Whose Selection?

The Selection by Kiera Cass

New York : HarperTeen, 2013, c2012.

327 p. ; 22 cm. 

I was not planning to read this YA novel, but about two months ago a student returned it and said she loved it and I should read it. So did I have a choice? Not really. 

I can't say I loved the book, but I certainly did enjoy reading it. It was fun. It's kind of a Hunger Games meets The Bachelor - no, seriously! In the fictional world of the hero - 16 year old girl America Singer - there is a post-war county that is a Monarchy where the laws are harsh, poverty is endemic, and the country is divided up by caste - 8s are the lowest and 1s the highest. America's family is a 5. So that's the world she lives in. In this world, instead of a yearly mortal combat competition as in the Hunger Games, there is a once-in-a-generation chance for 35 randomly selected, eligible young women to compete for a chance to marry the prince of the land and eventually become queen - a grand version of The Bachelor. Just being in the competition has status and monetary benefits, and becoming royalty means attaining the highest status there is.

The hero of this tale already has a beloved (a lowly 6!) and only enters the competition to help her family out. But the prince turns out to be a much better person than she had imagined. Through complicated twists, she finds herself wondering who she really does/should love. All this while competing against a selection (sorry!) of the best and worst of competitors. There's love, drama, intrigue and even danger (rebels twice storm the palace where the competition is being held). Do you wonder how it turns out? Well you'll have to read it to find out - no spoilers here. However, I will warn you that the novel ends without resolution as it sets up for the next installment in the series.

Is is a serious read? Nope. Was it a fun read with some nice touches? It was! So if you're looking for a little escapist fun, this might be just the thing.

Tough and Tender

The Closest I've Come by Fred Aceves

New York, NY : HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2017]

310 p. ; 22 cm. 

I'm a sucker for a book with heart, and this novel had me pretty early on.  It's about a Latinx young man growing up poor in Tampa, Florida and struggling to find love, a way out of his impoverished neighborhood, and a way out of the restrictions of having to keep up a tough macho front.  He also is trying to survive a negligent alcoholic mother and her racist and abusive boyfriend who lives with and sponges off of them.

What are the things I especially liked about this book? I love that though Marcos, the main character, is smart and at times humorous, he is not constantly throwing out witty, hip comments and comebacks. In some YA books the protagonist feels like an attempt by the author to come up with a contemporary Holden Caulfield that doesn't ring true. In this novel, Marcos is so believable. He is also believable in his struggle to become a more authentic human being - we get glimpses of his true feelings through his inner thoughts and those feelings get expressed imperfectly (as they do with most people growing up).  I also love the romance (or desired romance) that forms a core of the novel.  It doesn't follow the conventional route in resolving itself and that is refreshing. I appreciated the portrayal of teachers in the book; they are not stereotyped as saviors or villains, but as people who have a tough job and can be really kind. The book also deals with race and cliques in ways that don't feel incredibly heavy handed or unrealistic.

I also love a book that bluntly reveals the struggles of being poor as just the matter of fact situation someone finds themselves in. Marcos just gets by with having to wear crummy shoes and just enough clean t-shirts to look good at school. One of his buddies - the academically most successful of the bunch - starts dealing drugs for an aunt in order to make more money - a decision that is treated realistically. Finally, I should mention that the book helpfully portrays the complicated situation a young person can find themselves  in when an adult in their household is physically and emotionally abusive.

Would I recommend The Closest I've Come? I definitely would. I think it would satisfy a lot of different kinds of readers.

Shadow and Bone Shines

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

New York : Square Fish, 2013.

358 p. : map ; 22 cm. 

If you've seen any of my other posts, you'll know I'm not a huge fan of fantasy/high fantasy novels.  It's not that I dislike them; it's just that they don't completely thrill me.  That being said, I really did enjoy reading this first novel of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the opening book of the larger Grishaverse series of books by Leigh Bardugo. 

The writing is strong in Shadow and Bone; Bardugo is really good at creating atmospheric settings and has a good ear for dialog. She's able to create her imagined world with subtlety and suggestion.  Also the plotting and action builds and accelerates as the novel goes on, so that by the end I found myself racing along to see what would happen and did not want to put the book down.

The novel has been extremely popular (becoming a Netflix series in March of 2021) - receiving favorable reviews, and becoming a NYT's bestseller.

