YA Pick: Blood Family

Blood Family
by Anne Fine
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
2017
291 pages
ISBN: 9781481477734


Blood Family is the gripping tale of a boy who had no chance. Edward's mother is a ghost of a woman who has lost her humanity. Beaten and abused for years, she has lost her will to survive let alone raise a seven year old child. If not for a nosy neighbor, Edward would probably be dead.

Rescued from the home along with his mother, Edward is taken to "safety." The conditions of his childhood home are documented by social workers and police officers. There is nothing to eat and deplorable conditions. Edward has never set foot from the house, never been outside, never talked to anyone before. Everything he knows he has learned from thirty year old VCR tapes of episodes of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood."

Edward is grateful to be saved but worried about his mother. She will never be capable of taking care of herself again. Edward is shuttled off to foster homes and never fits in. He realizes his mother's abusive "boyfriend" is really his "blood" father and terrified  that if they share the same DNA, maybe Edward will be evil also. He does not want to become a beast.

After a series of relationships, homes, demons, drugs and failures, he realizes he will be okay.

The chapters are told in first person by a series of narrators: the neighbor who calls the police, the police who respond, social workers, foster parents, teachers and Eddie himself. Readers will get the big picture and not just Eddie's possibly skewed view of things. The book was first released by Doubleday in Great Britain. Blood Family is a tough book about a deplorable subject. It is not a "feel good" book.

Recommended for realistic fiction collections and high schools.

Reluctant Reader: Guys Pick: 12 Things To Do Before You Crash and Burn

12 Things To Do Before You Crash and Burn
by James Proimos
Roaring Brook Press
2011
121 pages

Available November 8, 2011

Snarky, funny, quirky, and punny (funny, too), 12 Things To Do Before You Crash and Burn is a short but hilarious read that will attract reluctant boy readers--and maybe some girls, too. Laugh-out-loud antics and "boy" humor, bathroom jokes, and "bad" language make this suitable for high school readers.

Hercules Martino has just buried his father--oh, don't be sad, you see, Herc couldn't stand his father and calls him a number of expletives throughout the book. They have a dysfunctional relationship. Herc's father is a beloved, almost-Godlike, t.v. self-help coach and best-selling author who helps other families with their problems, but at home, he bullies and belittles his only son. Herc's mother is mortified when Herc gives a less than politically correct eulogy, so she ships him off to visit his Uncle Anthony, his father's brother.

Herc doesn't see what the big deal is--he was only telling the truth about his father. He decides two weeks with Uncle Anthony won't be so bad--even though his uncle lives in the most boring town in all of America. On the train there, Herc sees a gorgeous "older" woman--at least college age--and tries to flirt with her. He accidentally falls asleep and when he wakes, she's gone BUT she left her book on the train. Herc decides to find her somehow and return her lost book.

Uncle Anthony and Herc have a funny relationship--they get along famously, more like frat brothers than uncle and nephew. Anthony decides to give Herc a list of things to do so he won't get bored while Anthony is at work every day.

Day One is easy: choose a mission. Herc has already decided he must find the beautiful but unattainable girl from the train. Day two happens by accident: find the best pizza place in town. The tasks begin to get harder; when it comes to day seven, Herc has to go on seven job interviews. He decides to have some fun with this one. When interviewing with Starbucks, he fills in the application as name: "Juan Valdez" and states he wants compensated with, "only the finest hand-picked Colombian coffee beans." When he fills in the application at Super Tan, he writes "Mel Anoma" as his name and his favorite hobby is "baking." This is punny stuff!

On Day Eight, Herc is supposed to think Great Thoughts and write them down. One of Herc's entries is: "Baseball games are too long. Outlawing spitting and scratching one's crotch would cut off a few minutes from each game." Not exactly rocket science.

Herc is a believable, almost tragic, hero. His quest to find the girl becomes of monumental importance. When all his dreams finally come true, he finds himself walking on air. Sometimes things aren't as sweet as they seem and the higher the high just means you have farther to fall.

Reluctant readers with a sense of humor will love Herc and feel empathy when Herc is stood up. With only 121 pages, this is a quick read and the cover art will appeal to teens.

Recommended grades 9-up. Language, sex, mature content.
FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

High School Pick: And Then Things Fall Apart

And Then Things Fall Apart
by Arlaina Tibensky
Simon Pulse
2011
272 pages

Gritty, complex, snarky, self-effacing, smart, and poignant And Then Things Fall Apart will grab the reader and likely remain with the reader days and weeks after the novel is finished.

