Girl Meets Boy

Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story; edited by Kelly Milner Halls, featuring stories by Chris Crutcher, Kelly Milner Halls, Jospeh Bruchac, Cynthia Leitich Smith, James Howe, Ellen Wittlinger, Rita Williams-Garcoa. Terry Trueman, Terry Davis, Rebecca Fjelland Davis, Sara Ryan & Randy Powell (ARC version) 2012
Chronicle Books

Rating: 2.5/5

IQ "I know this shouldn't be anything, shouldn't matter, but for some reason it does matter to me; Raffina is black, and I'm white. Of course, she's not really black any more than I'm really white. She's kind of dark brown, no, kind of medium brownish. I'm definitely sort of beige or something, light beige, tinted pink or red depending on how much time I spend in the sun (I don't tan, I just burn). Maybe a better way to put this is that Raffina's ancestors came from Africa, and my ancestors came from....I don't know....not Africa. Someplace like England or Germany or Canada or something." Sean + Raffina, Sean pg. 117 (Trueman)

Twelve authors, 6 stories, straight and gay relationships. One author tells the story from the guy's point of view, the other tells the story from the girl's point of view. I picked the quote I did because it made me laugh in its simplicity and truth.

 The back of the book describes this as a "collection of he said/she said stories" but I was disappointed in that regard. Instead these are stories about the differences between guys and girls ways of thinking but I was expecting each story to be about one situation/conflict told from the perspective of the guy and girl. Those sort of stories would have been more appealing in my opinion. The stories also did not seem to mesh well with the other half of the story, let alone the stories included in the overall collection and since they ended up not all being about romantic relationships I found it a bit confusing. I know short stories have to be short but these seemed to be too quick, the main character was developed but the other characters introduced sort of floundered. Furthermore found most of the characters to be rather forgettable and I was not particularly invested in the outcome of the so-called relationship. I also never thought I would say this but..the stories needed more romance. They just seemed bland.

 I did really enjoy the story 'Love or Something Like It' (its Chris Crutcher, who I love) and its complementary story, 'Some Things Never Change' (Halls) because they really took stereotypes and turned them on its head with the jock and the 'slut'. I felt Cynthia Leitich Smith and Joseph Bruchac did a good job of actually linking up their stories in  'Falling Down to see the Moon' (Bruchac) and 'Mooning Over Broken Stars' (Smith). And 'Launchpad to Neptune' (Sara Ryan & Randy Powell) is absolutely fascinating, it actually had a plot twist that I did not see coming and had well developed characters besides the main ones. There are points in each story that are relatable and while each story has one major issue and its all rather straightforward, they are stories that need to be told especially for those who need to get over their own prejudices. Books like these might help gently prod them to rethink their antipathy to dating someone outside their race, or to disapprove of those who are gay or lesbian or to judge people based on the number of people they may or may not have slept with.

Girl Meets Boy contains a collection of short and sweet stories from some of the best talents in the YA world and while I think these stories might have been more memorable if they were longer/a book of their own, better to have a little of the story than none at all. The stories can be heavy-handed at times and the supporting characters fell flat (and the cover's weird) but they are interesting. I also loved the last bit at the end where each of the authors (except Rita Williams Garcia, who I really wanted to hear from) shared their inspiration for their respective story. This book is a quick read that will pass the time but it most likely won't stay with you, read it at the beach or in a park.

Disclosure: This is embarrassing but I don't remember.....I think I got it from the publisher. Whoever it was, thank you!

