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books

Marcelo in the Real World by Francis X Stork

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I know when I read book blogs sometimes, I wonder if people ever find a book that they just struggle through because they don’t like it, can’t get into it, or it just wasn’t meant for them. Every review they write seems laudatory, and perhaps they really do just like *everything*. I’m not one of those readers.

Marcelo in the Real World was the most difficult read I’ve had so far this year. It’s not a challenging text, but I found myself not engaging with the characters, not enjoying the storyline, and being frustrated with a theme that has been done a lot recently. Moreover, I found myself questioning the intended audience for the book and unable to really nail it down well.

Marcelo in the Real World is a story about Marcelo’s summer living and working “in the real world” of his father’s law firm. He had in the past been employed as a helper on a camp that caters to those with autism and aspergers. His father told him he had to take this job to become accustomed to working around every day people, as it was his goal to have Marcelo sent to a traditional high school, rather than the specialized school he attends. The deal between the two was that when Marcelo finished the summer successfully, he could choose where he would go to school the next fall. The book follows Marcelo’s adventures in the law firm, as well as some of the important relationships he forges with normally functioning people.

Throughout the blogosphere, there is a lot of praise for this book as a wonderful coverage of a young person handling his aspbergers. However, I found the treatment quite weak; this book seemed like it was another version of one of the many others on the topic or similar topics, and I think it was a much weaker coverage. Marcelo is a character who you don’t learn enough about to gain trust of or sympathy for, and I found the auxiliary characters even less enjoyable. The premise of the story seemed interesting enough, but the execution left a lot to be desired for me. Marcelo doesn’t seem to allow readers his struggles with aspergers which makes the premise a little tough to really connect to.

Audience-wise, I had a hard time placing this one. I’m not quite sure the intended age group, as I think that the theme is fitting for a younger teen audience — those who may relate to Marcelo’s cognitive age/state — but the writing itself and Marcelo himself are geared toward older teens who I don’t necessarily think would find the story all that engaging. I say this not because the book is poorly written but instead because there are many similar books that are written much stronger, with more developed characters and thicker plot lines.

Although I am a proponent of every book having a reader, I think that this would not be a go-to for me. I would rather offer, for example, Marc Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Siobhan Dowd’s The London Eye Mystery, or Nora Raleigh Baskin’s Anything But Typical. Each of those titles have better drawn characters and more engaging story lines than Stock’s book, but without a doubt, Marcelo falls into this ever-expanding genre of books about the poorly understood autism/aspbergers issues. Certainly, Stork’s book has found a good following of readers, as seen from the great reviews and the high ratings in both Amazon and Good Reads. But me? I struggled.

Double Take, Part V, Sports Style!

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One of my favorite books this year so far has been Bill Konigsberg’s Out of the Pocket, and you can read my whole review here. It was an accident to find and read this one since it’s a sports story, but I loved it.


The cover is pretty memorable: the football player looking into the dusty distance. The sepia clouds and black ground just look unique and different to me, as does the orange title font. The reason I even found the book was it was faced out and the cover caught my attention (see – it is important!). Out of the Pocket was published September 2008 by Dutton.

Then while browsing books online recently, I found this one:


Tim Tharp’s Knights of the Hill Country (and, yes, this is the same Thrap of 2008’s The Spectacular Now) was published in 2006 by Laurel Leaf and explores similar themes to Konigsberg”s book, minus the issues surrounding the acceptance of one’s sexuality.

Sure the covers aren’t identical, but it’s remarkable how many similar elements they use, particularly because there are many overlapping themes. There’s the football player looking out in the dusty distance, the sepia tones, and the dark ground. Though they aren’t the same, the fonts are very similar, right down to the use of orange.

Regardless of how alike they look, I have to say that these covers really strike a chord with me as a revolution in the traditional sports novel. Working in my town’s public library in high school, I loathed reshelving the sports novels because they all looked the same (and uninteresting — sorry Matt Christopher!). These, however, are much more intriguing to me, and I think they would definitely draw readers who may otherwise believe they have no interest in a story revolving around sports.

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Though it’s probably obvious, the three of us at stacked have been a bit swamped the last couple of weeks. But that doesn’t mean we’re not reading and preparing some fabulous reviews. Personally, I’ve got three or so books on the docket for this week, and by the end of next week, we’ll have up our first round robin review of a very different book (I’d say *awesome* book, but I’ll wait to see what the others say first).

