What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen has long been a favourite author of mine. She writes such interesting stories about young girls who are discovering who they are and their place in the world. There is romance, but not enough to turn someone off. Her books are mostly about growing up and she always deals with very real situations.
What Happened to Goodbye is exactly that. Mclean has been on the move with her dad every since her parents split up. In each town, Mclean picks a new personality and a new name. She fits in well with whatever group she decides to belong to. When her and her dad move to Lakeview, Mclean suddenly finds herself using her real name and remembering who she really is- even though that wasn't her plan. Coming back to her true self is painful, because she is forced to remember what her life was like before her parents divorce.
What I really liked about this story is how Mclean deals with her anger towards her parents divorce. I think many young girls will see themselves in Mclean and connect with her anger towards her mother. Even though she is angry at her mom, it is obvious that she misses her and their relationship. Even kids whose parents aren't divorced can relate to that. I also really like how Sarah Dessen's characters are so real. They aren't perfect. They are sarcastic, loud, rebellious- typical teenagers. I think the fact that Sarah Dessen can create such real characters is what is so appealing about her books. I know there will be lots of girls waiting to read this one on Monday.

Looking for X by Deborah Ellis

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I have never read this book before. I love reading Deborah Ellis' books, but this one came out before I really started reading her books and somehow I've never gotten around to reading it.

I'm working on gathering up some books to use for literature circles in the next week and I want to expose students to some of the challenges children face- both in other countries and in our own backyard.

Looking for X tells the story of Khyber- an 11 year old girl living in a rough part of Toronto. Her single mother has all she can handle looking after her twin brothers with autism and Khyber has a great deal of responsibility on her shoulders. Khyber's life isn't an easy one. Her mother often has to choose between food and luxury items such as phone services and cable. Throughout the story, the love found in this family is very strong, and even though life is difficult, the family enjoys everything they have.

I think this book will really open the eyes of some of my students. They will be exposed to homelessness and what it is like to be poor. It is a short novel with lots of depth. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it!

Iqbal by Francesco D'Adamo

I've heard about Iqbal and his courageous fight to stop child labour through the Free the Children organization but I didn't know the whole story.
This fictional story looks at Iqbal's life from his days working in the carpet factory to his eventual freedom. Interestingly this story isn't told from his perspective, but instead from another child who gets to know him as she works beside him tying knots for carpets.

I loved how D'Adamo used this different perspective. I found the story to be moving, heart breaking and eye opening. I believe my students will enjoy reading it as well. There is so much to explore in this book that even though it is a short book- the depth and detail they will be exposed to will make for a very rich experience.

Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan

Much like Thunder over Kandahar, Wanting Mor is set in post-Taliban Afghanistan. This story is about a young girl named Jameela and how her life evolves after her mother has passed away. The story deals with some of the harsh truths of life in Afghanistan.

I enjoyed reading this book for the second time. At the start, it is a bit hard to follow because the author uses many of the words heard in Afghanistan. There is a glossary at the back, but slowly you start to recognize and understand what is happening. This book is going to be used for a unit on Children Around the World I am starting soon.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

This is a book that was getting lots of buzz from people I follow on Twitter. It is one of my favourite genres- Alternative Reality. There is just something about authors who can create a world just slightly different from our own that I really like. I really enjoy the way writers introduce us to the characters, setting and different rules that the members of the society are forced to live under.

In Delirium, society has decided that love or deliria nervosa is a disease and must be avoided at all costs. In order to avoid the side effects of the disease, at the age of 18 people undergo surgery and are usually unable to fall in love. The surgery also means that people are incapable of forming attachments to other people and they move through life in a rather protected shell.

The main character is Lena, a girl who is just approaching her 18th birthday. Lena has been counting down the days until she can have the procedure. She feels that only when she is 'cured' will she be safe. Lena's own mother had a great deal of difficulty with the surgery and was never fully cured, Lena was forced to watch her mother struggle to cope with all the feelings she had for people she was close to. Lean wants nothing more than to be matched with whoever the government decides is her perfect match and to get on with her life. Her best friend Hana is starting to think that maybe the cure is wrong and that maybe there is more to life than just drifting through without feeling anything. Hana's questioning of the way life should be really confuses and upsets Lena. Then Lena meets a boy who starts changing the way she looks at her world. Suddenly she is questioning everything she has always believed in.

I really liked the fast paced approach to this story. Oliver has created this believable world where somehow love is wrong. I found myself getting angry with the way love and caring and connections were seen as being so wrong and dangerous. Lena is such a complicated character. Because of her past you can totally understand why she can't wait for this surgery and watching her struggle to realize that maybe society has it wrong is quite the ride. At first I thought the romance aspect of this book would only appeal to the girls, but after finishing the story I believe that the boys will enjoy this alternative reality book as well. This book reminds me a great deal of the Uglies series as well as Matched.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

I have to say first off that there is no way I can do justice to this book. I was absolutely crazy about it and I don't have the words to describe how much this book moved me.

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay. If you haven't read it yet, you need to do that first, please don't read on- you will ruin two wonderful books for yourself!

In If I Stay, Mia has to decide if she will choose to live or die when her family is in a car accident. As she is fighting to make this decision, her boyfriend Adam is by her side. The relationship between Mia and Adam was unlike most teen romances- this one felt so real and believable.

Where She Went is the story of what happened following Mia's decision to live on after her family was killed. However this story is told from Adam's perspective. He went through so much when Mia was in the car accident, he lost not only her family but also Mia and the special relationship between the two of them. He is confused, depressed and even though his music career has taken off, he is totally lost. When Mia and Adam meet up one night in New York, they spend the night wandering the city and learning about each other all over again. It isn't easy, there is a lot in their past that makes reconnecting so difficult.

Forman's writing is so touching and beautiful. I was moved to tears many times while I was reading it. The hurt and betrayal that Adam feels was so raw and real. Even though he was living the rock star life, you knew he hadn't really changed who he was. His struggle to come to terms with his guilt and anger and hurt was so hard to read at times. However, I loved ever minute of it and my plan is to go back and reread it before the weekend is over. I don't think there is any other book that has ever made me want to do that.

Thunder over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay

I am currently getting prepared for a literature study focusing on Children around the World. I want to expose my students to life outside of our small town in Ontario. To that end, I am reading several books for our up-coming literature circles.

Thunder over Kandahar is an amazing, powerful book about life in Afghanistan. The story centers around two girls of very different backgrounds. Yasmine, who spent most of her life in England and has returned to Afghanistan with her parents to help restore the country. Tamanna is a girl who has been raised in Afghanistan. At first Tamanna has a hard time being comfortable with Yasmine because their childhood was so different. For Yasmine, she was raised by highly educated parents who instilled in her the passion for learning and education. Tamanna, however grew up under Taliban law and was treated as a second class citizen and was not allowed to go to school. Slowly the girls overcome their differences and become best friends. They find their friendship put to the test when they must flee their village or face certain death.

I was absolutely fascinated with this book. McKay has created characters that are so real and believable that I was racing to finish the book to find out what happens. Life in Afghanistan is so hard to grasp. It is my hope that children who read this book realize how lucky they are to live in Canada and to have some compassion and understanding for what is happening in another part of the world.