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AudioSynced: Golden Grove by Francine Prose

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Francine Prose is probably one of the better-known authors of contemporary times, and she’s published both for adults and young adults. Goldengrove is the first title of hers I’ve read, and throughout the time of listening to it, I was reminded over and over of Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere.

Nico adores her older sister Margaret: she’s a wise girl, slightly quirky, and full of style and sass. Her boyfriend Aaron is intriguing, despite their father’s assessment that he “has a screw loose.”

But when Margaret goes for a leisurely boat ride and drowns, everything Nico knows about herself, her family, and Aaron falls away as she searches for meaning in her life and in Margaret’s.

Goldengrove is a story about loss and the search for oneself — Nico, like Lennie in Nelson’s title — must figure out how to handle immense loss at a very young age. And not only is she struggling with loss, she also struggles with the crush and desire she has to be with Aaron. Together, perhaps they can forge the loneliness and loss and find comfort in one another.

But it might just be the case that Nico’s father’s description of Aaron is truer than she ever could believe.

Prose’s novel is dark and haunting, as readers are dropped into Nico’s grief. We have no barrier but rather experience her pain alongside of her. When she avoids old films that would have satisfied Margaret’s need for entertainment or when she spends intimate time with Aaron discussing loss and life, we are inside her. It is raw and powerful.

Were I to read this book, though, I don’t think I would have finished it, but thanks to the magnificent audiobook read by Mamie Gummer, I kept going. Perhaps there is something more palpable for me when loss is narrated or captured in a human voice, but the audiobook drew me in in a way that I could not be drawn into Nelson’s title. I could not connect and feel I wouldn’t connect on the written word, but something about the human element — felt between the spaces of the words read — captured me.

That said, the 7-disc audio published by Harper Collins did not move quickly for me, nor did I find myself eager to dive into each disc as I finished the one prior. Goldengrove requires deliberate listening and absorption, and despite the fact I could have plowed through this in less than a week, it took me nearly two to complete the audio. After a disc, I needed time to think through what happened and how it impacted the characters and me. Near the end of disc 6, there is a major plot twist, and it took me nearly four days to want to continue. But never once did I think I needed to quit; I just needed the space to think.

Gummer’s performance is entirely believable, though she comes off sounding a bit older and wiser than your typical girl Nico’s age (she is 11 or 12 in the story). Given Nico has been thrust into adulthood prematurely, though, the wise and tempered way she speaks feels right. We have a single voiced narration, too, which I appreciated greatly; I have mixed feelings about women voicing men and vice versa, and I think in this story, that tactic could have cheated the story. The production and editing on this title work well, though there were a few times that it was clear recording sessions had changed. I thought the silence in the background spoke volumes and made this production just click.

Goldengrove is a contemporary, realistic fiction title published for an adult audience, but it has significant crossover appeal, particularly for fans of Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere. Fans of Jodi Picolt looking for something with a little more heft will likely find quite a bit to like here, as well. It is much more literary, drawing in allusions to Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “Spring & Fall.” This isn’t a story for the faint of heart, and some of the images and the poetry sprinkled throughout will remain with you.

Things I Know About Love by Kate Le Vann

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The cover on the left has total appeal to me as a reader: it suggest a chick lit story set in a city. Maybe there’s a little sight seeing and as the title suggests, maybe there’s a little bit of love involved. It’s reminiscent of Joanne Philbin’s The Daughters and Emma McLaughlin’s The Nanny Diaries.

But I have to be honest: I was deceived. Yes, there’s love and romance, but the book is anything but the light fluffy read I was expecting.

Livia Stowe has been a sick teenager for a long time. But finally, she’s feeling a lot better, and with her brother living abroad in Priceton, New Jersey for the semester, her mother decides she’s healthy and mature enough to travel from England to spend a few weeks with him. While she’s gone, she’ll be blogging, too. Livia’s never had luck in love, and she’s hoping that maybe she’ll snag a cutie while visiting Jeff.

Wouldn’t you know, she meets a sweetheart named Adam almost immediately? He is actually British also, which is super convenient. He is a stand up guy, and he helps Livia fulfill a life wish in visiting New York City — twice. Jeff’s okay with their relationship, since Adam is one of his closest friends.

Sounds good, right? The girl gets love and hangs out in the big city. But then the ending is a changearoo. Sure, I saw it coming from miles away in this 160 page story, but I didn’t want it to happen. It would be too convenient. Unfortunately, it does, and it left me really disappointed as a reader. I never felt enough compassion or interest in the characters, and the ending made me feel like the author didn’t either.

Since I don’t want to spoil the story, I’ll change the tone of this review and say that this is a book that will appeal to Lurelene McDaniel fans, I think. There’s a good sense of drama and a nice flash of romance that develops. Unfortunately, I think a lot of readers will feel the way I did with this: the book changes its story completely about 3/4 of the way through, and most reviews on Goodreads commented that their initial interest in the story was thrown out with the complete change in story near the end.