Forest Born, by Shannon Hale

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I was lucky enough to score a pre-published copy of Shannon Hale’s newest Bayern book at the Texas Library Association annual conference this year. I really loved The Goose Girl and enjoyed the sequel, Enna Burning, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading River Secrets yet (which is too bad, because Razo is one of my favorite characters). I knew Forest Born would be fun, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Forest Born focuses upon Rinna, Razo’s younger sister. For many years, Rin has felt like something is wrong with her. She senses some power within her that simultaneously thrills her and repulses her. When she lets her defenses down and uses this power, she is ashamed of herself and vows to never let it happen again. In order to keep this promise, Rin refuses to show her own self to the world and instead mimicks those around her that she finds more admirable than herself. She does it so well that no one in her large and loving family really knows who Rin is on the inside; they call her Ma’s shadow. Unsurprisingly, Rin feels trapped at home, and when her brother Razo returns for a visit, she leaves with him to go to the city. She meets up with the “Fire Sisters,” – Isi, Enna, and Dasha – and adventure ensues. The main thrust of the book concerns Rin learning who she is and how to be comfortable in her own skin. It’s a worthwhile lesson that many adults never learn, and it will resonate with young readers.

The story, which involves Rin setting out with her new companions to prevent a war and face an evil foe, was fun but predictable, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It is Hale’s writing that really elevates the book and makes it something special. As I read the first chapter, I was conscious of her skill as a writer. Take this excerpt:

“She listened harder, trembling with a desire to hear. A space inside her opened. Not a sound, not a smell, not even a feeling. If it had been a color, it might have been green. If it had touched her ears, it might have sounded rhythmic, like the creak of a rocking chair or the drone of a bee. If it had a scent, it might have been sweet and drowsy, like fresh pine on the fire. The place in her chest that had ached with panic now felt warbley and sweet, drowsy and green.”

The first chapter of Forest Born is one of the best first chapters I’ve read in any book, and it sets a good pace and tone for the rest of the adventure. I was immediately pulled into Rin’s mind and view of the world. After I had set the book down, I found myself unable to recall if Hale had written it in first or third person. I had to check to make sure – third person. A good measure of the depth of the main character, I think, is whether the author can fool you into believing a third person narrative is actually written in first person. So, while I was able to predict most of the events, it didn’t erode my enjoyment. The villain – a people speaker – was chillingly evil and reminded me a great deal of the villain in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling (a good thing).

In contrast to the previous Books of Bayern that I have read, a large focus of the book is not a love story. In fact, the idea of a beau for Rin doesn’t crop up until the very end of the book, and Rin rejects it when it’s mentioned. It makes sense – she can’t consider entering in to such a union until she has become her own person, comfortable with her power and able to embrace it rather than simply mimicking everyone else. I was pleased by Hale’s slight departure from her normal routine in this manner. It brought some freshness to the story, and it lets young girls who live in our world know that it’s okay to decide not to date someone. Figuring out who you are needs to come first.

I saw Hale speak at the Texas Book Festival last year, and the many readers in attendance (children and adults!) were so enthusiastic about the Books of Bayern, it was hard not to get caught up in their excitement. (Okay, so I was one of the very excited adults.) I wasn’t let down by Forest Born, and I don’t think young adults will be either. For fans of Bayern, this book is a treat. Many characters from past books make an appearance, and the world in which Bayern exists is further fleshed out. At the same time, I don’t think I was at any disadvantage for not reading River Secrets, so readers new to Bayern shouldn’t have a problem. This wasn’t my favorite book by Hale, or even my second favorite, but she’s just such a good writer that even if it were my least favorite, it would be worth a read.

Forest Born is due out on September 15.

A New Look!

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Many of you may have noticed that there’s something different about the site. We now have an official banner and logo! Fancy.

We’re indebted to Ryan Chaffee for his artistic talents. He spent a long time coming up with different ideas, crazy color schemes, and possible layouts for the banner. He even put up with Jennifer’s constant prodding about his progress — and despite all of this hassle, Ryan asked for only one thing in payment… a hamburger.

At Stacked, we want to heartily applaud Ryan. And we promise, it will be an amazing burger. We’ll even pitch in for a good beer or two.

GIVEAWAY!

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I’m announcing random number #2 and #10 as the winners of the After the Moment giveaway (yes, I used a real random generator). So, that means….

#2…Nancy Pearl WannaBe has won a copy of After the Moment plus a book in their preferred genre

and

#10…Carlene has won a book in their preferred genre.

To claim your prize, please email stacked.books@gmail.com with 2-3 preferred genre choices. If I don’t hear from you by Friday, another winner will be selected.

Thanks for the turnout, all. Keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways soon.