Most of us have this idea of adoption as a sort of perfect completion. A couple chooses a child to become a part of their family and love makes them complete. The child, grateful to be chosen, is just like a natural born child. This novel blows that notion out of the water. The simple fact is no adoption is easy. Especially international adoption. The process of bonding with an adopted child is difficult and may never fully succeed (an experience confirmed by a few of my childhood friends who were adopted themselves). Half a World Away puts us into the life of Jaden, a Romanian boy adopted at age 8 with a serious attachment disorder. He hordes food, destroys possessions, and secretly believes his adopted parents (whom he mentally calls by their first names) dislike him and would prefer to be rid of him. When his parents decide to adopt another child, this brings to the forefront many of Jaden's issues and forces him to consider his own value and the notion of love. Kadohata takes us deep into Jaden's emotional world, allowing us to live his life along with him and make connections with him. We struggle to understand his parents and the world around him just as Jaden does. This is an emotionally complex story but one that will have us viewing our own families in a new light.
Here's a book that wasn't really at all what I expected. While I appreciate the need for books that look at bullying and which acknowledge that telling an adult isn't always a practical solution for kids, I'm not sure I'm okay with the solutions Raine came up with either. Plotting against and threatening to socially ruin a bully don't seem like methods one would want to advocate. Additionally, Raine takes some pretty significant safety risks and never once considers asking for help. The final chapters do acknowledge the dangers of those decisions but I'm not sure that's enough to make up for my concerns. I'd also have liked to have seen more of the turmoil between Raine and her mother. That wasn't addressed enough for my tastes.
What a fun book! While the mystery is not overly complex, it is solidly constructed much like your standard cop show. While Zengo and O'Malley are in stereotypical roles (the overly eager and impulsive rookie and the slightly jaded old-timer) the novelty of the world Krosoczka has built keeps the characters from feeling stale. And of course there is the vaguely menacing specter of Pandini looming over the plot. He reminded me of Daredevil's Kingpin. His reputation is built on good intentions but something darker drives him. All in all, this is a solid introduction to a middle grade series.
The thing about most novels is you only get one or two perspectives on the story. While our hero is facing adversity and meeting with a variety of other characters, some only for a moment, life goes on around him. But what does that mean for the people he meets? It's refreshing to read books like this one which acknowledge that every individual has a story. These stories all intertwine to create a larger plot. In this case of this novel, each small story in some way involves the middle finger gesture. More than that, though, they are connected by the idea of self-discovery. Every character in this book makes some discovery about himself/herself. These discoveries may be affirming or depressing. Either way, the character ends this one day enlightened in some small way. It's a pretty interesting slice of life.
In historical fiction, it's important to capture both the events and the sense of the corresponding era. This is a task that this novel more than accomplishes. The Tate family jumps out from the page, as real as your own neighbor. Their adventures and foibles are entertaining and humorous, much like the tales in Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. At the same time there is an underlying current of worry and dissatisfaction throughout the novel. Calpurnia simply does not fit into societal expectations. A chance encounter with her grandfather opens up the world for her in a way that virtually guarantees that she won't be satisfied with the life of domesticity that her mother has planned for her. It is both surprising and satisfying that her discontent remains at the conclusion of the novel, a likely result given that there were precious few opportunities for girls at the turn of the century. This book is an absolute delight.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is a little more on the high fantasy side of things than I usually prefer. A great deal of the plot deals with bargains and the inter-workings and machinations of the high fae. I found those elements to be rather wearing. At heart, though, this is an excellent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I'd go so far as to say I prefer it to Disney's version. For one thing, Feyre is a far more powerful character than Disney's Belle. Feyre has given up everything to protect her family. She's a hardened hunter, undereducated, though we see touches of a softer side early on with her fondness for painting. She's stubborn, outspoken, and opinionated, attributes that serve a heroine well in high fantasy. Prythian is a delightfully described world, making this book worth reading for descriptions alone. It's a weighty read but worth wading through if you have the patience.
Book #1 complete!
The Doubt Factory is a complex, political novel. It's the story of a privileged teenage girl who has her whole world shaken by what she thinks is a prankster called 2.0. It isn't long before she discovers that 2.0 is much more. This group of activists has uncovered a industry of misinformation and doubt that has allowed dangerous, life-threatening products to remain on the market, unlabeled, for years. Companies are getting rich at the cost of human lives. And 2.0 isn't going to stand for it any longer. They just need Alix's help to get proof and get the message out.
I love books like this one about being awakened to the dark side of our modern life. Teens are already questioning many things about their personal lives. It's important to encourage them to question the larger world as well. The Doubt Factory takes a very close look at public relations and the media, encouraging the reader to look beyond the story that is being spun to the facts underneath. The writing is tight and tense. The characters have complexity and voice. This is a great book for the thinking reader.
