Waiting on Wednesday: The Normal Kid

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

 

 

 

The Normal Kid 

by Elizabeth Holmes

Published by Lerner Publishing Group

Publication Date: October 1, 2012 

Sylvan has been angry ever since his parents split up. And now that an embarrassing photo has appeared in the paper, he's stuck with a lame nickname too. 

Charity is back in the United States after several years in Africa. And she's learning that home can be a strange place when you've been away for a while. 

Neither of them knows what's up with Brian. He spends whole afternoons alone on his trampoline. 

From the first day of school, Sylvan knows he doesn't want to hang out with weirdos like Charity or Brian. He'd rather just be a normal kid. But when the principal gets ready to fire their favorite teacher, Sylvan, Charity, and Brian have to find a way to work together. 

This middle grade read sounds like a fantastic read about identity, integrity and friendship.  I'm really looking forward to reading this one.

Top Ten Tuesday: One Day Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists. I am too so that is why I am participating this week.

Books that can be read in a day

My selection includes books that take place in a day, verse novels, some favorite one day reads, and books by David Levithan.

1. The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
2. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
   
3. Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty
4. Wake by Lisa McMann
5. Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
6. The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott
7. Exposed by Kimberly Marcus
8. Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder
9. Nothing Like You by Laura Strasnick
10. Books by David Levithan: Boy Meets Boy, The Realm of Possibilities,  Love Is the Higher Law, The Lover's Dictionary

Life Is But a Dream by Brian James

Life Is But a Dream

by Brian James

Published by Feiwel and Friends

Publication Date: March 27, 2012

Pages: 234

Source: NetGalley

Sabrina, an artist, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her parents check her into the Wellness Center. There she meets Alec, who is convinced it's the world that's crazy, not the two of them. They are meant to be together; they are special. But when Alec starts to convince Sabrina that her treatment will wipe out everything that makes her creative, she worries that she'll lose hold of her dreams and herself. Should she listen to her doctor? her decision may have fatal consequences.(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts

After reading this novel, it is easier to comprehend why mental illness can be easily misunderstood. From the beginning I know that Sabrina is checked into the Wellness Center after being diagnosed with schizophrenia, but what I don't know is what were the circumstances that placed her there. It is a mystery not shared with the reader but something did happen as Sabrina's doctor tries to get her to talk open up and talk about it. Keeping this event a mystery is what drew me in so completely because it made me unsure if there really was anything wrong with Sabrina. Like Alec, it is easy to believe that everyone else was crazy because all of the beauty that Sabrina saw. And this is what makes this book so special. 

When Alec arrives at the Wellness Center, I wasn't too sure what too think about him. I didn't know if he was there because he suffered from a mental illness too or if he was there because of behavioral problems and this was the alternative to juvenile detention. In the beginning,  I could never trust what he was saying. It is when he convinces Sabrina to stop taking her medications, her world before the treatment center begins to reveal itself. He revels in the way she describes the world she sees and encourages her to explore it more. He sees her beauty in this creativity. But what he doesn't understand that he is harming her. He clearly doesn't understand her illness or that what he is doing is damaging her - making her world unsafe. Yet it is in these same moments that you see that he really begins to care for her. This is what makes their relationship so confusing and dramatic.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Sabrina first sees Alec. It offers some insight about her perspective of reality and how her dreams are intertwined with her waking moments:

"Strangers make me shy. Usually their smiles make me turn away, but he isn't like other strangers. He's a familiar stranger. I've seen him before in a dream. I believe sometimes my dreams are of memories from the future. Sometimes they are about places I will go someday or people that I'm going to know but don't know yet." (pg. 15) 

Passages such as this make me believe that there is some truth in what Sabrina is saying. And there is.

I've said it here already, but Brian James has written something really special. He paints pictures with his words making me desperate to see the beauty in the world that Sabrina sees.  He allows me into a world I don't completely understand but want to take the time to consider. I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it and am excited to share it here. I would recommend Life Is But a Dream to readers who enjoy contemporary young adult and want to read more stories involving mental illness.


Disclaimer: I requested this novel for review from NetGalley and this review is based on the Advance Reading Copy. Quotes are taken from the ARC and may differ from the final version.

Random Acts of Kindness - March Recap/April Sign Up

Random Acts of Kindness is hosted by Vanessa and Isalys at Book Soulmates. This is a time to share or give our favorite things - BOOKS. After missing a few months, I signed up again in February. As much as it makes me happy to receive books, I love to give them to.

This month I gave these books:

• One Day to Briana at Bree's Books
• Prince of Wolves and One Black Rose to Damaris at Good Choice Reading

I received these books:

• Fury by Elizabeth Miles from Briana at Bree's Books

Thank you Briana!!

Because RAK is so fantastic, I am signing up again. Last month setting a limiting the RAKs sent really helped my wallet so I am going to set a limit again this month. Anyone can sign up. Just check out the details below.
 

You can find my Wish List - HERE

It is from Amazon just because that is the easiest way for me to maintain the wish list. I accept ARCs and gently used books too.

from Book Soulmates

COMPLETE RULES RE-CAP:
Please read carefully & follow all rules!  Thank you!

