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Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

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My colleague across town and I share a lot of books with one another since we both purchase and read teen fiction for work. If something’s catching her attention or the attention of her teens, she lets me know and vice versa. Scars by Cheryl Rainfield was a title she told me I needed to buy, as all of the pages at her work put holds on it immediately upon seeing it. With that kind of pitch, I knew I had to both buy it and read it. I’m glad I did, even though this isn’t a book I particularly loved.

Kendra’s been sexually abused, and she channels a lot of the anger and frustration from the situation into cutting herself. Kendra’s been getting help from a therapist who she really loves working with, and she’s using the positive energy and adult support from Carolyn to try to stop the cutting.

At school, things are tough. Kendra’s former best friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-ex girlfriend has moved away and she’s really feeling a little alone. In an instant when she thought she’d be a victim of bullying, another girl — Meghan — steps in to protect her. From here on in, Kendra is attracted to Meghan in a new and profound way that comes out in the art she creates. The art, as you’d imagine, shows the pain and torture she feels in her life. The art, as you’d also imagine, is something she can’t show her mom, who used to believe she had potential as an artist (she herself is one).

Kendra feels distanced from both her parents, and she doesn’t feel comfortable breaking the silence. Mom and dad know she was abused, but there’s an unspoken rule about that moment that it not be brought up. But when Kendra discovers she’s being stalked and her therapist finds out she’s cutting and must inform her parents, things unravel in unexpected ways.

Scars was a very fast read and will appeal greatly to reluctant readers. It reminded me in a lot of ways of Patricia McCormick’s classic Cut, and it will likely appeal to the same audience. The first reason seems obvious, but there are other similarities: a fully-fleshed main character with weaker secondary characters.

In Rainfield’s book, I was disappointed in the use of safety character Sandy, as well as in both Kendra’s mother and father. They were all straw characters, even in the dynamic and unexpected ending (or maybe BECAUSE of that unexpected ending). I had a very hard time buying the case of abuse being such a secret in the family because I never found myself learning anything about the family. I kind of suspect those last couple of lines might be spoiler-y, but I also don’t think that will detract from the greater story.

One of the gutsy things Rainfield does here is develop a very outcasted character — or at least what may be considered one socially — and made her fairly normal. Kendra’s a victim of abuse, a cutter, an artist, and a lesbian, but she never makes any of them define her singularly. A lot of times in issues books such as this, one issue becomes what defines a character, but for me, I found Kendra fully fleshed and wholly human: I cared a heck of a lot about her well-being and with each new aspect of her personality, I came to get a really good picture of how dynamic she was. I didn’t want her to consider ending her life because she really had so much going FOR her in terms of a relationship and in a career in art.

This is an unflinching book, though I felt the ending was a little rushed. I’m kind of glad some of it rushed because of the unflinching aspect, but other parts I would have liked more character. The pacing and character reminded me a LOT of Darlene Ryan’s Five Minutes More. I’d believe these two titles would also make good readalikes, as would they both appeal greatly to teens (and adults!) who are more reluctant readers. Scars stands out also because the language is pretty clean — I don’t remember any swearing but do remember an instance of the f-bomb being written as “f-you” or something similar…just as effective! — and there are no sexual situations aside from the abuse. That in itself is handled very tactfully without sanitizing the severity of the situation. And the sweet romance throughout will bring a smile to your face. Sweet really is the best way to describe it.

While Scars isn’t one of my personal favorites, it was a worthwhile and realistic read. It’ll have a good audience, and it’s one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to any number of teen readers. Give it to fans of Ellen Hopkins, Gail Giles, Patricia McCormick’s Cut, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls or Speak, Nina La Cour’s hold still, and other similar strong “issues” stories. It’s one worth making room for on your shelves for sure.

What can ruin an audiobook

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Based on Janssen’s quick review of Jordan Sonnenblick’s Zen and the Art of Faking It, I knew I had to pick it up and listen to it.

