Zoe Elias has grand dreams of being a pianist. For her, there is nothing better to be. She imagines evening gowns, audiences awaiting in anticipation, beautiful recitals, much adoration. So you can understand how, when her father comes home with a Perfectone D60 Organ, instead of her lovely piano, why she's a little upset. In fact, she's fairly sure this might be unforgivable.

But the organ came with free lessons, which she reluctantly agrees to take. Miss Person (read: Persaaahn) is not the world's most enthusiastic teacher. In fact, during lessons, Zoe doesn't get into much of her instrument's capabilities. But when Miss Person isn't around, she likes to kick things up a little. Which is how, after a lesson one day, upon forgetting her purse, Miss Person comes to realize Zoe has talent, and decides she ought to enter the Perform-O-Rama.

And so Zoe spends the next few weeks practicing and practicing the same song: "Forever in Blue Jeans". Not knowing the words, she'll often make up her own. In the Kitchen, baking up a storm, her father, and schoolmate turned constant house-guest enjoy the show.

With the competition nearly upon them, Zoe's mother not only misses her birthday, but has an emergency at work, which means she won't be able to take her to the Perform-O-Rama after all. Disaster. Mr. Elias is not exactly known for his worldly skills. In fact nearly every time he goes out, he has to be guided home by a local mechanic. But he knows how important this is to Zoe. Armed with pre-programmed cell phone, ready for any disaster, they set off.

And he does get her there. But doesn't make it to her first performance, which she would tell you, was not all that bad, since she was not all that good.

This was a very cute and extremely quick-reading story. Through her music, and her enthusiasm, Zoe manages to bring her family together, help a schoolmate, and inspire her dad. So maybe the Perfectone wasn't such an unforgivable gift after all.

This is a review I wrote for the Carnegie Medal Award site. I believe the story is inspired by real events in Ireland in the 1980's. I will revise when I get a chance:

There is a very poetic and lilting feel to the writing in this beatifully written but very sad book. The setting is a small community in Ireland where everyone knows your business, has opinions on it, and although religion plays a strong part in the life of the town, a christian approach to helping each other is not always evident.

The focus is on a young teenage girl Shell, who certainly does not have her troubles to seek. Her mother is dead leaving her to cope with her younger brother and sister as well as a father who is certainly not playing his role of parent. She finds comfort in the arms of a teenage boy but the relationship leads to her being caught up in a horrible scandal.

There is a lot that is very sad about this book, but ultimately I thought that there was hope at the end, though maybe not what you could call a very happy ending.

Colin Singleton has issues with his life. Mainly that he doesn't understand it, and as a recent high school graduate, is sure of little other than his status as a failure. Utterly disgusted with his best friend's state of mind, Hassan decides what they needs is a road trip. After somehow making their parents agree, off the head, no destination in mind.

A random highway exit boasts the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who Colin had been thinking of not long before, and so begins the journey to Gutshot, TN, where the road trip becomes stationary.

After the tour to the Archduke's grave, Colin and Hassan meet Hollis, their tourguide Lindey's mother, who brings them home for dinner and offers them a job for the summer. At $500/week, the pair can't refuse.

The days soon settle into a sort of rhythm. Recording oral histories of Gutshot for Hollis in the morning, killing time in the afternoon while Lindsey goofs off with her boyfriend, and for Colin, working on the Theorem he's come up with to predict the pattern of a relationship. First he can only get it to work for a few of the Katherines. With some tweaking, it works for all but one. After further delving, he realizes he's misremembered this one, and once he adjusts the formula to show the true events, the Theorem is rock solid.

And yet...while History is easy to study (like they say, hind-sight is 20/20), the future is a different animal altogehter. And this is the realization Colin really needs to come to. That life can't be predicted, there is no certainty, and the only sure thing to do is to get out there and try.

Excellent book. Unique story, great characters, much lighter than Looking for Alaska. Definitely worth a read.

__________

This is Green's second book, and I wasn't surprised to see that it too had been up for the Printz Award.

These characters are even more likeable, in their oddities, and the story more fun. I'm not huge on math, but the Katherine equation really intrigued me. Looking forward to whatever is next.

