If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman
Published: 2009, Dutton
199 pages

In honor of my cousin Jaclyn, who recently asked for a book recommendation in her Facebook status because apparently I don't give enough positive reviews in this blog, I am doing a week-long series of posts about books that I do recommend.  Don't worry, everybody, I have an arsenal of recommendations up my sleeve; I've just been holding back to keep you all on your toes.  The time has come, though, and I begin with this sweet, easy read by Gayle Forman.

This book is written from the first-person perspective of 17-year-old Mia.  On a snow day, she and her very tight-knit family (Mom, Dad, brother Teddy) decide to take a little road trip that ends in a fatal accident for everyone in the family but Mia.  For the majority of the book, Mia is in a coma but her conscious self is wandering around the hospital, watching her remaining family, friends, and doctors and nurses handle the situation.

The narration alternates between stories of Mia's almost-perfect former family life and her current state of watching herself struggle to hold onto life on a hospital bed.  At some point, she realizes that she has the power to decide whether she "stays" or dies (hence the title: "If I Stay").  Mia goes back and forth between not wanting to continue living because she doesn't want to be an orphan and also because it is "easier to die" and wanting to continue living because she has so many close loved ones (including an amazing, but still believable, boyfriend as well as a great best friend) and life ahead of her.

Mia's family is quirky and totally lovable and believable.  Her parents are former punk rockers who give her a lot of freedom and a lot of love.  Her boyfriend is a punk rocker, too, and they have a great (but not too-perfect; they have many real-life relationship conflicts) relationship that I really appreciated.  In the stories sprinkled throughout the narrative, Mia describes her perception of her place among all these characters, and the picture Forman paints is both honest and realistic.  Mia doesn't feel like she totally fits in because she's a concert cellist and all her loved ones play rock instruments.  She's not part of the popular crowd in school, but she's fine having just one really good friend.  In the end, she is weighing her options and trying to figure out if she has a place in a world without her immediate family.

Forman raises some interesting questions about life and death, but she also raises some good questions about family.  Is your family limited to the one you're born into, or can it also include the people you've chosen to surround yourself with?  Who are you without your family?  Do you have the same identity if the people who have known you the longest are suddenly gone?

Mia's family reminded me of my own freakishly close family, and maybe that's what I liked about this book so much.  I don't know who I'd be without my crazy family, even if they do sometimes insult me by looking elsewhere for book recommendations.

You Had Me At Woof

Author: Julie Klam
Published: 2010, Riverhead
228 pages

Written by an active member of Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue, Inc., this is a compilation of Julie Klam's Boston Terrier rescue stories.  The subtitle is "How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness," and the chapters are divided into "Lessons" the author learned with the help of the various homeless dogs she encountered as a dog rescuer.  Some example chapters: "Lesson Six: How to Fall In Love... Again," "Lesson Seven: How to Mourn the Loss of a Friend."

I didn't love this book, mainly because I didn't think that her anecdotes connected very well to the chapter titles.  At times I couldn't even figure out what the chapter titles even meant, let alone how they connected to the text that followed.  A prime example of this is "Lesson Two: How to Find the Parachute Color That's Most Flattering to You," a chapter about the author's experience trying to become an animal medium so she can talk to her dog.  The ridiculousness of the story aside, I am utterly confused as to what the "Lesson" is and how it connects to the story itself.

Despite this problem (which I think could have been corrected by a keener editing eye), the stories are really funny, heartwarming, and her writing style is engaging and subtly hilarious.  Any dog lover will relate to the housebreaking horror stories as well as the sweet tales of the dog-human bond.  Her rescues were a great source of joy, but also of stress and heartbreak, and her stories do a good job of relating her (and her family's) conflicting emotions regarding every dog she took in.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge advocate of dog rescue (as opposed to buying a dog from a pet store), but I had no idea how complicated the rescue process can actually be.  What surprised me most about these stories was how many people can be involved in every rescue, and how much time, effort, and expenses these average people actually contribute just to save a dog's life.  I found Klam's honest depiction of the rescue process and the inner workings of the rescue group truly eye-opening and moving.

