Winger by Andrew Smith

Then I saw Casey puffing his chest out, walk straight up to Joey and push him hard, knocking Joey back. And Casey said, “You think you're funny with your song, queer?”

I threw my backpack down and ran as fast as I could.

I knew Joey would fight. He wasn't afraid of anyone. You had to be like that to be a fly half, and I'm sure that Joey had been hit square against his unpadded body at least a thousand times more than Casey ever had. But I wasn't going to let him get gang-jumped by those assholes.

So I ran faster than I did in practice. I had to. And just as Joey was making a fist, Nick was circling behind him, and Casey was in the process of throwing the first punch, I launched myself, head up and shoulder down, right into Casey's knees and wrapped my arms around his legs, driving him, crashing, to the ground.

I love a good fight scene.

Seriously. If a book or movie has a good fight scene in it, I'm much more likely to enjoy it than if it doesn't. Some people like romance, some people like mermaids, some people like pirates. I like violence.* I'm not sure what that says about me (other than the fact that I like to write fight scenes too), but it's true.

It's no wonder, then, that I picked up Winger. I mean, the kid on the cover looks like he's been in some kind of fight and I wanted to know why. After reading the summary (and seeing that there were illustrations scattered throughout – I'm a sucker for art), I had to have this book. I bought it and added it to the hoard of unread books stacked around my room until I finally got around to it a few days ago.

Ryan Dean West, or Winger (as his rugby teammates call him), is a loser. At least, that's what he calls himself almost constantly. He's a fourteen year-old in his junior year, making him the baby of the class, and is in love with his best friend, Anna, though he doesn't have the guts to tell her. Adding to his loser status is the fact that last year he got caught having stolen a teacher's phone, which he only took to call Anna on her birthday, and has now been to Opportunity Hall – the crappy dorms where all the delinquents are sent to live in his boarding school, Pine Mountain.

Ryan Dean is certain this is his death sentence, especially when he realizes he's rooming with the biggest asshole of them all (not counting the football team, whom everyone hates most of all). When Annie tells him he'll have to toughen up, he knows she's right, but even Ryan Dean has no idea what this year has in store for him and it's going to take more than a little toughness if he's going to make it through to senior year.

With its witty sense of humor and realistic portrait of teenage confusion, heartbreak, and cruelty; Winger was a joy to read, even if it did break my heart more than once. I love Ryan Dean as a flawed protagonist who made more than his share of mistakes, but did them with a good heart so that you couldn't help cheering him along.

Intelligently written, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartbreakingly honest, this is one I'd suggest to most teenage boys and girls – especially those that need reminding that just because you make a lot of mistakes and bad choices doesn't mean you're a bad person. We're all just finding our way along as best we can and sometimes the only thing we can do is try.

Rating: ★★★★★

*Not senseless violence. I do have specific standards with what's involved. I just like a good fight, that's all. Particularly when the hero is the winner. But then, what else do you expect from someone who has been in love with DC Comics since the nineties?

And that's probably about the time that Joey seriously considered throwing the old man out too. If it wasn't precisely at that moment, I'm sure he felt like it when Ned started screaming insanely in wild terror.

You know, there's something especially frightening when you're stuck in the darkest depths of hell, in the middle of a raging torrent of mud, and the insane old lost guy in the front seat starts screaming like he's going to die. I mean, I figured Ned had probably stared Death in the face more than a few times in just the past four of five hours, let alone since the discovery of fire, so when you hear a guy who you know has gone through as much shit as Ned has – in a lifetime that was undoubtedly measured by geological periods as opposed to calendars – screaming like that, well . . . you just know you're going to die too.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.

Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park was a Christmas present. It wasn't a surprise one, but a book I'd heard about from various different sources and wanted to add to my collection. Still, it's been sitting idly on my shelf since.

I only cracked it open yesterday morning because I heard the news that Faith Erin Hicks (who has written and/or drawn a number of graphic novels I'm in love with) was teaming up with Rainbow Rowell for a graphic novel in the near future. I was thrilled and decided I ought to celebrate the occasion by cracking open this lovely novel.

Oh. My. God.
I fell in love.

There are a thousand and one things I'd love to say about this novel and yet it all seems to come out in a high pitched squeal, because I cannot get over how much I fell in love with it. I mean, I devoured this book. I could hardly function for wanting to read it.

Eleanor has bright red hair and dark brown eyes. She comes from a broken home with a mother who has long ago forgotten how to care for her daughter, a stepdad who makes Eleanor want to run and hide, and siblings who have learned that to be silent is to be safe. She's uncomfortable, she's fat, she's weird . . . and Park can't take his eyes off of her.

Park is half Asian, half American. His mother is a beautician and his father a veteran who will never be pleased with the son who is too effeminate and too different. His brother is exactly the macho child his father always wanted and he looks American. Not to mention, he's getting bigger than his older brother every day. He's a comic book and music junkie who'd rather fade into the background than draw attention to himself. He's uncomfortable, he's weak, he's weird . . . and Eleanor can't breath when he's not around.

