book lists
16 Mar 2012

Dystopian YA – 5 Essential Titles

While writing my review of Veronica Roth’s Divergent a few weeks ago, I was thinking about how I used to love dystopias, but now I hate them.

I am quick to whine about the post-Hunger Games overload – I am certainly sick to death of reading so many variations on the same theme.

But then I thought about it for awhile and decided that maybe I’m not mad that the world latched onto something I loved and saturated the market… maybe most of the newer dystopias just SUCK.

So if you are new to the genre of dystopian lit for teens, here is a primer, the must-reads. If you haven’t read least three of the following novels, I will not listen to any of your dystopian recommendations. Sorry.

 

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Dystopian Conceit? Life is great for a kid. You go to school and eat the meals brought to your door. Your parents care for you, and your siblings too. The elders make all hard decisions so you just don’t have to think about it. When you turn 12, they even choose your career, selected especially for you. Maybe horrible things have happened, are still happening in your Community, but no one needs to know!

The Protagonist is Jonah, a new twelve year old who is in a unique position in the community to begin learning about all that has been denied to him in his life.

My Two Cents: This book is polarizing in the children’s lit world, but I’m pretty sure Lois Did It All First (for kids anyway). And despite having read the book four times in the past three years and written three papers about it… I still like it okay. I mean, no, I do not want to write a fifth paper by any means, but I think it still holds up well.

 

Feed by M.T. Anderson

The Dystopian Conceit? There’s a computer in your brain – a Feed. You can IM your friends without talking. You can order the hottest new clothes with a single thought. You can upload information instead of doing homework. You can even upload a virus for kicks and giggles. Of course the advertisements don’t stop, and your brain-computer could maybe cause serious medical problems, but we’ll worry about that later.

The Protagonist is Titus, a teen who had a Feed implanted at birth, who falls for a girl whose Feed is no longer functional and is also probably going to kill her.

My Two Cents: I know some people who HATE this book because it’s written in this almost inaccessible, futuristic teen dialect – think “like” + “omg” to the nth power. But once you get past the language (the audio version, helps, I’ve heard) this book is SO genius. This is probably the YA book I have most often recommended to non-YA readers, and they all came back raving. I feel like this book set the bar for the YA dystopia – hardly any others published since have the nuance, the complexity, or the emotional impact that I find in Anderson’s text.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collin

The Dystopian Conceit? Do I really need to recap this? Are you the one person on the planet who has not read this book?

The Protagonist is Katniss Everdeen, bad-ass scrappy kid who grew up defying authority and has to fight for her life against murderous children while also murdering children. Again, do I really need to recap this??

My Two Cents: I thought I would include this one on my list because it’s probably the most Culturally Relevant YA dystopian, and you’d be remiss not to read it. Although I am not sure how I feel about the series as a whole, the first two books were definitely riveting – Ms. Collins knows how to twist a plot – and there’s something so sinister about the power structures in this book that I just thought I might reiterate what popular culture is telling you: yeah, it’s pretty good.

 

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

The Dystopian Conceit? Undisclosed political and socioeconomic factors have upset the world’s current organization. Governments have lost their power to large, multinational drug operations, poverty is rampant, and genetic advances have changed the definitions of humanity. Everything is basically turned on its ass, and nasty people have a lot of power.

The Protagonist is Matt, a clone. Because he is the clone of one of the most powerful drug lords, he is immensely powerful, but because clones are not considered human because they cannot possess their own souls, he is also not even human. He grows up in isolalternately praised and ostracized

My Two Cents: House of the Scorpion has so many medals on its cover for a reason: it’s about 10% dystopia and 90% complex, multicultural, literary family drama. Very different than the typical dystopia, which tends to favor action over interpersonal drama. But the beautiful, genius part of the book is that much of the family conflict here derives from the conflict between Past-Western-Society and Future-Western-Society. What values should we hold on to? Which ones should be replaced? Completely riveting and so thought-provoking.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Dystopian Conceit? Life is good. Life is fine. Life actually might not be in the future it’s so close to what it is now. Okay, maybe it’s not in the future at all, but when something so simple as the moon is altered, the aftermath is nothing short of apocalyptic. And unlike every other dystopia, there’s nothing nothing NOTHING anyone can do to save the world.