• Please sign-up each month that you can participate (and by participate, we mean give as well as receive).
• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button (code is in the right sidebar).
• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog, etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.
• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger directly for their information.
• Once you receive a RAK, send us an our new email to [rakbybooksoulmates @ gmail . com] so that we can update the Google Doc. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU SEND EMAILS TO THIS ADDRESS!
• E-book participation is limited to files being gifted directly to a person from the e-book store. Amazon's Kindle Store is set up to allow this, as well as the Kobo store and we believe Barnes & Noble with Nook as well.
• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K by making a "RAK Wrap-Up" post.  This post should include who you SENT gifts to as well who you RECEIVED gifts from :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE including all our International brethren!

Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!

Easy peezy!!

 

Links you will need:

Sign up for April 2012 [HERE]
See who else is participating [HERE]
If you have any questions regarding RAK, please contact them via the following:
rakbybooksoulmates @ gmail . com

In My Mailbox (65)

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme run by Kristi at The Story Siren which showcases the books that have been delivered to our mailbox or doorstep or directly into our hot little hands.

Purchased:

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters
Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Review:

The List by Siobhan Vivian
Purity by Jackson Pearce

both for Southern Book Bloggers ARC Tour

What did you get in your mailbox?

Love My Indie with Libby from libbysbookblog

Love My Indie is a feature where fellow bloggers, readers, and authors tell me about their favorite independent bookstores. I love the feeling I get when I go into an independent bookstore - like it is filled with hidden treasures just waiting for me to find them.

Showing some Indie Love today is:

Libby from libbysbookblog

"On a cold windswept street, this was a warm, cheerful place with a big stove in winter, tables and shelves of books, new books in the window, and photographs on the wall of famous writers both dead and living. The photographs all looked like snapshots and even the dead writers looked as though they had really been alive."

-Ernest Hemingway, "Shakespeare and Company," A Moveable Feast

Sylvia Beach was an American living in Paris. She opened the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and soon the American ex-pat writers who had come to Europe for the First World War and then had stayed on in Paris - the Lost Generation - made her store their hang out.  I read Hemingway's, "A Moveable Feast," which I have quoted above, a few years ago.  The book illustrates how kind and helpful Sylvia Beach was to the aspiring writers.  She let them have books on credit or on loan; she would help them get published; AND I found out through my internet research for this article that she actually published James Joyce’s "Ulysses."  (As you know "Ulysses" is considered to be a masterpiece and many think that it is among the best books of all time.) 

After the Second World War, George Whitman took over the store.  He continued to nurture a different lost generation.  It was the time of the beatniks and he was friends with Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. He would let them sleep in the writers room.

I am trying to make a several points here.  The first is that indie bookstores are run by people passionate ENOUGH about writers and writing to sink their time, money, brains, and hearts into these shops.  They are not franchise owners looking for a business opportunity or college students looking for a part-time job.  This is their vocation.  You could argue that some of the franchise owners and employees of the chains are also very passionate about books, and I would not show them any disrespect by arguing with you.

I would just bring up my second point, which is this...an owner of an independent store has the latitude to nurture writers, readers and relationships that a franchisee might not have.  Sylvia Beach PUBLISHED Joyce's book.  George Whitman COOKED for them in the back of the shop.  Sylvia Beach EXTENDED CREDIT.  A franchisee is limited by his contract in what he can and cannot do.  An indie is flexible.

That flexibility and ability to respond personally to customers brings me to my third point.  Lately, I have been blogging about the independent food movement (See my posts on "Food Rebels , Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart Cookin' Mamas"" and The Heirloom Life Gardener") I am behind this movement for several reasons, and you can read those posts if you are interested.  But, one of the reasons is that Big Food is putting food decisions in the hands of fewer and fewer companies.  We are becoming limited by what they choose to produce.  Could the same be said of Big Bookstores??  Are we putting our literary choices in the hands of fewer and fewer people?  What might be the result of this?  Think about it.  Sylvia Beach published "Ulysses."  She HAD to because no one else would touch it - it was scandalous.

My final point is a plug for all my fellow book bloggers.  As the indies become fewer, we book bloggers are in some ways stepping into the void.  We are providing that personal support for writers - even if it is virtual, its there.  And, I think that it means a lot to them.  The READERS of the world are like Sylvia Beach and George Whitman.  They/we have an important role in providing emotional support and financial (through book sales) support to writers. 

Libby thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on independent bookstores and their owners and the roles they play for authors and readers.

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Fever

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists. I am too so that is why I am participating this week.

 Spring Fever: Top Ten Books I'd Play Hooky With

I'll admit that I've taken a day off from work, went to work late, or left a few a hours early because there was a book I wanted to read, a chapter I had to finish or a story that I couldn't stop thinking about and I wanted to know what happened next. So this week's topic was fun for me to compile. Here are a collection of books that I would love to play hooky with.

1. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Why is this one still just hanging out on my shelf? If I played hooky, 

it would be the first one I pick up.

2. Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

3. The Edumacation of Jay Baker by Jay Clark

I hear this one is really funny and lately I've needed some laughs in my life.

4. The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols

Because I love Jennifer's books. That is all.

5. Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker

Our latest book club pick.

6. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

7. Thumped by Megan McCafferty 

When I finally have a copy of this book in my hands, it's on!! I may actually take the day off to read this one.

8. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn 

I've wanted to reread this one for a long time but instead I just keep watching the movie over and over again.

9.  Cupcake by Rachel Cohn I want to finish this series just so I can start it all over again.

10. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

I would spend the day reading the book and watching the movie. 

But not necessarily in that order.