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The memoir Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka will hit home for anyone affected by a family member with an addiction. This is Jarrett’s story of being raised by his grandparents because of his mother’s heroin addiction. The story begins with some background into his grandparents’ lives and then his mom’s. His mom began using when she was only thirteen. She cleaned up while pregnant with Jarrett, but couldn’t fight her addiction once he was born and through his upbringing. She served jail time and her relationship with him consisted of periodic visits and letters. Jarrett didn’t meet his dad until he was graduating high school.

Jarrett’s love of art provided an outlet for him and got him through difficult times at home and school. His grandparents had their own issues with drinking, but their love for him is apparent throughout his life. They supported his art by sending him to classes, buying supplies for him to use at home, and helping his application process to art colleges. I felt endeared to his grandparents (despite some not so great moments) because of his grandfather’s sense of humor and his grandmother’s crassness. They went through a lot with their daughter as well.

This is a graphic novel with an incredible sense of detail. Krosoczka used actual drawings that he saved from his childhood throughout the book. He even used his grandmother’s favorite pineapple wallpaper between story sections. This book is clearly a labor of love. Jarrett came to terms with the mixed emotions he had for his mother and her choices and ensured that his life would be positive. Two important points become evident in this story: the tenacity of the human spirit can push one through difficulty, and home is found where you are cared for and loved.

Will to Live

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware raises an interesting moral dilemma. If you were “accidentally” named in a wealthy person’s will, would you take the chance of getting caught and go for the money, or would you come clean about the error?

Hal finds herself in this exact situation. Hal is quite broke and a bit desperate since her mother’s death by a hit and run. She is being physically threatened by a loan shark’s henchman, and decides to take the chance that she can uphold the mistaken identity to get some money out of it.

In going to the deceased’s mansion, she finds that she actually is related to the family. It takes some time to dig into her past in order to find the true connection. Her mother’s diary and an old photograph are key pieces to start unraveling the puzzle. Through this she must navigate a seemingly vengeful old housekeeper, and three very different uncles. The story has a great twist, but there was a bit of confusion for me with the photograph. I felt that the mother’s description didn’t line up with the twist. I normally would go back to double check, but since I read this one on my Kindle it was too much work to do that!

I most enjoyed the overall concept of the book and I liked the mystical presence of the Tarot throughout the story. Hal learned how to read Tarot from her mom, and it provided both of their livelihoods while forming how they viewed people and life. While the story got a bit dragged out in parts for me, it had enough strong elements to keep me going until the end.

Outbreak

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is another friend recommendation. I can best describe this book with the word intricate. The plot jumps around quite a bit among many characters, yet everything comes together.

The story begins the night that the pandemic illness, the Georgia Flu, begins its full outbreak. Arthur is acting the part of King Lear when he drops dead onstage (from natural causes). More about Arthur’s past is woven throughout the story: his three marriages including a son from his second marriage, his rise as an acclaimed actor and his friendships.

Arthur’s first wife, Miranda, is a graphic novelist whose sci fi work (also titled “Station Eleven”) is an anchor through the story. This work ties together a couple of key characters, and it also (somewhat) parallels the main story’s plot.

One of the key characters is Kristen, the child actress who was part of King Lear with Arthur. We follow Kristen through her time with the Traveling Symphony, a group of musicians/actors who move through the post flu world. The Symphony provides entertainment to the various groups they come across, until they reach one that is a bit different than the others. It is a cult-like settlement run by the prophet. A pre-teen girl is promised as his next wife and she stows away with the Symphony when they leave. This causes the prophet and some of his followers to go after the Symphony during their travel to the Severn Airport, which they heard is a safe haven.

There are other important characters too. Clark is one of Arthur’s lifelong friends who was stranded at the Severn Airport at the start of the outbreak (along with Arthur’s second wife and son). Another is Jeevan, who ran onstage during King Lear to perform CPR on Arthur.

There is a lot to enjoy about this book. The plot’s maze of movement among different characters, times and places kept me aware and involved. It was a constant guessing game as to whether everyone would connect. I liked the Shakespeare references and the presence of the graphic novel throughout the story too. More than anything, books, movies and shows with post-apocalyptic plots make you think about how one would function in this altered reality and instill some fear. This novel is no exception.

Creepy Treat

After so many young reader books, it was a real treat to read an adult novel. I was beyond excited to borrow an advanced reader copy of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage from a friend.