The Protagonist is Miranda, a figure skater who is 100% average. She has no special powers, she’s not The Chosen One. She’s just normal and then everything her life goes completely nuts.

My Two Cents: No, dystopian is not the same as post-disaster. But because many dystopias take place after a society has recovered from some kind of vague, far-gone disaster situation, reading Life as We Knew It feels like it fits into the genre. I love this series. Pfeffer really captures the way that disasters unhinge us in a way that allows for those crazy dystopian situations to actually occur.

A warning: the book is written in diary-style, and the first few chapters are distinctly girly-YA-etc. Just hold on. And hold on tight.

 

And a bonus!!

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

The Dystopian Conceit? A mystery virus has sterilized all adults. Perpetuation of the species is now in the hands of teenagers… but adults have commodified and commercialized teen sex & pregnancy to hugely problematic proportions.

The Protagonist is Melody, who is of such excellent genetic stock that she is getting ready to make a big payout when she finally rents out her uterus as a surrogate. Her plans go a little berserk when her separated-at-birth twin, Harmony, shows up when she’s on the run from her secluded religious sect, where people believe that *gasp!* people should have sex for love/marriage and raise their own children.

My Two Cents: This book is too new and a little too silly to enter “the canon” of dystopian YA, in my opinion. HOWEVER, I though I would include it in this list because it somehow both exemplifies a well-drawn dystopian novel while also almost satirizing the dystopian genre…. which makes you think about how all dystopias are kind of not-funny satires of actual life… which makes you wonder why more dystopias can’t be funny. Why can’t more dystopias be funny? Can we work on this, authors at large? Maybe I’ll start investigating those trends and report back in a few years with another definitive, overly opinionated list…

 

 

2
book reviews
14 Mar 2012

To Timbuktu by Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg

I can never quite decide if I like travel memoirs. I am not a world explorer. I have no grand designs to traipse across the world with nothing but a backpack and a passport. I’m not opposed to world traveling, but it just doesn’t call to me like I think it calls to others. Those Others tend to be the ones writing travel memoirs, so I think I am intrigued by the premise of many travelogues but then feel put-off because I don’t quite understand the kind of of unspoken zest that runs under the text.

However, a specific narrative voice sometimes sucks me in. Mock me if you will, but I adore Eat, Pray, Love. Maybe I’m more interested in the memoir than the travel?

I couldn’t quite decide if I liked To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One Story, but ultimately, Scieska’s story and voice endeared me. Scieskza has the zest for travel – just out of college, she wants to teach in China, revisit her study abroad locale of Morocco, and has landed a Fulbright to spend a few months researching education systems in Mali. But she also has a zest for Steven, who she met while in Morocco. Since then, they’ve been maintaining a long-distance, nascent-romance, and what better way to start a Real Relationship than by traveling, working, and living together around the world?

What I ended up liking about this book was Scieska’s earnestness, her honesty. This is not about the romance of travel, but the excited optimism of being young and running around the world, taking it all in. This is not about the romance of two lovers shacking up overseas, but about the romance of getting to know each other when you share a dusty apartment with no appliances and the air conditioning stopped working and it’s 100+ degrees outside and you have some kind of traveling sickness.

Scieska writes the text here, so it’s mostly her story, but her partner, Steven, contributes charcoal-y illustrations.

I wonder where they are traveling to now?

links
13 Mar 2012

so you ran out of This American Life…

There comes a time in every girl’s life when your demand for This American Life podcasts outpaces a measly one-episode-a-week demand.

It’s understandable. Life throws you a lot of tedious tasks that simply can’t be accomplished without auditory assistance. Like cleaning. Folding laundry. Exercising. Opening boxes of books for hours (just me? huh…).

