Throwback Thursday: Love, Shelley

Love, Shelley by Kate Saksena 2003
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK)

Rating: 4/5

IQ "You [Ziggy] said it wasn't always a good idea to be honest with everyone else but you must be honest with yourself and with at least one person you can really trust." Shelley pg. 7-8

Shelley's favorite singer is Ziggy. She needs someone to talk to about everything that's going on at home and at school. She can't keep a diary for fear her mother will read it and she doesn't want to discuss her family problems with her friends. She decides to write letters to Ziggy, one each month, for a year. Even though he's a busy celebrity, she hopes he'll write back...
At first glance this book looks and sounds cute. I admit to thinking that it wouldn't be a very serious read or it wouldn't come off believably. I was wrong on both counts, this novel looks cute but the content is anything but and the author manages to keep a balance between the light and heavy stuff. Shelley's mother is an alcoholic and it's up to Shelley to take care of her younger brother, Jake when her mother is passed out or too drunk to remember to feed them. Shelley's father divorced their mother, in large part due to the alcoholism. Shelley is very dedicated, she's determined to take care of her mother and Jake without anyone's help. Through Shelley's letters we learn a lot about our life; her struggles at home, being bullied at school, her first crush, her first teacher crush (her math teacher looks like Will Smith and is the cause of many amusing incidents!) and a lot more. I also liked learning about Black culture in London, Shelley's dad is black and she is very close to his side of the family who are very proud of their heritage. Shelley lives with her white mother and since her mother is rarely around, there's no opportunity for Jake or Shelley to learn about their Black heritage at home (something interesting to me was that Shelley describes herself as mixed race, whereas in the States she would be seen as biracial and the term 'mixed race' would probably be applied to someone with has more than two cultures in their background. I think, correct me if I'm wrong). It's completely believable that Shelley would spill her heart out to a relative stranger, Ziggy is one of her idols and she can tell him secrets she can't tell anyone else because he doesn't know the people in her life. There's not a lot of over explanation, Shelley's background and story develop naturally through the letters.

I was troubled at the lack of help Shelley received from her father, grandparents and other family members. They saw how bad her mother could get and they knew Shelley and Jake where barely surviving, but they never really stepped in. I didn't find that realistic at all, several times Shelley mentions that her father comes to visit but leaves before their mother gets home to avoid a scene, to my mind that's not very responsible parenting. I could understand if Shelley's family is portrayed as uncaring, but Shelley as great love for them and they are described as caring and kind people so it doesn't add up. The bullying storyline was completely unrealistic as well, it just got ridiculous to the point where I was still cheering for Shelley to succeed but I was also rolling my eyes. I also thought that Shelley didn't really act her age, she's fourteen but she seemed a lot younger. I was bothered by Ziggy, but in a good way. You remain skeptical throughout the whole book if Ziggy is actually reading Shelley's letters and writing back. I was surprised by the ending but it works. I liked that each letter started with some lyrics from one of Ziggy's songs that would inevitably tie back to the subject Shelley is writing about.

Love, Shelley is a winsome novel about a resilient girl and her struggles balancing the trials of being a teenager who is forced to grow up a lot faster than other teenagers. Since the book has only been published in the UK, there's no explanation of any of the English terms that Shelley used and while that could be confusing at times (not sure what a queue or off-licence is) I liked the total immersion. (I totally walked around thinking in a British accent! ;) It was cool reading about how the English police force works, but sad at the same time because of the circumstances. The novel avoids cliches and the same-old-story trap by putting a fresh spin on the coming of age story by having Shelley write to a famous musician.

Disclosure: Received from Book Fairy #3. Thank you Kaz!

PS This is a bit random but I thought I'd share. I went to tag this as about African Americans but realized that it wasn't because it's set in England. So I'm tagging it as Black people. Does that offend some people? Is there a better term? I do want to review more UK/Australian books about POC and this is only a minor tagging problem for Black people living in these countries because Latino and Asian apply regardless. I would specify what indigenous group of people I'm talking about in relation to Australia, New Zealand, etc.