I know what you're thinking... Another dog book.  But I can't be fully blamed for this one because my Mom gave it to me for Christmas, along with training sessions for her very sweet but sometimes-rude granddog Cooper.  Thanks, Mom, he needs it!

Cooper, cutest dog in the world, engaging in a behavior that will soon be corrected by Grandma's gift of training

And after we're done with forming Cooper into a model citizen, I think I'll follow in Julie Klam's footsteps and start taking in some fosters to further complicate my life!

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: 2008, Scholastic
374 pages

I realized that my last three posts have been about books that I absolutely hated, so I've decided to treat you all to a post about a book I would actually recommend.  That book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I heard great things about this book months ago, but it was another one of those really fun things that had to wait "until grad school is over" because it's part of a trilogy and I knew I would want to read all three in a row.  As it happened, grad school isn't technically "over" yet, but I read it anyway.  Story of my life.  During my undergrad, I read the entire Twilight series during the last couple weeks of the semester (yes, including finals week).  But enough about me.....

This book takes place in a place called Panem, a dystopia formerly known as North America.  Panem was once made up of 13 districts, but the 13th district revolted and was obliterated by the Capitol.  As punishment for the revolt, the remaining 12 districts are required to send one boy and one girl to participate in a gladiator-like battle to the death called The Hunger Games every year.  The last kid standing is the winner, and the rest are... dead.

When Katniss's little sister Prim is randomly selected to be District 12's contribution to the Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place.  Katniss is a hunter, good with a bow and arrow, but is still the underdog when she gets into the arena and is faced with kids who have been training their whole lives for the Games.  While the kids die one by one inside the arena, the public outside watches the Games unfold on TV.  The public's enthusiasm for the Games, complete with betting and sponsoring, is absolutely revolting, and Collins has done such a good job making it realistic that I found myself cringing the whole time I was reading.

I'm not giving away anything else about the book because I highly highly recommend going out and reading it yourself.  I know I am going to pick up my copies of the next two books (Catching Fire and Mockingjay) today!  Just as soon as I finish these last two grad school assignments.....

Armageddon Summer

Authors: Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville
Published: 1999, Graphia
272 pages

Told from the alternating points of view of two teenage narrators, Marina and Jed, this book is an account of a couple of weeks they spend camping on a mountain with a Christian religious group ("the Believers") who believes the world is going to end on July 27.  Both Marina and Jed are dragged up the mountain by their Believer parents, and while Jed is skeptical from the start, it isn't until Marina gets there that she begins to see what is going on around her and questioning her faith.  That's when things really start to get interesting... NOT!

For me, you can't really go wrong when you put religion, cult psychology, and the apocalypse into one story together, but this book somehow ended up being one big miss.  The narrators are far too mature to be even remotely believable, and the rest of the characters are just annoying.  The most likable character is actually the one who is supposed to be the most crazy, the leader of the pack Reverend Beelson.  I was expecting the narrative to be more about cult dynamics or psychology, but Yolen and Coville don't ever go there.  Instead, we just follow these unrealistic characters around as they internally debate their faith, experience a two-week-long camping trip, and a brief and completely unrealistic teenage romance.

I kept reading only because I thought the world was going to end eventually.  Honestly, that is the only way this book could have redeemed itself.  Instead, nothing ever happens except a bunch of people break into the camp and another bunch of people die in the ensuing riot.  Then everybody else just packs up camp and goes home.  Thrilling!  I wouldn't normally completely give away an ending, but I am advising you to never read the book yourself, so I don't think it matters much.

If you're interested in cults or cult psychology, I recommend watching the National Geographic special "Inside a Cult."  If not, then there are plenty of other things you can do that would be infinitely more entertaining and worthwhile than reading this book.

Under the Dome

Author: Stephen King
Published: 2010, Pocket (Reprint edition)
1088 pages

Don't waste your time.