Or walking.

And sometimes your attention span just can’t handle an audio book, you know?

The last time I tried to listen to Non-This-American-Life podcasts, the whole concept of podcasts was fairly nascent. Which means: the podcasts available were pretty crappy. Luckily for me, there has been a boom in podcast quality during the past years! Yippee!

So here is what I have been listening to with relative obsession for the past few weeks. If you have found yourself in a This American Life drought, then these may fill that massive void in your life.

For a basic primer on quality comedy podcasts, I would recommend my friend Ashley’s post Podcasts for your Ears.

I will admit that I feel a bit of kismet has brought me to the world of podcasts. As soon as I started listening to some of the more popular comedy podcasts, I spotted references to them EVERYWHERE. It was like this bit of counterculture I was never aware of. Anyway, my introduction to these podcasts also began auspicously – as soon as I said “WAH I NEED MORE THIS AMERICAN LIFE WHAT SHOULD I DO??” I swear, the next day, Ashley made this post. MAGIC!

Ashley covers the big ones: Nerdist. WTF with Marc Maron. The Pod F. Tompkast. I’m not hooked on any of these yet, but they are certainly entertaining, and feature some quality guest stars. Head on over to Ashley’s blog for a more thorough recommendations – she’s been at it for much longer than I have!

Additional moments of kismet:

If you aren’t in the mood for comedy and you have two working ovaries, I would heartily recommend Hilary Frank’s The Longest Shortest Time. On this podcast, Frank interviews new moms and dads about the bizarre experience that is raising Very Tiny Babies. Think of this as a well-produced mommy blog for your ears. I was so sad when I listened all the way through this series.

Moment of kismet:

If you ARE in the mood for comedy, allow me to reveal my biggest obsession – You Had to Be There. I saw this article about the podcast in the NYTimes last week and was so intrigued. While I like comedy podcasts, what drew me to this one was the strange premise. The two hosts, comedians Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer met at a party and hit it off. They wanted to be friends. Instead of doing awkward lady-dates – or however it is you make friends when you aren’t in school I have no idea – the decided to start a podcast. So it’s part funny podcast, part two new friends getting to know each other. I am a big-time voyeur, so this was intriguing. And I was SO instantly hooked. In fact, I have not listened to anything else since discovering this one because GUESS WHAT! It’s a year old so there are 700 million episodes to listen to.

 

Moment of kismet:

  • I am about 10 episodes in and for some reason these episodes have been disproportionately MICHIGAN and KANSAS heavy! I believe my readership here is about 90% people from Michigan or Kansas, so this might excite you.

I will also add these notes:

  • The musical guests are all… strangely awesome.
  • It’s pretty raunchy. Actually, a lot of these podcasts are pretty raunchy. If you are adverse to the raunch, listen with care.
  • I love that this is two ladies. Lady humor ftw!

And in a final moment of kismet, just as I entered this Let’s Hunt for Podcasts stage of my life, another college friend of mine was like SO YEAH I STARTED A PODCAST!

 

And it is funny. Very funny. Recommend! J.D.’s Cocktail Lounge is available on my friend’s tumblr or on iTunes.

This last one has made me miss my college friends something fierce – I need more hilarious discourse in my life.

Additionally, this whole experience has made me want to start a podcast. Every time a funny exchange occurs between me and a friend in real life, I start to wonder “Hmmm… what kind of podcast could we make?” I feel like it may be a sickness, but it also makes for a fun conversation starter at parties.

But seriously. Anyone down?

