Spinning Out

Stahler, David. Spinning Out. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2011. Print.
[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/10831527]

Booktalk:
Gilliam High's annual musical is kind of a big deal. The kind that's looked forward to by the whole town. That's why Frenchy thinks Stewart has got to be joking when he suggests they audition. The audition will be marginally fun, wholly embarrassing, and the biggest jewel in their pranking crown. Or so Frenchy thinks. It turns out, flubbing the audition for laughs is not part of Stewart's plan. That's how Frenchy and Stewart snag the leads in "Man of La Mancha," as Sancho and Don Quixote respectively. For Frenchy, it's all a little surreal. When Stewart starts immersing himself in the role just a little too much, things really start to get weird.

Review:
Frenchy's had a hell of a year, and now he just wants to coast through his senior year. But Stewart wants to get involved and, as his best friend, Frenchy backs him up. Their relationship, mirrored in the master-servant/leader-follower relationship of Sancho and the Don, is the driving force of this book. And it's a serious and challenging relationship. Still, Spinning Out is mostly hilarious. It's not laugh-out-loud funny; it's more subtle than that. If this book were literary fiction instead of YA, it would be called "intelligent humor." The banter between Frenchy and Stewart is always snarky, and when you throw Ralph, their pot dealer/Frenchy's mom's boyfriend, into the mix, it's gets a little out of control. In a good way. That's why, when Stewart starts to act a bit...off, Frenchy doesn't think too much of it.

Stewart falls further and further into the role of Don Quixote; it's great for the play, but hard on Frenchy. It's also hard on his budding relationship with stage manager Kaela (who is awesome-sauce). So he steps away, just a little bit. Finally able to claim a little bit of his own limelight in the role of Sancho, Frenchy separates himself just the tiniest bit from Stewart. They're still best friends (and just like Norah, Frenchy is a Great Friend), they're just no longer practically surgically attached.

During all of this changing and growing and relationship stuff, there is still a show to put on! Long rehearsals, music practices, hot chicks with power tools building sets, it's all there. Theater geeks and show choir enthusiasts (and fans of books like My Invented Life) will love this aspect. All readers will be treated to a meaty story in the meantime.


Spinning Out will be available for purchase May 25th!


Supers, Super Spoiler only for people who want to know the "issue," or what's really going on, or the ending: (highlight to read)
Stewart has undiagnosed schizophrenia. During his descent into the disease, he clings to Don Quixote, convinced that the Don is the real him. The fact that Stewart is obsessed with/plagued by the wind turbines on the edge of town helps push him over the edge. Now, I'm not an expert in mental illness, but I thought the schizophrenia was handled very well. Though the school bullies call Stewart crazy, Frenchy never does. The whole thing is handled with respect. It's also really scary, and Stahler doesn't shy away from that fear, Stewart's or Frenchy's. I also thought that the reactions of the adults in Stewart's life were, sadly, probably pretty realistic. Stahler doesn't shy away from the consequences of those reactions either. Still, at no point did this feel like an "issue book." It was not preachy and there was no info dump. All the necessary information was worked seamlessly into the story. This is a great book for readers interested in mental illness in general and schizophrenia in particular.






Book source: ARC provided by the publisher through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

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Looking for Alaska

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York: Speak; Penguin Group, 2005.
[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/91426]

Awards:Booklist Editors’ Choice (2005)
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist (2005)
SLJ Best Book of the Year (2005)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2006)
Michigan Library Association’s Thumbs Up! Award (2006)
Printz Award (2006)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2009)

Booktalk:When Miles Halter goes away to the same boarding school his father once attended, he knows he’s in for harder classes than he’s used to and maybe putting up with pranks played by the cool kids. He’s not prepared to room with The Colonel, the guy in charge of the off-beat cool kids who are behind the biggest pranks Culver Creek Boarding School has ever seen. Miles, now Pudge due to his stick and bones physique, is caught up in his classes, the gang’s pranks, and, most of all, Alaska, the beautiful and complicated girl who is the genius behind the gang’s greatest feats. Keeping his head around Alaska and keeping up with her at the same time are hard enough for Pudge in the best of times, but when Alaska starts to unravel, it is up to him and The Colonel to figure out why.

Review:Having, up till now, only witnessed the genius of John Green on YouTube, I was blown away by all the little funny, quirky, scary, witty and sarcastic moments and dialog that move Looking for Alaska along. Reading this book, you will fall in love with Alaska, obviously; she is the interesting to the point of frusterating and beautiful girl that everyone falls in love with. You will also fall in love with Pudge for whom Alaska is a first crush and the first in what you suspect may be a long line of unrequited loves. You will fall in love with The Colonel for his fierce loyalty to his friends and to (Spoiler) Alaska’s memory. And you will fall in love with Takumi, the not quite a major character that reminds Pudge and the reader that things this big affect everyone; it is unfair to think you are alone in your grief. The characters are what make this book what it is, and they are all well-fleshed out, even down to the most inconsequential weekender.

Rebel Angels

Don't read this unless you've already read A Great and Terrible Beauty.

Bray, Libba. Rebel Angels. New York: Delacourte Press, 2005.

[Book cover credit: www.librarything.com]

Awards:

ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2006)

Booktalk:

Everything is wonderfully different now: Ms. Moore's replacement, Miss McCleethy, is teaching archery at Spence, much to Felicity's delight; Pippa lives on peacefully in the realms, where the magic is loose; and it's Christmas! Not everything is perfect, however. Miss McCleethy puts Gemma, who is sure the new teacher has some connection to Circe, on edge. Kartik has orders to make Gemma re-bind the magic of the realms so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Ann, who is allowed to return home with Felicity, falls hopelessly in love with Tom, Gemma's brother, who will never fancy a girl without a fortune. And, of course, Gemma is being plagued by new visions of three ghostly girls in white. With woes outweighing joys, Christmas break begins and all head to London where they find their biggest problem: a young girl at Bedlam mental hospital, where Tom works, who is under the illusion that a magical society called The Order is after her to restore their powers in some place called the realms.

Jars of Glass

Barkley, Brad and Heather Hepler. Jars of Glass. New York: Dutton Books, 2008.

Summary:Chloe and Shana, sisters, recount their lives without their mother in alternating chapters. Chloe tries to hold everything together, taking care of Micah, her father and the apartment in the hopes that they can prove to the social worker that they present the "stable environment" her mother needs to come home to. Shana, on the other hand, does everything she can to distance herself from her family and desperately tries to thwart Chloe in her efforts to bring their mother back.

Booktalk:"Yeah, that's me, Miss Normal. My mother did stuff you hear about on the nightly news, and now she's locked away in a loony bin. My sister collects broken glass. We've adopted a kid who doesn't speak and lives off sugar. Oh, yeah, and I live in a funeral home" (p170-1).*
Life is far from normal for Shana, her little sister Chloe and their adopted brother Micah. Chloe runs around trying to make everything better and preparing everything for their mother's return. Meanwhile Shana is doing everything that she can to make sure that things don't get worse, even if that means sabotaging her sister, who was once her best friend, and making it impossible for their mother to ever come home again.
*Quote taken from an ARC.