Throwback Thursday: Rain Is Not My Indian Name

Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith 2001
HarperCollins

Rating: 3/5

IQ "What with that foot crowding my mouth, I could hardly find a reply. Too bad Dmiti couldn't sell me a word-catcher to let good ones through and trap the rest. It was just that I'd seen so many tacky-looking dreamcatchers over the years, the kind with fakelore gift tags and flamingo-pink feathers. I looked again, more closely this time. the one Dmitri had shown me was beautiful. Being the real thing made a huge difference." Rain pg. 71

Cassidy Rain Berghoff decides on New Year's Eve she will start anew. Her birthday is on New Year's day, she's never kissed a boy and she's about to turn fourteen. What better way to welcome the new year than by kissing a guy she likes? That same night, Rain's best friend, Galen dies. Now it's six months later and Rain rarely leaves her house. Galen was her only close friend and she doesn't want to talk to anyone. She didn't even attend his funeral. Rain decides to re-enter the world when her Aunt Georgia's Indian Camp is threatened. The Indian Camp is designed to promote pride in various Native American cultures, it's being challenged for asking for funds from Rain's small Kansas community (seen as wasteful spending). Rain loves to take pictures and so she is hired by her town newspaper to photograph the campers. Rain doesn't really want to get involved, she's mainly there for her Aunt Georgia, but there's something about the camp that keeps drawing her back in.

This is another book that I feel could have benefited from being longer (it's only 135 pages). The plot concerning Indian Camp was a new and interesting one and I wish it had been further developed. I wanted to follow them on the field trip and learn more about their respective cultures. I was hoping to learn more about other activities that were a part of Indian Camp. Most of the characters were well developed, except for Galen's mother. She just seemed vindictive and while I could understand her arguments, there didn't seem to be a true motive behind them. Rain's father is in the army and he's in Guam for the entirety of the book but there is some fleshing out of his character, but not as much as I would have liked. In addition, at times I thought Rain could be a bit naive for fourteen. she doesn't understand the rumors swirling about her and her best friend, Galen, which surprised me. I would have assumed that she would have caught on.

I read Born Confused right before I starting reading Rain Is Not My Indian Name and it was a nice coincidence that both books have a main character who loves to take pictures. Rain loves to take pictures in black and white, she feels that it helps to capture the complexity of the subject and it doesn't hide anything. It's a small thing but I also appreciated that Rain hadn't taken pictures for a few months and when she finally picks up her camera again, she doesn't take perfect pictures. She makes mistakes in her shots but gradually she does remember and excel. I felt this was more authentic. I get annoyed when a character has a talent, ignores it and is then able to just pick it up again and be brilliant at it. That may be authentic for some people, but not all. Rain is Muscogee Creek-Cherokee, Scots-Irish, German and Ojibway (I decided to just include the Ojibway tribe as the label because that's the heritage that plays the largest role in the story), but she doesn't like to tell people that unless they are Native. As she explains "when it's Native people asking, probably because they show respect for the tribal affiliation, for my family. They never follow up with something like 'You don't seem Indian to me.'" (pg. 48) I think anyone can relate to that, not wanting to always have to explain/defend yourself, your heritage.

Rain Is Not My Indian Name is another big step towards filling in the ridiculously large gap of books that are about Native Americans and told in a respectful manner. However, the strength of this story also lies in the main character of Rain. Rain is grieving and even though some people think she should have gotten over it already, I was able to sympathize with her grief and understand why she just wanted to stay home (her mother had also died six years ago). Rain's home situation may seem unusual to some readers (she lives with her grandfather who is on vacation in Vegas so during the course of the book she lives with her older "Native American Fabio" brother, Fynn and his girlfriend) but the sibling and parental issues are ones that all teenagers face in some way, shape or form. Rain is polite, but she calls it like she sees it and that's refreshing. Plus she's not easily swayed by guys, which is a bonus. I think this book could have worked so much more if it had done MORE. I suppose since the Indian camp was only supposed to last a few days, that's why it was so short, but I wanted to closely follow the Indian Camp, as closely as rain trailed the campers with her camera. I was most surprised by how immersed I was in small-town culture. I personally, felt stifled (everyone knew everybody's business, two Black families, nine Native Americans, one or two Jewish people, not much to do). A fun and multi dimensional group of characters with a new (well new-to-me) setting made this book a quick but good read read.

