The "Paper Towns" Movie Poster is Here!

John Green will debut the trailer next week!

New "The 5th Wave" Still

 

The first stills from Rick Yancy's The 5th Wave starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Coming to theaters January 2016.

If You Like This, You'll Like...#2

These books are extremely different but they have one thing in common: A journey. Paper Towns is about young man searching for his missing classmate/neighbor/crush, and I was Here is a about a young lady searching for the truth in her friend's suicide. Paper Towns is a John Green novel, which means it's hilarious, so it's packed with a deep life lesson told in a way a teen could understand it. Gayle Forman, who wrote If I Stay, has a knack for beautifully complicating a simple story.

Both of these books are about how we see people and accepting them as they are, the disappointment we feel when we learn things aren't as we thought. I finished I Was Here at 1:30 in the morning, and I'm probably going to be a brat all day because when I finish a book I have to reflect. Gayle Forman focuses on the impact suicide has on those left behind, and forces us to question our definition of life and bravery. John Green's main character is an intellectual who has to solve a problem that doesn't involve a textbook. He starts out the book being very careful and almost forced to step outside of himself. but by the end of the book he doesn't mind.
 
If you enjoy characters who become new people and complicated mysteries, you'd enjoy either of these books. You just have to decide whether you feel like laughing or crying.

If You Like This, You'll Like....#1

 

 



 

The hardest part about finishing a good book is figuring out what to read next, or finding a similar book when the subject matter really touches you. I read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher in 2010 and it tore me in half. It's about a young man named Clay who comes home to find a package containing seven cassette tapes each numbered one through thirteen and a map. He presses play and it's Hannah Baker, a classmate and crush who killed herself, telling him that if he's listening then he's one of the thirteen reasons she killed herself. He follows the map as he listens to her downward spiral all the while wondering what he did wrong. This is a book that has saved lives and started much needed discussions.

If you've never read it, you should. If you have read it and you liked it, then you'll like....

The Program by Suzanne Young is a semi-dystopian sci-fi novel about a young girl named Sloane and her boyfriend James. In the not-too-distant future suicide is an epidemic among teenagers and the only cure is The Program. If you're sad, you can't show it. Keep it to yourself. Tell no one because wherever you are they'll come and take you away, and when you return you'll never be the same. It's so realistic it's terrifying and it almost hurt to read.

Where Jay Asher took a psychiatrist waiting room pamphlet and put it words we could we barely digest, Suzanne Young took suicide and gave it flesh and blood. If you don't mind the ugly cry or being emotionally challenged, looking into the mirror as you read, I highly recommend these.

Down from the Mountain - A Review

Every cult has that one member who can't get with the program, who is too bold and too smart for their own good. That's Eva. Not only is she intelligent, but she enjoys learning and she's frustrated with an education that's plateaued. Eva finds out the hard way knowledge is power. The story isn't an original concept, and since we know Eva is that person, you can tell from the beginning how the story is going to end. And that's fine; it's the journey in the middle that makes all the difference.

Set in the Colorado Rockies on a farm outside of Boulder, Down from the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer is about a young girl who finds herself at a crossroads as she navigates between being herself and being obedient. She's isolated from the outside world, away from the heathens who aren't chosen by God. Things take a turn when Reverend Ezekiel becomes increasingly paranoid, wasting the compound's money on guns and target practice. Watching Eva discover the outside world for the first time is like watching the Wizard of Oz go from shades of gray to color. Her eyes are opened to new sights and sounds, new customs and ways of life. She's fascinated by the culture shock, unafraid despite everything she's been told since she was little.

Elizabeth Fixmer likes C.S. Lewis. The Reverend speaks about a God who punishes, who blesses only when you do what you're told; a God who wills his people to suffer when they've done wrong. Eva believes this, but she also remembers Aslan who speaks softly, and loves so gently. She remembers an Aslan who sacrificed himself for those who didn't deserve it and walks with those he's chosen. I'm a Christian and analytical by nature, and though I'm not sure if Elizabeth Fixmer intended it I couldn't help but read this book from that perspective.

Stories like these hit a nerve, but not in a bad way. I love my faith, but I know there are evil people who can take my God and turn him into something he's not. Christianity says to guard your heart, but it does not isolate. Instead it encourages stepping into the world in order to save it. It does not punish because Jesus's death was punishment meant for all and his resurrection is a sufficient victory. It broke my heart watching Eva believe the lies, but I was excited to see her walk in her own faith. Often we're warned as Christians to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, charlatans, people who seek power and will fill your head with lies to line their pockets. Ezekiel is a charlatan, a sexual predators, and a con artist. Like many leaders he drives away the men and surrounds himself with women and children. The power to make them do whatever he says, when to eat and when to sleep, is his job. The sex and admiration is his reward. Eva threatens this, and he makes the mistake of trying to tame her.

