The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

"The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence."

Okay. Jeez. Wow. I'd been meaning to read this for a while, and it took a very short time to get through. That didn't make it any less powerful, though. From a reading viewpoint, it's very simple. It's from a child's point of view, though I don't want to say much more than that because if you know nothing about it in advance it makes the process of reading it even more impactful. Let's just say that the new outlook on the events of the book--that of a nine-year-old's--gives a hugely affecting process to the reader who can see what's actually happening. And warning, if you didn't guess: it's sad. Very sad. Prepare your emotions. I think this is a really incredible and awful book that everyone should read. Do it, and I'm sorry in advance. Get a copy at Kettleson, Sitka High, Blatchley, or Mt. Edgecumbe.

Meh.

Okay. I'm sorry, I know I didn't get it in on time for the week deadline. I quite honestly have zero free time and am way too stressed for my own good, so I'm just going to give up on last week and focus on this week. Sorry and I promise there'll be one by the end of the week.

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

"This ravishing winner of the ALA's William C. Morris YA Debut Award is a fairy tale, spun with a mystery, woven with a family story, and shot through with romance.

Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family's woolen mill, which holds her beloved small town together. But after her father's death, the bad luck piles up: departing workers, impossible debts, an overbearing uncle. Then a stranger named Jack Spinner offers a tempting proposition: He can turn straw into gold thread, for the small price of her mother's ring. As Charlotte is drawn deeper into her bargains with Spinner-and a romance with the local banker-she must unravel the truth of the curse on the mill and save the community she's always called home."

I quite liked this one. It wasn't exactly light; it had a good deal of meat to it. Yet, it didn't ever drag. The imagery was basically stellar, and the characters were interesting and engaging. They managed to come across as very real while maintaining a smooth, almost idealistic scene. Like normal people, but with the interesting and fanciful bits brought out. And despite the whole old-countryside thing, it didn't read like one of those incredibly boring historical fictions. There were a million little facets to it that, while admittedly a bit predictable, made it nice to read no matter whether you could see it coming or not. It was a really enjoyable read, and I'd definitely recommend it. There's copies at Kettleson, Sitka High, and MEHS.

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins

"Wait.

The train was moving. Ry could hardly tell at first, but now he knew. It was gaining speed, and he wasn't fast enough to catch it. He had only gotten off for a minute, just to make a phone call—and now it was gone. He was in the middle of nowhere, alone.

Maybe it was the middle of nowhere, but to Ry, it felt like the beginning of something. Something that would take him in cars, planes, boats . . . over an ocean and back. Something like an adventure."

Well... meh. The odyssey-adventure-type stories have their merits, but I honestly just couldn't get into this one. There's nothing really enjoyable about a story that consists of "everything that can possibly go wrong, will." And in the most rambling and irrelevant way. It's pretty frustrating, frankly. Also, speaking of frustrating and irrelevant (spoilers), what teenager in his right mind decides to get in a car with a complete stranger for a cross-country trip? That stranger isn't exactly the picture of sensibility, either. All in all, the author's knack for making sure that every single possible member of the family was out on some tailspin somewhere and unable to be contacted was very creative, but not really in a good way.

And another problem I had was the fact that Ry was basically a blank slate for the entire book, like some darkish boy-shaped blob, because he was never adequately described. I couldn't relate to him or picture him. And, I suppose the author was going for a profound/deep message with the story, but either it was too incredibly deep for me to grasp (it's an honest possibility), or it was just weak and under-developed. I'd lean toward the latter. For example, if you compared the impact, delivery, and coherence of this book's message to that of a John Green book, it would fail miserably and completely. In conclusion, I just don't think I can recommend this book, but if you'd like to decide for yourself there are copies at Kettleson, SHS, and MEHS.

The Paradox of Vertical Flght by Emil Ostrovski

"What happens when you put a suicidal eighteen-year-old philosophy student, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, and his newborn baby in a truck and send them to Grandma's house? This debut novel by Emil Ostrovski will appeal to fans of John Green, Chris Crutcher, and Jay Asher.

