A Certain Slant of Light

I had seen several recommendations on the board for A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. The premise sounded interesting and when I saw it on my most recent trip to the library I decided to give it a try.

"Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you're dead."

The first line lets you know that this is a ghost story. It's about Helen, a woman who died 130 years ago, but has existed as Light, a ghost, since then, roaming the world attached to a human host. When one host dies, she cleaves to another, which has brought her to the setting of the story. It begins in a high school classroom where her current host, Mr. Brown, teaches English. It seems like another day in her Light existence until she notices once of Mr. Brown's students looking at her. Not through her, at her.

She realizes that this student, Billy, has been possessed by a spirit like her. Billy was on the brink of death from a drug overdose, so this spirit, James, took possession of Billy's abandoned body. Soon James and Helen fall in love, her as a spirit and him in possession of this teenage body.

The resulting story is one of love that delves into some fascinating moral issues as well. How can these two lovers be together when they are both dead? How does James's inhabitation of Billy's body impact the people in Billy's world and the life he left behind? What are the ramifications of the Light interfering with the Quick? It also delves into the past and the reasons these two spirits are stuck wandering the Earth.

It's amazing that this is Whitcomb's first novel. Her writing is beautiful and poetic and the story is tight and full.

The only thing that is strange to me about this book is the fact that it is categorized as Young Adult. Yes, a lot of it takes place in a high school, and yes, there are high-school-aged characters, but Helen was 29 when she died, and James was in his 20's as well, so the characters are mature and much of the subject matter is mature as well. For those of you who are interested in this book, please don't be turned off by the YA categorization. Nothing about this story struck me as YA at all.

There have been some raves on the board as well about the audio book. That's something I would like to check out, as it was mentioned that the reader really captures Helen's essence in her storytelling.

~Jessica
(Young_Love)

High School Reunion Part II

So, I wanted to read more of Sarah Dessen's books, but I didn't want to go out and buy them for full price. I usually get most of my books at the used bookstore or on half.com, but shopping for specific books at the used bookstore never works out so well, and, in this case, I was way too impatient to wait for half.com. So...I broke down and got a library card. Then I ran upstairs to the YA section and grabbed three more of her books.

I ended up devouring these three books. I read two of them and started the third in one day, then I finished the third one the following evening.

That Summer was actually Dessen's first published novel. This is apparent when you compare the writing with the writing in This Lullaby or Just Listen, but it was still a great book. I really related with the main character Haven because she was going through her teen years as a nearly six foot tall girl, much like I did. (She also worked at the mall, much like I did for eight long years of my life. Haven and I had a lot in common.) That Summer is a "sister of the bride" story. Haven's sister getting married in the same summer as her father is getting re-married (to the woman he cheated on her mom with), so it's a traumatic summer for her. She copes by spending her time fixating on a summer from her past when her sister's ex-boyfriend, Sumner, shows back up in town.

I think we can all relate to romanticizing a time in the past when we thought things were perfect and fixating on it, and that's what Haven does in this book. The ending is very poignant, and it is a cute growing up story.

Keeping The Moon is another one of Dessen's earlier books, and is another coming of age story. I liked this one better than That Summer, mainly just because the writing was tighter and there was a little more romance (I am realizing I am a sucker for the teen romance. How sad). In this one there is the adorably dorky Norman, a talented artist, as the boy interest. (I don't know what it is about Sarah Dessen...she obviously loves the dorky boys as much as I do. It's so refreshing to see dorks getting some love. I think that's why I like her books so much.) Romance isn't the focus of this book, though, it's Colie and the journey of self-acceptance she goes through as she spends a summer at the beach with her aunt. She learns about friendship, beauty, and loving herself through her aunt, the two twenty-something girls next door, Isabel and Morgan, and the cutie-pie Norman who rents a room at her aunt's house. It all sounds very trite, but it's not, I promise. Dessen really has mastered telling these stories and teaching these lessons without sounding cliche.

The last one I read from the library was Dreamland. I don't want to say that Dessen's novels are formulaic, because they are not, but the ones I have read have followed a somewhat similar pattern of girl discovers herself and deals with family issues thanks to some dorky boy who helps her figure it all out. Dreamland is different. Yes, Caitlin has personal issues as well as major family issues that she needs to solve. However, in this book it isn't the boy who helps her solve them. In this book, the boy makes them worse.