 

 

2
grad school
12 Mar 2012

2012: week ten

March 4 – March 10

 I think the universe knew I was turning ancient at the end of the week and decided that I deserved a break. Everything was turning up roses for Professional Jessica:

 

+ I got a (part-time summer) job interview

+ My paper is on the wait list for a summer children’s lit conference (that is more than good enough news for me)

+ My first professional blog post went live for the old Internship

+ I finished my second professional blog post for the other old-Internship, which should be posted soon

+ I found out I get to write a REAL review for the print magazine at the old Internship

 

Non-professionally, I seem to have overcome some of my “I just feel like garbage”-ness that plagued me for a few weeks. I give credit to mainlining Kombucha. Additionally, I seem to have entered a small superhuman phase, during which I just don’t need to sleep. I’m not particularly tired when I go to bed, I kinda lay around, half-awake, half-asleep until well past midnight, and then when my alarm goes off I’m just… awake, like the minor league insomnia never happened.

Maybe (oh just maybe!) my life becomes more manageable when I’m not working 30+ hours/week and doing the late-night thing? Today marks my return to the grind, starting off with a lovely 12-hour day and a paper due at 6. Yay.

But the semester is half over. Whoa.

Reading:

Listening to:

  • I am obsessed with You Had To Be There and listen to nothing else, except for….
  • …. this song


which I have had on repeat thanks to Faryle. I like the original, too, but you know. A cappella.

Watching:

  • Kramer vs. Kramer. I read some random article that listed this movie as one of the biggest Best Picture upsets – that in the 70’s divorce was big news, but that the movie doesn’t hold up. I kind of agree, but not because the movie was bad. I just thought that watching Dustin Hoffman play A Single Father!!omg!! wasn’t exactly revolutionary, and Meryl Streep is in like 3 scenes. What’s the big deal?
  • I watched half of Black Swan before the player refused to cooperate. I won’t tell you exactly where it cut out… but it was pretty awkward.
  • The Boy and I were talking about the new Lorax movie, and I started singing a song about Barbaloots, and he was like “wtf is a Barbaloot.” So we have watched the 1972 TV special version like, 5 times in the past two days.

Thank you, Youtube, for allowing me to relive my childhood any time of day or night.

3
life maintenance
10 Mar 2012

27

I didn’t want to do anything for my birthday this year. Last year, I did lots of fancy things, had bunches of people over at my apartment, and stayed out way past my bedtime. Fun, but somewhat exhausting. I’m feeling too old for that shit.

Luckily, one of my friends chose to celebrate her later-this-week birthday with a party of her own last night, so I got to socialize on someone else’s social-planning dime. Today, I got to chill. Go out for brunch. Do my grocery shopping. Clean my apartment. Nap on the couch with my boy and my kitty. Work on my paper that is due in 2 days. Carbs for dinner. Adorably tiny cake.

That’s about all I want.

twenty six | twenty five | twenty four

book awards
07 Mar 2012

Alex Awards, 2012

The Alex Awards are a list of books, written and published for adults, that the awards committee deems to have high teen appeal.

I should pay more attention to this list than I do because 90% of the adult books I have read probably fall into this category. And the more I look at this list, the more I want to add them all immediately to my hold list and devour them.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

This book is about a poor family in Mississippi before Hurricane Katrina, a pregnant teenager, and perhaps some dead puppies.

WHAT A FUN UPLIFTING READ!

But it did win the National Book Award, so props! I still want to read it. Dark & twisty Jessica gets sick of happy endings sometimes.

 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

A few weeks ago, I was working on a library class project called Talk to Teens. Part of the process was presenting different teens with the same stack of 10 books to peruse and then take down their opinions and comments. Out of the 10 books I selected – which included all sorts of books, YA, adult, graphic novels, etc – Ready Player One was hands-down the most popular title!

I, however, am not so convinced. The plot summary makes it sound like this premise of the book is The Future, where Life is Actually Like Living in a Video Game.

Sounds cool, but actually I have nightmares/dreams all the time that I am living in a video game, so I am officially scared of this book.

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Love the cover.

Not so sure I love circus books.

