I finished this book this morning, got to the end and thought, sure, I’ll read the author’s note, and therein I found out that this story–about life and death and poverty and corruption and justice and injustice and good luck and bad luck in a Mumbai slum–is totally, COMPLETELY TRUE. It blew my mind, you guys, because it reads like fiction: the characters are so well-documented in their thoughts and dreams (and sometimes even in the listed cause of death in official records and police […]
Devastating, but entirely necessary.
Initially, I only gave this four stars because it was just such a difficult reading experience. And I don’t mean difficult as in skill level. I mean it in terms of emotional effort. I usually reserve my five star rating for those books that end with me fist-pumping in the air and running screeching around the room while my pores ooze out excitement and love, and this is not the sort of book that inspires that kind of reaction. I think this says a lot about […]
This is the bravest kid I’ve ever heard of.
Wow, I just zoomed right through this. For a fifteen year old, Maya Van Wagenen has a very compelling voice. Frankly, this would be good even if it was written by someone older. But I can’t get over how brave this kid was to do all of this. I never could have done it when I was her age — at the peak of my miserable weirdo awkwardness. And she writes with humor and compassion that a lot of assholes older than her could do […]
Let’s stop telling girls to “be nice”; that’s what makes them into Mean Girls.
I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true. It turns them into one of the more difficult types of bully to deal with, a silent one.
Who would have thought?
I went to school with Ben Montgomery. We weren’t friends as he was popular and I was a punk rock snob. Through the power of social media, we’ve become friendly almost 20 years later. He’s also become quite the writer, and I would have never have guessed he had it in him. Just like I imagine people would have never guessed a 67-year-old woman could hike 2000+ miles with barely more than the clothes on her back.
This Star Won’t Go Out
It’s difficult to think critically about a book like This Star Won’t Go Out, because it was clearly put together with lots of love by the grieving friends and family of a charming, precocious, and kind sixteen-year-old girl who died from complications with thyroid cancer. So instead I’ll try to give you an idea what it’s like. The book revolves around Ester Earl, who was about as lovely as any fictional book heroine you could imagine. She was funny, thoughtful, self-depricating, creative, kind, friendly, uncomplaining, […]
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