plot and characters of this book, I’m not conveying how much I love it. It’s that rare breed of literary novel that is nearly impossible to sum up tidily and yet still manages to drag the reader through the pages in happy captivity, in love with the prose and charmed by the dialogue and sighing with the slow twists of the plot as Francesca slowly saves herself.

I haven’t read Melina Marchetta’s JELLICOE ROAD yet, but based upon SAVING FRANCESCA, I’m not at all surprised that it just won the Printz.

She saw me and I could see the smile overcome her lips.
My pulse quickened.
It burned in my throat, as slowly, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the tiger shell and placed it gently onto the jacket where all the money was strewn.
I place it there, and the sun hit it, and just as I was about to turn around and make my way back through the crowd, the music stopped.
In the middle of the song, it was cut short.
The world was silent and I turned again to look up at a girl who stood completely still above me.

According to his family, Cameron Wolfe is a bit of a lonely bastard. He’s never had a girlfriend, never even been touched by a girl, in fact. But he thinks about it all the time. He watches on as his older brother, Rube, brings home girl after girl only to use them up and throw them away. Cameron reckons Rube needs to learn a thing or two about how to treat women, but what would he know? He’s never had a single date in his life.

The thing about Cam is, he really is a bit of a lonely bastard. Apart from the no-girl thing, Cam doesn’t have too many friends either. In fact, his friend count is down around the zero mark (unless you count his family members and the fluffy Pomeranian pooch next door). I never really did understand why he’s such a loner, though. Sure, he’s pensive and severely introverted, but not in a bad way, and certainly not so much that I can’t imagine no one liking him. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he seems to have the human compassion thing down pat. He’s a gentle, poetic kid that is just underestimated by everyone around him.

Then he finds Octavia – or rather Rube finds Octavia, has his way with her and discards her like all the rest. Octavia is beautiful, smart, and seems to be a really deep kind of gal. And when Cam finds out that Octavia actually has the hots for him, he nearly doesn’t believe it. Why would someone that went out with Rube be interested in him? Cam and Rube are nothing alike, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to Cam. But then he realises – Rube and Octavia aren’t really anything alike, either, and that’s when he sees a little but of Octavia Ash in himself. Their romance is touching in an unconventional kind of way.

Cameron Wolfe is a simple kid whose unique way of looking at the world will warm your heart from the inside out. He’s fiercely loyal, and smart where it really counts. He understands that family is one of the most important things a boy could have, even with all their faults.
When Dogs Cry isn’t one of those teen romance novels that focus on beating hearts and sweaty palms. It goes deeper than that and focuses on why people are attracted to each other in the first place. It’s raw in an enigmatic kind of way and I found it simply impossible to put down.

Markus Zusak proves yet again, that he is a literary mastermind; When Dogs Cry is a force to be reckoned with.

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If I had a cheerleading uniform and a pair of pom poms, I’d break them out right now so I could show David Levithan and Rachel Cohn just how much I love their work. I’d cheer, I’d jump, hell I might even attempt some of those crazy backward flip things. I’d definitely concoct a cheesy rhyme that I could shout at the top of my lungs that outlines my enthusiasm and appreciation. Yes, I’d go to THAT much effort.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (their first collaborative novel) was so supremely perfect that I didn’t think David and Rachel could do much better than that. I mean, how can you top perfection? You can’t, right? Wrong. Apparently perfection now holds a new name, and it sounds a little something like Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List.

Ely and Naomi have been friends forever. They live in the same apartment block and couldn’t be closer if they tried. They’ve got so much in common that they even like all the same boys. Yes folks, Ely is gay. So in order to protect their friendship against possible crush conflicts, Naomi and Ely devise a No Kiss List – a list of people that are off limits to both of them, under all circumstances. This works very well for them both, and life couldn’t be better.

Until Ely kisses Bruce The Second, Naomi’s supposedly straight boyfriend.

Because it’s the right thing to do, Ely tells Naomi and, not surprisingly, all hell breaks loose. For the first time in the history of The Ely and Naomi Show, the pair finds themselves experiencing some serious trouble in paradise. Things get nasty, they stop speaking and suddenly the No Kiss List no longer applies. All bets are off, every gay boy and straight girl for themselves.

Although the title suggests otherwise, this book is not entirely and exclusively about Naomi and Ely. Each chapter is told through a different character’s perspective, which adds a whole host of different tones and complexities to navigate. But it’s a good thing, and gives the novel depth. For example, through Naomi’s eyes, Bruce the Second is kind of boring and actually presents as a little two-dimensional. However, when Bruce the Second is actually given his own voice, readers step inside his head only to discover that he is adorable, smart, and kinda crazy about Ely. Cue violin music now, please. I found it very easy to forgive him for the terrible way things end between him and Naomi.