However, I put this on hold, impulsively, in December. I am like, 144 on a list for 44, so we’ll see how that goes…

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston

Oh, one I actually read! This book is heavy and shiny and lovely. I have a bit of a thing for books/movies about girls at college pre-1960s, so I enjoyed flipping through the pages as Frankie tried to find her way as a student and a career-girl and an individual. I read it in an afternoon – this Scrapbook As Book thing has really taken off! I have spotted a few other books like these on the publishing horizon…

 

In Zanesville by JoAnn Beard

From the Amazon book description: “She is used to flying under the radar-a sidekick, a third wheel, a marching band dropout, a disastrous babysitter, the kind of girl whose Eureka moment is the discovery that “fudge” can’t be said with an English accent.”

That is exactly the kind of character I would like to read about. Also, that kind of describes 14-year-old me. Or at least 12-year-old me.

 

The New Kids by Brooke Hauser

This book is nonfiction, about immigrant teenagers at International High School in Brooklyn, New York. Hauser follows five teenagers who have just arrived from different countries as they navigate high school and American culture at large. This book reminds me of some of the journalistic “Let’s Follow Teens Around In Their Natural Habitat” nonfiction that I enjoyed so much as a teen. I’m such a voyeur. I think I would like this book, too.

 

The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan

David Levithan is one of my favorite authors. Last year, my best friend from high school snuck her way into my Amazon wishlist and bought me Mad Men Season 1 and this book. And even though, yeah, it was my wishlist in the first place, I was SUPER GEEKED!

However, I haven’t yet finished this book!!!! I am terrible. But at least I own it. I should get some street cred. I do really like following The Lover’s Dictionary on Twitter – the little dictionary-entry style quotes are poignant even without the context of the rest of the novel.

 

Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin

This book didn’t necessarily catch my eye – the plot is about a girl who gets her school involved in some kind of scandal. I saw the narrator described as “half Holden Caulfield, half Lee Fiora, Prep’s ironic heroine.” I am not sure how I feel about that. To me, that combination is Kind of Crazy/Whiny/Hormonal + Quiet/Smart/Low Self-Esteem. They are both pretty self destructive. I feel like this would make for a strange read.

 

Robopocalypse by Daniel W. Wilson

I think I am also afraid of reading this book. Artificial intelligence takes over everyday technology? I think I watched too much Twilight Zone as a child – I remember this episode, where a guy’s car tries to run him over, an electric razor chases him around… gives me the heebie-jeebies.

 

The Talk Funny Girl by Roland Merullo

A girl is raised by a family in such isolation that they have their own dialect (like).

A girl ventures outside of her family home and gradually discovers what is out there, waiting for her (like).

Weird story about rural New England (like).

Random abductions of teen girls going on in the background (dislike).

Three likes and a dislike… that’s a pretty good score.

 

 

2
life maintenance
05 Mar 2012

2012: week nine

February 26 – March 3

 Movie-themed food and wine at a friend’s apartment for the Oscars.

Lunch with friends on Friday afternoon, out to a bar on Friday night.

Impromptu Sam Adams tour on Saturday afternoon, friends over for wine and Pictionary on Saturday.

Fries and Original Sin on Sunday night.

A for social interaction this week, Jessica!

This somewhat makes up for the rest of your report card:

Schoolwork B-

Exercise C-

Diet C

Housekeeping D

Health and Wellness C-

Not Going Broke D+

Not Cutting Yourself on Kitchen Things and Bleeding Profusely D

You did however earn an A+ in kitty cuddling! Congrats!

(Contrary to what you might assume, this is a rather difficult subject)

Reading:

Listening to:

Watching:

links
02 Mar 2012

some links for march

These are the Ways You Love Yourself

“forgive yourself for not handling it all better, for feeling like you let others down. the path is not done, the road is not finished, why are you trying so hard to rush the whole thing? celebrate the fact that your story has some major departures.”

I love Meg’s posts. I bookmarked this weeks ago, but after writing yesterday’s post, it seems relevant yet again.