A love story that wraps you up, breaks your heart, and makes you believe in love that conquers all, Eleanor & Park was an absolute treat. It's one that has immediately installed itself as one of my all-time favorite books and I can tell I'll be revisiting its pages many, many times in the years to come.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

"I don't think I even breathe when we're not together," she whispered. "Which means, when I see you on Monday morning, it's been like sixty hours since I've taken a breath. That's probably why I'm so crabby, and why I snap at you. All I do when we're apart is think about you, and all I do when we're together is panic. Because every second feels so important. And because I'm so out of  control, I can't help myself. I'm not even mine anymore, I'm yours, and what if you decide that you don't want me? How could you want me like I want you?"
He was quiet. He wanted everything she'd just said to be the last thing he heard. He wanted to fall asleep with I want you in his ears.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness [Illustrated by Jim Kay]

Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they may wreak.

I picked up A Monster Calls at a bookstore after hearing more than a few people gushing about it on book review vlogs and blogs. The artwork on the cover is stunning and hooked me for certain and, to add that extra cherry on top, I noticed the blurb by John Green that stated, "Patrick Ness is an insanely beautiful writer."

How could I not read it?

My younger brother even got his hands on my copy before I did and tore through it in one sitting. When he finished, he couldn't stop telling me how good it was and that I needed to read it immediately. I got the memo and started in on in while waiting for my flight back to the States after visiting my family a few weeks ago.

When Conor wakes up in the middle of the night, he expects the monster in his nightmares to be lurking just out of sight. He knows with everything that is in him that the monster will come for him soon and he'll live the horror of his nightmares in his waking hours. But it's not the monster Conor expects when he looks out his window and finds the yew tree from the graveyard is now standing firmly in his backyard, his booming voice informing the young boy that he has come for him.

However, Conor is not scared of the yew tree that stands menacingly behind his house, because he's seen worse. Nothing is worse than the monster in his dreams and he'll take any horror over the reality of that nightmare coming true.

However, the great yew tree has different plans for Conor. He has come to demand the truth and to share it. He promises to tell Conor three stories, but after that, Conor must share his story, the one that haunts his every waking hour, as well as his sleep.

My absolute favorite illustration from within A Monster Calls.

I honestly cannot say enough about how utterly spectacular this book is. I can already tell it will be one of those that I read again and again and again, because of its breathtaking beauty and truth.

This is the first work I've read by Patrick Ness, though I've heard people raving about him for years now. I definitely regret not having enjoyed his prose sooner. The storytelling in this book is beyond superb and is only compounded by Ness's profound mastery of the material and his ability to spin and weave the words into something so stunning that it nearly leaves the reader breathless.

And speaking of breathless, look at that artwork! I'm not even sure I can produce words for how intensely beautiful the illustrations are. They litter nearly every page and make the text that much richer; the story that much brighter. I seriously have to find out how I can get my hands on some prints of these.

Overall, I have to say this: if you haven't read A Monster Calls you are seriously missing out. You need to get your hands on this book as soon as you get the chance. It is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year and I'm certain it will be yours as well.

Rating: ~★★★★★~


There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.
Conor shook his head. "That's a terrible story. And a cheat." 
It's a true story, the monster said. Many things that are true feel like a cheat. Kingdoms get the princes they deserve, farmers' daughters die for no reason, and sometimes witches merit saving. Quite often, actually. You'd be surprised.

Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories

Here's the answer: learning to fit in, learning to get along, ignoring it, and being the better person don't work.

Asking victims to save themselves doesn't work. People need to intervene.

Funny story: Somehow I managed to buy the unedited proof of this book. I don't know how I, or the salesperson, didn't notice the big red square on the side that said "Unedited Proof: Not for Sale." It wasn't until I was partway through the book that I noticed it. I'm not sure how different it was from the one that ended up getting printed, but I only found one typo. That was the only "problem" I saw with the book in its entirety.

Back to the book review: In case you couldn't tell by the title, Dear Bully is an anthology of experiences. It's a collection of the stories of 70 authors who were, in some shape or form, bullied. The purpose is to bring awareness to the situation that is still perpetuated in the lives of many teenagers and children. The purpose is to reveal just how dangerous, and damaging, bullying can be.

This book really touched me. Seeing the perspective of the kids who dealt with such incredible amounts of torment on a daily basis was eye-opening.

Speaking as a girl who was at the bottom of the food chain in school for a few years, I know what it's like first-hand to be rejected. I know what it's like to have someone's words or actions impact you for years after the initial event. I was never downright bullied, but I got pretty close. At the same time, I treated a few others badly. I didn't bully, but I sure didn't treat them the way they ought to have been treated. I may never know what impact I had on their lives.

The point of this book was to talk about bullying from the perspective of those who were bullied, those who were too scared to speak up, those who did speak up and changed someone's life. People don't realize the impact of the things they do. People don't realize that one word, one rejection, can change someone's life.

I adored this book. Every story was heartfelt. Every experience brought new light to what bullying is and how we can stop it. It's definitely a recommended read for all ages. Parents should be reading this so they can teach their children to be better. Teachers should read it so they can keep an eye out for this sort of behavior. Teenagers should read this so they can discover how the way they're treating that other person is affecting them; and so those who are bullied can discover how to fight back.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Schools, parents, and educational endeavors  should encourage people not just to empathize but to discover and celebrate the weirdness in others and in ourselves. We need not just to think but to live outside the box. Weirdness is good. It keeps things interesting.