Egg is a geek. Preferring the life of a loner to that of the typical teen, Victoria Jergen has named and styled herself after the heroin of her favorite sci-fi movie, Terminal Earth. With multiple peircings, painted eyebrows, a shaved head, and a wardrobe that always includes a white cloak, Egg is definitely not run-of-the-mill. Her AP schedule, excellent grades, actress mother, special effects designing father, and phenomenal photographic eye make up the rest of the equation. She always does her homework, she always has an answer, she never says hello, and she likes to eat alone. Until Max.

When Max Carter shows up in AP History suddenly, and smelly, has the answers, and proves to be more than her match, Egg's world begins to slide. Suddenly she isn't "the one" anymore, and suddenly she's acquiring interest in something beyond her self-imposed reality.

At first she takes the same cool attitude towards Max as everyone else, with some minor deviations. When her wishes work too well, she finds herself suddenly questioning what she truly wants. As more and more aspects of her every day routine begin to crumble, Egg begins to re-evaluate who she is, and why. Slowly she takes steps to become who she knows she ought to be. Victoria. Human. Flawed. A dreamer, with a lot of talent. An observer and an activist. A friend.

Some painful truths are stumbled upon, some harsh lessons are learned, but through it all Egg/Victoria remains strong. She's a lovable, unique girl---definitely geeky---and will probably find a place in the hearts of readers world-wide.

_____

This was the first of Castelluci's books that I read. I liked it enough to keep an eye out for her name from then on. It definitely filled a niche. I think there are a lot of teens out there who probably really needed a story like this.

I find Dexter to be a really likable guy, despite his serial killer nature. I'm interested to see where the TV show has gone in its second chapter, as it didn't stick with the books. After reading the story, I can see how it might be extremely traumatic if translated to television, though with the amount of violence people watch today, I'm not sure it really would have mattered.

This installment centers around relationships, and a mystery killer who enjoys mutilating and dicing his victims, leaving them alive but witless with terror. For those who are squeamish, this might not be the best read, since there is a fair amount of detail to the distressing murders throughout.

On the flip side is the fun of seeing Deb in a relationship, and not only as a macho cop, and Dexter getting himself unwittingly engaged. Really.

I'm not sure I liked this as much as the first, but I did like it better than the most recent installment to the series.

Anyone who likes a great mystery, or the irony of a good serial killer, or a loveable bad guy, will enjoy Dearly Devoted Dexter for sure.

Back in the day, Alice and I used to exchange books centered around eroticism. One of the first books Alice gave me was Little Birds, by Anais Nin (how do you do umlauts in HTML?). It was my first Nin experience. I loved her writing. In Baltimore, there's a cool used bookstore called Normal's. On a trip there with Dave and Alexis, I found Nin's Henry and June, which is not at all a novel, but the diary she had while she was seeing Henry Miller and his wife, June, was in the states. The diaries were eventually made into a film, which I have yet to see, but from what I hear is full of good erotic hotness. The journal is as well. In it, I see her claiming independence, fervor, sexual release and independence that comes off as trying, trite, painful, insecure... this could also simply be a reflection of myself though. I readily admit that there has been more than one occasion when my excitement for sex and eroticism has been more for safety than an actual expression of me. However, her journal writing is fantastic and affects my own because I can see in what she writes a necessity to simply write. A romantic notion, but one I don't mind adopting. From her journals:

I have remained the woman who loves incest. I still practice the most incestuous crimes with a sacred religious fervor. I am the most currupt of all women, for I seek a refinement in my incest, the accompaniment of beautiful chants, music, so that everyone believes in my soul. With a madonna face, I still swallow God and sperm, and my orgasm resembles a mystical climax. The men I love, Hugo loves, and I let them act like brothers. Eduardo confesses his love to Allendy. Allendy is going to be my lover. Now I send Hugo to Allendy so that Allendy will teach him to be less dependent on me for his happiness.

This woman.

What a night! How one can go to sleep poisoned, heavy with tears, with rage still smoking. Go ahead, Henry, pity Hugo, because I am going to deceive him a hundred times. I would deceive the greatest and finest man on earth. The ideal of faithfulness is a joke. Remember what I taught you tonight: psychology tries to reestablish the basis of life not on ideals but on sincerity with one's self. Hit, hit all you want to. I'll hit back.