And then there’s Gabriel, who through Naomi’s eyes, is pretty much just a piece of eye candy, and through Ely’s eyes, is just the big-eared doorman. But when Gabriel finally gets his chance to narrate, readers learn that he’s deep, poetic and sensitive in a new aged kind of way. And man, does the boy have eclectic taste in music (which he is disappointed to learn, Naomi does not share). There’s also Bruce the First, Kelly, and the Robins.

Switching between characters so frequently means that you’ll never get bored reading this book because each character has a new agenda, a different purpose in the story. The one thing they do share in common, however, is Naomi and Ely, and everybody’s individual journeys are somehow linked to the Great Break Up of Ely and Naomi. Interestingly enough, I also think the constant switching between characters highlights just how limiting first person narration really can be. Naomi and Ely’s perceptions of the other characters are often unfair, or just plain incorrect.

There are some seriously touching AWWWWWW kind of moments in this story, but there are also a whole stack of humorous ones too. In fact, in several places I laughed so hard I had to put my book down, wipe the corner of my eye, and take a deep breath. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List is pure quality entertainment, in the strongest, most emphatic sense of the word.

Cohn and Levithan write together brilliantly, and their enthusiasm for their work shines on every single page, through every single tiny, insignificant word. Their characters are so real, so alive, that I think I saw Ely at my local Starbucks last night. For the record, Bruce the Second wasn’t with him, but a very loud-mouthed, jaw dropingly gorgeous girl was. Defintely Naomi, for sure.

Rating::

John Green is no stranger to praise. His previous novels, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines scored much recognition, and won many awards. The hype surrounding his new novel, Paper Towns, is huge. Everyone knows someone that has read it, or knows someone who wants to read it. So when I picked up the three hundred odd page novel I had super high expectations. That’s the problem with expectations: as soon as you expect something, you’re almost always going to be disappointed. And I was, but not for any reason that I can justify. I think I thought it was going to be breathtakingly mesmerising from the very first word. In all the hysteria, I forgot that a novel needs to lay its foundations and introduce its characters to the reader before any kind of connection or relationship is achieved. Once I remembered all these things, I let my preconceived ideas dissipate and found myself really enjoying everything Paper Towns had to offer.

Paper Towns is narrated through Quentin’s point of view. His neighbour – and long time crush – Margo Roth Speigelman has a thing for running away from home. When she disappears again, everyone is upset, but no one is surprised. Only this time it is different, and Quentin thinks Margo wants him to find her. He uncovers some clues, which he believes she deliberately planted for him, and begins piecing all of them together. While Quentin spends the final months of his senior year looking for Margo, the rest of his friends spend their final months preparing for prom and revelling in the fact that their high school days are finally numbered. Quentin becomes totally consumed with finding Margo and misses out on all kinds of experiences (like graduation) as he follows dead end lead, after dead end lead. He starts to wonder all kinds of crazy things, like whether or not he’ll find her alive, or whether he’ll ever find her at all.

Quentin is an incredibly likeable character. He’s compassionate, dedicated to his cause, and everybody’s best friend. Margo, on the other hand, I found harder to care about. Although she is gone for a lot of the novel, readers learn a lot about her through the clues that Quentin uncovers on his journey. From my vantage point, Margo is conceited, superficial, melodramatic and not worthy of Quentin’s affections at all. I found myself wishing that he’d stop looking for her and just let himself enjoy the last few months of high school with his friends. But if I’m honest with myself, Quentin’s supreme dedication to find her, dead or alive, is one of the characteristics that I admired about him most.

In the end, although none of them really think they’re going to find her, all of Quentin’s friends forfeit their graduation ceremony so they can accompany him on a last ditched effort to follow a lead. They end up in a car headed for New York. It’s during this trip that readers are really exposed to the true strengths of friendships, relationships, love and loss. The road trip to New York is my favorite part of the novel and I found myself re-reading several pages because I was so touched by some of the words and actions of the individual characters. I’m not going to tell you whether they actually find Margo or not, because that would ruin the ending for you all. But I am going to tell you that I think Margo is someone that will always run, will always look for the quickest escape route when anything gets tough. She’s one of those girls that lack the strength of character to look life in the face and deal with its raw and brutal consequences.

This was my first experience reading a John Green novel and I can happily say that it will not be my last. There is a little something for everyone in this novel, with action, drama, romance and real life experiences and emotions spread across its pages for all to absorb. yaReads give you two very big thumbs up, John Green. Two very big thumbs indeed!

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I am speechless. Numb.

I just finished reading Jay Asher’s debut novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, and although my brain is buzzing, I can’t seem to find my words. So I’m going to ramble of a bunch of statistics, which hopefully, will highlight the gravity of the issue Asher deals with in his novel.