This is a fantasy novel I'd be glad to recommend and we have many more of her novels in the collection so that a fan of Bardugo would have a lot more to read.

Particle Detector

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

New York : Anchor Books, a division of Random House LLC, 2014.

588 p. ; 21 cm.     

The thing I loved about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah is the author's ability to subtly recreate in her fiction those nuanced threads of race, identity, class, politics (and longing) that make up the patchwork of cultures in a country.  It makes me think of the way that scientists sometimes identify invisible particles by studying their tracks.  

When her main character, Ifemelu, is in New Haven with her Black Yale professor partner the reader can feel the bubble of intellectual snobbery and conformity that one often encounters around academics. Adiche does this while also describing the overarching issues of racism that define the US.  When her main character is back in Nigeria, Adiche's immerses us in a world of crass materialism, pretension, and the endless/meaningless pursuit of wealth. 

There is so much one could say about this novel.  It touches on issues of race, wealth, internationalism, immigration, romance, family, corruption, and appearance v. reality.  Adiche does all this while also telling a great tale of young love, exile, disillusion, return, and love pursued. It's a long read, but a great tale.  This is a book that I could see recommending to students who know of Adiche through her short book, We Should All Be Feminists. I also would recommend it to students interested in fiction about contemporary African life since much of the novel occurs in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Love Documented

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
New York : Delacorte Press, [2016]
348 p. ; 22 cm.

This book was a delight.  Two high school seniors - who couldn't be much more different - start the day total strangers, and end up by the evening deeply in love.  They have to overcome a world of differences to get there: Natasha is an undocumented Jamaican immigrant facing immediate deportation, and Daniel is as first generation Korean American who is up against his parents' plans for him to get into Yale, be a doctor, and partner up with a "good Korean girl." 

Daniel aspires to be a poet, and lives by the values of idealism, hopes, and dreams.  Natasha is a lover of science and rational decisions.  Their paths cross one morning in NYC as Daniel heads for a crucial Yale entrance interview and Natasha pursues legal aid to stave off her deportation.

It seems almost silly to describe the plot, but it really works.  In spite of a few improbable plot devices (reminded me a little of Thomas Hardy's narrative tricks!) the development of the relationship between the characters is believable and very sweet.  By the end of the book the reader can't help but be rooting for these two fine human beings.

As I read The Sun is Also a Star, I thought of a lovely, romantic movie that has a similar one day of falling in love and a similar feel - Before Sunrise., which is interesting in that The Sun is Also a Star was apparently made into a movie, but one which did not share the critical acclaim of Before Sunrise.   Don't let that keep you away from this lovely little jewel of a book.

Gruesome Transformations

Nightstruck by Jenna Black
New York : Tor Teen, a Tom Doherty associates book, 2016.
302 p. ; 22 cm.

This was an exciting, creative, and very readable paranormal, horror novel. The hero of this tale, Becket, unwittingly becomes the bridge to a portal to evil forces, allowing them to enter the regular world and wreak havoc in Philadelphia.  At sunset inanimate objects come to life inflicting injury and death on anyone caught outside. People are safe from these terrifying "constructs" as long as they are indoors, but some of the people caught outside become Nightstrucks - accomplices to the forces violence and mayhem taking over the city at night - and they can enter homes and do violence.

The novel builds in horror and suspense as it goes on, claiming surprising victims and pitting the hero of the novel against her best friend who has become one of the Nightstruck.  The hero also gets to find romance in this terrible time, so all is not bad...

However, the novel has a few problems, that remain unanswered.  The above mentioned best friend is unlikable before her transformation, and absolutely horrid afterward - and yet the hero of the novel just can't seem to fully reject her.  Also one has to wonder why the supernatural horror is limited to the boundaries of Philadelphia?

Problems aside, the novel is exciting and keeps one's attention.  Its ending is pretty surprising and clearly invites a sequel.  The reviews of the sequel are not very good, and I started it and had to agree that the first few pages were pretty bad.  Maybe the author should have let it end at one installment, but my guess is that she was under pressure to drag it out into at least a trilogy and maybe more, which is too bad.

     

A Hell of a Read

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen
Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2014.
343 p. ; 22 cm.