On the plus side, this is a quick read and may be an appealing choice for reluctant readers. Adam is a sweet character, and Livia’s British quirks are just enough to keep readers engaged in her experiences. Since this book is making its US debut this month, I think readers might like the outsider perspective of American life (it’s a book that originally published in the UK in 2006). I think that this is a book that could have benefited from another 100 pages to fully flesh the characters for the ending OR a book that could have stood out as a true chick lit/fluffy read if the ending were altered.

Greyhound by Steffan Piper

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Whenever I listen to Simon and Garfunkel — which is fairly often — I begin to reminisce about simpler times. I’ve only ever owned their music on CD, and I remember when I purchased their greatest hits album on a road trip to visit Michigan State University my junior year of high school. Reading Steffan Piper’s Greyhound took me back to that memory because of how classic musicians play such a large role in the story. Bonus: the role is through cassette tapes.

Greyhound starts when Sebastien Ranes’s mother drops him off at the Stockton, California, Greyhound station with a ticket to Altoona, Pennsylvania and about $30. She’s getting married to a new guy, and Sebastien’s 11-year-old self is just too much baggage to take on. Besides, the soon-to-be husband doesn’t like him, so it makes sense to ship him off to grandma and grandpa’s. Along with the cash, all she tells him is to sit at the front of the bus, don’t talk to strangers, and don’t miss the bus when it leaves the station. No I love yours or I’ll miss yous for Ms. Ranes.

The year is 1981, and Sebastien is lonely. He’s being sent to live with people he doesn’t know all that well, and while he’s a bit apprehensive about traveling by bus across the US alone with very little money, he’s also going to use this as an opportunity to forget about his crappy home life and his worthless mother. When he boards his first bus in Stockton, he aims right to the back of the bus, where he will soon meet Marcus. Marcus, the African American ex-con, will soon become one of the few people in his life he can trust and rely on, and together they make a heck of a pair as they traverse the country by bus. Along the way, Sebastien will learn about loving life, making friends, how to appreciate music, and even how to appreciate literature. There is a happy splattering of literary and musical references, ranging from Catcher in the Rye to Cat Stevens. We’re steeped deep into 1981, but we’re also steeped into something completely modern and timeless.

Grayhound was a moving book, and it carries a lot more to it than what the description and the cover might suggest. In the story, all of our characters learn important lessons, as well as discover who they are and who others are via the vehicle of a road trip on one of America’s former strongholds of transportation. The Greyhound was the perfect vehicle for this story. We’ll also have highs and lows on the trip, from a hostage attempt to a broke down bus, that couldn’t happen realistically in another vehicle.

Although there are certainly depressing moments in the story, it is ultimately hopeful, and Sebastien is a character who is worth loving. This is a point Marcus will make, as well, but it’s one we as readers figure out far before either Marcus or Sebastien do. Piper’s characters are fully fleshed and dynamic and most importantly, believable. I loved their flaws and their moments of realization and connections to one another. I loved that Sebastien has preferences even down to who is driving the bus.

Piper’s story is well-paced, moving and jerking about in the same manner that the trip experienced by Sebastien does: there are times when it zips along and times when it is slow, methodical, and worth taking notes at. Although this could become gimmicky, I never felt it became that way. It just worked.

Although this title is marketed for adults, it is one that has incredible cross-over appeal to young adult readers. Fans of Stephen Chobsky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower will eat this title up, as, I suspect, will fans of Joe Nemo’s Hairstyles of the Damned and Rob Sheffield’s Love is a Mixtape. Though our main character is 11 and quite younger than the characters in the prior two titles, it’s the music, the culture, and the actual writing that will likely appeal. Oh, and it would, without doubt, appeal to fans of Catcher in the Rye.

Although we may feel our lot is at times crummy, we see the sparks of the good and latch onto those moments. I have a feeling Greyhound will stick with me for quite a long time in the same way some of these other titles have.

You by Charles Benoit

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You probably haven’t read a lot of books lately that have stood out. You probably are sick of vampires, of love, of needing to find yourself, of needing to find the one. You probably think that young adult literature is all the same.

You would be wrong. You wouldn’t have thought to wait for Charles Benoit’s debut release, You. You’ve probably heard or read the rave reviews of this forthcoming title, if not from other bloggers or reviews, but also right from the cover. You’ve probably heard it compared to Chris Crutcher or Robert Cormier or even a modern take on John Knowles’s A Separate Peace. But you probably didn’t realize this is also quite a great readalike for Gail Giles or even Courtney Summers with total guy appeal.