This is the story of San Lee, who has been moved around the country because of his father. This time, though, dad’s out of the picture and it’s just he and his mother starting a new life in the middle of Pennsylvania. He’s in 8th grade, and after never being a real part of anything in his old schools, he is bound and determined to be known as something other than “the new kid.” When he meets Woody — a free-spirited, fun girl who he thinks is totally cute — he has to get to know her. And how does one impress a girl who spends her lunch periods playing her guitar and singing Woody Guthrie songs?

He becomes a Zen master.

It won’t be hard to fake it, being Asian and all. And because his old school in Houston had already had their world religions section in social studies, he was leaps and bounds ahead of the other kids. So, San will become the master.

Zen and the Art of Faking It was really funny. The entire first disc I spent laughing pretty endlessly, especially when San discovers the public library. Maybe it’s because his experiences are so stereotypical (or in some worlds, true), it was just a riot to hear him sneaking in to learn about Zen Buddhism. Oh, and there was NO respect for privacy here, either, making it doubly funny.

But here’s where things got tricky for me: I must have misheard something in the audio at the beginning, and the entirety of the story, I was under the impression that San Lee was 15. We hadn’t yet learned he was in 8th grade (a fact that I seemed to miss early on and caught in the last disc), so for the entirety of the book, I found myself having a very hard time believing San as a 15-year-old. He seemed much too young, too naive, too — willing to be embarrassed — to be 15.

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of any audiobook, especially when you listen in the car, is that you cannot easily flip back and confirm or negate your suspicions. Since the age fact was a small one, buried at the beginning of the story (within a rather lengthy exposition unraveling a lot of San’s history), I couldn’t easily skip backwards. Instead, I let myself go with it the entire time and believe that San was 15. I thought to myself this would be a point I’d make sure to hit when I reviewed the book, writing in my head to note that while I enjoyed San as a character and felt he was quite well-done as an awkward and relatable teen boy, I thought his depiction at 15 was entirely inaccurate, as he read much more like a 12 or 13 year old. Instead, when I hit the note at the end regarding graduation from 8th grade, I wondered if I had made a huge mistake.

I confirmed with Janssen, who indeed informed me she thinks that Sonnenblick says he’s 13. I believe her, and I don’t believe my ears.

Sometimes, listening to the audiobook is a disservice. You can’t easily refer back to prior points, and if an author doesn’t dwell long on a point, it’s easy to let that point be a sticky one for you as a listener. We all know that because of how we’re educated in school, our listening literacy isn’t as high as our visual or reading literacy, so it’s easy to be tricked some times. Even though I’ve been listening for a while now, I still get tripped up. I get “new comers” syndrome.

In terms of the production of Sonnenblick’s book, there were some editing concerns, but not enough to get distracting. It was easy to figure out where new recording sessions were strung together and one or two times, I did have to adjust my volume because the sound quality shifted. But our reader, Mike Chamberlain, is an expert and does a great job of being a 13-year-old San. He captures the humor so well, as he himself acts unaware of how funny he is. That’s exactly what makes it work. Interestingly, he is also a reader on the next book I’m going to listen to, All Unquiet Things, and I’ve heard him before on In the Path of Falling Objects, a book where I couldn’t quite believe him as a reader. It’ll be interesting to see what the contrasts are again.

You can get a sneak listen right here. I *especially* love the part about learning about the second half of our country’s history — you know, what happens AFTER the Revolution (isn’t that the truth?):

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour

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So I’ve read a lot of books so far this year. I’ve read 16 debut titles. I’ve listened to 10 or so audiobooks. But you know, very little this year has really made me want to drop everything and read straight on through. To be fair, I’m not generally someone who gets that way. I like to read with breaks to absorb and think.

But, I may have found a book that for the first time in a long time made me want to do nothing more than sit outside in the backyard and read. Yes, I ADORED Morgan Matson’s debut Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, due out tomorrow by Simon & Schuster.