This was just what the doctor ordered.  A fun, excitingly plotted high school adventure and romance featuring the drama crowd and - unexpectedly - a very handsome young male librarian who just happens to be a demon wreaking havoc on the school for his nefarious plot to take over the underworld throne...

Sounds crazy, right?  Yes.  The best part is that the book just rolls with the nonsense and if your roll with it you get caught up in the main character's heroic quest to save her best friend from an eternity of being a demon's consort, to save her school from a pending massacre, and to - create the best stage props ever for the school production of Sweeney Todd.

It's a really enjoyable mix of the supernatural plus high school friendships/romance plus thrills and danger.  If you've been lost in following the hellish news of the world, this fun romp with a strong female hero is a welcome break.

    

Perfectly Not Perfect

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2017]
344 p. ; 22 cm.

I added this book to the library this school year after seeing it highly recommended in a review, and then seeing that it was a finalist for The National Book Award, I figured I had to read it.  I am very glad that I did. 

This book was great.  I was afraid that it would be a bit of a sentimentalizing or romanticizing look at a Mexican American family, but instead it was a book about the complex and difficult pains of loving and hating your family, of feeling trapped, of being poor, and of not fitting in.  It's not only a family drama, but is also a mystery of a death and unraveling the secret life of someone you think you know (or maybe I should say unraveling the secret lives of several people you think you know).  At its heart it's a thoughtful book about love.  It is a very tender book, but unlike Canales' The Tequila Worm, it has a lot of edge to it. 

The book follows the main character, high-schooler Julia, as she tries to grapple with several challenges: who really was her older, "perfect," recently deceased sister, how can she escape the limits of family and neighborhood to become the writer and intellectual she hopes to be, and how can she deal with the oppressive love of her grief stricken and overly strict parents?  Julia's trials over the course of the novel are interesting, sometimes surprising, often funny and worth the read.   Will I recommend this book? Absolutely



     

Transformative

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
New York : Flatiron Books, 2016.
280 p. ; 22 cm.

I'm glad I read Russo's book about a transgender teen girl who has moved to live with her father and attend a new high school after bullying and brutal assault at her previous hometown and school.

I think what I loved most is that the book manages to be basically a sweet tale of friendship and romance - while threading that narrow ground of avoiding being either a tale of brutality and violence or a naive upbeat "everything will be okay" fable.  As the review from Kirkus notes, it is "a sweet, believable romance that stokes the fires of hope without devolving into saccharine perfection or horrific tragedy."

It's a great book for trans teens, adults and cisgender folks like me! 

I also really liked that the author, a trans woman, has an afterword, especially meant for cis readers, where she explains ways in which her story reflects only one version of reality (and a creatively fictionalize one at that), and should not be taken as plain truth guide to what life is like for trans teens.  She also includes several hotline resources for readers who may be contemplating suicide.

Tortured to Life

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard
New York, NY : Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.
420 p. ; 21 cm.

On a positive note, I'd say that The Madman's Daughter is creative and kind of fun to read.  It also made me want to read H. G. Well's The Island of Dr. Moreau.  But beyond that the novel didn't really didn't hit the target for me.

Shepard reimagines the story of Dr. Moreau from the vantage point of a character she creates, Juliet, the 16-year-old daughter whom Moreau abandoned to the harsh fate of being an orphan in Victorian England.  Juliet finds her way to the island in the South Pacific where her father is carrying out his hideous operations aimed at creating humans from animals.  But, as the positive Booklist review notes, "this is a romantic-triangle book first and foremost, as Juliet trembles, blushes, and heaves her bosom at both Moreau's hunky assistant and a dashing castaway." I didn't mind the romance but it just was overwrought for my tastes.  Combined, with the rather ludicrous animal-human metamorphoses that occur at the end of the novel, I at times just felt like the novel was silly, rather than thrilling.  For me that is too bad, because I think if it had been toned down a bit, it would have been both exciting, romantic, and thought-provoking.

However, I still would mention it to a student looking for some kind of romantic, thrilling adventure with a bit of the grotesque and science fiction thrown into the mix.

Metal, Wishes, Romance, and Lots of Blood

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2015
321 p. ; 21 cm.

I'd give this book a solid B+.  I found it interesting and very readable but not quite as good as I had hoped.  There is a lot to like about Fine's book.  It's setting in a harsh factory-industrial compound rife with brutal working conditions and ethnic tensions are very relevant to current issues around worker exploitation and racial tensions.  The conservative and sexist mores of the world Sarah Fine creates in Metal and Wishes highlights the dangers that girls and women face in the world.