Disclosure: Bought

PS The character of Queenie CRACKED ME UP. It reminded me of how almost everyone tries to claim some kind of Native American heritage. Especially Black southerners. It's so funny (funny to meanyway) because usually the Native American tribe they claim is the same (Cherokee) and it's so far removed, it's ridiculous to even try to make the claim. But I have white friends who do the same thing. It's an amusing phenomena.

Throwback Thursday is hosted by Take Me Away Reading

Halloween Review: Eternal

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Rating: 5/5

IQ "About Miranda. Her soul. With faith, repentance and sacrifice, anybody can be redeemed, right? Anybody. She's still somebody. Maybe it's harder for a vamp to be good. But you could say the same of the poor or the oppressed or politicians. She didn't fall, Josh. What she is had nothing to do with free will. She was taken." Zachary



This book will stay with me for close to eternity I'm sure! It was funny, sweet and thought-provoking in a very subtle way. Oh and I now officially love vampires. I understand the craze, because even though vampires are evil in Eternal there is just something about them that draws you in. Cynthia Leitich Smith does a wonderful job of creating this secret world of vampires and angels interacting with ordinary people. I liked learning about the hierarchy of the vampire world (the most powerful and important vampire is known as Dracula, not the original one of course. It's more like a title), and learning about the world of the vampire nobility (it's not a particularly happy or nice world), vampire royalty and nobility like to be called 'eternal' (hence the title!).

Miranda is the main character (she's half-Asian I believe. I know she's Asian just not sure if she's fully or only half) and she becomes the princess of the vampire world after she dies only to have the King of the vampires save her. She is adopted by the current King of the Mantle of Dracula (also known as Dracula). At first she only sees the perks of being vampire royalty. She's now stunningly beautiful and she can have whatever she wants (cars, money, guys, etc.) Miranda lives in Dracula's castle and the descriptions of the castle were extremely vivid and well-done! I would love to visit Dracula's castle (but in the words of Cynthia Leitich Smith, "not without a guardian angel by my side.") Miranda's teenage guardian angel is Zachary. He's hot, caring and well, an angel (so obviously he's perfect), except not completely perfect because he fails to save Miranda from dying and becoming a vampire. Throughout the novel, Zachary is trying to figure out how to rescue Miranda, save her soul and keep from falling in love with her.

The story is told in alternating perspectives, Miranda's and Zachary's. Zachary's perspective was particularly amusing, especially when describing the duties of a guardian angel "I watch my girl slip the oversize Dallas Cowboys T-shirt over her pink bikini panties and turn in for the night, That sounds perverted, I know. But I've always watched her dress, undress, shower and bathe....it's my job to keep an eye on her 24/7. I'm Miranda's guardian angel (GA for short). A newbie created after the first atomic blast in 1945." Zach is such a sweet guy and the budding romance (more accurately described as romantic/sexual tension) between Miranda and Zach is sizzling!

While I read this book I was in constant SHUTUP AND LET ME READ! mode, but this book is worth it. It's definitely a book that you will want to read in one day so students beware (a late night/early morning lies ahead of you), but this book is fantastic so it's worth the lack of sleep. Eternal is funny, romantic, a paranormal thriller and contains a bit of political analysis. But the ending? NO! I mean it was a good ending, but it is the definition of a cliff-hanger. I was furious when the book ended, I couldn't believe the author would leave me hanging like that! But she can and she did. So I will just have to be patient and wait for the sequel. The sequel is called Blessed and it actually picks up from where Tantalize left off, but characters from Eternal are in it, so hopefully the story of Miranda & Zachary and their world will be resolved. For more info on Eternal (some spoilers on this page though!) check out the author's website

Tantalize was Ms. Smith's first YA book. Read my Tantalize review here. I liked Eternal so much more than Tantalize, but they're both good and I recommend them both (although I suggest you start with Eternal!) You don't need to have read one, to read the other. High school and up. Especially recommended for vampire lovers and everyone in the spirit of Halloween!

And here's the wonderful book trailer for Eternal If you have trouble viewing it, go here. Sorry for the inconvenience, I still don't know how to put videos that I didn't create in a blog post. I will learn!