Keek is stuck in her grandmother's hot attic room suffering from chicken pox and troubled by her lecherous father who couldn't keep his hands off a young waitress who worked at his restaurant. The trouble is Keek and Amanda were friends and Keek is furious and hurt that her dad and her FRIEND would have an affair right under everyone's noses. Keek's mother took the money and ran. Just when her daughter needs her the most, she is miles away both figuratively and literally. So Keek finds herself alone, lonely, and sick with no one for company other than a copy of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and an old-fashioned typewriter.

After fighting with her boyfriend Matt and getting the pox, Keek had to stay at her grandmother's without any connection to the outside world. There is no Internet and she can't contact Matt. Left to her own devices, Keek ranges from hysterical to maniacal. Of course, Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar is not the most uplifting of fiction!

And Then Things Fall Apart is about a dysfunctional family, its sins of the past, and a dreary future. Girls who like teen angst and adolescent ennui will revel in the story. Fans of Sylvia Plath will like Keek's love of Esther Greenwood.

Recommended grades 9-up. Mature themes, language, lots of talk of virginity and Keek struggles over the issue, sex.

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

Middle School Pick: Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts
Little Brown
2011
281 pages
Read the first 20 chapters here

The publisher knows eye-catching covers and kid-friendly designs will sell books. Short chapters keep pages turning. Illustrations throughout the text capture reluctant readers' attention. This book has clever appeal and continues to keep James Patterson on the best seller list; however, it is certainly not to be compared in the same category as Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid series.

Rafe Khatchadorian is new to middle school. He can't figure out how to fit in until his friend Leo the Silent tells him to play a new game. Rafe decides to break every rule in the Hills Village Middle School Code of Conduct. Leo and Rafe create a point system: easy stuff gets small points-- like chewing gum in class only rates 5,00 points, but destruction of school property rates 35,000, and stealing school property gets 40,000 points. The boys decide that Rafe must break every rule or die trying. Rafe actually pulls off a few instances of rule breaking but gets detention with the Dragon Lady. Meanwhile, brutish bully Miller the Killer figures out what Rafe is up to and wants to stop him.

On top of all his middle school shenanigans, Rafe has a dysfunctional home life. His mom works all the time at the diner while her live-in, no-good boyfriend "Bear" lies around all day sleeping and vegging out on the sofa watching t.v. Younger sister Georgia is mostly just annoying and tattles on Rafe's every move.

Rafe ends up losing a friend, learning several lessons, making up with his mother, and ends up putting all his creativity to good use. His mother finally sees the light and makes decisions that affect the family.

The back cover promises "You'll probably laugh your guts out on every page." Sorry, but this never happened. Readers will not burst out laughing--although there may be a grin or slight chuckle occasionally.

Recommended for ages 10-14 and middle school reluctant readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library at the local book store. Just like a teen, I was enchanted with the cover design. The book, however, just does not live up to the cover.

Out of This World Fiction

Stuck on Earth
by David Klass
R.R. Donelley & Sons, Co.
2010
227 pages

Stuck on Earth is the most hysterical laugh-out-loud book I have read this year. Snarky, crude, obnoxious, boisterous--boys will LOVE this read. David Klauss had found the middle school-high school niche in humor reads.

Ketchvar III is sent to Earth by his superiors to find out if Earthlings are worth saving. If not, the Gagnerian Death Ray will destroy the human race and our planet will be given to another more deserving type of alien.

Ketchvar III invades the brain of the typical 14-year old boy. Of course, who does he pick?--none other than the most geeky, nerdy, and bullied 14-year old in the whole town. Tom's family is not the best model for the American dream family either--they are uber-dysfunctional.

Tom Filber is not happy to have a space alien in his brain, but Ketchvar is able to control everything about Tom.

With Ketchvar in control, Tom begins to sound very formal and nearly British. His mother asks him where he's been, and Ketchvar/Tom eanswers, "Good evening, Mother. You're looking quite well. I was just out for a brief constitutional."

Ketchvar sends messages to his ship via Tom's "old-fashioned" lap-top. He encodes them and gives the files names like, "Old Hip-Hop Songs That Sucked" and "How to Saute a Skunk." He figures with titles like those, no one will want to open them.

Ketchvar's commentary on the human race is spot-on, almost a Will Rogerian insight. Ketchvar's view on school is that "..we observed that nearly all of the bad habits manifested by adult humans can be traced back to their early develpment and were acquired and reinforced during a twelve-year period of voluntary daily incarceration known as school."

Stuck on Earth is a wickedly funny book. If you don't find this one humorous, you may need to have your funny bone examined.

Highly recommended for YA collections grades 6-12. Readers who enjoy humor will enjoy this one. Recommended for reluctant readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my middle school library with school funds. I was not influenced by any publisher to buy or review this book. I received no monetary compensation for the review.