I should have known something was different about this book when I didn't like Rogerson. I have loved all of her other guy characters, but I didn't like this one. Well, there's a good reason, because the relationship between Caitlin and Rogerson soon turns to abuse, so not only is Caitlin dealing with her mother's depression and the breakdown of her family after her sister runs away, but now she is trying to keep her absue at the hands of her mysterious boyfriend a secret from everyone. It's so fascinating the way Caitlin's life slowly breaks down and she beigins to lose every single piece of herself to this guy who hurts her over and over again.

This book is a lot heavier than the others. Obviously, the subject of abuse is a serious one. Plus, there is a lot of drinking and teenage drug use, as well as language. Rogerson is a drug dealer, and by the end of the book Caitlin is stoned pretty much the entire time. It's still one I would love to have my students read, though...hopefully to let the girls look at an abusive relationship from the outside and see what it looks like so they know what to avoid.

So, after reading five of her novels, I still have a major crush on Sarah Dessen. This Lullaby remains my favorite, but I still have a few more to read! I need to get my hands on Someone Like You, The Truth About Forever, and her newset book Lock and Key. Someone Like You is one of her older ones, but the other two are more recent and I have heard nothing but good things about them!

Looking at all of these books and reading reviews, it seems like people tend to agree that Dessen has a lock on writing characters that feel real. Like them or hate them (it seems like her girls irritate a lot of readers, but I think it may be because they relate to them more than they want to admit), they are so fleshed out that they feel like they could hop off of the page and have a cup of coffee with you (or smoke a bowl with you, in the case of Caitlin from Dreamland). The same with her secondary characters. Even though they are just there, in many cases, to move the plot along in some way or another, she never makes them flat. They are always just as interesting and complex as the main characters themselves.

Looks like I'll be stalking the YA section of the library until these come in. But, I guess by the time that happens I could have ordered them from half.com, right? Oh well...as long as I get to read them.

~Jessica
(Young_Love)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Isabella Swan is a plain, clumsy girl who moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to cold, rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father. She is miserable in Forks, but quickly finds herself drawn to the beautiful and mysterious Edward Cullen, a student at the small town's high school who, along with his strange brothers and sisters, seems to be an outcast in the town despite his extreme beauty.

Bella's first encounter with the gorgeous Edward is a strange one, as he seems to hate her upon first sight. From there, she is drawn into his mysterious world of cryptic answers, impossible acts of strength, and inexplicable behavior. What Bella doesn't realize is that Edward is a vampire, and the more time they spend together, the more they are moving toward an impossible relationship.

Twilight explores the most forbidden love of all. Can a vampire and a human girl truly be together, if his lust for her body always runs the chance of being overcome by his lust for her blood?

This book is one part vampire (although Stephenie Meyer's vampires do not follow traditional vampire canon at all...no fangs here), three parts angsty teen love. It's a guilty pleasure read, chock full of brooding glances and cheesy dialouge, and it is heavily recommended that you stock up on all the books in the series once you get started. Once most people get going, they don't want to stop.

The Twilight Saga
#1 - Twilight
#2 - New Moon
#3 - Eclipse
#4 - Breaking Dawn

As a bonus for Twilight fans, you can also read the first 12 chapters of Midnight Sun on Stephenie Meyer's website. Midnight Sun is the Twilight story from Edward's perspective. It was supposed to be Meyer's next project after Breaking Dawn, but in late August '08, the first 12 chapters were leaked onto the internet. Meyer was upset that her rough work was spread around without her permission or knowledge, released a statement saying the project was on hold indefinitely, and posted those leaked chapters for her fans on her website. You can read them, along with her statement, here.

High School Reunion

So, as a high school teacher I have become pretty interested in Young Adult (YA) lit lately. I started reading it when I said, "I want to know what my students are reading so I can talk to them about it," but then, after a book or two, I found myself hooked on the genre. It wasn't just about reading what they read, it was about getting into their heads and living their lives for a little bit, albeit vicariously.

And, I'm not going to lie, I have always had a thing about high school. I guess that's why I ended up as a teacher...I guess I could never really move on.