Suzette is a stay-at-home mom to her seven-year-old, mute daughter Hanna. The story moves back and forth between Suzette and Hanna’s perspectives. Suzette struggles with her own state of health along with feeling ineffective as mother to her troubled daughter. She often thinks back to her own difficult relationship as a child with her own mother and the happiness of her life before children.

Hanna’s mind is a very twisted place. Hanna senses her mother’s discomfort and disdain of her. This drives her to continue a twisted game of trying to get rid of her mother. She is a perfect angel for her dad which creates additional conflict between her parents too. I couldn’t help be reminded of the movie The Omen while reading! This book is disturbing in a similar way to the movie.

I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next throughout the entire book. The ending (especially Suzette’s last statement to her daughter) made my jaw drop. There is even the hint of a sequel. Sign me up!

Gone Baby

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena hooked me immediately. Marco and Anne are having dinner at their neighbor’s house. The night is not going well for Anne, who feels insecure around vivacious, flirty Cynthia. The night gets much worse when Marco and Anne return home to find that their baby daughter, Cora, is gone.

This story took me on a wild ride through the investigation into Cora’s disappearance, and all that it uncovers. Every character has something to hide and sharing their secrets gives too much away. Even though this book has some unrealistic aspects, I really enjoyed it! It’s one of the few books that warrants the comparisons to The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.

Fighting for Life

Look for Me by Lisa Gardner is a page turner. It’s a criminal detective mystery to discover who killed a teen girl’s (Roxy) entire family. Roxy is the sole survivor of the attack who happened to be out walking the family dogs during the shooting. She is now missing and a person of interest.

The story offers Roxy’s background through multiple perspectives: excerpts from her 11th grade writing assignment entitled “What is the Perfect Family?”, female detective D.D.’s investigation, and Flora, a vigilante and founder of a survivors’ support group that Roxy had recently connected with. Readers get pieces of Roxy’s difficult past, with its most horrible moments beginning the year she and her younger sister Lola are put in foster care with two manipulative, abusive older teens. Her mother regains custody of her children giving them some reprieve, until she moves in with a new boyfriend in the same town as the foster home. Roxy and her sister are forced to face their horrible pasts all over again.

We get a little background information about D.D. and Flora along the way as well. The book starts with a prologue in which a college student, Sarah, witnesses the brutal murder of all her roommates. Flora seeks out Sarah in the aftermath of this attack to give her tools to stop living as a victim. Sarah becomes the point person between Flora and Roxy. Women in the story have endured horrible incidents, and are attempting to overcome their tragedies in different ways.

The dramatic ending in a community theater (fitting location!) surprised me, while the constant shift in viewpoint kept my attention through this story. I will keep Gardner on my reading lists.

Never Assume

booklist Recently, I came across a list of someone’s top ten or so thriller books. This is probably one of my favorite categories so I jotted down the whole list. My plan is to gradually chip away at all of them. Unfortunately, I have no idea where I found the original so I need to hang on to my handwritten copy!

Since snow was heading our way, I headed to the public library to find any of these possibilities. They only had about four titles from my list, and these were all checked out! I’m hoping this means they’re really good for when I finally get my hands on them. Instead, I used my Kindle to download The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor. This one grabbed my attention most from all the teasers that I read.

This story has shades of the movies “I Know What you Did Last Summer” and “Stand By Me.” It centers mostly around a boy and his friends’ experience with discovering a dead girl’s body in the woods. But there is a lot more to it than this; there are sub plots that all relate in some way to the main event. The time frame switches back and forth between 1986 and 2016, and is told from the main character’s point of view throughout. The chalk men begin as messages/signals among the group of boys. The chalk men end up being used against them when it seems that someone else gets involved.

There are an abundance of odd characters in the story, making it a constant guessing game as to who might be guilty. Is it the new, albino teacher in town who always seems to be nearby when something intense occurs? Is it the zealot minister who appears to be physically abusive toward his own daughter (among other actions)? Is it his friend Mickey, who was already edgy, but seems to take a turn for the worse when his bully of a brother winds up dead too? Or maybe it’s the dad, who showed both aggressive and forgetful tendencies in the book?

A point is made several times throughout the end of the story: never assume. I won’t spoil it, but the intricacies are mostly all explained in the end. Some with simple explanations and others with more complexity. There were a few actions that I predicted and others that were more of a surprise.

Did this book keep me up at night (as another reviewer stated)? No. Was it a good story? Sure.

