Title: The Pools
Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: magical realism
Age range: teen
Similar book: Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
Summary (provided by publisher): Once, in a small New England town known for its hot springs, something terrible happened. Something that should have been a warning to stay away from the pools, if the stories were to be believed.
But no one is afraid of the water anymore, even if they should be.
When new girl Lexie meets golden boy Chester, their chemistry is undeniable. She’s running from a glittering life she won’t speak about. He’s hiding secrets of his own. Their connection feels bigger than both of them, despite their damage.
One frigid winter morning in that small New England town, five people go for a swim in the pools. Five people, including Chester. What happens there sends shock waves through the town, changing life as Lexie knows it forever.
What I liked: Lockhart's writing is spare and carefully constructed. There are no wasted words. The moments chosen aren't the obvious ones we would expect but do a great deal to develop characters and relationships.
What I didn't like: WARNING - HERE BE SPOILERS
It's impossible to discuss what I don't like about this book without spoiling a good deal of it, especially since there isn't a lot going on in the plot. For a book about a curse there is very little action. Very little time is spent exploring why this particular trip to the pools turned people into birds. There is little time spent trying to "fix" it. Most of the text is reflecting on how people are feeling and interacting. Or not, as the case may be. It's very introspective to a degree that can become tiresome. And the ending is not the least satisfying. It breaks it's own rules of the curse. While it is artistic and a relatively quick read I was not overly fond of it.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
What are you currently reading?
The House of Gardenias by Isabel Canas - After taking a job as a housemaid for the aging relative of the deposed viceroy, Minerva finds herself trapped in the infamous House of Gardenias with the cruel del Valle family and something darker.
What did you recently finish reading?
The Pools by E. Lockhart - Lexie is finally starting to feel like her life is changing for the better when her new boyfriend Chester and four other people go for a swim in the local hot springs and shocking changes follow.
What do you think you'll read next?
The Woman Who Heard the Sun by Amisha Padnani
Title: When The World Was Happy
Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz
Genre: realistic fiction
Age range: teen
Similar book: Thoughts and Prayers by Bryan Bliss
Summary (provided by publisher): CheChe knows that he and his twin sister Emma lead an unusual life. They enjoy spending time with their parents and grandparents, love to read, and don’t have a huge circle of friends—and they’re happy. Then, just a few months after they turn seventeen, three gunmen show up one morning at their El Paso, Texas, high school, and everything changes.
CheChe loses a leg, and both he and Emma have friends who die. Suddenly, the world feels like a very different place. But what they find hasn’t changed—or has only gotten deeper—is their love for their family, their close friends, and one another, and as they begin to heal, they create their own little community, one that wields the power of humor, kindness, and hope.
CheChe finds himself doing all kinds of things he never expected from his junior year: relearning to walk, falling in love with the boy he’s nursed a longtime crush on, making friends with a kid he always found intimidating. By the end of this life-changing school year, none of them will be the same, and many of them will have found their voices in ways they never imagined.
What I liked: While this is a book about a school shooting it is even more a book about beauty - the beauty of language and the beauty of life, even when it is heartbreaking. These are characters who have been through the worst tragedy and it does not break them. They are angry. They are devastated. But they are also living and finding a way forward. The narrative does not dwell on rage or even on the physical. This is very much a story of emotional change and the bulk of the text focuses inward.
What I didn't like: This book may be a bit abstract for some readers. It spends very little time on conversations or movement, filling it's pages instead with well crafted lines and evocative thought. It can be a bit preachy at times but that is largely forgiveable.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
A friend asked for some coffee cup sweaters in a variety of colors and I happily obliged. These little sweaters knit up quickly. They're made flat and then seamed up the back. It's a great use for some scrap yarn.
