Winger (by Andrew Smith)

Once in a while – like on average 5 times a year, judging from my own Goodreads stats – you come across a book that will make your heart bleed and skip a couple of beats all at the same time. I felt like this year I wouldn’t get to that average. There’s only been Adam Rapp’s 33 Snowfish that made me feel empty and drained and completely exhilarated at the same time, definitely worthy of that 5 star rating. But then, there was Andrew Smith’s Winger. If there’s one book (besides the aforementioned 33 Snowfish) that you have to read this year to get that good-shiver experience then make it Andrew Smith’s Winger. Not only will it have you laughing out loud (balls, dude, seriously, balls!), smirking quietly and nodding in agreement… it will also break your heart and make you stop breathing and staring wide-eyed at that last line, hoping, wishing you could be there with the main character, Winger (Ryan Dean West). Fuck, man, this book is great. *

 

*This book doesn’t need any elaborate summaries (lots of that around on the net already. Plus, the blurb is more than enough to get you started), grand explanations (unbiased, man, read this one unspoiled and unbiased and you’ll get the most out of it), or any other justifying blablablas. Just get the book already!

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (by Chris Crutcher)

Chris Crutcher is a giant in American YA literature, having won the Margaret A. Edwards Award already in 1997. By that time he already had 8 publications under his belt (not counting individual short stories), but much of the Award was probably because of the vital Staying Fat for Sarah Burnes (1993), in which everything that makes Crutcher into..err Crutcher is present: a focus on sport, the supporting role of the coach/teacher in a teen’s life, the responsibility of the parents as the teen grows into adulthood and of course, the friendship between teens. Also, he does not shy away from what one would call “issues”: abuse, abortion, intellectual freedom… it’s all there in Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.

Initially connected through their common outcast status, Eric (who was fat) and Sarah Byrnes (who has horrible burn scars in her face because of an accident that occurred when she was 3) have been friends since forever.  Once Eric – or ‘Moby’ as he came to be called – discovered swimming, he started to slim down. He stayed fat for an entire year because he feared he’d lose Sarah Byrnes’ friendship, if he suddenly wasn’t anymore, but Sarah Byrnes is a tough kid, who doesn’t care about that at all! That’s why it’s so painful for Eric to see how this tough person who didn’t let her ugly face (his and her own words) get the better of her, just stopped speaking one day and is now in a hospital, where she just sits and stares catatonically… Eric knows something else is going on and wants to find out before it’s too late.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes shows the personal growth of not one (main) character (Eric), but of several. Obviously there is Eric, but Crutcher includes an important storyline of Mark Brittain whose insistence on what is right(eous) and moral, and what isn’t, has landed him in big troubles. Now he has to take responsibility for his actions, actions which may have been instigated by the pressure he’s been under since he was born! It’s not hard to see why a topic like religion – always a hotbed of controversy USA! – is not often tackled in a YA novel, but to his own credit, Crutcher does it, and even has the decency to show us the different sides of the argument (although the “liberal” point of view is clearly the implied better option!). If you don’t agree with the implied message, you might take offense here (and judging from the many challenges this book has received, I’m guessing a lot of people have!), but the cat didn’t one bit. Chris Crutcher totally Judy Blumed his way into the cat’s favor!

And another poignant question, though, might be: given the fact that this was published in 1993, when today’s teens weren’t even born, does it pass the test of time? And, yes, it’s true, the kids today may not get all the references in the book. They might know about Rocky Balboa and The Far Side, but I don’t see them getting the winks to Raymond Burr, Leave it to Beaver or even Scarface. That being said, the book surpasses its temporal allusions and is definitely worth being called “a classic”. It’s the type of story that sticks. It’s about being more than what people would usually call “your shortcomings”, or “your handicap”. It’s about getting challenged and true friendship and loyalty and looking beyond the obvious, the apparent, the superficial… If that’s not contemporary, I don’t know what is!

Keeping the Moon (by Sarah Dessen)

In light of the upcoming publication of Sarah Dessen’s new novel, The Moon and More, in June of this year, the cat wanted to get another Sarah Dessen fix real quick! There’s nothing better to pick you up after a slew of average books than a Sarah Dessen book! Even when she’s not at the top of her game, her books are always entertaining, immensely readable and like chocolate for my inner girl!

In Keeping the Moon – a Dessen oldie, her 3^rd novel and originally published in 1999 – 15-year-old Colie Sparks is our protagonist. She used to be fat, but once her mom found comfort in exercising and found out that not only was she really good at it, but she also loved it with an unabashed enthusiasm that made her into one of the nation’s most famous fitness gurus, Colie lost 45 pounds. What she didn’t lose, though, was her insecurity. When her mom is off to Europe to tour with her fitness program, Colie is sent to her unconventional aunt Mira in Colby. In Colby she starts working at the Last Chance* diner, where she also meets Morgan and Isabel, who are potentially the first friends she ever has in her life.

Like in many of her other books, Dessen is very good at pointing out similarities and differences in people’s relationships and the reasons why people behave the way they behave. Dessen is a character-writer. She seems to love all of her (female) protagonists a lot (despite and because of their flaws!), which is very infectious! It’s hard not to feel with Colie and her insecurities. Dessen usually takes a lot of time to have her main characters build relationships with the people around her (including the love interests! No insta-loves here!), who all have their own past to deal with,… nothing is ever rushed in a Dessen novel. In Keeping the Moon, she hasn’t yet fully acquired that skill yet (it’s a slender novel, compared to some of her more recent work), but it’s great to see some really believably female friendships so early on in her writing career, and to see her be such a champion of self-esteem! I’m greatly looking forward to The Moon and More (which is apparently also set in Colby!).

