Adult Fiction Pick: Creatures

Creatures
by Crissy Van Meter
Algonquin Books
2020
256 pages
ISBN: 9871616208592

Creatures is a introspective study of a broken family: a mother who follows her own arrow wherever it may lead, many times far away from her young daughter, a father who knows more about creatures of the ocean than he does his own precious creature: an impressionable, quiet, often lonely daughter who craves her father's attention and love. Evangeline worships her father, an alcoholic, druggie who provides weed and coke for most of their island. The island itself, Winter Island, just off the coast of Northern California, often battered by storms and forgotten by time.

Growing up, Evie parents herself, going hungry and sometimes homeless, crashing at millionaires' homes, hanging out with Playboy bunnies, and pro athletes when they take an island rental or camping in a tent when her dad loses everything.

The book opens before Evangeline's wedding. Her groom is out at sea and a storm threatens his return and even his life. A whale has beached itself and lies rotting on the beach. That whale becomes a symbol of everything that is wrong with Evie and her mother. Her mother shows up with no notice and pretends to care about Evie's wedding. Evie grits her teeth as she tiptoes around her mother in order to create no waves.

The story is told going back and forth in time to child Evie and her dad's failures and abysmal parenting, and how it has affected Evie's lack of emotion. She cannot feel anything at all. Things that would break another person, Evie treats with no human emotion. It is interesting to see a character who appears stoic but is the most tragic person in the entire book.

Recommended for those who enjoy a character study and those who love tangled family relationships. There is no one in Evie's life who is able to help or save her from herself. Creatures is a sad, yet beautiful, book. The cover art is spectacular!

Adult book clubs may find much to talk about in this book, if they can pour more wine.

Blog Tour and Extras: Dear Nobody

Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose
edited by Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil
Sourcebooks
2014
336 pages
ISBN: 978140228789

see the gallery of Mary Rose's drawings

Read an excerpt here

From the publisher:

Every word you read in this journal is the absolute, unvarnished truth. Told through Mary Rose’s actual diary entries, DEAR NOBODY is a raw and gripping account of a girl that grapples with the typical angst of teen life—love, happiness, heartbreak—but also struggles with drug and alcohol addiction and a terminal illness that loom over her life.  Intense and authentic, this an eye-opening account of a girl so desperate to be loved, so eager to fit in that she’ll go to extremes that could cost her life. 

 

Already critics are buzzing:

·        “A rare, no-holds-barred documentation of an American teenager’s life.”—Publishers Weekly

·        “The voice is authentic, this book is an experience.”—Kirkus Reviews

 

Mary Rose died when she was 17. As much as she hoped, a cure for her terminal illness has not been found.

 

“I feel like a real life loser—and the game is life. I’m failing everywhere—academically, emotionally, socially, and even intellectually. I am losing myself on a bet. A bet that I can survive, that I can still be what destiny wants me to be.”

 

Her editors, Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil, have given Mary Rose the voice that life and circumstances denied her. A vitally important and compelling read that’s sure to engender controversy and discussion, it’s a not-to-be-forgotten book, and destined to be a true diary classic.

 

My thoughts:

 

This is an unputtdownable page turner that is both heart breaking and life changing. Mary Rose is that teenager who is looking for love and belonging--she speaks to that need that is human in all of us. For fans of Go Ask Alice and books with a raw voice full of strife, longing and need. It will break your heart. This book is an emotional roller coaster that will pull you in. Teens will love this book.

 

Visit the publisher's webpage for more!  

 

 

Guy Pick: Cracked

Cracked
by K.M. Walton
Simon Pulse
2012
312 pages

A bully and his target are on a collision course with destiny. Victor and Bull (William) go to the same school and Bull has harrassed Victor since grade school. He goes out of his way to call him names, bump into him, smashes his face in his cafeteria food, pantsed him in front of the entire p.e. class, including the girls, and beats on him nearly daily. Victor hates Bull--he wishes he would die--that some parent in a big SUV would run him down on the way to school.

What Victor doesn't know is that Bull is bullied, too--by his drunken mother and his mean, abusive grandpa who uses his fists to do his talking. Not that it would matter; Victor is bullied at home, too--only verbally. His parents say demeaning things to him, they never compliment him, only berate him for his stupidity, telling him that they never planned for him, wishing he wasn't ever born. His beautiful "perfect" family goes to church every Sunday and appears the picture of "happy" family, yet Victor knows that no one has ever loved him except his toy poodle Jazzy.

Everyone has a breaking point and both boys are nearing theirs. When Bull has finally had enough and won't take his Pop's beatings anymore and when Victor finds his beloved poodle Jazzy dead of old age, the two boys break.

As luck would have it, they both end up in a psych ward of the local hospital...wait for it...as roommates!

For Bull, being around other kids with problems is helpful. He gains some insight into others' lives and wonders why he can't talk about his feelings like some of the other kids. He is even jealous of Victor who tells a girl about Jazzy dying. He keeps getting lunch bags with snacks in them and one time a nice note and a poem about hope from Frank, the grounds-keeper at the cemetary where he used to go when he ditched school, sitting under a tree and reading books. He didn't know that Frank ever even saw him, but now Frank is leaving him uplifting notes. He wonders why a poem can mean so much.

Readers will empathize with Victor and Bull--both boys have rotten lives and awful parents. Even though Victor grows up in the "lap of luxury," he is unloved. He feels like "nothing." He feels invisible. Bull remembers the last time he had a piece of fruit--3rd grade! Bull's mother is a pitiful alcoholic who spends their food money on booze; there's never anything--and I mean nothing--to eat in their home.

The hospital staff and nurses help and the group sessions make both boys see the others have pain, too. Victor finally finds his voice and really tells Bull off in a venomous, but cathartic, rant. Bull realizes his actions have impacted another human being.

I found myself crying a few times while reading this novel. Both boys endure horrible childhoods, but there is hope for both when they leave the hospital. Have the tissues ready; you're going to cry! Even though I titled this "Guy Pick," sensitive girls will enjoy this novel as well.

Highly, highly recommended grades 9-up. Language, petting, alcoholism, child abuse, mature situations.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not received monetary compensation for this review.

Fallout

Fallout
by Ellen Hopkins
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010
672 pages

In the third book of the trilogy that includes Crank and Glass, author Ellen Hopkins returns to Kristina Snow's story of drug abuse and reveals what Kristina's children have had to suffer.

Told in poetry by the children: Hunter, Autumn, and Summer, and the mother, this book is raw and gritty. Readers will likely empathize with one or all of the children and feel pity for Kristina.

The book deals with mature situations of drug and alcohol abuse, sexual situations, and abuse. It's not a pretty story but an important one. Addiction hurts not just the user but the entire family, and they all suffer from the Fallout.

Recommended grades 9 and up. NOT recommended for middle school due to language, sex, alcohol and drug references, and mature themes.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.