All the Bright Places

All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven 4 / 5	Published January 6, 2015 First Sentence "Is today a good day to die?"
Publisher's Description: The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die. Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.
Dear Reader, Maybe it was the lack of hype prior to my reading this book, but I enjoyed it far more than I did the two it is compared to above, The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor & Park. Although it is rightly compared to the two, this book felt like it had so much more to give me. Perhaps it was just that I identified most with these characters, which is strange because one of the things that bothered me most about TFIOS was the unbelievable pretentiousness of the teenaged characters, and Violet and Finch can often be found quoting Woolf. But ATBP is more of a mix between Hazel/Augustus and Eleanor/Park, a good blend between the extremes of the two books in terms of where it explores knowledge and teenage lives. I am not even sure if I liked Finch all that much, but I did sympathize with him and how he often felt. And I think the author did a great job of presenting mental illness in him, and the uncertainty of mourning in Violet. I feel like I can't write much about this book without spoilers, so I will probably keep this review short. I just think it's definitely a great Young Adult read, particularly for those who are struggling with loss and figuring out their own identities. I say this a lot, I know, but I think this would have been a favorite when I was in high school - a book I could identify with, a relationship I could see developing between two very different kids. I think one of my favorite things about this book was how the author chose to showcase Indiana by having Violet & Finch partner on an "explore our great state" project for school. This allows Niven to introduce the reader to all the nifty, unique, quirky places in IN, from the world's largest ball of paint to the infamous shoe trees. All the places she mentions (and sometimes even the people) are real, and I imagine this book receiving accolades something along the lines of Idaho's legislation on Napoleon Dynamite. It did a great job of introducing me to a state I might not otherwise know much of anything about. Pair that with the budding romance of two teenagers, and you've got yourself a very sweet and magical little book. With a whole lot of tragedy - and beauty - thrown in. Yours, Arianna

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Fourth of July Creek

Fourth of July Creek Smith Henderson 4/5	Published 2014 First Sentence "The cop flicked his cigarette to the dirt-and-gravel road in front of the house, and touched back his hat over his hairline as the social worker drove up in a dusty Toyota Corolla."
Publisher's Description: In this shattering and iconic American novel, PEN prize-winning writer, Smith Henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion and anarchy, brilliantly depicting our nation's disquieting and violent contradictions. After trying to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral eleven-year-old boy living in the Montana wilderness, social worker Pete Snow comes face to face with the boy's profoundly disturbed father, Jeremiah. With courage and caution, Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from this paranoid survivalist itching for a final conflict that will signal the coming End Times. But as Pete's own family spins out of control, Pearl's activities spark the full-blown interest of the F.B.I., putting Pete at the center of a massive manhunt from which no one will emerge unscathed.
Dear Reader, Want to know what a small town Social Workers life is like? This book will give you all the inside info! Corruption, alcoholism, welfare, mental instability, starvation, runaways, homelessness, drug abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, and any other kind of abuse you could think of... this book has it. I don't mean to say that this book is trying to shock the reader, because everything inside is written very naturally, almost like you see glimpses of horribleness but with understanding behind it. The main character, Pete, isn't the type of Social Worker you would normally think of. He isn't that super sweet, perfectly normal, entirely helpful, the one who thinks there is a cure for every malady out there - even the emotional ones. He is hard, true and knows how to connect with these people. He relates to them, because you see, his life is pretty messed up as well. His wife and daughter have moved away and soon after his daughter ends up running away, completely disappearing. This happens while he has a giant stack of cases that need to be taken care of, some of them harder than others. It's a little like a train wreck, watching Pete try and sort out his own life while playing nice with the other families who are under his care. You feel terrible that he has so many people to look after that he can't even focus on his own life. One of the families has an abusive mother who is having trouble with her teenage son acting out. Another family consists of a wacked out father (total conspiracy theorist) who lives out in the woods with his son and doesn't trust anyone. You know these people exist, that all this is TRUE... somewhere... but I still found myself in disbelief quite a few times. I guess it might be because I don't want things like that to happen, I don't want people to treat others that way. The hard reality of life I suppose. I can't write this review and not mention the emotional pull I felt because of the subject matter. I have had to work very closely with DCF myself when my own family had troubles. I ended up cursing the worker because he'd constantly miss pick up times, give me the wrong information about meet ups, etc... After reading this, I guess I can understand the stress they have to go through and the amount of cases that come across their desks. It's a wonder they can keep anything straight.  I also can't write this review without mentioning how great the writing is. It pulls you in, I have to admit that I found myself plopped down in a town I would never image visiting. However, I need to caution those who pick up this book, there's quite a few ugly things happening and I don't know too many people who could read through it unscathed. I know this book gave me a few scars that I'll take with me, I know It'll make me think twice next time I see a family struggling. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Babbit

Babbit Sinclair Lewis 4.5 / 5	Published 1922 First Sentences "The towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods. They were neither citadels nor churches, but frankly and beautifully office-buildings."
Publisher's Description: Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for middle-class complacency, and his story remains an ever-relevant tale of an individual caught in the machinery of modern life.
Dear Reader, This book reminded me in many ways of Updike's Rabbit, Run - and I don't think that's just because the titles kind of rhyme.  They both revolve around an indecisive protagonist who is striving desperately to figure out happiness in a postmodern world.  I think I liked this one better, though, perhaps because the main character - despite his many flaws - was much more likable than Updike's.  It's taken me a pretty long time to write the review of this book.  I am unsure why.  I really loved it; it is truly a classic and has so much to say about America at the time.  But...I wasn't quite sure what to SAY about it.  I'm still kind of at a loss for words, except for: I highly recommend it! I did find it interesting that the book was written & took place in the 1920s.  Oddly, I had a difficult time keeping that in mind, for two major reasons: One, I couldn't equate it in time with other books I'd read recently (The Other Typist, The Dressmaker), even though they were written about relatively the same time period.  This, I believe, was due to Lewis writing about an entirely new & different place: suburbia!  And this book examined in depth the fragility of the modern American dream, which the other two books did not do.  The Other Typist, for instance, centered much more around Prohibition than did Babbit, although Babbit's life did revolve somewhat around the illegality of alcohol.  Strangely, though, the author made it feel like this was just a fact of life, and that people were going to drink anyway.  Perhaps it is how society feels these days about marijuana - nobody really seems to care who uses it, but it is still against the law in many places. Two, I kept pausing to think about how so much didn't change for entire decades in the early twentieth century -- this book just as well could have taken place in 1950, rather than 1920.  Or in any of the intervening years!  I often found myself thinking it was written in the post-WWII era.   And when I'd catch myself doing that, I would go off on a tangent thinking about how things didn't change for so many years.  But when they did, they did so exponentially.  Nowadays, if a protagonist uses a flip cell phone instead of a smartphone, the book is already dated for the reader.  How strange is that?! I know this isn't speaking much to the actual quality or content of the book, but I can't really say much about the story itself - there was one, but it was pretty much the vehicle for an examination of poor George Babbit's life.  His experiences as he became roped into being a family man at a young age, found himself in the rat race without even really noticing, first trying to embrace the situation, then rebelling quite drastically, then trying once again to find his place.  A very interesting study of a very distinct slice of life: the America of "yesteryear."  And a man who could be truly be anyone. Yours, Arianna

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