bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: to-read
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After long battle with cancer, Betsy loses her mother and is left feeling lost in Tara Altebrando’s The Pursuit of Happiness. After the funeral, Betsy’s boyfriend dumps her and her best friend disappears from her life. As if things aren’t miserable enough, her summer plans include dressing like an early American to work at a colonial village (all her father’s fault, of course) along with the class freak, Liza. What begins as work soon turns into an escape for Betsy – from her judgmental classmates, from her breakup, from her mother’s death, and from her uncomfortably quiet home. With the help of her co-workers Liza and James, Betsy learns to work her way through the stages of grief and discover hope for normalcy in the future. While she is taught many colonial crafts and means of cooking, it seems that cutting silhouettes out of paper combined with a certain surfer’s woodcarvings are the perfect recipe for beginning to mend a broken heart.
Though sometimes it’s hard to look past the MTV logo, The Pursuit of Happiness is hardly a fluff novel. So, looking past the cover (and the corny “Declare your independence.”), Tara Altebrando’s novel will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Scott, and Susane Colasanti. This is certainly one of the best young adult novels I’ve read that deals with overcoming grief. Betsy is easy to connect to as a reader (and respect, as she turns into a more proactive character), and Tara Altebrando truly succeeds in writing dialogue that sounds like it actually came out of a few teenagers’ mouths. I also love the setting, having always been fascinated by historical villages, and enjoyed this peak into what it could be like working at one. 9 out of 10. ]]>
Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan gets into the mind of fifteen-year-old Blake who is struggling to balance his perfect girlfriend Shannon and his photo partner and friend Marissa who happens to be a girl. After taking a photo of a worn-down, drug addict on the street for his photography class (Blake always sticks to gritty photos), he discovers more about Marissa – that woman was her missing mother. As Blake learns more about Marissa, their relationship changes, and Blake begins to realize that though love and romance are confusing, friendship isn’t necessarily any clearer. While he works to perfect his photography, he realizes it takes just as much work to balance the two most important females in his life that couldn’t be more different.
Flash Burnout blends comedy with more serious matters perfectly in Flash Burnout. Blake’s dilemmas feel real to the reader, and I must say I laughed at some point during nearly every chapter is this novel. L.K. Madigan does a superb job getting into the mind of a teenage boy – a task many young adult authors have tried without as much success – as Blake’s thoughts feel authentic. This book is fast-paced and, despite its length, easy to read in one sitting because it’s so hard to put down. The references to the craft of photography, especially the tips found at the beginning of each chapter and in the title itself, add to the parallels in Blake’s life and enrich the reader’s experience. The only time I was let down was the very ending of this novel which felt rather abrupt. I wish Flash Burnout had gone further in time and not ended so suddenly, so that the reader could feel more closure with the characters. 8 out of 10. ]]>
Kristin
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Jennifer Wardrip's
review of Flash Burnout:
"Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Blake is trying to understand relationships. He has a girlfriend and he is also the friend of a girl. Both relationships are important to him, but he realizes balan...more "
"Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Blake is trying to understand relationships. He has a girlfriend and he is also the friend of a girl. Both relationships are important to him, but he realizes balan...more "
bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: to-read
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