Book Review: Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Release Date: June 14, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 192

Source: My local library.

Summary:

At the beginning of his junior year at a boys' boarding school, 16-year-old Alex is devastated when he fails to save a drowning friend. When questioned, Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also at the river, begin weaving their web of lies. Plagued by guilt, Alex takes refuge in the library, telling his tale in a journal he hides behind Moby-Dick. Caught in the web with Alex and Glenn is their English teacher, Miss Dovecott, fresh out of Princeton, who suspects there's more to what happened at the river when she perceives guilt in Alex's writing for class. She also sees poetic talent in Alex, which she encourages. As Alex responds to her attention, he discovers his true voice, one that goes against the boarding school bravado that Glenn embraces. When Glenn becomes convinced that Miss Dovecott is out to get them, Alex must choose between them. (From the publisher.)
_________________________________________________
Alex Stromm, a student at a North Carolina boarding school in the early 1980s, begins keeping a journal after his friend Thomas drowns in a river near the school. He hides his "journal/Not-So-Great American Novel" behind an ancient copy of Moby Dick in the library. He greets the reader on the first page:

My apologies to Herman Melville, from whom I may have to steal a few words to tell the story that is about to be told, that is in the middle of being told, that will never stop being told. Such is the nature of guilt; such is the nature of truth. But it is also the nature of guilt to sideline the truth.

Welcome to the sidelines, Dear Reader.*

The sidelines of Alex's thoughts are an intriguing place to be: the story of what happened at the lake the day Thomas died unwinds slowly, and details come to light that surprise even Alex, who was there. What Alex knows for sure, however, is that if anyone finds out what happened before Thomas drowned, he and the other two boys who were at the river--Glenn and Clay--will be expelled. And Glenn, the ringleader of the group, is not about to let that happen to himself.

Miss Dovecott, a new English teacher and recent Princeton graduate, was out for a run when she stumbled on the scene of Thomas's death. Glenn is certain that she knows more about what happened at the river than she lets on, and he suspects that she's waiting to use her knowledge against them. Glenn's plan to find out what Miss Dovecott knows (and get rid of her if necessary) coincides with Alex's growing relationship with Miss Dovecott. (It's not a romantic one, although Alex spends a lot of time writing about his awkward crush on her.) Miss Dovecott notices Alex's talent for writing, and she begins meeting with him one-on-one to encourage him to develop his skills.

Glenn is the one to suggest that Miss Dovecott may be using Alex to see if he reveals anything about Thomas's death in his writing. Glenn--who grows increasingly paranoid that Miss Dovecott plans to expose them--pushes Alex to choose between him and Miss Dovecott.

Alex's choice is guaranteed to spark conversation between readers.

Paper Covers Rock is a short novel, but I read it slowly. Author Jenny Hubbard's prose is beautiful and full of thoughtful observations about life and literature, yet still believable as the journal of a precocious high school poet-boy. Literary allusions springing from Alex's studies fill the novel's pages, too; Paper Covers Rock is as much about poetry as it is about the aftermath of Thomas's death.

(And in spite of the plot's intensity, Paper Covers Rock finds time to be funny: the school installs a fountain in memory of Thomas, who--let's not forget--drowned.)

Paper Covers Rock isn't a fantasy, but it is set in another time and-- unless the reader happens to be at a boarding school for boys in rural North Carolina--another place, and the setting feels real. For this reason, and also for the novel's prose, tight plotting, and wide appeal, Paper Covers Rock is one of the best books I've read in the past few years.

Paper Covers Rock possesses crossover appeal; Alex's struggle between self-preservation and doing the right thing is universal, and Miss Dovecott--although seen through the eyes of a teenage boy--is a strong adult character who provides someone for older readers to identify with. I recommend Paper Covers Rock to readers who appreciate psychological drama, mysteries, and realistic fiction.
 ________________________________________________
*This book may shame me into reading  Moby Dick . . .**
**Bad English major, I know.

Book Review: White Cat (Curse Workers, Book 1) by Holly Black

Release Date: May 4, 2010

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 310

Source: My local library.

Summary:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories. (From TheCurseWorkers.com)
_________________________________________________
Why I picked it up: I was intrigued by the premise of  Curse Workers, and even though I've never read any other books by Holly Black, I've heard wonderful things about them.

The Good:

White Cat had me from the first paragraph:

I wake up barefoot, standing on cold slate tiles. Looking dizzily down. I suck in a breath of icy air.

The many mysteries of the story make an immediate entrance here, and I appreciated the vividness of Black's prose. The sentence fragment in the middle gives the reader a taste of the likely unsettling feeling of waking up on a roof, and the imagery of the cold tiles and chill air put me right in the story. I devoured the book in just a few sittings; but for a lull around the climax, the pacing of White Cat is masterful. I always read longer than I planned because I had to know what happened next. Some of the plot twists are predictable, but that's mostly because Black foreshadows them with a megaphone from the get-go. This made me feel all smart and detective-y, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to think, "Oh ho, I see what you did there!" more than once. I was, however, completely surprised a couple times.