Amy’s mother and her father were professors at a local southern California college until a terrible accident took the life of her father. Because of the memories and because of a brother who is decaying slowly mentally, mom chooses to uproot her and Amy and have a new start in Connecticut.

Because of the need to sell the house, mom heads out first and leaves Amy to make the trip out to Connecticut with her mom’s car later. And no worries – mom’s best friend’s son, Roger (who had been a friend of Amy’s when they were young, though she doesn’t seem to recall the diaper days) will accompany her. Oh, and Amy’s mom’s already set up an itinerary, complete with hotel reservations. It’ll be a quick 4-day trip. Roger’s got to get to see his dad in Philadelphia, anyway, so it all works out well.

That is, until Amy sees that Roger’s a much more interesting (ahem, attractive) boy than she previously imagined. And Roger wants more of an adventure. It takes little convincing to get Amy to drop her mother’s plans and take her own cross country trip with Roger.

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour was all I love in a romance: great character development, with strong enough ancillary characters to make the destinations and backstories interesting. The road facts sprinkled throughout the story made my traveling heart thump like crazy (when they are driving on Highway 50 through Nevada, before Roger talks about the road’s reputation, I had myself thinking isn’t that the most deserted highway in the country and badabing, he brought it up!). On their travels, they meet some interesting people who are never developed too much to make them clutter the story line, and throughout, it’s so clear that the story is less about the road trip and more about the power we all have as individuals to plot our own destiny.

Of course, there are consequences for those decisions. Amy’s mother is NOT happy with the way her daughter decided to ignore the plans, but Amy’s musings about the value of determining her own happiness was so spot on. Both Amy and Roger are believable in their ages, as she is about 17 and he is 18 or 19. They both exude such passion for life and for living. And like all people that age, their philosophical musings are spot on.

Matson writes young. By that I mean this story has SUCH appeal to a teen audience — it never once talks down to them nor never tries to push a higher point too much (even though it is so there). Some other books I’ve read this year have tried too hard to tug at the teen heartstrings, but this one just gets it. It never once feels forced.

Now, don’t believe this is an easy road trip book. I’ve left out a key ingredient to the story, and that’s the cause of Amy’s father’s death and the real reason Roger is accompanying her on the trip. It is very obvious the entire time what happened, but because it is so ingrained in Amy’s personality, it’s an important element. Again, not overdone and painted quite realistically.

Hand Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour to your Sarah Dessen fans. Hand it to your fans of road trip books. What this book really, really reminded me of, though, was the last 20 minutes of Elizabethtown. Do with that what you will.

An element I didn’t mention this book contains and sets it apart is what I’ll call “elements from the road.” This book is like a scrapbook, filled with postcards, receipts, itineraries, maps, and more. These not only break up the text (which is incredibly fast paced) but it gives a real face to Amy and Roger. Since my review is from the unfinished galley, I couldn’t get the full effect but instead saw the designer’s notes. The notes lead me to believe that this will be a really strong and memorable element to the novel itself.

I would, without a doubt, have read 500 more pages of this story. I think Matson does her readers a huge service in ending where she does, though. I don’t want to spoil it, but some of the hints I got lead me to believe that there would be an ending I would be dissatisfied with. Kudos.

I’m not usually one for posting videos, but this one gives a little more insight into the writing process from the author. As I watched it, I was reminded a lot of who I pictured Amy as, and I think Matson may be pulling a lot from her own life and experiences. This is a good thing. You can also get a sneak peak at some of the road ephemera that appears in the book:

Get this in the hands of your summer readers. Without doubt, it’ll become a favorite.

* Review copy from publisher at PLA.

AudioSynced Round Up — Welcome to May!

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Welcome to the third edition of AudioSynced, a monthly round up of all things audio. If you posted a review or any audiobook thoughts during the month of April, share them here and I’ll post them. Didn’t get a chance to think about audiobooks in April? AudioSynced will be back at Abby (the) Librarian next month!

