tiny pink books

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007.

The third book of the Twilight series, Eclipse is another saga of Bella, teenage girl who happens to be deeply in love with Edward, a vampire. In this chapter, Bella comes to terms with the fact that choosing Edward, and thus choosing to become a vampire, will have irrevocable consequences of giving up her human life. Also, Bella struggles with her relationship with Jacob, who happens to be a warewolf, the natural enemy of the vampire, another contender for Bella’s love. Of course, there’s also a suspenseful story about an old, quite literally, blood thirsty enemy who is coming after Bella again, this time with some new friends.

So, all in all, the story doesn’t move too much in Eclipse. While there’s plenty of action and ooey gooey love melodrama, very little permanently changes for the characters. Still, Meyer has manages to successfully fill over 600 pages with exciting, page turner suspense and melodrama, the winning combination that is present in all of the Twilight books. While I do feel that the quality of the writing may have slipped slightly since the original Twilight book, Eclipse still has that magic that has made this series among the most popular of current young adult literature. To tel the truth, I had a lot of other book that I needed to read for grad school, two part time jobs, a paper to write, and all those other adult responsibilities that come along with being a grown up, but I simply could not put this book down. I read Eclipse in three days, staying up to the wee hours of the morning until my eyes closed with exhaustion. I recommend it for fans of the series. Overall, I recommend the series to YA readers as well as adult readers who are looking for something that’s a fun take on teenage romance and, of course, vampires.

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Washington Square Press, 1992

I’m not sure what motivated me to pick She’s Come Undone up at a yard sale for $1, but I did so about six months ago and finally got the pile down low enough to read it.  An Oprah Book Club pick, this is not my usual fare.  She’s Come Undone is the melodramatic tale of Delores Price, a likable, but extremely downtrodden, woman who recounts her journey from childhood to age 40.  At over 450 pages, this is an epic and emotional tale of a woman.   Throughout the pages, our heroine struggles with divorce, rape, obesity, mental illness, death and just about any other trouble that the author can throw at her.
Where She’s Come Undone succeeds is in the emotional journey.  Even though I was not all that compelled by the story’s physical movement of Delores from from horrible situation to another, I still managed to feel emotionally involved with her character.  When something bad happened to her, a matter of routine in this book, I felt the emotional toll.  Even as I grew more and more frustrated with the author, and in a sense the character, for moving from bad situations to worse, I read on, hoping against all odds that something good would happen for Delores.

Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this book.  It’s problem is that, as pointed out previously, it’s too long.  There’s no need for this book to so great in length and there were many 50+ page periods where nothing much happened, which can be frustrating.  It is, however, a compelling character journey.  I can see the appeal to the average Oprah book club reader and can take that a step further to include the older side of the young adult girls.  While this is by absolutely no means a YA title, much like The Virgin Suicides or even Lucky: A Memoir, I can see the appeal of this troubled young woman’s struggle against everything reaching that group.

Another interesting point about this book is that it is written by a man.  I didn’t think much of that when I started reading the book (despite the fact that the jacket points out over and over again how remarkable it is that a man could write this first personal point of view from a female so well), but after completing it, I will say that it is interesting.  Does it make the book better or worse?  Neither.  It’s just an interesting layer that adds a certain degree of context to the character.

A Certain Slant Of Light by Laura Whitcomb
Graphia, 2005.

A romantic and drama fueled ghost/love story,  A Certain Slant Of Light is a YA novel, that could appeal to both teens and adults, about Helen, a young woman.  Helen haunts people, mainly people who are connected to literature, and has done so since her death, 130 years ago.  Helen ends up connecting with a young man who is both living and dead–his living body has become possessed by the spirit of James, a young man who also died years ago.  Helen and James fall desperately in love and James teaches Helen how to find and possess a living body that has been abandoned by its true spirit.  In doing so, their love is able to exist physically, however, Helen becomes trapped in a oppressively strict Christian family.  In the end, both ghosts must learn to come to terms with their own past lives and subsequent deaths in order to be together forever.

There is one aspect of A Certain Slant Of Light that I did really enjoy.  That aspect was not the love story, but the story of Helen becoming trapped a controlling, religious family.  It was both intriguing and compelling to see Helen confront the parents and find herself powerless, trapped in the family structure.