However, like the Kirkus Review writer, I found that the telling of the story was a bit uneven.  The romance between the protagonist Wen and the minority worker Melik is rooted mainly in physical attraction - both characters are clearly striking looking people.  Also the as one review pointed out, the world outside the factory setting is left mostly undeveloped.  Finally some of the gruesome action (people getting shredded by little mechanical security devices) seemed a bit gratuitous.

But given those shortcomings, Fine's dystopian novel is still a pretty engaging read and one that I think some students would enjoy.  With its romance and exoticism and its plot of rebellion and violence it is likely to appeal to both young women and men.

Making His World a Little Colder

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
New York : Signet Classic, [1999]
xv, 428 p. : map ; 18 cm.   

I have a soft spot in my heart for Hardy, and I've wanted to re-read Jude the Obscure for a long time - for over thirty years in fact! With some time off this winter break and a bit of travelling to do, I took Jude along with me and read it. It is a masterful novel, but incredibly bleak and depressing.  Did I mention that it is really depressing?

The plot revolves around the tragedies that strike two individuals who dare to break with the conventions of marriage and class in 19th century England. Jude of the title is a young man who is seduced by and marries a woman to whom he is physically attracted, but with whom he has nothing in common, and then falls desperately in love with a cousin who shares his passions for learning, thinking, and defying convention.  Jude is also in love with the intellectual life of the university, but finds it closed to him because of his rural, working-class status.  Throw in another marriage, an unwanted child, another lifeless marriage, and the censure of community and you have all the elements for a disastrous tragedy - and that is what Hardy gives us.

As bleak as the novel is, it really is stunningly modern, and is considered by many to be one of the great novels in the English canon.  Though Hardy is very circumspect about sexual matters - sometimes you have to re-read a section to realize that two people have been intimate with each other - he is ruthless in his dissection of the hypocrisies of religion and marriage.  They are both shown as institutions that offer little but constraint and unhappiness to individuals.

I enjoyed reading Jude again after all these years, but I'm not sure high school students would enjoy it so much, unless they are already fans of Hardy - like me!

Fled is that Music

Wake by Lisa McMann
New York : Simon Pulse, 2009, c2008.
210 p. ; 21 cm.

I finally read Wake because it is popular with students and has been reissued  (along with its companion books) by Simon & Schuster.  It was an easy read, but a bit uneven.

McMann creates a very clever plot - a girl, Janie, who finds that she is uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams.  As she comes of age, she gradually learns to control this condition and even learns that she can shape content and direction of the dream she enters.

A lot of the novel revolves around her growing attraction to a male friend Cabel - a relationship that moves from friendship to a sweet romance.

I found the writing to be uneven at times, occasionally feeling very choppy and disjointed.  I found myself wondering why the editor didn't take a more active role in shaping the final production of the novel.  I also felt that the introduction of spirituality (a dead person visits Janie in her dreams and it is clear that the spirit is real) undercuts the understated realism of Janie's dreamworld powers.  Finally, I found some of the plot twists toward the end to be more like TV show plotting instead of good fiction.

Overall, a strong start, but a vision that fades (and so the title of this post).  Problems aside, Wake is a fun read and one that clearly appeals to young readers, so I'll give it a thumbs up with some qualifications.

Predators and Prey

Knockout Games by G. Neri
Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Lab, [2014]
293 p. ; 20 cm.

In spite of the generally positive reviews for this book, I've got to give this novel a mixed review. I appreciate what G. Neri is trying to do - get inside the minds and hearts of kids involved in "knockout games" - the brutal crime of attacking a random stranger with the idea of knocking them out with one vicious blow. He tries this through the main character, Erica, who has landed in a rough area St. Louis after her parents split up.  She has a talent for video editing and ends up involved with  the group of high school/middle school kids who are victimizing strangers in her neighborhood with their random assaults.  She especially gets in deep emotionally with Kalvin, the charismatic leader and "Knockout King" of the group.

