Book Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Release Date: January 7, 2010
Publisher: Viking (Penguin)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 208

Source: My local library.

Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Colt has been sneaking out at night to meet Julia, a girl from an upper-class neighborhood unlike his own. They’ve never told anyone else about their relationship: not their family or friends, and especially not Julia’s boyfriend. When Julia dies suddenly, Colt tries to cope with her death while pretending that he never even knew her. He discovers a journal Julia left behind. But Colt is not prepared for the truths he discovers about their intense relationship, nor to pay the price for the secrets he’s kept. (From the author's website.)
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I read most of The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard* in one sitting, and--I don't care how cliched this next clause sounds--I enjoyed every page of it.

The Secret Year in a nut shell: take Romeo and Juliet, subtract the double-suicide, add class conflict and a heaping cup of secrecy, and add an extra dash of suspense. Mix thoroughly.

Colt Morrissey is a boy from the flats--think wrong side of the tracks--and Julia Vernon is a privileged girl from Black Mountain Road, a fancy neighborhood not too far from the flats. They attend the same school, but hang out with different people: Colt with his friends from the flats, and Julia with the Black Mountain elite. Julia already has a Black Mountain boyfriend, but after she and Colt meet by chance at the Willis River bridge and share an illicit kiss, she begins leaving Colt secret notes and asking him to meet her at the bridge. Julia tells Colt that she wants to have a secret, no-strings-attached relationship with him; she tells him that he wouldn't enjoy the social obligations of being her public boyfriend. And Colt agrees. The two meet at the bridge in secret for a year, until Julia dies in a car accident. Colt is left to grieve for his secret sort-of girlfriend in private.

No one can know about the Secret Year because Julia wouldn't like it if their relationship became public, and besides--who would believe him? Julia already has one grieving, real, Vernon-family-approved-Black Mountain-boyfriend.

Julia was beautiful, cunning, and spirited. She was also a poet who kept a lot of journals. And, not long after the funeral, Julia's younger brother approaches Colt with one of Julia's journals. It's full of letters written to a C.M.: Colt Morrissey. Colt reads the journals over the school year following Julia's death, and Julia becomes a forceful, if deceased, character through her journal. Julia is constantly in Colt's head, and his secret relationship with her begins to affect his relationships with his friends, potential girlfriends, and family.

The Secret Year is a beautifully written novel about love, friendship, and the power people can have over others even after they are dead. I recommend The Secret Year to readers of contemporary and realistic fiction as well as readers who appreciate stories filled with social intrigue, class conflict, and stories dealing with family dynamics.
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*Not to be confused with Jenny Hubbard, author of Paper Covers Rock. Although, funny story, the only reason I picked up The Secret Year was because I did get them confused. I liked Paper Covers Rock so much that, if Jenny Hubbard wrote any other books, I wanted to read them, pronto. Did I think the different first names and the middle initial were odd? Yes. But the two novels contain so many similarities that it's spooky: both feature first-person narration from male protagonists, guilt, unrequited and/or secret love, poetry, settings centering around rivers, untimely deaths, and tell either all or part of the story through journal entries. These elements could easily be the favorite motifs of one writer.

Except that they are not. The J. Hubbards are talented--and distinct--authors. And I'm so glad I mistook one for the other and ended up reading The Secret Year.

Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Release Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher: Dial Books
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Book Source: My local library.

Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery sister Bailey. But when Bailey dies suddenly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding. (From Jandy Nelson's website)
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This is a beautiful book. For about the first half, however, I thought differently.

Lennie spends a lot of time obsessing about her tragically dead sister--I get this, and it's even well done. My problem was Lennie's constant marvelling at her sudden awareness of boys and her new sexy thoughts. What really took the cake, though, was Lennie's repetitive whining about her guilt over kissing Bailey's (the dead sister's) boyfriend, Toby, while developing a relationship with a new boy named Joe and shutting her family and friends out of the whole sorry mess.

I contemplated putting the book down several times, but I kept reading out of a mad desire to know how and if Lennie's various train wrecks would be sorted out and because, for a story with such loss and grief in it, it's surprisingly funny. Also, Joe. He's handsome, musical, and a good reason to keep reading anything.

At one point, I wanted to put the book down not because Lennie was annoying me, but because I couldn't stand the pain she was about to go through in the Toby-Joe climax. That's when I knew this was a well-crafted story; I was starting to care about Lennie. I was uncomfortable and embarrassed and falling apart inside with her, for her.

From there the book becomes amazing. Everything deepens from the first to the second half, and I couldn't put Part Two down. The increasingly sophisticated plot threads and relationships between characters reflect Lennie's growth. Beyond first love and agonizing loss, Lennie also gains insights into her family. She lives with her Grandma and her Uncle Big, who are both strong characters.  It's a book that starts narrowly and becomes--to be corny here--as big as the sky.

There's something here for teens through senior citizens; death impacts everyone. The Sky is Everywhere is an incredible book, and I get chills looking back on it. It's a love story, a family drama, and a great read. I'm slightly upset that it didn't occur to me to read it sooner.

Lastly, here's the delightful UK book trailer for The Sky is Everywhere. The U.S. one is okay, but this one is too gorgeous to beat:

Book Review: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Release Date: May 20, 2008

Publisher: Bantam

Age Group: Adult

Pages: 288

Source: My local library.

Summary:
Josey Cirinni is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and her passion for the man she loves is best kept a secret, even from him. Josey has grudgingly settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, but her one consolation is the secret stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she keeps in her closet. One morning, she opens her closet for a sweet, but finds Della Lee Baker hiding there instead. Della Lee is a local waitress on the run who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. Under Della Lee's guidance, Josey is soon living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion is so real it can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters. (From sarahaddisonallen.com)
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Why I picked it up:

Two of my favorite writers/bloggers (Laini Taylor and Stephanie Perkins) recommend Sarah Addison Allen's books, and I just read Allen's Garden Spells and loved it. I wanted more.

The Good:

The Sugar Queen is delightful. I liked Josey, the main character, from the first page, and I fell right into Sarah Addison Allen's beautiful prose and deliciously cozy description of winter in North Carolina. The initial premise of the book is comical and pleasantly puzzling: Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini lives with and cares for her crotchety mother and wakes up one day to find a strange woman in her closet. The woman introduces herself as Della Lee. She's rough, sarcastic, and determined to stay put in Josey's closet. Della Lee's antics throughout the novel are amusing, but more importantly, Della Lee pushes Josey out of her comfort zone, out from under her mother's thumb, and into life.

Josey stands up to her mother, makes friends, and falls in love.  Josey's closest new friend is Chloe, a woman who is followed around by books and struggling with a failing romantic relationship.

The Sugar Queen explores friendship, family, and romantic relationships through three different couples, and comes up with some genuine truths and a satisfying story.

The Bad:

Parts of the plot felt scattered, and I lost interest in the book at several points, put it down, and came back because I liked the characters. Also, the magic realism of The Sugar Queen doesn't feel as integrated into the world of The Sugar Queen as it does in Addison's Garden Spells, but I got over it. The Sugar Queen was fun once I stopped carping and rolled with the action.

The Recommendation:

If you like quirky, cozy stories, put The Sugar Queen on the top of your reading list ASAP. I enjoyed it.