Beyond the pacing and prose, much of the fun of White Cat comes from the well-assembled world of the novel. The magic of the curse workers fits neatly into the history and framework of the real world, which is mostly recognizable except for the gloves worn by nearly all the characters. In the novel, curse workers can influence--even kill--others with a mere touch of their bare hands. Curse work was banned in the world of the novel in 1929. Like Prohibition in the real world, it led to organized crime families important to White Cat's storyline, and curse workers became even more dangerous, hence the gloves. One can never be too careful.

The reality of cursework is integrated into TV shows and songs on the radio in the book, and Cassel notes the fear attached to bare hands:

In health class our teacher used to say that if someone came toward you on the street with bare hands, consider those hands to be as potentially deadly as unsheathed blades.

My favorite part of the novel's rewriting of history, however is this quote that made me laugh so hard I almost snorted:

Wearing gloves goes back as far as the Byzantine Empire  . . . .  They believed that demons walked among people and their touch brought chaos and terror . . . .  If you had a worker baby, it was because a demon had gotten inside of it. Justinian the first--the emperor--took all those babies and raised them in an enormous tower to be an unstoppable demon army.

Still funny.

Additionally, Cassel is a well-drawn character. He's a con artist from a family of criminals, and even though he's the protagonist, he isn't always perfect. He lies to his friends and causes other people pain. On the other hand, he's also smart, and watching him scheme, maneuver, and fumble through dangerous plots and awkward high school relationships is fun.

The Bad:

While the cover is sharp and the colors are eye-catching, I have issues with the model, who appears Caucasian. In the book, Cassel discusses the origins of his family with another character, and one of the tall tales he's been told is that his great grandfather was a maharaja of India. He also notes,

People are always coming up to me on trains and talking to me in different languages, like it's obvious I'll understand them. It bothers me that I never will.

This suggests that his skin is dark. The discrepancy between the cover image and the text is confusing, among other things.

Also, as much as I liked ripping through Cassel's story, I never established an emotional connection with him or any of the characters. Stuff was happening to them, and it was interesting, but beyond that I didn't really care. As far as PG-13 moments, there's plenty of violence, but it's nothing that most people haven't seen on TV, and the action scenes are only as terrifying as one's imagination makes them.

All in all, there's really not much to complain about.

The Recommendation:

If you're at all attracted by the summary, try it. If you like thrillers with a dash of the supernatural and quick, edge-of-your seat reads, definitely try it. There's a lot about the book's world that's left unexplained, and a couple juicy, incomplete plotlines that left me wanting the sequel ASAP. I highly recommend White Cat as a quick, intense, and fun read.

Book Review: Dream Life by Lauren Mechling

Release Date: January 12, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher

Other books in the series: Dream Girl (July 2008)

Summary:
Claire Voyante's first semester at Henry Hudson High School was eventful, to say the least. As she heads into her second semester, things are calming down a bit. But Claire has a few secrets that are getting harder to keep. Her biggest secret of all? The onyx and ivory cameo necklace her grandmother gave her for her 15th birthday. Ever since she started wearing it, her dreams have been coming to her in black and white and turning out to be oddly prophetic.
Becca's been hanging out with her old prep school friends and never seems to have time for Claire anymore. And soon, Claire discovers why - there's a secret group of society girls with a mysterious identity. And, turns out, a mysterious enemy who's out to get them. The second she sniffs out trouble, Claire jumps on the case. But is it someone close to Claire who's in danger again - or could it be Claire herself whose life is at stake? (From laurenmechling.com)
__________________________________________
At the close of Dream Girl, the first installment in Claire Voyante's story, Claire solved a mystery, saved her best friend Becca's family from almost certain death, and fell for Andy, Becca's handsome older brother. Now Becca is too busy hanging out with her old private school friends to spend time with Claire, and Andy--who is busy too--is pulling away.

The prophetic black and white dreams, however, won't leave Claire alone, and they're as strange and unclear as ever. Here's a particularly entertaining (and non-spoilery) example:

Everyone at the party had on the coolest costumes. Which might explain why my dance partner wasn't Andy--or even a guy for that matter. It was a gray kangaroo, with a margarita in one paw and my oven-mitted hand in the other (I was dressed up as Julia Child). Mr. Kangaroo dipped me with the finesse nobody dressed like a minor league baseball mascot has any right to possess.

What's a girl to make of that?