The novel is set in St. Louis and closely parallels the real knockout game story that transpired there. Neri does a pretty good job of showing how peer pressure, boredom, and machismo create a lure for the "game" but I just never found myself drawn in to the main character's motivations.  Frankly, she's kind of a repulsive character, getting off on editing videos of the attacks and even assaulting one of the victims herself.

Neri seems to want to just tell the story, and not preach a lot, which is fine.  But I think what he really fails to convey is the absolute terror and life altering experience that being a victim of the knockout game would be.  He tries to in the one case that goes horrifically wrong, resulting in a murder - but that is it.

I will say that the pace of the novel picks up as it goes on, especially as all of Erica's really bad decisions and actions begin to have consequences for her and those around her.

I won't be recommending it to students, but I will be curious to see and hear what students think of it if they do read it.

Ghostly Thrills

Famous Last Words by Katie Alender
New York, NY : Point, 2014.
312 p. ; 22 cm.

I'm usually no fan of books about serial killers - but I decided to read this one since it got many positive reviews, including being chosen for YALSA's 2015 Top Ten Quick Picks for reluctant readers.

I found Famous Last Words an entertaining read.  I liked that its focus is not so much on the details of the murders that are happening in the world of the main character, but instead on the life of teen protagonist, Willa, as she has wrestles with grief over her deceased father and her radically new life in Hollywood where her new step-father is a well-known and very wealthy movie director.

To complicate matters, there is a ghost in the new house where Willa and her mother now live.  Willa also has to navigate life as a new student in a new high school where she makes one new friend, Marnie, and comes to have a reluctant friendship with Wyatt, her lab partner who has a creepy obsession with the murders. Throw a very cute and romantic young assistant to her new father into the mix and the plot just zooms along.

It's not a great read, but it's a fun read, and one I'd recommend to any student asking if we had a good thriller, or murder mystery, or ghost story, or romance - or all of the above!

Homage to Gatsby

Even In Paradise by Chelsey Philpot
New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2014]
360 p. ; 22 cm.

This debut novel received a lot of praise and I think it is well deserved.  So often I'll read a young adult novel where the characters are on witty overdrive, or hyped-up cynicism - but not Chelsey Philpot's Paradise. The Booklist reviewer notes that there is "nothing...we haven't seen before" - and notes that Philpot knows this too, and so offers a graceful pleasure of a read as she probes the intensities of love - in friendship, in family, and in romance.

The novel revels in the private boarding school setting, the old-money wealthy setting of the Buchanan's vacation estate on Nantucket.  She also conveys the way that this wealth and Buchanan's sense of having an elite place in the world wows the narrator who - from a working class family - is attending the boarding school and becomes a part of the Buchanan "family" due to fortunate happenstance.

I was pleased that Philpot did not over use the upper class - lower class differences to create false drama, but instead leaves it to the main character to figure out what can work, and what can not as she finds herself more and more involved and more and more in love with the "great Buchanans."

I'd definitely recommend this to a student who likes well written relationship novels.

First Loves and Second Marriages

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith
New York : Little, Brown, 2013, c2012.
236 p. ; 22 cm.

Sometimes it's just nice to read a book that delivers what you hope it will - in this case a tender and interesting love story between likable characters.  Add a bit of overseas travel, family drama, and well-tuned dialogue and you have the makings of a sweet read.

Much of the story is devoted to Hadley's difficulties with her estranged father, who left his first family after falling in love with a new woman while teaching in Oxford.  The father wants a relationship with Hadley, and Hadley is coming to be in his wedding, but she's sad, angry and determined not to like his new wife.  On the trip over she's fortunate enough to miss one flight, and end up with the very likable Oliver - who takes a shine to her.

Separated at the airport, Hadley has to attend the wedding. As you can imagine a lot of issues get worked through (and maybe worked out) including - her relationship to her father, her feelings about his new wife, and whether or not Oliver really was interested in her and whether she can even find him in London before she has to return home.

I would recommend this to students wanting a good love story, with believable, well-developed characters.  It's also a book to recommend when looking for a teen romance that does not involve sex.  I've seen reviewers who compare it to Sarah Dessen books, and I'd say that is on target.    

Lush Life

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
New York : Penguin, 2005, c2004.
486 p. ; 22 cm.