All American

A colleague recently shared Trevor Noah’s interview with author Jason Reynolds. His closing lines of the interview, in which he talks about how to make reading matter for teens, resounded with me, “they [students] then build relationships not just with literature but with literacy. Then we start fixing violence, we start fixing gangs, all of that, once you realize that your life is dependent on your relationship with words.” Coincidentally, the timing of watching this interview was the same as I was starting to read All American Boys by Reynolds and co-author Brendan Kiely. This is my first Reynolds novel, but it most definitely won’t be the last.

I can’t help but make the initial comparison to The Hate U Give based on the primary conflict of police brutality and racism. For me, this book added a different element to the table. Point of view and empathy are critical pieces to this novel. The narrative switches back and forth between Rashad and Quinn’s voices. Both are regular high school guys from the same school getting ready to start their weekend with a party. They attend the same high school and have acquaintances in common, but don’t personally know each other.

The Friday night takes a terrible turn for Rashad. He stops at a convenience store for some snacks, and he’s thought to be stealing because of a silly accident by someone near him. An officer is in the store, and he is pulled out and horribly beaten while handcuffed. Quinn (and other bystanders – there’s a tape made) witnesses this event, and it turns out that the officer is the older brother of Quinn’s good friend. It turns out that this officer is also the same man who has been a stand-in father figure for Quinn. The intense internal and external conflict that this creates for the main characters and their families, friends, and the school community as a whole is compelling.

I was caught up in even the most minor character and the emotions of everyone involved from the very beginning. Even the ways that different teachers tried to handle the aftermath was representative of how people deal with the reality of harsh situations. From the basketball coach who wants the team to “leave it at the door,” to the teacher who breaks down in tears in front of her class, to the teacher who helps organize their march. So many lines stood out to me, including this one on page 296, “Had our hearts really become so numb that we needed dead bodies in order to feel the beat of compassion in our chests?”

Every word of this book matters.

Thug Life

The blog title refers to my latest read- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. My library social media feeds have been bringing up this book repeatedly, so I had to check it out.

Verdict is- the hype is well-deserved. After finishing, I couldn’t help but imagine how incredible it would be to read with a class if I was still teaching English. The conversations among students would be amazing because there is SO much to discuss. The story includes the main plots of police brutality, gang life (including the various reasons someone may become involved in it), family, friendship, depth of character and conversations, pop culture (the shoes, the TV references, music). Themes such as standing up and speaking out for what is right, coping through life’s tragedies, self-identity, and so much more!

These characters jumped off the page for me with the writer’s attention to detail. One example is Starr’s cute superstitions while watching LeBron play basketball. I found myself laughing at so many of her family’s exchanges. Yet, while being able to laugh, there is the plot of Starr as witness to her friend’s brutal murder at the hands of a police officer. She must figure out how willing she is to become a visible and vocal witness of this murder, and how it will affect her friendships at the mostly white school that she attends. The main story is hope for justice and equality.

This book will make you think and feel on so many levels. It’s a conversation starter and it’s a conversation that I would enjoy having with students, adults or anyone interested.

Old Favorite

Dean Koontz was a favorite during my mid-late teen years along with Stephen King. During that time I read just about everything from these authors. It’s been a long while, so when I saw the newly released The Whispering Room by Koontz, I was compelled to grab it! I was a bit frustrated upon starting the book when I realized it is the second of the Jane Hawk series, but I plowed ahead figuring that I could fill in the missing pieces.

Reading this was like slipping into a pair of comfy slippers. The writing is no-fail for me- a great plot with twists and turns and great characters. Jane Hawk is a perfect woman character: smart, bold and courageous. She reminds me of Lisbeth Salander from the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series (also awesome!). She can be ruthless while also stopping to help out everyday people. This stood out for me when she helped the grandmother, mom and two daughters from a motor vehicle hi-jacking. Her message to the mom about teaching her daughters to be brave and not victims is one Jane is well-equipped to model.

The sinister story-line of injections that alter people’s brain chemistry, creating almost zombie-like effects is riveting. You never know what science and power are capable of- a recipe for a great many story lines.

Of course, when everything goes so well it’s hard not to be a bit cynical. But I don’t care. I love that it worked out for the good guys (mostly). I do wish the ending didn’t leave off so abruptly, but of course, that’s par for the course in any book series. Guess I will have some catching up to do with reading books 1 and 3.