This is a subject Ms. Fixmer is passionate about. It's clear she's not just telling a story, but she's sending a message and warning to young women, and giving a testimony about her faith and who she believes God is. Down from the Mountain is a story about freedom, and strength, and faith. It's about a girl who believed in God her whole life discovering God for the first time. This book hits stores March 1st.

Goodreads

Official Website

I'm a DUFF

Some books are good for escaping, and others take you to less than pleasant times. I was a DUFF in college. My two best friends, Carly and Jessica, were the hot ones and I was the loyal one. They got all the attention and I was the designated driver. They were tall and skinny, and I was short and chunky. They got attention from basketball players, and I was propositioned by an alcoholic. You get the picture. Being their friend could be exhausting at times, but I tried to own it. I loved being the one they could call when they needed someone to pick them up. I didn't mind being the one who didn't get drunk. I especially loved the lack of relationship drama. They were amazing friends, some of the best I've ever had. Of course there were PLENTY of times I wished I could have been as outgoing as Carly, or as pretty as Jessica. But I'm me. Savannah is introverted, uniquely beautiful with her mother's cheekbones and loyal to a fault.

Early this year I read "The DUFF" by Kody Keplinger only because I heard it was going to be a movie and I love Mae Whitman. Bianca (Mae Whitman) gets a rude awakening from the school hottie/man whore, but then finds him as an unlikely ally as she uses him to escape from her home problems. The movie plays a little bit differently, instead of using Wesley Rush (the hottie man whore) for sex, she uses him to make a change. In both the book and the adaptation she learns to embrace herself and her "duff-ness".

Most people cringe when movies are different than the books, but I'm glad. I think the book without changes would have made a depressing story and as good as it was, it was very singular in its focus. The movie took an extra step and decided to tackle an array of teen issues: body image, self esteem, bullying, relationships, labels, and insecurities. The moral of the movie is "everybody has problems."

Mae Whitman is not a dog or fat by any means, but she's not Hollywood standard beautiful, either. She's not a knockout by any means, but she is adorable and funny. She captures the vulnerabilities of being a teenager and having to navigate what can be a hostile social setting. She helps send a powerful message to young women how you carry yourself reflects how you see yourself and who you are inside. Bianca starts out changing herself to impress a boy until she realizes she needs to make a change for herself.

It's not up there with Mean Girls as far classic teen movies go, but it holds it's own. There aren't any memorable quotes, people won't remember Bella Thorne as the new Regina George. I'll never understand why they didn't give this a summer or fall release, but it's a cute little film and a great book.

Haunted - A Review

This was a doozy. I'm a sucker for ghost stories, and this was a psychological horror wrapped in a schizophrenic nightmare that is beautifully written. This story follows Phoebe and her family who move to her step-father's ancestral mansion in England. Not only can Phoebe not remember the awful thing she did which caused her family to move in the first place, but she's seeing and hearing things, finding herself going from place to place with no memory how she got there. On top of that she's being haunted by an evil beyond imagination.

I am not familiar with Lynn Carthage's work, but I especially love the way she uses all five senses to bring you into this world she's created. Set in a small town English countryside, it's isolated and dank with a fearful emptiness. The manor is a living entity modeled off the French Versailles. You can hear the organ playing when you shouldn't, feel the whisper of someone who shouldn't be there. I've said before I don't like it when author's baby the readers and tell us how the character feels instead letting the character speak for herself. Phoebe feels guilty, scared and discombobulated and we know this because Carthage lets us "travel" with Phoebe as she goes from random memory to memory, from the pool to her baby sister's bedroom with no control of where she goes and who or what goes with her. When she sees a ghost for the first time, it's scary because everything seems so real. Phoebe becomes an unlikely hero for both the living and the dead, along with her new friend Miles. The love story with him is incomplete and a little awkward, given the circumstances, but it works.

Madame Arnaud is an unseen enigma, you can count on one had how many times she physically appears to Phoebe. The rest of the time she's a notion or a memory through a diary entry. She's not one of those villains where you might feel sorry of them, she's just evil. Carthage made her beautiful, alluring, and tempting, someone children wouldn't resist and adults would never say no to.

I thought this was a well-rounded story that had my emotions all over the place. I was scared and confused, but by the end I was crying. For a minute I thought the ending was dragging out, but it was perfect. Apparently this is book one in a series, and I'm curious because what else could possibly happen? But I can't wait. Haunted hits stores February 24th. You can check out Lynn Carthage on these websites:

Official Website

Goodreads