All in all, A Certain Slant Of Light is well written in a very flowery and old fashioned literary style.  The title, taken from an Emily Dickenson poem, is a good indicator of the atmosphere of the book.  More brooding than dark, this ghost story is much more of a slow, dramatic haunt of a love story than it is spooky or supernatural.  This can be a good or bad thing, depending on the readers tastes.  On one level, A Certain Slant Of Light will most certainly appeal to those who enjoy a good, brooding love story.  Those who are easily bored with romance dramas, however, will quickly become bored.  Unfortunately, I tend to be one of the latter types, and although I wouldn’t say that I was bored”with this book, I also wasn’t wowed.  Although I can’t say that this fits into my own personal preferences, I can definitely see the appeal that this book will have to the right reader.  Fans of classic drama, romance, and that old fashioned, broody Emily Dickenson feel will love this book.  I will also admit that I got totally caught up in the story, especially the controlling family aspect previously mentioned, and stayed up reading ’til 3am one night to find out what would happen in the end though.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Viking Press, 1967

I remember reading this book as a young adolescent and feeling compelled and affected.  It’s been a while since I read it, so I decided that it was time for a revisit (this time in audio format, to entertain me on a long drive).  I was not disappointed.

Written by Hinton when she herself was only a teenager, The Outsiders tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis, a 14-year-old boy, the youngest member of a Greaser gang of tough teenagers in Oaklahoma, and his struggle to grow up with all the bad breaks in life.  His parents are dead and his two older teenaged brothers, Sodapop and Darry, struggle to raise him on their own.  Ponyboy is bright and innocent, making him an excellent narrator for this story of tough kids with real problems.  The story revolves around the strife between Ponyboy’s Greaser gang, consisting of kids who grew up with tough family lives and poverty, and the Socs, the rich kids from across town are locked in a violent struggle.  The book opens with Ponyboy being jumped by a group of Socs on his way home from the movies.  The violence between the groups escalates and Ponyboy, who is generally a good kid, gets into serious, adult trouble with his friends and brothers.

The ultimate message of The Outsiders is touching and positive while still fitting with the overall grittiness of the story.    I think that the most successful aspect of The Outsiders is that Hinton has created characters that are complicated enough to capture the teen experience.  The Greasers are more interesting that simple, “troubled teens,” and the Socs turn out to be more interesting than a group of rich kid bullies.Even though the entire book is very much set in a time that has come and gone (the time when gangs carried switchblades, got in rumbles, and greased their hair to look tough), the material still feels relevant.  I’d still recommend this book to teen readers, especially younger teens, and not just because its a classic YA novel…it still manages to be relevant and compelling to today’s reader.

note:  I listened to the audio version by Listening Library.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cromier
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1974

A classic young adult novel, The Chocolate War is about high school freshman Jerry Renault and his stand against the society of conformity, and ultimately of cruelty, that is Trinity High School.  In this utterly bleak novel, Renault refuses to sell chocolates in the school’s annual chocolate sale.  Teachers and students alike bring their powers, social and physical, together to crush Renault for this decision.  It sounds like less than it is, but the story carefully examines the sickly disturbing social aspects of high school that are still relevant (and sadly, prevalent) today.  What Cromier successfully accomplishes is a very bleak and very straightforward examination of the psychology behind bullies, their followers, and those who cross them.  I’ve mentioned the word bleak twice now and there is just no other way to describe this book.  It’s an extremely interesting and telling novel, but it’s just so depressing.  I’d recommend it for deeper young adult readers who are looking for something to make them think.  It goes well, I think, with books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and even Catcher in the Rye, which are both much more positive in the end than this one.  I think I would have enjoyed this book when I was younger though.  It’s dark and brooding, but then again, so was I at that age…

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Tor Books, 1985.

A page turner from the very beginning, Ender’s Game is a smart and thought-provoking science fiction novel with enough action and plot twists to keep even reluctant readers interested.  Ender’s Game is the story of Ender Wiggin, a boy who was born for the sole purpose of becoming mankind’s last hope for survival–a strategic genius who could command Earth’s army against the mysterious Buggers, an alien race with whom humanity is at war with.  Despite what could easily be a complicated military plot, the story focuses on Ender, the young boy, and his journey through Battle School where he begins ,at age six, to play military war games, both physical and virtual, to learn the art of strategy, both within and beyond the game.  The result it a gripping story that’s difficult to put down.

One of the best things about Ender’s Game is that it is science fiction without being off-putting to those who are not necessarily fans of science fiction.  The story is intelligent and emotional enough so as to involve a much wider variety of readers.  It also doesn’t get too caught up in long, dry, explanations of everything in Ender’s world so as to distract from the story or the characters.   This is a good read for anyone, but might be especially worthwhile as a young adult reluctant reader pick.  Winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.