Shelf Life

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California Young Reader Medal Finalist 2009-2010
Deanna is a 13 year-old eighth grader when her father finds her having sex in a car with a 17 year-old (her older brother’s best friend). The boy’s spin on the story and the lurid details invented by the school-gossip grapevine make Deanna the school slut. Even 3 years later she is dogged by that incident. Her formerly affectionate father can’t even bear to look at her. Her older brother has added to the family shame by getting his girlfriend pregnant. The brother, girlfriend, and baby all live in the basement. Add in the father’s underemployment and the rapidly aging, overworked mom and you have a fully dysfunctional family.

Deanna finds her home life unbearable and school is no better. She fantasizes about moving out with her brother and his family and the four of them setting up a home away from her father’s disapproving glare. To enact her “plan” she needs money- first and last months’ rent and a security deposit in the San Francisco Bay area requires a pile of cash. Jobs in Pacifica are scarce though so she ends up at a run down pizza parlor. To her horror her coworker is Tommy– the boy her father caught her with. Out of desperation to keep her dream of a new home alive she keeps the job, daily facing the leering young man.

Deanna’s voice is authentic and her needs and fears feel very real. The author’s presentation of the tense, dysfunctional household and the decaying blue-collar town are very well done. Her growth and transformation are artfully rendered and very believable. There is no deus ex machina resolution to all of the protagonist’s problems. Deanna enters her junior year with many of the same problems to face but the author gives her hope and a new sense of herself. Who could ask for more?

Highly recommended for high school.

By Mr. Doyle

The California Young Reader Medal Committee announced the finalists for next year. The Young Adult nominees are:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Saint Iggy by K.L. Going
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

I haven’t read Alexie’s book but it has received superlative reviews and is an American Library Association Best Books For Young Adults title. It is sitting on my bedside table and I will start it tonight. The other two are great books and if The Absolutely True Diary… is anything like them then this may well be the best groups of finalists ever. I can’t wait for next year. Check back here soon for the reviews to all three YA finalists.

Mr. Doyle

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This amazing debut novel was another impulse buy at Barnes and Noble (note to self: must trust my impulses more). In it Cashore has created a compelling story with memorable, complex characters—especially the protagonist, Katsa. The author has combined the best of fantasy and romance and created a story that will appeal to all readers (even teen boys—if they are brave enough to open it up).

Katsa is Graced. That is to say she has a talent of almost supernatural ability. Many Gracelings are feared and avoided because they are different, but Katsa is especially reviled because her Grace is killing. Against her will, she is used as a tool by her uncle, the brutal king Randa. At his orders she scares, tortures, and kills those who dare to defy him. Over time she has come to see herself as others see her—a brutal killer. She hates the king, hates her Grace, and, frequently, hates herself. She feels powerless to change her fate until she meets Prince Po, a Graceling fighter from a distant kingdom. He sees the real Katsa beneath the killer exterior and helps her to see herself differently. Together they embark on a dangerous mission to unravel the mystery of Po’s grandfather’s kidnapping. They push themselves to the limits of their considerable physical abilities, risking life and limb to free a kingdom from a tyrant and, in the process, discover their true selves and true love.

Cashore’s writing skill is impressive. While she is very descriptive, the story never bogs down. The book is peppered with enough action sequences to keep the reader in a state of anticipation but not overwhelmingly so. And Katsa is a heroine that you will not soon forget. She is reminiscent of the similarly named Katniss in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Highly recommended for grades 8-12.

By Mr. Doyle

Click here to hear an excerpt.
Author Paul Griffin’s work in New York City schools and juvenile detention facilities is apparent in his realistically-drawn characters and their authentic dialog in this impressive debut novel. We can only hope that Griffin takes us back to the streets of New York again soon.

Jose, a.k.a. The J-Man, and Raymond, a.k.a. Ray-Ray, are fugitives from foster care and juvie. They are “friends to the end,” watching out for each other and committing small-time crimes to survive. When asked about their parents they reply, “Don’t got ’em,” and “Don’t need ‘em.” Jose is older but smaller. He is movie-star-handsome and the leader of the pair. He has charm and wit but is mostly illiterate. Ray is almost the complete opposite of Jose. He is huge, 6’3”, 230 lbs. Although he is highly intelligent and an avid reader of almost anything, Ray is not as quick with his mouth as Jose is and is frequently tongue-tied. The two live in an abandoned train station In New York City’s Ten Mile River Park with stolen and scrounged furniture and a pack of abandoned dogs.

Like Lenny and George in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the two stick together through thick and thin, fighting the system, violent men, bad luck and poor decisions. Even their love of the beautiful Trini cannot break their bonds of friendship. Readers will fall in love with Ray. His intelligence and introspective nature recall Sammy from Benjamin Alire Saenz’s Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood and his big heart and desire to do the right thing bring to mind Iggy Corso of K.L. Going’s Saint Iggy—good literary company indeed. Though the ending is less than satisfying the writing is excellent and the story is compelling.

Warning: lots of harsh language.

Highly recommended for high school.

By Mr. Doyle