Between The World And Me

The Bookworm says... Yes. Between The World And Me  by Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of the most brilliant pieces of literature I have read in some time. Coates, in an open letter to his fifteen-year-old son Samori, examines the concept and history of race in America. In a thorough examination of events both during his lifetime and before, including the lives and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, his own time at Howard University, and the deaths of Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and of other black men near and dear to his heart, Coates presents a detailed analysis of the systemic oppression and destruction of black bodies throughout American history. He constantly poses questions, some rhetorical, and some that he goes on to answer through research and experience. Coates admits multiple times that he does not know the answers to many of the questions he has to ask, nor the answers to those that his son may go on to ask; however, he still leaves his son with some of the most poignant advice one could give.

Coates writes this short, magnificent collection of essays full of powerful advice as an open letter to his son, but this advice will guide all young people and adults in their understanding of race and racism in America. Those who experience racism firsthand and those who merely observe can benefit from reading Between The World And Me- as Coates writes, "The Dreamers will have to learn to struggle themselves, to understand that the field for their Dream, the stage where they have painted themselves white, is the deathbed of us all". Perhaps this can be the first step. 

"And so there was, all about her, a knowledge of cosmic injustices, the same knowledge I'd glimpsed all those years ago watching my father reach for his belt, watching the suburban dispatches in my living room, watching the golden-haired boys with their toy trucks and football cards, and dimly perceiving the great barrier between the world and me". 

Bad Girls With Perfect Faces

The Bookworm says... Yes! Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten is twisted and sick in all the right ways.When Xavier dumps his cheating girlfriend, Ivy, Sasha is relieved that her best friend has finally seen the light; however, a few short weeks later, Ivy and Xavier are back together. Sasha feels the need to protect Xavier, whether it be out of platonic or romantic concern, and creates a fake online persona to trick Ivy. As Sasha poses as the confident, mysterious Jake behind a screen and begins messaging Ivy, she hopes that Ivy will be distracted from Xavier and that he will somehow realize Ivy is unfaithful and untrustworthy. The more Sasha pretends to be Jake, and the more she talks to Ivy, the more she realizes she is digging herself into a hole she won't be able to escape from. 

Much like in her novel Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls, Lynn Weingarten creates a haunting plot line with twists and turns to keep even the most seasoned readers engaged. The most admirable quality of her writing is how genuine the stories are; all of her characters are real. Ivy is you, Sasha is me, Xavier is that boy who lives down the street... We can see ourselves in the characters, and as we watch them make wrong decision after wrong decision we wonder if we could ever do something like that. We wonder if we know ourselves as well as we think we do. When a book makes you question your moral standings, your character, your integrity, and your mental strength, you know the author is doing something right. How far would you go for someone you love? (If you think you know the answer to that question, read this book and then think again)

"When you are careening toward disaster, you never know it until it is way too late"

DISCLAIMER: Review is based on an advance uncorrected reader's proof. Tentative on-sale date is September 5th, 2017.

Previously reviewed by Lynn Weingarten: Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls

Words on Bathroom Walls

The Bookworm says... Yes! Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton follows a boy named Adam, who has schizophrenia. Adam begins a trial of a new drug that will ideally help him ignore his visions (such as Rebecca, Jason, and the Mob Boss, all of whom Adam sees and hears frequently), and it seems promising. Something else that seems promising is the prospect of a romantic relationship with Maya, a girl at his new school that he has become friendly with. His budding relationship with Maya makes Adam want to become someone he isn't- someone who doesn't struggle with seeing and hearing things that aren't really there. As his trial drug begins to fail, Adam does everything he can to make Maya believe that he is the "normal" guy she has grown to love.

Words on Bathroom Walls is composed completely in letters from Adam to his therapist, giving the whole narrative a much more personal tone. Against all odds, this book is hysterical, while also being touching and heartbreaking. Above all it is honest, both in terms of the experience of being a teenager and in terms of struggling for acceptance in the face of mental illness. From reading Words on Bathroom Walls, I am able to better understand my own struggles, and thereby the struggles of everyone around me (because, as Julia Walton reminds us, everyone struggles, whether they show it or not).

"If you can't trust your mind, trust your heart."

DISCLAIMER: Review is based on an uncorrected, advance proof. Tentative publication date is July 4th, 2017.

Reconstructing Amelia

The Bookworm says… Yes. A roller-coaster from beginning to end, Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight is a fantastic novel. Amelia Baron, sophomore at Grace Hall, is one of the top students and best athletes at the school and has a reputation as such. When her mother, Kate, a lawyer, receives a call at work saying Amelia has been suspended for cheating on an English paper, Kate is shocked; she’s even more surprised when she arrives at the school and her daughter is dead. She jumped off the roof- suicide. As a single mom dealing with the loss of her only child, weeks pass by and grieving still hasn’t gotten easier for Kate; neither has believing that her joyful, charismatic Amelia would commit suicide. When an anonymous text message encourages her suspicions, Kate devotes herself to finding out the truth about Amelia’s death, no matter what secrets of the past she digs up along the way.

Reconstructing Amelia is gripping, thrilling, hysterical, and heart-breaking, all at the same time. It’s the struggle of a woman to thrive in a professional environment dominated by men. It’s the toils of raising a child as a single mother. It’s the relationship between a teenage girl and her hardworking, often absent mother. It’s the pressure to fit in, to blend in, to be cool. It’s the desperate frenzy to learn the truth about those you love. Kimberly McCreight expertly develops characters that readers can connect to and sympathize with, making the ending especially unpredictable. I was kept guessing the whole time, reading along as love and jealousy took hearts hostage. I literally could not put it down and did in fact bring it with me to the gym to read while I was working out. For fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, or Shiny Broken Pieces, add this to your list.

