Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why is VERY good but kind of disturbing since it’s mostly narrated by Hannah Baker, a girl who recently committed suicide. We listen along with Clay Jensen, one of thirteen people who will receive Hannah’s story, told in 13 cassette tapes, detailing what drove her to kill herself. Along with Clay, we follow the map to the places Hannah highlights and listen as she tells of the betrayals, the lies, the secrets that show just how big of an impact a small action can have. It’s a short novel, and should be required reading for all middle and high schoolers, as well as the parents of anyone that age. It really demonstrates how important it is to treat each person with respect and how the littlest things can snowball out of control. Pick it up when you have time to read because you’ll have a hard time putting it down.

 

The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall

I really wanted to like this book, and I did, right up until the end, when it took a turn and couldn’t recover, at least in my mind. The Red Scarf is the story of Anna and Sophia and their friendship and struggles in a 1930’s Soviet prison camp. The two women have a very close bond and literally are keeping each other alive; Sophia physically helps Anna and Anna emotionally supports Sophia. This is especially true of the stories Anna tells of her childhood, and her friend, Vasily. When Sophia escapes, she promises Anna that she will come back for her after finding Vasily. Sophia walks for months to get to Tivil, the last place Vasily was known to live and is taken in and cared for by a gypsy, Rafik, and his daughter. There she slowly earns the trust of the town and becomes a force to be reckoned with. with the help of Mikhail Pashin, the handsome factory director, she helps the town fight the corruption that is Soviet Russia, most often embodied by Alexsei Fomenko. Sophia struggles to uncover Vasily’s identity and get help for Anna, before it’s too late. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the story, especially the brainwashing and community policing of life in Stalinist Russia. I didn’t enjoy the mystical tendencies that stemmed from the gypsy family – I felt like it went a little too far and while I don’t expect a novel to be 100% historically accurate, I felt like this was just too ridiculous to overlook. But I will leave it up to you to decide whether or not to read it.

The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies

As a WWII buff, I am always intrigued by new books on the subject, which is what prompted me to pick up The Welsh Girl in the first place. This is the story of a POW camp in Wales and how the life of one of the German prisoners, Karsten, interweaves with one of the local girls, Esther. The POW camp is built by the British near D-Day and the camp is an affront to the Welsh community, after all, it is the British who have denied the Welsh people their language and culture. And the entire town struggles with this conundrum; who is their enemy, the British or the Germans? And is the enemy of my enemy my friend? Esther yearns for more in life than her small town in Wales and rejects the young men of her community. She takes up with a member of the British army only to have things end badly. When the POW’s arrive, Esther strikes up an unusual relationship with Karsten, one of the only prisoners who can speak English. There’s also a subplot to this novel, the story of Rotheram, an interrogator in the British armed forces who grew up in Germany but was forced to emigrate during the Nazi party’s rise to power, since his father was Jewish. I wasn’t really thrilled with this sub story – I felt it was just filler to make the book a little longer. The main story, though, was kind of charming. It is a short novel so it was a quick read, and I enjoyed the characters. It’s not a must read, by any means, but not a bad way to spend an afternoon. 

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

I really, really like Jodi Picoult as an author; it probably stems from the frist book of hers I ever read, My Sister’s Keeper, but every novel of hers is so well researched and well written that I can’t help but be drawn in. Handle with Care is no different – it is the story of Willow O’Keefe, a girl born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as Brittle Bone Disease. When Willow is born she has 7 healing fractures, and breaks 4 more bones just during the process of the C-Section. She can break a bone by turning over in bed wrong, being hugged too hard by her sister, Amelia, or any manner of similar, simple things. And over the course of her life, she will break hundreds of bones. Because her disease keeps her from doing anything remotely physical (despite her desire to ice skate like her sister), she throws herself into books and becomes a walking encyclopedia; her sister even nicknames her Wiki. But the heart of this novel is when Charlotte, Willow’s mother, decides to file a Wrongful Birth suit against her OBGYN, Piper, who incidentally, is also her best friend. A Wrongful Birth suit is exactly what it sounds like – Charlotte is saying that if she had known about Willow’s illness earlier, she would have terminated the pregnancy and Willow would have never been born. How can a mother say that, in court, in front of an extremely bright child, who can understand exactly what you are saying? And is this the truth? That’s one of the things Charlotte wrestles with throughout this novel and I have to give credit to the author here – you really feel for Charlotte. Even as someone who isn’t a parent, I felt her struggles to do what was best for Willow. Because if she won, she would have enough money to care for Willow for the rest of her life, whether Charlotte and Sean are there to take care of her or not. And while money can't buy happiness, it could solve a lot of the problems in this family - it's expensive having a child with Brittle Bone Disease and insurance only covers so much. Sean O’Keefe, Willow’s father, rejects his wife’s lawsuit and the ensuing familial struggle made my heart ache for this family. Willow, who perhaps can understand, but maybe not comprehend why her mother is doing this. Amelia, who has always felt second rate to Willow and finds her own ways to self soothe. And Sean and Charlotte, who love Willow, more than anything, and can’t imagine life without their funny, engaging, bright, wonderful daughter. Definitely a must read – for me, this ranks high on my Jodi list, up there with My Sister’s Keeper and Nineteen Minutes.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

I started, and finished, Those Who Save Us in one day because I couldn’t put it down. The subject matter was so compelling and also touching. I am a huge fan of WW2 historical novels to begin with, which was the primary reason for requesting it from the library to begin with. This book alternates with between Trudy, in present day Minnesota, and Anna in 1940’s Weimar, Germany. Trudy, a history professor, is working to collect the oral histories of WW2 survivors, but with a twist. While her partner Ruth, is focused on Jewish survivors, Trudy wants to talk to the Germans who survived and find out how and why they did what they did. Surprisingly, many of these immigrants display blatant anti-Semitism, which shakes Trudy’s belief in what she’s doing; yet she is driven by her own history as a child born in Germany during the war. Her mother, Anna, is strangely drawn to Trudy’s project, but refuses to divulge her own history to her daughter. Anna is a young woman during the start of the war who must hide her love affair with an older Jewish doctor, Max Stern. When Max is arrested and interned in Buchenwald, a pregnant Anna flees her father and moves in what a baker who is aiding the resistance. Anna helps smuggle food to the prisoners until Mathilde, the baker, is found and executed. Anna manages to escape punishment for herself and Trudy by catching the eye of the Obersturmführer, a high ranking officer at Buchenwald. He coerces her into an affair that is often abusive, yet she maintains the relationship to ensure her survival. The past and present flash back and forth and the story is so compelling; you feel rage, sadness, compassion, the whole gamut of emotions as you live through this horrible point in history. Definitely a must read if you like historical fiction. Also, on a side note, I discovered after the fact that Blum actually worked for Shoah Foundation, which probably inspired Trudy’s project in the novel. 

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a fabulous novel and a quick read. It’s completely told in letters between several of the main characters and delves into the history of the Guernsey Islands during WW2 while they were occupied by the Germans. The primary letter writer is Juliet Ashton (pen name Izzy Bickerstaff), a writer who quickly tires of covering the war, even in her uniquely upbeat manner. She tells Sidney, her editor, that she wants to write something of importance. When Dawsey Adams of Guernsey finds Juliet’s name in a used book and begins a correspondence about a mutual favorite author, he intrigues her with the name of his literary society and their correspondence flourishes from there. Juliet is drawn into the stories from Guernsey and encourages the entire society to write to her with their observations on literature and life. The sudden jumps in narration can be a little confusing at times, but overall the story holds up well and is very touching. Despite it’s somber subject matter, this is an uplifting story and should not be missed.