Did you know:

Approximately 8 in every 100 000 people aged between 15 and 24 in the United States commit suicide every year.

Among 15-19 year old Australians, suicide accounted for a total of 85 registered deaths in 2004, at a rate of 6.2 per 100,000 people (7.5 for males, 4.8 for females). Suicide accounted for 15.2% of total male deaths and 17.1% of total female deaths registered in this age group (source: Suicides, Australia, 1994 to 2004. ABS, 2006).

Teen suicide is often attributed to drug and alcohol abuse, poor family situations, extreme trouble at school, mental illness. Sometimes, pinpointing a reason why someone kills themselves is impossible and friends and family of the deceased live out the rest of their days wondering why, what – if anything – they could have done to help.

In Thirteen Reasons Why, readers are given a detailed blow-by-blow account of Hanna Baker’s journey towards death. Before she dies, she records her story on a set of audio tapes. She devises a plan to make sure that everyone featured on the tapes receives them, and listens to every single word she says.

When Clay receives the tapes, he doesn’t know what they are at first. But after listening for only a couple of moments, the realisation that he is in possession of Hanna Bakers last words, and that he is somehow part of her downward spiral is a sobering thought indeed. Clay listens, not just because he wants to learn about his role, but because it was Hanna’s last dying wish that everyone that receives the tapes, listens to them in full.

Clay always had a thing for Hanna Baker, but they’d only made out once, so what could he possibly have done to contribute to her decision to kill herself? As Clay is listening, often with tears streaming down his face, he realises that his failure was unavoidable. Sure, he could have tried harder to get through to Hanna in her time of need, but she pushed him away – and how can you help someone that doesn’t want to be helped?

Some of the events that unfold in Hanna’s tale are really quite horrific, and I found myself questioning the very essence of human nature over and over. How could these kids do these kinds of things to each other? Can’t they see that their actions, their words, all come with consequences? Or maybe they do know, but just don’t care? Reading Thirteen Reasons Why made me realise that I’m either a very naïve person, or I’ve lead a very sheltered life (quite possibly a combination of both). Teenagers can be the cruellest creatures on Earth.

Foresight is not a characteristic commonly employed by the characters in this novel. From the those that contributed to her demise, right through to Hanna actually committing suicide, no one looked past the now. Would Bryce have done the things he did if he knew it would lead to Hanna ultimately deciding that she couldn’t live with herself anymore? Maybe Clay would have stayed in the room longer, maybe Justin wouldn’t have started that rumor. Maybe. But maybe not, too.

Hanna herself was guilty of lacking foresight. She couldn’t see past her immediate problems, couldn’t see that her life wasn’t necessarily always going to be at the whim of the idiots she went to school with. But I argue that she couldn’t see these things because she didn’t try. She didn’t want to see a life beyond what she knew. The question then stands, then, if the combination of events Hanna blames as the source of her desire to die, hadn’t happened, would she have found other reasons to justify her death? Was it set in her brain, programmed from birth? It’s a difficult question to answer and one that often gets asked in the wake of a successful suicide attempt.

Teen Suicide is not an issue to be taken lightly, so I was happy to see Jay Asher dealing with Hanna’s death in a responsible, accurate manner. Thirteen Reasons Why is written in simple, straight-forward language. As this is Asher’s debut novel, it’s hard to tell whether such a technique was intentional or is just the product of his natural writing style. But it works, very well. Hanna’s story is profound enough that it does not need the help of colourful language to get the message across. Asher captures the essence of the teenage mind brilliantly, providing a captivating, raw tale with lessons about humankind for all.

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Parker Prescott is in love. The only problem is, she just broke up with the boy in question and now she’s realised that she made a huge mistake. She’s pretty sure he’d still take her back, but what about the reason they broke up in the first place? He was getting way too pushy about the whole sex thing and Parker wanted to wait till he told her that he loved her before doing the deed. But now she wants him back so badly that she thinks she’s willing to go all the way, and not just for him either; Parker craves his body, his lips and his hands.

One day he shows up at her house when her family is out, and the hanky panky starts. Parker allows him to handcuff her to a chair in her father’s office, and as he’s unbuttoning her shirt and loosening her bra, Parker’s mother and father get home early, busting them in the act. Parker is grounded indefinitely, and so starts the beginning of all her problems.

Marion Hennessy – Parker’s arch nemesis – is out to get Parker, and writes a whole bunch of nasty, untrue stuff about Parker and her man on her blog. Everyone reads it and suddenly Parker’s relationship is the centre of speculation and gossip. To make things worse, Parker realises that she has some very hot competition. Kandace – Marion’s friend – has it bad for Parker’s man and is doing everything in her power to steal his affections. This launches Parker into a world of self-doubt and unrest. Will Parker sleep with her boyfriend to keep him, or will wait until she gets what she wants from him first?