 

13 Practical Ways to Face Your Fear, Take Control, and Conquer Anxiety and Phobia

Just remember, fear is natural. It’s normal. It’s there to protect you. It’s your friend. Don’t beat yourself up for being afraid, try instead to be kind and thankful for it. Face it. And love it.

Respect it. Play with it. Make yourself comfortable with it.

Speaking of self-care, I thought this article from The Freedom Experiment about conquering legit phobias offered a lot of small, practical tactics for just calming yourself down when you’re feeling a bit too keyed up. “Breath in squares” feels much more tangible to me than “just breath.” Worth a read if you are a high-anxiety type.

 

15 Fights to Have Before You Get Engaged

Honey, I was watching this Oprah show about a beautiful family with forty foster children…

I found this exceedingly old article the other night and it was probably the funniest piece of relationship advice I’ve read. I like reading about how to effectively navigate major romantic relationships, but every article is the same, you know? This one hits all the obvious points, but the humor hits the points home a bit harder.

 

25 Things I Want To Say to So-Called “Aspiring Writers”

Agents, editors, reviewers, readers, trolls on the Internet, they’re going to say things you don’t want to hear. A thick skin isn’t enough. You need a leathery carapace. A chitinous exoskeleton. Writing is a hard-knock career where you invite a bevy of slings and arrows into your face and heart. It is what it is.

Repeat what I said above, but replace “relationships” with “writing.” I’m trying to keep this particular quote in mind this week because I am feeling too much like a delicate flower.

 

 

When We Fail To Do Our Part

These hard-working committees can miss something simply because of how overwhelming their tasks are. They can miss something because they miss something. Human error happens. But anyone who reads can pitch in and do their part, too, so books like Imaginary Girls don’t unfairly slip between the cracks.

Even though the 2011 book award frenzy is dying down, the process for handing out Newberys and National Book Awards and such is really going on all year. Kelly’s article on Stacked talks about YALSA awards and a little known way that everyday readers can “lobby” for a favorite YA underdog.

 

Advocating for Contemporary YA Lit

Contemporary ya lit doesn’t get the marketing or publicity bucks behind it that so many other genres do. Pay attention to the advertisements you see around for books — do many of them look familiar? Do they target the same few books over and over?

Another Stacked article! This one is a bit old, but I am taking this YA Lit class that has me thinking all about how to keep up with what’s new in YA without getting buried/discouraged – believe you me, there are SO MANY BOOKS! This article, though, presents the task as more of a professional responsibility than the simple act of “keeping up with those kiddies” – it’s important to support quality lit so that publishers will continue to support quality lit, rather than publishing Twilight knock-off after Twilight knock-off.

 

Sendak on Colbert

I’m sure everyone and their 90-year-old grandmother have already seen these videos, but they are SO hilarious, SO amazing, that I’m just going make extra-double-sure that EVERYONE possible has seen it.

Did you see it?

Good. Aren’t you glad?

 

life maintenance
01 Mar 2012

what it feels like for an introvert

It is March, today. It is March and this semester that is my last is almost halfway over. It is March and this year, THIS CRAZY YEAR!, is two months in.

I am no closer to My Next Big Step than I was last time I talked here about jobs. I have applied for a few positions since then, but you know how apply for jobs goes. You apply, you wait, you wait, they give it to someone else, they run out of money to pay someone to do that job, or they finally call you. One of those things will happen.

I really take stock in my Myers- Briggs type. I’ve taken the test three or four times since I was 21 or so – sometimes for school, sometimes for fun – and no matter what test I take, no matter how much time has passed, I remain an overwhelming INFJ. Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging.

Trying to build a meaningful career is difficult for me. I’m introverted: meeting new people and networking is tremendously draining. I typically don’t want to do it. I’m a feeler not a thinker, which means that it’s easy for me to feel my own failures and potential missteps with acuity, even though my rational brain is telling me that they don’t matter in the long run. When my feelings get me down, my intuition shuts down – every choice seems like a bad choice, every option has a long string of potentially negative implications. And laying over all this nonsense is a layer of persistent judgment: my gut wants routine and predictability, my heart wants a clear path to my future, my bones want to make plans and stick to them. I’m not getting any of that right now. It freaks me out.