“Sometimes I could barely feel my own heart beating beneath the weight of my hyperactive brain.”

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful

The Bookworm says... Definitely. A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom is a new, YA novel that follows a young lady named Mel Hannigan. Mel is sixteen and she struggles with bipolar disorder. Between hiding her condition, dealing with the past, and friendship troubles (not unlike any other teenager), Mel is struggling to stay afloat. Her method of dealing with the past is pretty much ignoring it, until her once best friends raise questions about the way their friendship ended. When the past is smacking you in the face, it becomes pretty hard to ignore. As she becomes forced to confront the past, the barriers which Mel built so carefully begin to crumble.

"In the vein of It's Kind of a Funny Story and All the Bright Places comes a captivating, immersive exploration of life with mental illness." I read this, claiming similarity to two of my all time favorites, and my expectations were immediately high. After reading, I can confidently say that my expectations were well met, if not exceeded. Lindstrom deals with mental illness both gracefully and truthfully; he draws the important distinction between "You are bipolar" and "You are a person who has bipolar disorder", something that I feel is often overlooked. The system that Mel uses to describe her mental state, comparing parts of her body to animals whose emotions determine her state, is ingenious and incredibly effective; it allows the reader to empathize with someone struggling with bipolar disorder. The story is organized in such a way that the reader is forced to turn the pages as fast as they can, whether they want to know what happened or not. A truly wonderful sophomore novel for Eric Lindstrom; fans of Ned Vizzini, Jennifer Niven, and John Green will eat this up.

"I can't bear the thought of how they'd look at me, and treat me, if they knew how many pills I take every morning just to act more or less like everybody else."

DISCLAIMER: Review is based on an uncorrected proof, Tentative release date is January 2017.

A Boy Called Bat

The Bookworm says... Yes!! A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold wonderfully depicts the life of a young person with special needs, and it's written for those who need it most: young people. Bixby Alexander Tam, nicknamed Bat, lives with his sister and his mom (a veterinarian) and spends every other weekend with his father.When his mother brings home a baby skunk from work, Bat falls in love immediately. As soon as his mom tells him that they only get to keep the skunk for a month, until he's old enough to go to a wild animal shelter, Bat begins to brainstorm ways to keep him forever. Bat knows that the skunk is meant to be his, he just as to convince his mother.

This is exactly the sort of new middle grade that I LOVE to see. Middle Grade readers are at the perfect age to start learning about the world, and there's no better method of learning than a book. Through A Boy Called Bat, readers learn lessons of empathy, kindness, and perseverance; they also learn what it's like to be a child with autism, and to love someone with autism. All of the characters are lovable, but more importantly, they are authentic. The illustrations scattered throughout the novel are adorable and beautifully enhance the mood. I won't be forgetting about Bixby Alexander Tam anytime soon.

"He likes the parts of her that everyone else thinks are weird."

DISCLAIMER: Review is based on an advanced reading copy made from uncorrected proofs. Tentative on-sale date is March 14th, 2017.

Lily and Dunkin

The Bookworm says... Yes! Donna Gephart's Lily and Dunkin is a fantastic new piece of middle grade fiction. Tim McGrother- wait, scratch that- Lily Jo McGrother has always known she is a girl, but it's hard for her to show that because she looks like a boy. It's even harder because her dad is not supportive AND she's in eighth grade. Her only friends are her best friend Dare and her older sister,, Sarah. When a new boy named Norbert moves into Beckford Palm Estates, he and Lily are fast friends. She nicknames him Dunkin after he admits he is embarrassed by his given name. Dunkin just moved to Florida from his life-long home in New Jersey and is having a hard time adjusting to the heat in Florida, and all the changes brought by the move.  The adaptation process is even harder when coupled with the fact that Dunkin struggles with bipolar disorder. In an attempt to fit in at his new school, Dunkin befriends the group of jocks that run the eighth grade- the same boys that love to bully Lily. Lily and Dunkin are both trying to survive eighth grade, but with the baggage they each carry it's sure to be difficult.

I have one (and only one!) negative thing to say about this novel, so I'm going to write that first: one of the protagonists is named Norbert "Dunkin" Dorfman, and is referred to as Dunkin most of the time. From my perspective that's much too similar to The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer. Enough negativity!! This book is SO important- it's exactly what Middle Grade needs more of. It features a transgender child, a child with bipolar disorder, a lesbian couple, a peaceful protest to save wildlife, and more. Most importantly, it's written for Middle Grade readers!! There's a huge problem in society with inequality and injustice based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and luckily that is a widely recognized fault. A major part of this problem is our reluctance to have conversations with young people about different sexual orientations, and about the fact that there are more than two genders that one can identify as. That is why books like Lily and Dunkin are so important. They not only teach young readers important life lessons, they start conversations and open doors. Who knows- a child may read this book and realize that they feel exactly like Lily does, and then be comforted by the fact that they aren't alone. A child with bipolar disorder may read this book and feel less isolated when they see a character that struggles with the same things they do. Books can do amazing things, and I have a feeling this one will. Perfect for fans of Alex Gino's George. 

"A long time ago, Mom taught me that when someone makes you suffer, it's because his own pain is spilling over."