On the morning of his eighteenth birthday, philosophy student and high school senior Jack Polovsky is somewhat seriously thinking of suicide when his cell phone rings. Jack's ex-girlfriend, Jess, has given birth, and Jack is the father. Jack hasn't spoken with Jess in about nine months—and she wants him to see the baby before he is adopted. The new teenage father kidnaps the baby, names him Socrates, stocks up on baby supplies at Wal-Mart, and hits the road with his best friend, Tommy, and the ex-girlfriend. As they head to Grandma's house (eluding the police at every turn), Jack tells baby Socrates about Homer, Troy, Aristotle, the real Socrates, and the Greek myths—because all stories spring from those stories, really. Even this one. Funny, heart-wrenching, and wholly original, this debut novel by Emil Ostrovski explores the nature of family, love, friendship, fate, fatherhood, and myth."

So, this was an advance copy that I read recently. I think this is a book that definitely can't be pigeonholed, but in spite of that (or because of it) I really liked it. A lot. And it's really hard to say why. Undoubtedly, this book is kind of screwed up at times. That's kind of what added to its charm, though, for me. It's shockingly, weirdly, different from anything else out there (yet the John Green/Chris Crutcher references were closest, which might explain why I liked it). The book manages, in its messed-up situations, to bring intense hilarity and almost surrealism, and it gets grounded by irrational sweetness from Jack and his motivations and musings. It's strangely charismatic, and I really recommend you read this when you get the chance. It came out in September, so maybe keep an eye out for it in the library sometime soon-ish!

Lola by Elbert Or

"Jesse sees dead people, monsters, demons, and lots of other things that go bump in the night that no one else can see. No one except his ailing grandmother - a woman who used her visions to help those living in her small town... the same rural community in all the scary stories Jesse's heard as a child. Man-eating ogres in trees. Farmhouses haunted by wraiths. Even pigs possessed by the devil. Upon his grandmother's passing, Jesse has no choice but to face his demons and whatever else might be awaiting him at grandma's house."

This author's actually coming soon to Sitka, just so you know, and I believe this is the book he's exhibiting most. Just for that reason, it'd probably be nice to pick up a copy and get to know it. Being a graphic novel, it's an incredibly quick read--I finished it in about fifteen to twenty minutes. The design was really quite good; it wasn't manga style, it was more simplistic and clean, which made for really nice reading. The actual time period and the events of the story were short, but it was definitely enjoyable to read. Not a bad use of twenty minutes, and the story, while not exactly managing to creep me out, made a pretty interesting ghost story. You could check it out soon at Kettleson or maybe Blatchley; they're being ordered.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

"What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it's about everything."

If you're a decent human being, I hope you've seen the Princess Bride. It'd concern me if you haven't. Anyway, the existence of a respective book wasn't ever really on the forefront of my mind or my to-read list, but when I picked this up to occupy me for a 14-hour plane ride, I wasn't disappointed. There's a complete new layer added with the book that I knew little about: Goldman gives this elaborate (and extremely convincing) background of just abridging an old classic. He mentions growing up with it, and gives footnotes during the story like, "And now, Morgenstern goes into a seventeen-page musing on hats, which I've cut out..." and things like that. It's enormously amusing, if not a little brain-twisting. I had to stop halfway through the intro just to make sure there wasn't an original book. And the actual book and dialogue was amazing, unsurprisingly. This is one of the few movies that is basically on par with the book; the dialogue is verbatim about 90% of the time, and the story was insanely accurate. The extra element in the book of character backgrounds (especially Fezzik and Inigo) was an added treat. So, the book's a tiny bit long, but it doesn't feel like it at all. It feels exactly like the movie. Huge approval and thumbs up! There's copies at Blatchley, Sitka High, MEHS, and Kettleson.