On Thursday I randomly picked up a book called This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. I didn't even realize it was YA when I bought it at the thrift store a few weeks ago, I figured it was chick lit (which I am not a big fan of, to tell you the truth), and threw it in my TBR pile, figuring it would be a good book for a day I was looking for a quick read, and then I would donate it to my classroom library for my students. Well, Thursday was the day I was looking for that quick read, so this book got tossed into my purse and I dove into it on my lunch break.

I was interested as soon as I started reading because the main character, Remy, was not like the typical female main character in a YA novel. She wasn't a cheerleader, but she also wasn't the shy nerd. She drank, she partied, she slept around, she was a total bitch, but, somehow she was not "the bitch." She was still a likable character. I loved following her as she was revealed to me, all of these interesting facets of her personality unfolding in layers. I found myself really liking Remy, wishing she was actually sitting across from me at lunch, and not stuck on the page.

Then there was the guy. Dexter. Oh holy lord, it was like Sarah Dessen could see into my soul and created the exact guy I would fall head-over-heels in love with. Tall. Gangly. Dorky as hell. Singer in a band. Somewhat awkward. Sex hair. OMG. I. Love. Dexter. (It should come as no surprise to most everyone reading this blog that I crush on fictional characters and I crush hard. It's not just fictional characters, though. I crush on anything and anyone appealing that crosses my path. It's a sickness, really.) Dexter was after Remy. Remy was hesitant. Jessica shouted at the book, "Good LORD, Remy! Hit that and hit it NOW or I will find a way to do it for you!"

The book wasn't just about them, though. There was so much more. Remy's family issues. Her personal issues. The things she had to get over internally. The things she had to figure out about her mom and her brother. I loved getting into her head and seeing all of this through her eyes.

I devoured this book and was really impressed. It wasn't at all what I expected from a YA novel. The characters are very well developed and actually three dimensional, which I don't often see in this genre. Plus I realized the typical YA cliches weren't there, which was a refreshing surprise. The only cliche element, to me, anyway, was the I-hate-you-no-wait-I-love-you nature of Remy and Dexter's relationship, but even that was done in a way that didn't make it seem tired and worn out.

But what really impressed me was Dessen's writing. Accessible for teenagers, but polished and solid. I enjoyed it so much. And, as someone who just spent November attempting to write a YA novel, it was very inspiring. As I was reading This Lullaby I was thinking," This is EXACTLY the book I was trying to write. The characters. The story. The development. This is what I wanted to do." So, I was jealous. So jealous. Jealous, but inspired. I want to be Sarah Dessen.

However, I figured I should read more of her books before I jump to this wild conclusion, so I grabbed Just Listen from the shelf of my classroom library and brought it home for the weekend. I read the whole thing today.

It took me a little longer to get into Just Listen, but I still enjoyed it and I was still impressed with Dessen's characters, story, and writing.

I was coming off of my Dexter high and Owen, while cool and an interesting character, just didn't do it for me the way Dexter did. (However, in a very fun surprise, Dexter some of the characters from This Lulaby actually make a cameo appearance in this book! I was so excited, it was like running into an old friend at the mall. Well, maybe not, because when I see people at the mall, even old friends, I end up hiding behind the sale rack until they are gone. I passionately hate small talk. So, bad comparison, I guess.) Plus, the focus of this book is less on the relationship and more on Annabel as a person and her relationship with her family, so that romance piece was a little bit missing for me. It was still a great book, though, and one that I would totally recommend. The dynamic between Annabel and her sisters Whitney and Kirsten is such a fascinating one and even though I thought I wouldn't be able to relate because I don't have sisters myself, I found myself shedding several tears over the relationship between these three.

I'm sitting on my couch now, eyeballing my bookshelf just FULL of books I haven't yet read, but all I want to do is read another one of Dessen's books. And, honestly, if I had it with me, I wouldn't even mind reading This Lullaby again. I suppose I can wait until tomorrow to scour the local thrift stores looking for another book of hers (she has about four or five other ones, all of them look interesting), but for now I figure blogging about the two I've read will be good enough to distract me, and then thinking about how I can get my NaNo story from where it is (vapid pile of crap) to where I want it to be (This Lullaby status) will push me on once I have read everything of hers that I can, which I will inevitably do in a very short time.

My YA obsession lives on. But I had a long conversation about This Lullaby with my 2nd period class on Friday morning, so I guess it really is a good thing.

~Jessica
(Young_Love)