As for Claire's shrinking social life, the reader doesn't have to worry long. Becca lets Claire in on the reason she's been so busy within the first seventy pages: Becca's involved in a secret society that goes back to eighteenth century New York. The society's mission? Helping the city out through activities like "'planting community gardens or repainting the youth wing at hospitals.'" In addition to that, there is a rival club trying to out their existence and thwart their philanthropic plans. Detective Claire is on the case again!

The atmosphere of Dream Life is as light and fun as that of Dream Girl, but the secret society business adds an extra air of excitement and mystery. The plot dashes and strolls and ends speedily but satisfyingly. The helpful aims of the secret society may sound boring, but the missions contain plenty of danger and cloak and dagger action.

Just as in Dream Girl, however, the best part of Dream Life is the cast of characters. Claire and her family are as adorably quirky as ever, and the new characters are just as strong.

Moreover, magic cameos and over the top teenage secret societies may be unrealistic, but much of Dream Life is written realistically. Claire and Andy's romance doesn't go perfectly: there are misunderstandings, secrets, insecurities, and busy schedules. (Although this doesn't mean there can't be a happy ending.) The people around Claire have secrets, too, and Claire is forced to some hard realizations by the end of the novel.

Dream Life is sophisticated and fun. Anyone who's read Dream Girl owes it themselves to see Claire's story continue to unfold, and while enough of Dream Girl is recapped for Dream Life to be read as a standalone novel, I enjoyed reading the books in order. I suspect I wouldn't have enjoyed Dream Life as much if I weren't already acquainted with the characters. Also, so much happens and the clues fit together so interestingly that Dream Life is definitely going in my rereading pile. If you like mystery, fashion, and laughter, I recommend adding this one to your To Be Read list.

The Book Trailer:

Dream Life by Lauren Mechling -- Trailer from Richie Williams on Vimeo.

Book Review: Gentlemen by Michael Northrop

Release Date: April 15, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 256

Summary:

Micheal, Tommy, Mixer, and Bones aren't just from the wrong side of the tracks--they're from the wrong side of everything. Except for Mr. Haberman, their remedial English teacher, no one at their high school takes them seriously. Haberman calls them "gentlemen," but everyone else ignores them--or, in Bones's case, is dead afraid of them. When one of their close-knit group goes missing, the clues all seem to point in one direction: to Mr. Haberman. Gritty, fast-paced, and brutally real, this debut takes an unflinching look at what binds friends together--and what can tear them apart. (From The Scholastic Store)
_____________________________________

On the same day that Micheal's friend Tommy goes missing, his English teacher, Mr. Haberman, begins teaching Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment--a novel I actually enjoyed in high school. In order to pique his students' interest, Mr. Haberman places a large barrel at the front of the classroom and asks the students to guess what's inside, then talks about words and ideas like crime and punishment. At the end of the class, Mr. Haberman asks Micheal, Mixer, and Bones to help him take the barrel to his car. At this point, Micheal and his friends don't know what's in the barrel, but they do know that's it's incredibly heavy and seems to have joints. Add that to the strange looks Haberman seems to give them in class as he talks about the murder in Crime and Punishment and Micheal and his friends think they know what happened to Tommy.

While Gentlemen may sound like a typical mystery novel, it's not all clues and snappy dialogue. Rather, it's a group of boys trying to get through school and life; finding Tommy is important to them, but it doesn't completely consume their attention.

Micheal is a likeable, realistic main character with an appealing first-person voice, but he's too wrapped up in himself to let readers become anything more than acquainted with the other characters. And even though he makes plenty of questionable decisions and spends a considerable amount of his freetime scoping out girls, drinking, and smoking, I never stopped rooting for him.

Now, if you've read this far you may have noticed that I keep misspelling the name "Michael"; it's not a mistake. I'll let Micheal explain it to you:

"My first name is spelled wrong. It's Micheal instead of Michael. Mom or Dad, one of them dropped the ball on that one, probably Dad, in the hospital or wherever it is you fill out that paperwork."

Micheal's a funny guy, and I laughed quite a few times while reading Gentlemen.

There were plenty of moments, however, where I wasn't laughing. Gentlemen is a dark story, and it's not always easy to read. The most shocking scenes include a possible-rape (That's how I took it, anyway) and a good bit of violence at the climax. These parts weren't particularly enjoyable, but they didn't keep me from finishing the book. After the violent climax, however, the ending becomes predictable and inevitable, and I didn't want to watch; it was almost a chore to finish the book.

As far as language goes, Gentlemen is actually pretty clean; Micheal edits himself when it comes to the "F" word and no piece of profanity appears uncalled for.

Gentlemen is a dark, occasionally funny, and always intense read. The mystery of Tommy's disappearance held me spellbound until the last couple chapters, when all the pieces fell into place. This book is like a magnet. I enjoyed Gentlemen, and I recommend it to anyone in the mood for a quick, suspenseful read.

Book source: My local library.