I first read Shadow of the Wind about 8 or 9 years ago on the recommendation of an exchange student from Argentina.  He said it was his favorite book and had changed his life.  Well, how can a high school librarian not want to read a book with that kind of intro?  I really liked it - a lot - back then, and have since occasionally recommended it to students.  Recently a student who reads a lot was asking about a recommendation for a book with a lot of mystery and plot and good writing.  I almost forgot about Shadow of the Wind, but then recalled it and suggested it to him.

Well, it had been a long time since I had read it and I thought, maybe it hasn't aged so well, or maybe it's not as good as I remember - and so I decided to read it again.  I was not disappointed.

If you look on Goodreads, you will find a lot of extremely positive reviews and a few cranky dismissals of the book.  I'm going to have to weigh-in on the side of those who love the book.  Yes, the book is a bit melodramatic, yes it is almost overly-romantic, yes it is highly stylized, but (and this is crucial) the book is all those things because it is a passionate homage to the love of literature, the love of justice and compassion, and the love of romantic love.  It also is beautifully written.

It's not a perfect novel, but it is both a delightful and haunting read.  Set in the moral, social and physical wreckage of post Civil War Spain, Ruiz Zafon makes Barcelona a character itself, as the varied heroes of the novel reveal their passionate and complex ways of surviving and being humane in fascist Spain.

If you are someone who loves reading, or literary writing, or an exploration of the passion of love, then you will certainly love Shadow of the Wind.  Not every young adult will find it to be their favorite novel, or the one that changes their life, but some will and will thank you for recommending it.

Get Real

Reality Boy by A. S. King
New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2014.
353 p. ; 21 cm.

I wasn't sure I'd like this book, but it is well-written, interesting and nicely plotted. The novel picks up with now 16 year old Gerald who achieved dubious fame as a 5 year old reality TV "star" - appearing in a Nanny 911 type show where he was supposedly "the troubled child" because he defecated around the house to express his anger and frustration.  Due to this unpleasant behavioral trait, Gerald, got nicknamed "The Crapper" and has never lived it down.

The novel follows Gerald as he deals with his anger, powerlessness, and developing romantic relationship.  We learn there were a lot of terrible truths that were papered over by the reality TV producers and that the troubled one wasn't really Gerald.

There is a lot of humor, heart, and depth to Reality Boy (it really is a fun read) and I'll recommend it to students asking about a good book to read.  My main complaint with this book is that in the interest of heightening conflict - the villains of the book (you'll have to read it to find out) are stunningly villainous (downright sociopathic/psychopathic).  It's not that such characters don't exist, it's just that I didn't quite believe it in this context.  That said, Reality Boy is a good book that should appeal to a wide variety of readers.

Hard Life, Good Read

Tyrell by Coe Booth
New York : PUSH, c2007.
310 p. ; 18 cm. 

I've been planning to read this book for years.  This year there was an uptick in demand for all of Coe Booth's books - Tyrell, Kendra, and Bronxwood - so it seemed like a good time to take this novel home and read it.  I was not disappointed.

Tyrell is a tough book - there is a lot of profanity, drug use, fights, sexual situations and overall gritty scenes throughout the novel, but it all feels very necessary to the power of this novel. The hero, fifteen year old Tyrell, has to figure out how to make his way in a world where his father is in prison, his mother is completely immature, selfish, and incompetent and many of his role models are sexist, aggressive, law-breaking young men.  He wants to do right by his family (especially his young brother), his friends, his girl friend, and his conscience.  Tyrell is smart, friendly, and great with DJing, something he learned from his father. But with his father in jail, his mother worthless as a parent, he has to figure out how to get himself and his family out of the filthy temporary hotel that they are stuck in after losing their apartment.

The thing I loved about Tyrell, is that all the characters are complex. Characters has their strengths and some serious weaknesses.  The main character, Tryell, can be heroic, but he can also be a liar, a macho hypocrite, and aggressive.  But he wants to make something of himself, and has a strong ethical code of honor that he reflects on even when he falls short.  Booth's skill is creating interesting, vivid characters who reflect the wide range of human strengths and weaknesses as they navigate the distressing and profoundly unfair world of inner city poverty.

It's too bad that a novel like this could not be taught in a classroom curriculum (there's just too much raw language and situations) because there are so many ethical and moral dilemmas that come up throughout the novel - and the novel is popular with young men and women.  It may not be suitable for the classroom, but it is a book that many young people, including reluctant readers are bound to embrace.