Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield YP FIC ROSENFIE

Amelia Anne is dead but she isn’t gone quite yet.  Becca is ready to get away.  Get away from her small town and everyone that knows her, but the sudden violent death of a stranger keeps Becca stuck as her life seems to spiral out of control over a long summer.  She soon learns that she has more in common with a dead stranger than anyone she thinks she knows and loves, and that the people around her know more about the stranger’s death than they’re letting on.

This book is a weird hybrid between small town coming-of-age tale, gritty murder mystery, and poetic look at the similarities and differences between love, sex, and death. That may seem like an odd combination, and at times it does veer perilously close to melodrama, the end result is an original and powerful look at the perilous period between adolescence and adulthood.  The book occasionally gives chapters from Amelia Anne’s point of view, teasing the reader with knowledge the main character doesn’t have.  This also highlights how much Amelia and Becca have in common and how (and this is sort of a major theme of the book) people that never even meet in life can be connected by death and how violence has ripple effects no one could ever anticipate.  The slow reveal of what REALLY happened to Amelia really builds the tension and having the mystery develop from two points of view makes the story richer and more entertaining. 

Honestly, I had a hard time liking Becca at first because she’s going through a hard time and doesn’t handle it all that well at first.  Also, I immediately liked Amelia Anne and that made the comparison sort of unflattering, but Amelia is several years older than Becca and as I read on I started to see why the death of a total stranger was having such a bizarre effect on Becca. It’s to the author’s credit that she never spells it directly out for the reader and allows you to figure it out for yourself what lies beneath the surface. The prose is truly the shining star of the book.  Rosenfield makes the ordinary seem vital (which is crucial in a book that takes its time to build to any climax) and is able to slowly unfold a moment with her words.  I think Ellen Hopkins fans will appreciate this book (even though it isn’t in verse it’s beautifully written words often feel like poetry), but it moves slower than some of her novels.  It’s dark, sad, and offers no easy answers, but I think honest books about violence ought to be complex.  A very good and very rewarding read that isn’t for everybody, but that will stay with everybody that reads it.

You can check our catalog for Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone here.

Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn YP FIC COHN

Very LeFreak is very Very. Very busy (starting flash mobs, making playlists, planning parties), very connected (iPod: check, iPhone: check, laptop: check), and very popular (with a trail of broken. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make much time for studying and she’s also very close to flunking and her love them, leave them, forget them attitude is leaving her with almost no real friends. When all this catches up with her it’s time for a very dramatic breakdown and a mandatory trip to Electronics Detox. When Very is unplugged for the first time in years she has to decide if she’s ever really connected to anything or anyone.

I found Very fun, funny, and interesting but not terribly likeable. It’s not just that she has a pretty scandalous life, but also that she just doesn’t treat people very well. As I read the whole story and learned Very’s past I found myself understanding her, but still not entirely liking her. I think the problem is that Cohn has Very’s rehabilitation happen pretty fast and that always seems sort of fake to me. On the bright side the book is filled with Cohn’s excellent dialogue and realistic characters, so if you are a fan of her work you may find plenty to enjoy in this book as well. Overall I like but not loved this one. Like most Cohn novels it’s a good for older readers that like witty gals and their wild lives.

Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Alice is 17 and torn between longing for the past and looking toward her future. Pamela’s pregnancy, Patrick’s departure for university, and Alice’s preparation for going to college and envisioning her future leave the protagonist wishing for the times when all her friends were still going to high school together and living in the same place. Oh, those times when life was simple and carefree. Unfortunately it takes a tragedy to bring everyone back together- a tragedy that is guaranteed to change Alice and all of her friends forever.

Intensely Alice addresses teen pregnancy, sexuality, questioning one’s faith or beliefs, and the fear of the future, which are issues young adults face as they grow toward adulthood. Naylor continues to develop the friendship between Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth, and Alice’s boyfriend, Patrick, returns after an absence in the past few books. Readers travel with Alice to go visit Patrick while he is off studying at the University of Chicago and get to see if the couple takes their relationship to the next level. Naylor has reconnected with Alice’s voice in Intensely Alice. In the past couple of books Alice didn't sound like a teenager; whereas now her voice is more mature. Long-time fans of the series will have no trouble sinking into Alice’s story and will be left wanting more.

Intensely Alice is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s 24th book in the Alice series. Naylor began the Alice series with the protagonist in the 6th grade. She later delivered prequels for a younger audience exploring Alice’s adventures in Grades 3, 4, and 5. The author is planning on writing one Alice book a year until Alice is 18. For every year of Alice’s life, the author delivers three books exploring Alice’s events and experiences. Afterward, she will deliver the 28th and final book, which will reflect on Alice’s life from ages 18-60. The Alice books are released annually in May.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has had an extensive career writing for children, young adults, and adult readers. She is known for her other series: The Shiloh Books, the Bernie Magruder Books, the Cat Pack Books, the York Trilogy, and the Witch Books. Many of these books and other publications by Naylor are available at the Moore Memorial Public Library in the Children’s, Young Adult, and Fiction sections.

How to Build a House, by Dana Reinhardt

Harper is a 17 year old girl from Los Angeles who has decided to spend her summer with a volunteer program in Tennessee that is building houses for tornado victims. All the teenagers in the program are on one team, with a guru/type adult leader who travels the world building for people in need. He teaches/oversees the construction of their house, and (supposedly) keeps their behavior in line as well. Harper needs to be away from her home, since her dad has recently gotten divorced. Not from her mother, who’s dead, but from her stepmother who took her mother’s place when Harper was seven. She’s also lost two stepsisters to the conflict, one older and one who was her best friend. Obviously the story is about rebuilding, and not just a house. What’s ironic is that you get absolutely no details on how she or the others learn to do anything with carpentry, just some initial muscle pain and how hot it is to tar a roof in the Tennessean summer. When you hear about any construction, they all seemed to learn effortlessly, since the house ends up being beautiful. But you don’t miss that when you’re reading the book, because all the focus is on the two narratives which interchange throughout: Harper’s preceding year in Los Angeles, and her present summer. The narratives are all about relationships, mostly boys and whether they like you or not. Girls (and boys) can relate to Harper’s uneasiness and insecurity about herself, but you never understand why she is that way. The way she talks to her father is bold to the point of insulting, calling him on every weakness, but he just seems to take it. And there’s a hint that she was maybe overweight (?), since Harper in the beginning says she “can’t” wear jeans, but manages to don a pair at the end and look terrific. As one Amazon reviewer mentions, Harper’s Tennessee boyfriend (of the homeless family) is pretty unbelievable, saying everything he feels and never making a stupid move. Of course there’s sex in the book as well, and Ms. Reinhardt creates the illusion that it’s totally wonderful and never any problems about infection or pregnancy or getting in over their heads. Ms. Reinhardt writes well, but might be advised to dig a little deeper into her characters’ lives and actions.