A to Z Challenge: A/A
Finished the first book in by 26 book A to Z challenge, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and it was glorious.
What I Knew Going In: Nothing. I needed a book that started with an A to kick off my A to Z challenge, and this was one I stumbled upon on Target.com. I am not a planner.
What You Should Know: Aristotle is a lonely boy living in the eighties. He’s thoughtful and introspective and utterly, uniquely Aristotle. He gets lost in his thoughts and doesn’t like to talk. He’s a second generation mexican kid (maybe first generation) and he meets his first friend the summer he’s fifteen. You will love him. And his best friend. And the cover of this book.
Best Thing: Aristotle, aka. Ari. Ari’s lack of communication extends to his role as narrator. There are entire chapters with only dialogue and no look into Ari’s thoughts or opinions on that dialogue. You as a reader are sometimes as much in the dark as everyone else in the kid’s life. (BUT YOU LOVE HIM. BECAUSE HE IS BEST)
Image I associate with the book: a boy in a red truck staring up at the sky and wishing he understood it more. SIGH. The dessert!!!
The sentence I wish I would have written: “I laughed. I got to thinking that one of my jobs in the world was to laugh at Dante’s jokes. Only Dante didn’t really say things to be funny. He was just being himself.” Because that’s the tone of the entire book, and I love the flow of "I got to thinking." I just love it.
What I’ll remember most: the quiet, bold confidence of the main character who is neither arrogant nor… anything definable. And the way it sucker punched me when I realized that he understood himself better than he let on. The way I felt so proud that this book was written. So happy for the kids who'll read it who'll need it most.
Love level out of 1000: 9995. Yep. That’s right. First book in the challenge kind of set a ridiculous bar. I lowered it to leave room for future improvement but…
What my 14 year old self would have learned from the book: I literally have no idea, and that HAUNTS ME. Hopefully ALL THE THINGS but… I don't know.
Main character’s mojo: being reticent
What I Knew Going In: Nothing. I needed a book that started with an A to kick off my A to Z challenge, and this was one I stumbled upon on Target.com. I am not a planner.
What You Should Know: Aristotle is a lonely boy living in the eighties. He’s thoughtful and introspective and utterly, uniquely Aristotle. He gets lost in his thoughts and doesn’t like to talk. He’s a second generation mexican kid (maybe first generation) and he meets his first friend the summer he’s fifteen. You will love him. And his best friend. And the cover of this book.
Best Thing: Aristotle, aka. Ari. Ari’s lack of communication extends to his role as narrator. There are entire chapters with only dialogue and no look into Ari’s thoughts or opinions on that dialogue. You as a reader are sometimes as much in the dark as everyone else in the kid’s life. (BUT YOU LOVE HIM. BECAUSE HE IS BEST)
Image I associate with the book: a boy in a red truck staring up at the sky and wishing he understood it more. SIGH. The dessert!!!
The sentence I wish I would have written: “I laughed. I got to thinking that one of my jobs in the world was to laugh at Dante’s jokes. Only Dante didn’t really say things to be funny. He was just being himself.” Because that’s the tone of the entire book, and I love the flow of "I got to thinking." I just love it.
What I’ll remember most: the quiet, bold confidence of the main character who is neither arrogant nor… anything definable. And the way it sucker punched me when I realized that he understood himself better than he let on. The way I felt so proud that this book was written. So happy for the kids who'll read it who'll need it most.
Love level out of 1000: 9995. Yep. That’s right. First book in the challenge kind of set a ridiculous bar. I lowered it to leave room for future improvement but…
What my 14 year old self would have learned from the book: I literally have no idea, and that HAUNTS ME. Hopefully ALL THE THINGS but… I don't know.
Main character’s mojo: being reticent
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Making It Up Along The Way
A blog from an adult who still reads young adult books without shame, standing in the aisle of Barnes and Noble's beside teenagers and explaining why exactly THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER is so good, but wi
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