If He Had Been With Me (Laura Nowlin)

Title: if he had been with me

Author: Laura Nowlin

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Length: 328

Rating: 2.5/5

Autumn and Finny have been inseparable since birth, but have grown apart during middle school and rarely speak in high school. After a terrible accident, Autumn reflects on her relationship with Finny, and how everything could have been different.

While I loved the middle of this book, I hated the beginning and the end. Why ruin such a great love story? Why do you have to make it Romeo and Juliet? Yes, one of the major themes is tragedy, but I don’t fully agree with Autumn that tragedy can be beautiful. (There was so much ranting after I finished this book- I would have flung it across the room if it hadn’t been 2am).

I disliked these parts so much because there was so much good in the book, and I felt it had been wasted. The book is set in St. Louis, one of my favorite places (and a rare setting for a YA book). It’s a terrific coming-of-age story that I couldn’t put down. Autumn was quirky and funny, and wore a tiara, because she wanted to. And Finny is the ultimate boy-next-door who you can’t help but love.

But on the other side, tragedy looms everywhere, teen pregnancy is rampart, and I was left way too disgruntled. In my opinion, this book was trying too hard to be great, and it got in the way of actually being great. 

Origin (Jessica Khoury)

Title: Origin

Author: Jessica Khoury

Publisher: Razorbill

Length: 394

Rating: 4/5

Pia has been secretly raised by a group of scientists hidden in the Amazon rain forest to be the first of an immortal race. She longs to join the scientists and fulfill her destiny, but she’s also curious about the outside world that’s been hidden from her. On the night of her seventeenth birthday, she sneaks out of the compound and meets Eio, a native who will change Pia’s life forever.

In a new wave of YA fiction (this Publisher’s Weekly article calls them mash-ups), this book is a hybrid of a couple different things.  It’s almost a dystopian that could be, as the scientists try to create a perfect race of people. They call Pia perfect as often as they can, and the Pia we meet at the beginning of the novel is a bit annoying because of it. She’s the gem of the scientist’s compound, and has been spoiled and taught to think highly of herself. Pia thinks she knows everything because she’s endlessly studied science and math, and that’s what the scientists value.

But then her curiosity gets the better of her and she ventures into the unknown. She realizes how little she really knows about the world around her, and suddenly, curiosity (and an attractive local boy) humbles her, and she becomes a much more likable character. Like the main characters of many YA dystopians, Pia must decide whether to be a perfect and safe bird in a class cage, or to give up everything for freedom and a chance to fly.

I liked the moral questions this novel brought up. What is right? The perfection of science or imperfect arts? Should you be who you want to be, or what everyone needs you to be? Origin takes the coming of age story to a whole different level, and it’s one you’ll most likely enjoy. 

FFFT: World's Best Treehouse

I know what you're thinking, "Finally! Food For Thought Friday is back!"

I WANT TO LIVE HERE:

This, according to the Daily Mail, is the treehouse J.K.Rowling is planning to build for her children in their backyard. Note the Hogwarts-like towers. Basically, heaven.

And some great lists for you:

NPR this week came out with a list of the Top 100 Teen Books. While I think the list might be slightly biased as to what happens to be popular right now, I also have to happily concede that it's a golden age for Young Adult literature, so no wonder those books are so popular. And then Flavorwire took the series on the list, and created What Your Favorite YA Series Says About You. Pretty funny stuff.

While the NPR list reminded me of some of the best books I've read and need to read recently, this list of the 19 All-American Coming of Age Books That Made Us Who We Are reminded me of my childhood (or teenhood perhaps). I remember some of these books are being rather depressing...yet all of them definitely taught me a lot.

And finally, here is Publisher's Weekly's rather lengthy list of all the Children's/YA books coming out in 2013. (What?! I still think it's 2011 half the time!) But actually, I'm really excited for a lot of these books.