Being inside Parker’s head was a real pleasure, for very odd reasons. Parker is an ordinary girl. She’s smart, but she’s average looking. She’s a bit of a wallflower and certainly not part of the popular crowd, but her boyfriend is. I really love that the girl-next-door, the girl that no one thought would snag the most desirable and sought after boy in school, does. However, what I like about Parker Prescott the most, is that she could be me, or you, or the girl sitting next to you. This gives hope to all ordinary girls everywhere that they can do, and have, what they want too. Parker makes ordinary look extraordinary.

Parker’s character surreptitiously highlights some important issues for teen girls everywhere. Because everyone else wants to date her boyfriend, Parker is constantly questioning his motives. The gossip often gets the better of her and every now and then she finds herself believing the gossip articles about her that appear on Marion’s blog. Is there really a bet out on her virginity; is that the real reason why he wants to sleep with her. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t said he loves her yet. Is he sleeping with Kandace behind her back, as Marion wants her to believe? Parker lacks self-confidence, which is a big problem that a lot of teens face today. If Parker were more sure of herself she’d be able to have more faith in her allure, more faith in her man. Like so many girls, Parker can’t see her own assets because she is blinded by everyone else’s best characteristics. Handcuffs highlights the complexities of navigating your way through the day-to-day problems associated with attending high school; I don’t know a single person on the entire planet that can’t relate to that in some way or another.

Readers never learn what Parker’s boyfriend’s name actually is. Parker never says it, nor do any of the other characters in the novel. I really like this technique, as it allowed me to shape my own version of him. Because he is nameless, because there are very few physical descriptions given, readers can construct him in their own desirable terms. I found myself questioning his movtives, as Parker did, but just like Parker, I was unable to hate him. Ultimately, I wanted him as much as she does. As the novel comes to a close, readers are exposed to the truth; I was biting my nails all the way till the end.

Handcuffs is Bethany Griffin’s first novel and she captures the essence of adolescence superbly. Her characters are believable, raw, honest and absolutely engaging. Teenage girls everywhere will be able to relate to Parker’s pain and angst, her self-doubt and her hormonal desires. yaReads offers a huge round of applause to Bethany Griffin for an awesome debut novel. We look forward to more work from her in the future.

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Being a novel about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone comes with an explicit content warning, as all good rock ‘n’ roll stories should. It is the tale of Emily Black, a messed up teenager from Carlisle that channels herself through her guitar.

Emily is one of those tortured artist types. When she was just a baby, her mother left her with her father to ‘follow the dream’ and chase the punk scene around the country. Now Emily is a teenager and her mother still has not returned. Although she won’t admit it, Emily is hurting and she’s angry – very angry. She is feisty, cold, incapable of loving, and charged with way too much self-confidence. She’s got a vile mouth and she’s one of those teenagers that get involved in adult things way too early. She lost her virginity at fourteen, she first got drunk at twelve, she smokes, takes drugs and sleeps around.

Emily’s life goal is to make music. She doesn’t have a backup plan because she doesn’t need one; she’s going to make it as a rock star and that’s all there is to it. Luckily her best friend is the best drummer Emily has ever met, and together they’re practically unstoppable. They recruit Tom – a kid from the school band – to play bass and before they know it they’ve got interstate gigs, and people are calling out their names on the street.

Sounds very glamorous and feel-good, right? Wrong. There is nothing feel-good about this novel. Its edgy, hard and I squirmed uncomfortably as I flipped through the pages. As painstaking as that was, I was unable to stop reading. Emily is such an emotionally closed character and her pain weighed heavily on my heart all the way through.

The novel also follows Louisa – Emily’s mother – on her journeys around the country. The victim of a horrible crime, Louisa runs far and wide so she doesn’t have to emotionally process what happened to her. I’m sure many readers will feel sorry for Louisa as they engage in her story, yet I found myself unable to do so. She’s weak, whiny, and cowardly. Her reasons for leaving her family behind are a little pathetic and completely unforgivable.

Kuehnert’s love for music bleeds from the pages of this book. Her knowledge is extensive and her passion is blindingly obvious. As far as debut novels go, this one is pretty spectacular. Kuehnert’s prose is strong and she manipulates the English language like Emily manipulates her guitar: perfectly and poetically. Her characters are vibrant, three dimensional, and complex; and they prove that even bad girls make for excellent literary reads. Relating to Emily was difficult, but empathising with her was not.

If you love music, if you like your books a little on the rusty, edgy side, if you enjoy reading about strong, angsty female characters, then I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone is the novel for you. We give it two very big thumbs up here at yaReads and we can’t wait for whatever comes next from Stephanie Kuehnert.

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