God, this is like living every moment in an orgasm, with only pauses between plunges.

I have Seth Cohen (The O.C.) to thank for introducing me to Chuck Klosterman. I spotted him reading Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs during an episode of The O.C., and the title of the book intrigued me so much that I had to hunt it down. It was entirely fitting that a geek of Seth's stature should be reading the work of a self-proclaimed music and pop culture geek. Of course, I use the word geek in an affectionate way, given that I myself am not entirely without geekiness (I actually took some notes while reading this book).

Chuck Klosterman began his career as a journalist, writing mainly about music and popular culture. Killing Yourself To Live is his attempt to "understand why some rock stars don't start living until they die, why death equals credibility". Klosterman begins his journey at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, somewhat unsuccessfully. The hotel manager doesn't want him to talk about the hotel in his book, and insists that the room where Nancy Spungen died no longer exists. Undeterred, Klosterman picks up a rental car, stocks it with over 600 CDs for the trip, and sets off cross-country, taking in the site in Rhode Island where a fire killed over 100 Great White fans at a concert, the spot where Buddy Holly's plane came down, and a few others, culminating in a trip to Washington, where he visits Seattle and Aberdeen.

Klosterman is an entertaining narrator, and the book is peppered with soundbites, musings and tenuous analogies drawn between films and music. Not since High Fidelity (the film mind, not the book), have I enjoyed hearing someone describe music in such detail before. Klosterman describes, compares and critically evaluates the music he loves (rock music mainly), though it's a meandering journey and digressions abound, mainly on the subject of his old girlfriends. He discloses a lot of personal detail about his relationships, and what went wrong with them, and there's quite an analogy near the end of the book where each ex-girlfriend is compared to a member of KISS.

Near the beginning of the book, Klosterman states that "sexuality is 15% real and 85% illusion". Killing Yourself To Live is subtitled 85% Of A True Story. My powers of deduction are telling me that some of this book has been embellished somewhat, and at first I thought that this 15% illusion referred to in the subtitle was to be found in the discussion of his relationships, and the almost unlikely fabulousness of the women who loved him. Then I thought it may have been in the characters he meets on his travels. I'm still undecided. The actual site visits are often fleeting and unremarkable, but that could be the point - even with the knowledge that someone died there to give a location meaning, years after the event it's just a location after all. Popular culture is assigning significance to the sites, and I think that Klosterman gets this completely.

It could be argued that there is too much of the author in this book, but then maybe that's also the point. Klosterman is an avid consumer of music and films, and more importantly he is infectiously enthusiastic about his passions. I have Chuck Klosterman to thank for introducing me to the Dixie Chicks, following his discussion of their song There's Your Trouble in Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. His writing has that effect on me. I'm off now to buy more Led Zeppelin albums.

Meh. This is the last of the Morganville Vampires trilogy, in which super-bright 16 year-old Claire Danvers moves to Morganville, Texas to go to Texas Prairie University because her parents think she is too young to head off to MIT (having read all of the books now, I think this is stressed so that you don't doubt her intelligence - which you will).

Morganville is a town owned by a vampire dynasty, headed by Amelie. Amelie is old, cold and strangely interested in Claire. Book Three tells us why. Claire is now protected by Amelie, which gives her a new status in Morganville, and suddenly everyone wants to be her friend. She still lives in the Glass House with rough and ready Shane (her platonic boyfriend), Michael the hippy vampire who doesn't want to hurt people, and Eve the cartoon goth whose brother seems to be Michael Myers.

Book Three crams a lot in, and centres on the reason why Amelie has chosen Claire as one of her protected. Like the rest of the trilogy, it's very readable, but the relationship between Claire and Shane just isn't working for me. It doesn't seem real. We have an 18 year old boy and a 16 year old girl living in the same house without parents, hormones presumably flying everywhere, but they remain strangely virtuous. There was some clumsy moralising in Book Two right enough - when Claire had a drink at a party she was roofied, so she doesn't do that anymore. Blah blah. But this could just be my cynical side coming out.

So anyway, welcome. The door will close behind you.

