World Book Night 2021:Book Two

 

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Penguin)

Borrowed from the library eBook collection

This was a fun teen read that is all about acceptance and coming to terms with who you are. There are some great one liners in the book and without being didactic or pushy Albertalli makes a lot of good points about equality.

It was a quick read but I am wondering how memorable it is (the library catalogue reminded me that I'd borrowed and read the book in 2017 - pre brain haemorrhage) but I couldn't remember a thing about it).

My other minor gripe is that it is American - I know that there are some great British writers out there covering similar topics and I'd love for them to have been highlighted by WBN. It also means that some of the issues and themes of the book have less links to the UK and thus their message can be diluted or dismissed more easily (but incorrectly) as being 'not something that would happen here.'

Oh dear - I'm only two books in to this challenge and both books have been disappointing in one way or another!

Nothing new

Dystopian / post-apocalyptic fiction for teenagers

Looking around the shelves in libraries and bookshops the shelves in the teen areas are full of dystopian fantasy novels - many published (or republished) on the back of the successful Hunger Games series.

I've heard a few people say that this is a depressing trend for books but I don't think it is anything new.  I remember in the late 1980s and 1990s that many of the teen novels I picked up all had an end of the world/ rebuilding after a disaster theme.  Brother in the Land, Children of the Dust and also Z for Zachariah which was talked about in the Guardian recently - although for a different reason.

I've been tidying and cataloguing all of our books recently and I discovered one of these books so decided to re-read it.  I loved this book as a younger reader (although I do think that I originally chose it because I thought it was going to be about aquatic seals!) and as I was reading it last week pages were falling out on me to reinforce this point.

I was surprised how much I remembered from 20 or so years ago, and even now I found it had a slightly scary edge. I was also struck by how plausible the actions were even nearly 50 years after first publication - after a disaster there won't be working computers and mobile phones and so the lack of them in the book didn't jar!

What did surprise me was the lack of explanation in the book, for a children's book there are lots of loose ends and they did frustrate me slightly but I think that this because I am now an adult and want more depth.  The book is well written and as I was reading it I could visualise everything.

I do remember that as a teenager I looked for more books by this author and I did get a bit of a shock as the next Mary Wesley book I read was the Chamomile Lawn - quite a different book!

Talented friends

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton
Electronic proof provided by Netgalley.com

This review comes with the disclaimer that I know the author and have done for many years, however the proof was provided through a third party and the review isn't paid for or sponsored in any way.

Good teen fiction that doesn't feature the supernatural seemed to be on the decline recently and then came the wonderful John Green with The Fault in Our Stars and happily good quality teen fiction with real characters is back on the publishers' agendas.

Unspeakable had me gripped from the start. A traumatic event has seen Megan lose both her best friend and the ability to speak and the start of the new school year is not going well.  Along comes Jasmine and all of a sudden things are starting to look up, however the secrets surrounding the events that left Megan unable to speak are causing more trouble than can be imagined...

The book was a fast paced read with elements of a thriller, a teen 'problem' novel, and a love story all of which combine wonderfully and do not conform to expectations - the first love isn't what you think, there are no miracle cures and mental health issues aren't always what they seem.

The book has a nice well finished ending that leaves you wanting to know more about the characters but without a sequel at all being needed or hinted at - hurrah, I love stand alone novels!

It has a really nice British feel about it, without being full of over description, I could see all of the characters and locations clearly. The issues that teenagers face - peer pressure, school pressure, drinking, parental problems, etc. - are all just a natural part of the plot not the focus of a preachy novel.
I did spot the slight twist coming which is unusual for me but I did follow the red-herring for a long time so this was well done.

The major downside is that the book isn't published until February 2015 and you'll all have to wait to share my happiness that is Abbie's fantastic book!

Summer Reading

Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando

Supplied by Bookbridgr.com

Seeing this book on the Bookbridgr review scheme made me very happy - two of my favourite teen fiction tropes and by an author I already love.  I was a very happy Norfolkbookworm to find this on my doorstep over the weekend.

Lauren and Elizabeth are about to leave home for the first time to go to university, they've been assigned as room-mates for their first year and so spend the summer emailing each other in preparation for the autumn.

The book isn't deep, and there was little in it that related to my memories of leaving home for uni but I loved the book, the way that the girls are slowly trying to sort their lives out before a big change and how two such very different people can be so similar in many ways was wonderfully conveyed.  The characters felt real and their situations always realistic which is an achievement when as an adult you read light fiction aimed at teenagers.

I think that the mixture of sensible length emails interspersed with straight forward narration worked well, too often when reading epistolary fiction I lose interest because in reality very few people would write letters/emails that long every time.

I needed the escapism of something easier to read after a session of longer, complicated books and a big event at work - this fitted the bill completely and was a fun read.  I hope that we hear more from LoCo and EB as they were such strong voices.