Disclousre: Received from Candlewick Press/Cynthia Leitich Smith to review and give away one copy. Thanks so much Cynthia and Candlewick! And go enter the Halloween giveaway already ;)

Throwback Thrusday: Tantalize

Thanks Tashi for coming up with this idea! Reviews of books pre 2007.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith 2007

Rating: 3.5/5

IQ “It was funny, though, the things you didn’t learn about people until after they died.” Quincie Morris

Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her hybrid-werewolf first love threatens to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. And just as she and her uncle are about to debut Austin’s red hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef.

Can Quincie transform the new hire into a culinary dark lord before opening night? Will Henry Johnson be able to wow the crowd in fake fangs, a cheap cape, and red contact lenses? Or is there more to this earnest fresh face than meets the eye?

As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

This is my first off-color review (although the author is Native American and I believe a major character, Kieren is half-Mexican). There are so many better lines than the above one in the book, but I can’t write them because it would give something away, I’m not big on the whole vampire craze (I despise Twilight, although that’s the only vampire story I’ve ever read no vampire books interested me), but this book just made me a fan (even though vampires are bad in this world). I read it in one day, I could not put it down and to avoid interruption I read it all night (from about 9 pm-2 am). If you don’t like vampires (or werewolves), read this book. I’m positive that you will at least become a fan of the world that Cynthia has created and by extent become a fan of werewolves and vampires. If you already like vampires and werewolves, you’re really going to find this book interesting.

This book was generally unpredictable. I had no idea as to what was going to happen next till the sort-of end (the end itself is a cliffhanger, but the events leading up to the end are pretty predictable). My thinking was in line with Quincie’s about a lot of events and when the truth is revealed I was totally surprised! I loved the idea Quincie’s uncle had for their restaurant, a vampire-theme that included vampire themed décor, menu, staff appearance, etc. It sounds very clever and I probably would go to a restaurant like that. My favorite character was Quincie. She was strong and cool. I don’t think there’s a sequel. Although, I believe Cynthia is going to write a book combining the worlds of Tantalize and Eternal (her 2^nd book but not related to Tantalize). However, with all that being said Qunicie annoyed me sometimes (she acted like a jerk to certain people who were just trying to help and at some parts you could sort of see what was coming and she still didn't get it!) and I just didn't love the book, but I'm sure someone else will. 8^th Grade & up

The book apparently contains hints and allusions to Bram Stoker’s Dracula as well as authors Mary Shelley, Joseph Sheridan, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Mitchell, Ovid and William Shakespeare. I wouldn’t really know because I’ve never read Dracula or anything by the above authors except Shakespeare and Hawthorne (I’ve seen the movies based off of Ovid’s work; Pretty Woman and She’s All That), so I didn’t notice all of them. If you’re a fan of any of those authors than I suggest you read this book as you may notice and like the references and allusions to the various authors.

Also, I’m currently reading (and loving, it’s definitely going to be higher rated than Tantalize!) Eternal, Cynthia’s 2^nd book.

Oh and check out the book trailer for Tantalize :)

*Edit: The author of Tantalize, Cynthia Leitich Smith has informed me that her next book is called Blessed and it picks up from where Tantalize let off. It will include some characters from Eternal. And a graphic novel version of Tantalize is coming out which will be told from Kieran's point of view!

And I just have to let you guys know about two really cool events/blogs I learned about today!

1. Steph over at Hey! Teenager of the Year blog is posting all September long about Books that Changed Lives. Check it out! Here's my list (I'm sure there are awesome books I left off, but I just haven't read them yet!)

2. I just discovered the blog YA Fresh, started by authors Kelly Parra (Graffiti Girl and Invisible Touch) and Tina Ferraro (the ABCs of Kissing Boys, How to Hook a Hottie, Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, love the titles!). This blog is so awesome and throughout all of August they had Multicultural Spotlight. I'm bummed that I missed it, but I'm currently reading all the posts. Head over there! They post about new YA books and of course have giveaways!