Before diving into this month’s reviews, here’s a little audio news:

  • Want the latest on your favorite audiobook publishers? Get on Twitter. You can follow @RecordedBooks, @BBCAudiobooks, @FullCast, @LLaudiobooks, @Audiobooknews, and @SpringBrookAud
  • Spearheaded by Springbrook, here’s a place to connect to all things audiobook on Facebook, too.
  • Betsy at Fuse#8 just wrapped up her Top 100 Children’s Novels poll here, and now, it’s time for YOUR vote on the top 20 Children’s Audiobooks. You have until May 30 to enter, and all those who submit their top 10 will be entered to win a grand prize. Sweet deal!
  • News from the library scene: Overdrive’s created a FREE app that allows you to wirelessly download audiobooks from your library on to your iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. This will make listening to them even easier, guys!

Now on to a collection of reviews. Let’s start with children’s and young adult books. This month we got a ton of classics — how fun to relive them. Not only that, but how cool the synergy that nearly all the children’s reviews, which are the bulk of this month’s audiosynced, are the classics?:

  • Jess Kennedy at Traveling Classics offers us a few goodies this month. Check out her blog for a handful of audio reviews (including Peter Pan and How to Train Your Dragon) and a few other cool features about narrators themselves.
  • Mel at Mel’s Books and Info offered up three reviews of teen lit this month, Carrie Ryan’s Dead-Tossed Waves, Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Tantalize, and Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan.
  • Jen at Nerd Girl Talking brings us two reviews for the price of one: Agatha Christie’s The Big Four and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.

And now for our adult reviews — both of the fiction and non-fiction variety:

Getting Poetic

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I’ve always been a writer and reader of poetry. It stared in middle school for me, and the hey day of my poetry passion came while working in an online forum for teen poets. Out of that came this collection of poetry by many of the people I was spending time with every day. If you can get your hands on a copy of it, I highly recommend it. The writers in it will blow your mind, and many of them are still writing and publishing.

When I saw Time You Let Me In highlighted in a recent review journal, I knew I would find some real gold in here (especially given the respect that editor Naomi Shihab Nye commands). And let me say, this collection does not disappoint.

Nye brings together 26 poets, all under the age of 25, in a collection of moving, insightful, and beautiful poems that cover the spectrum of topics, styles, and voices. Each poet and each poem is unique, with the sort of artistic eye only people who are under 25 can bring. I say that as a 25 year old, which makes it legitimate, right?

A review I read of this title criticized the voices in Time You Let Me In as “young.” I would hope so. The insights one gets in poetry from the youth perspective is just as important as the “established” poet (i.e., your old white men to whom you are comparing these poems to). I’ll be honest in saying I never once felt I was reading teen angst poems.

Highlights for me included Chase Berggrum’s short and pointed pieces, Gray Emerson’s disregard for traditional stylings and zesty word play, Margaret Bashaar’s treatment of humor and romance (perhaps one in the same), and — perhaps my favorite — Kayla Sargenson’s grandfather memories. Sargenson has a very powerful poem equating rape with New Orleans that will haunt me for a while, and thanks to the masterful editing job by Nye, I was able to read the next selection of Sargenson’s “The Happiest Moment of My Life was When I Realized I was Happy” a little bit differently.

Anyone who has a background in poetry knows one of the biggest challenges in collecting works is exactly how they will progress within a volume. It is a struggle, as your reading of one poem will inform, enhance, or detract meaning from poems following. Nye deserves the highest praises for balancing the order with meaning.

If you haven’t gotten your poetry reading in for the month, pick this one up. While it’s a quick read, you will find yourself lingering over passages, words, images, and sheer use of language and space. Here, you’ll find both the humorous and lighthearted and pieces crying out for understanding and explication.

Read this one for yourself, then pass it on to your biggest teen poetry fanatics. This is one you’ll be eager to share and discuss.