That seems pretty doomsday-ish, but it’s not. I actually like being an INFJ; I am happy and proud of the way I seem to be wired. It doesn’t feel like I’m on a downward spiral, that I’m fated to be unsuccessful, that I should throw in the towel.

But it does feel like that sometimes.

Overall, the last few months have been a roller coaster. Ups and downs. Some days, I have this optimism that surprises me. There are any number of amazing directions my life could go. I have faith in my abilities and my drive; I might not know WHERE I will end up, but because I am Me, wherever it is will be awesome because I won’t settle for anything less. I can live like this for a day, a week.

Then I get a busy day or a bit of criticism or a bad headache or a surge of some hormones or something. Suddenly I’m exhausted with everything my life is currently demanding me. I want to curl up into a cocoon. I want to go home to my parents’ house. I want to stay indoors for the rest of my life, only putting myself “out there” when I’m absolutely certain that it will not result in pain.

I can look back at my life and see that I’ve always been like this. The tendency to retreat is always there. It will always be there. Being under stress, experiencing uncertainty, being ballsy will always be uncomfortable. More uncomfortable, perhaps, than it is for other people.

But what I can do now is acknowledge my weaknesses and be strategic. Sometimes, I can work around situations that I know will send me hiding in my bed. Self care is big. Positive self talk – or even just Non-Doomsday- “The World Is Not Going to End” self talk – is huge.

And being able to see the “downs” for what they are is the most important piece. You feel like this today. You might feel like this tomorrow, too. But you won’t feel like this in a week, or a month, or a year. For now, take a breather, take a night off, be nice to yourself and don’t feel guilty about it.

This has nothing to do with your lack of character, your poor fate, your lack of talent or skills.

There will be ups.

Just not today.

People ask me what my plans are, where I’m going, what jobs I’m applying for or looking at. Every day, my answers feel different.

But that’s just the way I am, the way my life is right now, and I couldn’t be any other way than up-d0wn-up-down-up.

 

 

1
book reviews
29 Feb 2012

Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson

In one of my first grad classes, we read every book written by a few different authors. We read them in order. This is actually a really fun way to read, especially authors that have a lot of books and are still writing. It gives you a unique perspective on each successive book.

I had never read Jacqueline Woodson before, but in 5 weeks or so I became a veritable Woodson expert. One thing I really enjoyed about Woodson’s works is that they could be considered “issue books” or “problem novels.” Interracial relationships. Child sexual abuse. Teen pregnancy. Being in the Witness Protection Program. Foster care. Being orphaned. But the thing is, Woodson’s books never *feel* like they are books about these issues. They feel like you’re reading damn good writing.

In Beneath a Meth Moon, the issue is drug abuse. Crystal meth. Laurel is new in town, still recovering from the loss of her mother and grandmother in Hurricane Katrina. She wants to make a new friend, so she joins the cheerleading squad. She wants someone to kiss after basketball games, so she starts dating the team co-captain. She wants to feel good, feel happy, so when her new boyfriend offers her a taste of what they call Moon, she takes it, and she likes it. Not long after, she’s under its spell.

Books about teen drug use easily slip into that *PROBLEM NOVEL!!* trope. As much as I love Go Ask Alice for being ridiculous and campy and awesome, other books about teen drug abuse tend toward the Afterschool Special, or focus not on the descent but on rehab. Woodson, instead, captures Laurel’s unintentional slips, her small decisions and desires that led her down a bad path, and how her grief weaves through her every move.

As usual, Woodson’s prose is lyrical and the story slim, just under 200 pages. She flies under the popular radar sometimes, but Woodson is a proven talent. I don’t think you have to read all of her books to appreciate Beneath a Meth Moon as much as I did but once you’re done you might want to.