* This book can also be found under another title: Last Chance. The 2012 Speak Reissue I read (cf. cover photo), has the original title, though.

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci)

If you’re a nerd or a geek (self-proclaimed or not!), go all out an celebrate your geektastic nerdiness! “You’ve got the heart and soul of a geek or you don’t”, Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci must have thought and they knew they had friends who’d think just the same… so never too shy to try something completely out of this world, they asked some of their YA writer friends to contribute a story of their own (whether they be Klingon, Quiz Bowl, LARP or band-inspired). Sara Zarr, John Green, David Levithan, Garth Nix, Barry Lyga and a bunch of other secret or not so secret geeks jumped at the occasion et voilà…Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd was born.

There are definitely a couple of standout stories in this collection. The first highlight for the cat came with David Levithan’s “Quiz Bowl Antichrist” (in the middle of the book), about a boy’s own reasons for joining the quiz bowl team and secret admirations. Levithan is a master at characterization and proves that here as well. Barry Lyga’s “The Truth about Dino Girl” is at first almost “typically” geeky (the geek as outcast and victim), but then gets a very dark twist at the end – we don’t need to over-glorify “the geek”, you know, lots of them have mean streaks, just like those meanies out there… Plus you get the added bonus that it’s set in Brookdale! Wendy Mass’s “The Stars at the Finish Line” is a very sweet story about stars and love! There is a great dynamic between the two protagonists here. What more do you need? And then the collection ends with an absolute bang… Libba Bray’s “It’s Just a Jump to the Left”! You knew there had to be a story about Rocky right? And Libba does it right and manages to write a whole coming of age novel in the span of a short story!

There’s a story for every type of geek here, and obviously not all the stories will work for everyone (the cat admits to not feeling much for a couple of the stories here!). But I don’t think that was the point of the editors. I think they wanted to come up with a book full of stories of being passionate about something, and sometimes that passion can get out of control and become an obsession, and sometimes that passion is what defines you, but sometimes it’s not.  Sometimes you grow out of your passion or obsession, sometimes it’s the thing that will comfort you forever. Geeks, nerds, freaks… they’re not all the same, you know.  It just happens that it’s the geeks who end up being picked on all the time, or made fun of. But that’s alright because at the very least, they don’t forget to be awesome. And if you keep an open mind, and look past what exactly it is “the geeks” are passionate about (instruments, books, sci fi, The Rocky Horror Picture Show…), you’ll see that these stories are what a lot of stories for teens are about: finding love and acceptance, finding yourself, staying true to yourself. Isn’t that the most natural and universal thing in the world?

Nothing Special (by Geoff Herbach)

YA literature is often accused of being oversaturated with female voices… the voices of its authors is what people mostly talk about then, but by extension also often the voices of its main (female) protagonists. Anyone who reads more than a handful YA books a year will know that is as much perception as it is an actual verifiable fact (male “voices”, for instance are in no way underappreciated when it comes to “recognition”). For all those people who think there really are no great fresh male voices in YA anymore, I present you Geoff Herbach and Felton Reinstein!

Nothing Special is the second book in a planned series of three (I’m with Stupid is set for publication on 1 May 2013) and is the follow up to the excellent Stupid Fast. Although Felton’s voice is still what grabs the reader from the get go, the formatting is slightly different. Felton is now writing down his story in letters to Aleah, which he time- and datestamps along a trip to… . During that trip Felton is slowly realizing that the things he does and the things that are happening to him are not without consequence. Action. Reaction. And one of those reactions is that his brother Andrew started to feel left out after Felton mega-transformation and sort of runs away to Florida to figure things out for himself and what his family really is all about. In Nothing Special, Felton is also completely alienated from his best friend Gus,  and from Aleah, who he thinks ditched him to go off to Germany. Most of all, though, his kid brother starts to act all weird…  and what we get is a dual narrative timeline: Felton on his trip, writing letters to Aleah. And Felton talking about what leads up to the actual trip. And by writing everything down Felton does some more growing as he starts to understand how he basically had his head up his ass all last year.

Anyone who read Stupid Fast – and you really should, because, for one, you won’t understand a lot of what’s going on in Nothing Special, but second, it’s just a Stupid Funny Excellent Book – will not need convincing here, but seriously, Felton is one of the most believable male teenage voices since Sherman Alexie’s Junior! It’s great to read a character who is as fresh as any John Green character but who also doesn’t sound like he’s way older than he actually is and just stays in teen character all the time, body odor, dumb decisions and total awkwardness included. He’s one weird dude and part of one weird family and this weirdness adds to the uniqueness of his voice. Felton may also not realize it just yet, but he behaves like he’s the center of the universe (pretty much like any teenager does, right?) and doesn’t see how this affects Andrew and Gus and his other friends. Felton is always completely charming in his utter cluelessness about his family and friends, though, and once he realizes what narcissism really is, he might be ready for the next step… a step which he’ll undoubtedly take in I’m with Stupid. Bonus: Nothing Special has quotable one-liners galore!