You are Kyle Chase. You have a tough shell, and you’re not very smart, mostly because you don’t care about school. You are best friends with Max, mostly out of desperation. You are excited for the start of your sophomore year of high school, only because it gives you something to do with your time (okay, it’s because you have classes with Ashley, who you think that you might finally have a chance with this year). You’re going to date her, you’re going to be with her, and you know it’s finally your time to “shine.” Oh, and you have this scar on your hand. You got it when you fell across a bus seat and put it through a window. Or so that’s what you tell people.

Then you meet Zack. He walks up to you in the library, where you hide out for a number of your classes. He seems like a cool kid, just transferred from one of the best schools in the area into your school, the one where all the dumb kids go. Things go quick with this friendship, and before you know it, you’re hanging out, and he knows about your crush on Ashley. But when you are invited to a party at his house, you start getting a little bit of a different impression. He read someone’s diary and marred her reputation. She’s crying upstairs. He introduces you to another girl, who begins asking you endless questions about people you go to school with, but you don’t know any of them. The party ends, and it’s not long before Zack’s teaching you how to break into the school and do awful things. You pee in Jake the Jock’s locker. You do it because you can.

Then one of the people the girl at the party mentioned to you finds you at school. She’s cute, but you want Ashley. Then she says something about Zack that you just can’t fathom: he wants to get your weak spot. You don’t believe her. And you’ll regret that.

You moves quickly. Benoit wrote you as an action-packed contemporary tale about you, an outsider. There’s mystery. There’s drama. There’s payback. And there’s you. It’s a story about you.

You are much different than most books on the market, making You a standout title. You earned those accolades from well-known writers, and you are daring, edgy, thought-provoking, and memorable. You will stand out from the crowd as perhaps the best debut this year, tapping into an underserved but eager readership.

You need to read You, and you can do so soon. You will published August 24. Until then, you will just need to make sure you know who you are and who your friends are, or you may find out quite harshly that you’re going to get hurt — and not from hitting a bus window (you wish it were that simple).

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

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A lot of books and authors get compared to Sarah Dessen, and it’s for good reason: she’s a well-respected author who develops characters with dimension, insight, distinct voices, and she can sweep a reader into her world. She has a bit of a magical touch.

I’m pretty pleased to say that debut author Amanda Howells may have just tread onto this territory, too, with her The Summer of Skinny Dipping. This will have mega Dessen appeal and beyond that comparison, it is a title that will appeal to fans of Sarah Ockler’s Twenty Boy Summer and Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and It’s Not Summer without You. We have the summer romance here, but there’s more depth and weight to the story, making it one that will stand out longer than just the three short months of summer.

Mia and her family are spending the summer with their cousins in Southampton, on the beach. It’s been a few years since Mia’s been there, but in the past, she and her cousin Corinne had been close. When Mia and her family arrive, though, they’re met with snobbery and pretentiousness. Corinne is now too good for Mia, and when Mia’s best friend, Gen, she charms everyone but Mia.

Mia’s worried about the summer now: it would be a show of who can outdo who and who can out drink and out party who. She wasn’t into the scene like Corinne or Gen, both of whom boasted of the best clothes, best friends, and best parties. But when Mia is tricked by them at one of the parties, she falls into the path of Simon, a boy who would help her fully come into herself over the course of the summer.

While this may sound like your typical summer romance, it’s not. There’s depth to the story: Mia struggles to accept who she is and struggles with whether or not she should act a different way to fit into the ideal mold her cousin wants her to be. In the event of each, she does things she might regret, and those things will inevitably come back to hurt her.

And Simon — the geeky guy next door — is the light that helps guide her. There’s a lot of play on The Great Gatsby here, and the use of light in the story is well-woven. He’s a fully-fleshed character, though at times I felt his entire history wasn’t as strong as Mia’s. We know his father is controlling, but some of the events that happened didn’t quite convince me.

At the end of the summer, something awful happens. I won’t spoil it, obviously, but it took me a bit by surprise as a reader. I wasn’t expecting it, and I am not sure how I felt about it. It seemed like a plot device to end the story, but at the same time, it fit the character and was entirely reasonable. I’m going to be thinking this one over for a bit.

My biggest disappointment in the book surfaces from a trend in all of these books: why is it that the guy is always what makes the girl figure out who she is? I’m a fan of a sweet romance story, but I’ve seen over and over that the girl — who was otherwise a strong, smart, and interesting character prior to meeting the boy — always seems to feel better about herself or smarter or stronger after she’s been with this guy. He’s the transforming agent, not her, even though it really could be her as the transforming agent. But rather than attribute her strength to herself, in the end, it always goes back to the guy.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping didn’t leave me wanting more at the end. This is a solid standalone novel that will hook readers any time of year. Hand this one over to your Dessen, Han, and Ockler fans without hesistation — though it’s mostly clean, beware there is drinking and drug use (though Mia is adament in her disapproval of this).

* Review copy picked up at PLA, where I got to meet Amanda Howells.