Lily Samson is sure her family is the craziest. Her brother lolls around, dropping in and out of school, unable to find a path in life. Her Pop, though she loves him, is a bona fide racist (as far as she's concerned), her Nan has an invisible friend, her mother is fond of bringing home clients from work to stay with them, and Lily, in all her Year Ten glory, is the responsible one in the house. Her friends giggle about boys, she makes shopping lists. Her friends makes up new words, she makes dinner plans. Really, there's most definitely something wrong here.

Lonnie,  errant brother, has moved out after a blow-out with Pop, involving an axe. Living in a Boarding House for Gentleman, and once again enrolled in school, he's still trying to find his way. His mother, with no real way to know how he's doing, worries. Endlessly and pointlessly, if you ask Lily.  Indeed, Lonnie nearly does repeat his cycle yet again, but a little intervention stays his hand. In fact, meeting Clara has changed the world for Lonnie, and all for the better.

Back at home, Lily has concluded she needs to fall in love. It seemed just the answer to her premature aging. And yet, once decided, she quickly changes her mind and finds the whole process of having a crush to be quite horrid. Unfortunately, she can't go back.

She's sure as anything that Daniel Steadman doesn't even know she exists; across town Daniel is plagued with dreams of a mystery girl with a beautiful voice.

Waking in a frenzy one night, unable to recall the color of his mother's eyes, Pop takes a trip to his old neighborhood at Nan's urging. Most of it is gone, replaced with stores and shops and food all foreign to him. Worse yet, while sitting on a bench recollecting, he calls aloud a most unfortunate phrase and insults the Chinese woman who just happened to be across the way at the time. He runs for it, but determined not to take abuses anymore, she chases him down. They find in one another an unexpected friend.

Nan, feeling certain that the family needs a celebration, decides to hold a party for Pop's eightieth birthday. A grand event, it will be! She's just sure it will help Pop and Lonnie to reconcile. She's been pestering Lily to try to make it happen, and to make sure Lon comes to the event. Though Lily is certain this can only end badly, what with Clara being Chinese, she does as asked.

In fact, Lily decides this party is important. Maybe the most important thing in their lives. She needs it to be a success. And because he hears this quiet desperation in his sister's voice, Lonnie agrees. To make up, and to attend. Lily can only hope it will be the one, perfect day she feels she, and they all, deserve.

Sam Jones has some plans for his life. Mainly, be the first in the family to go to college, and not to impregnate anyone while still in his teens. While his grades aren't stellar, they're not bad, and his Art teacher recently recommended he study Art & design after school. He's single, and spends most of his time skating (on a board) so all in all, his plans seem to be going all right. He worries, every now and then, whether it will all really turn out all right, but who doesn't? Pretty much, he's content.

When his mother wants to bring him to a party to meet a girl, he has the reaction you'd expect. No way. But she presses the point, and off he goes. And Alicia is certainly something to look at. Not much to be with though. Obnoxious, pretty much. But the approach of telling her so and walking away seems to be some sort of magic for soon enough, she's at his side and pulling him back to the living room.

Alicia is not the kind of girl Sam would have expected to go for him. But she did. And soon his life has whittled down to a very small world.  Mainly, Alicia. They hang out, they watch tv in her room, they have sex. That's about the extent of it. Which of course worries the parents. But as far as Sam and Alicia are concerned, everything's fine.

Until it's not.

Eventually, Sam goes back to skating. Somehow, one day he was tired of her. And rather than tell her, well, he just stopped going round, or answering calls. He figured she'd get the point. Unfortunately for him, there was this whole potential incident he'd kept to himself, and would like to have forgotten. So when he gets a text one morning at breakfast, he's not really surprised. He's not happy either. But he goes to meet her.

And then he runs away.

And comes back.

Out the window go the plans. In come a whole new slew of worries. Like death at parent's hands. And how can this work? And how can it be, even though he's pretty sure he knows that part. Not that he's telling anyone.

A couple of trips into the future while sleeping don't do much to make Sam feel any better about the way things have turned out, though when he gets to those moments in real time it turns out they're not so bad.

This is a pretty funny look into accidental pregnancy. While the subject is itself heavy, Sam's dealings with it, while oh so wrong at points, are a riot to read about. And in the end he does what's right, which is the important part. And things will be ok, or they won't, but not for lack of trying.