Teen Book Reviews

The Summer of Naked Swim Parties
By Jessica Anya Blau
Harper Perennial, 2008

Taylor Yocom, 16
Iowa
           
In The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, it’s the summer of 1976, and 14-year-old Jamie experiences things she never imagined she would.  Jamie starts out expecting nothing too out of the ordinary, except that “out of the ordinary” pretty much describes her family life. Her parents are pothead partiers who throw pool parties where swimming naked is the norm. Her friends think her family life is “awesome,” but Jamie is embarrassed and wants to be normal.

The summer takes a turn when Jaime meets Flip, her high school sister’s crush. She is thrilled that a 17-year-old would even remember her name. Things speed up with Flip, and before she can savor his kisses, she has mixed feelings about how far they’re going.

Things get tense when Jamie and her friends “experiment” with drugs and alcohol at beach parties. Jamie feels uncared for because her parents give her so much freedom. Deep down, she desires a normal family, with parents who would scold her for breaking the rules instead of being best friends with her boyfriend.

Throughout the book, Jamie is the voice of reason, checking her heart with her head and trying not to go too overboard. Disaster strikes, and it changes her for good. She loses her friends, and realizes that they weren’t necessarily friends in the first place.

I thought this was a great book: the events were pretty out-there, but very relatable. Sensitive readers might want to be advised--some of the descriptions of the sex scenes were a bit too vivid.

Someone Like Summer
By M. E. Kerr
HarperTeen, 2009

Juli Hunter, 15
Michigan

When I fist picked up Someone Like Summer, I found myself thinking I wouldn’t like it. But as I started to read, I found myself hooked. 

Annabel is sixteen years old and has never disobeyed her father in her life, that is, until now. Esteban is a 20-year-old Latino immigrant living in the US with his older sister. Because he and his sister are not U.S. citizens, Esteban is forced to work petty jobs that pay him close to nothing. But even this doesn’t stop him from sending the money he makes back to his family in Colombia.

When Esteban takes a job working for Annabel’s father and makes a brutal mistake, Annabel finds herself going behind her father’s back, just to spend time with Esteban.  Kind of like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, they would do anything to stay together.

The story is written not from Esteban’s point of view but from Annabel’s. This made it easier for me to understand, because some of the questions that Annabel asked are the same ones I found myself asking. Kerr points out that in order to love someone, you first have to understand them. I admire Kerr, for she also shows her readers that discrimination is still going on today, and that something should be done to stop it.

The Sweet In-Between
By Sheri Reynolds
Shaye Areheart Books, 2008

Alison Kozol
Massachusetts

One of the most important emotions a writer should make his or her audience feel is empathy, not sympathy. In her fifth novel, The Sweet In-Between, Sheri Reynolds invokes this compassion through a protagonist that not many would think they could relate to.

This protagonist is Kendra, called “Kenny,” a girl who binds her chest, keeps her hair short, and wonders daily what will become of her when she graduates high school. Because Kenny’s mother died when she was young and her father is in jail, she lives with her father’s girlfriend, Aunt Glo, and her “cousins,” Aunt Glo’s children. The snapshot we see of Kenny’s life is tumultuous at best, as Kenny experiences the aftermath of a young woman’s murder and uncovers a secret that changes her perspective on her family, all the while balancing her schoolwork, her role as a caretaker, and her budding sexuality.

Kenny is in between her childhood and her adulthood. While she convinces herself that she needs to support herself after high school, she realizes she still needs family to nurture her. Her days are filled with wondering what the next step will be, and what she can do to prepare for her seemingly inevitable loneliness.  While most characters like this would seem irritating, Reynolds molds Kenny into a truly interesting and relatable character.

Any girl can relate to Kenny despite a lack of similar backgrounds. Just as any girl can feel alone and unwelcome in her community, Kenny is an outcast, and she often feels disconnected from the world around her. However, Kenny is a good role model due to her unyielding optimism and her self-motivation. Her over-arching characteristics steer the reading from sympathy to empathy, and this is most likely a result of how well the novel is written.

Reynolds captures Kenny at random times, from her mundane observations (the way someone smiles, the fins on a fish), to her most brutal self-criticism (frustration with her feelings for a girl, wondering whether her father still loves her). Reynolds’s prose correlates with Kenny’s thoughts: sometimes it’s erratic and sometimes it’s peaceful, but either way, it is well written. Kenny’s rough dialect in juxtaposition with Reynolds’s dreamy narratives would seem unnatural, but on the contrary, it matches perfectly.

Remember This
By S.T. Underdahl
Flux, 2008

Eri Mizobe, 16
Hong Kong

Sixteen-year-old Lucy is unpopular, but always has her best friend, Sukie. That changes when Lucy falls humiliatingly at cheerleading tryouts but Sukie makes the team. With Sukie’s cheerleading and new friendships, they spend less time together. Then Lucy finds that Jace Turner, who sent Sukie a bitter text message two years ago, is the new dishwasher at the Mexican restaurant where she works. Gradually Lucy and Jace form a relationship, but Lucy never manages to inform Sukie. Sukie finds out and their friendship takes a turn for the worse. Plus, Lucy’s favorite grandmother, Nana Lucy, is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and comes to live with her family. Every day she is heartbroken to see her witty Nana turn into someone who mixes the past with the present.

This book is engaging and heartrending. It taught me the importance of second chances, and that although sometimes you need to let go of things, you will always have memories. The indestructible love between Lucy and Nana Lucy, despite Nana Lucy’s breakdown, made me jealous. Although Underdahl’s literal style of writing left little for my imagination, the story was brought to life by the humanness of her characters. I was upset when I finished the book--I wish it did not have to end.

Does This Book Make Me Look Fat?
Edited by Marissa Walsh
Clarion Books, 2008

Gabrielle Linnell, 17
Virginia

From short stories about big butts to poems about anorexics and first-hand accounts of being a XXXL-sized shirt, the voices in this anthology about loving your body (regardless of shape!) show that everyone-- yes, everyone-- struggles with the way they see their body. From Coe Booth’s triumphant tale to Ellen Hopkins’ devastating free verse poem, I was enraptured by the honest messages these writers have spoken through their work. They promote acceptance, not makeovers, and ask the readers to think about what drives the weight obsession: what are we really ashamed of? This was so refreshing, compared to the dozens of unhealthy quick-fix diets and makeover-mad stories that share shelf space with this special book. I recommend this to every girl in every size: it’s beautiful, it’s true, and no, it does not make you look fat.

Life is Fine
By Allison Whittenberg
Delacorte, 2008

Haley Andrews, 13
New Jersey

In the novel Life is Fine, the main character, Samara Tuttle, is a teenage girl trying to make a name--or not--in her world of adventures in Philadelphia. She has to deal with her mother’s abusive boyfriend, smoking, school, feelings for unusual things she just can’t help, and taunting memories from mom’s old boyfriend. She must meet new people and realize new things before she can overcome her challenges. She wants to be unrecognized, like a chameleon, shying away from any attention. But maybe a couple of friends aren’t so bad.

This book was great. Allison Whittenberg really understands how to pull a reader in and describe character and setting in a variety of ways. Many teens can relate to Samara’s problems, and we face them each day. This book is simply one of a kind, and anyone in need of a book to relate to can certainly turn to Life is Fine.