PSS Here's one of my favorite lines from Shelley dealing with the bullies;

"'I'm feeling claustrophobic, all of a sudden,' said Janice.
'It's the overcrowding,' said Olivia. [....]
'Janice, if you have a problem with claustrophobia, you should see a psychiatrist!' I [Shelley] said to her.
'Shut your nasty little mouth,' snarled Janice.
'I was only concerned for your health,' I said." pg. 29

Perfect comeback, not rude, but it shuts the bullies up (temporarily).

Throwback Thursday is a meme hosted by Jenny at Take Me Away

Reading in Color Note:*I will be out of town June 18-21 (Friday to Monday). I will respond to all comments and emails as soon as I can. I have scheduled posts to run while I'm gone, I'm particularly proud of one that I have for this Sunday (Father's Day).

Ash

Ash by Malinda Lo 2009
Little & Brown/Hachette Book Group

Rating: 100/5!!

IQ "She wasn't exactly telling the truth, but she wasn't entirely lying, either, for she did not believe that wrong was an accurate description of her feelings. Perplexed, yes; uncertain, yes; but beneath it all something as yet unnamed was coming into focus." pg. 187

I chose the above quote because I think it fully exemplifies how people feel when they fall in love and I also think that it describes how people feel may feel when struggling to find out their sexuality (this is pure speculation, based on the few other books I've read, so in all probability I may be wrong and feel free to say so). As in, when first falling in love, people are confused. We don't know what this bubbly (cute song) feeling is that has come upon us, we feel uncertain but happy.

I LOVED this novel! As soon as I finished it, I knew that I had to review it on Christmas, a wonderful book for a wonderful day (if you don't celebrate Christmas, well then it's for a wonderful holiday season! Ash is a retelling of Cinderella. I must admit, I would prefer to have seen this version of Cinderella in movie form as a child or to have it read to me. Anyway, Ash is short for Aisling and her story starts off somewhat typically, just add in magic. Ash is devastated by the loss of her parents, especially the death of her mother. She wants to die and be with her family. Her stepmother has her working as a servant and her stepsisters are apathetic and even make her life worse. Enter Sidhean and Kaisa (I also adore all the names used in the novel). Sidhean is a powerful fairy and Ash falls in love with him, she wants to become a part of his world. Sidhean is handsome and seems to care deeply for Ash, but he's also dangerous. She feels that only in the world of fairies will she be happy (short of death and in a way you do die when you join the faeries). Then she meets Kaisa who is the King's Huntress. Kaisa is beautiful, friendly to her and doesn't treat Ash like a lowly servant (unlike everyone else in her life). She treats Ash with respect. She teaches her things and listens to her. In a way, Ash is a love triangle but within that love triangle are the deeper forces, Sidhean represents death and Kaisa represents life. Who will she chose? Also, all the characters are three-dimensional. We learn their stories and while some don't change, we learn the motives behind their actions, and some characters do change for the better.

I love the twists in Ash. Not just the obvious of Ash falls in love with a woman. Their romance is slow to develop but it's thoroughly enjoyable. But that's not what this novel is about. Ash is not a coming out story, it's more of a coming of age story. Even more it's about a girl coming to terms with her grief and learning to love again. She is at rock bottom and love saves her. Ash is grieving and Sidhean is a way out, he's not Prince Charming (he is charming though). He's her fairy godmother (fairy godfather to be politically correct ;p). Also his help comes at a price. Ash is unpredictable because while you suspect the story will have a happy ending, there is a good deal of pain and trials to go through. How exactly will Ash get her happy ending?

The writing in Ash is absolutely beautiful. You turn each page slowly and you never want the story to end. I relished each place. I could have stayed in Ash's world forever. I could perfectly envision it in my mind's eye. A place where everyone is accepting of people's gender (there's no preconceived gender roles), sexuality (there are gay couples and it's totally fine) and race. Race is never really mentioned in the book, only in descriptions of character's appearance, although the author has said that she has always seen Ash and Kaisa as Asian. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where people's race and sexuality were accepted as is and that no one was told they could not do something because of their gender? I also loved this world for the fairies. They are beautiful, cold, magical beings. They hide from the humans and the only real source of conflict in Ash's world is over whether or not fairies exist, and the practicing of magic by greenwitches. And of course, the exquisite scenery described in Ash adds to the attraction of her world. Ash spends much of her time in the Woods, where faeries are said to lurk. The Woods are described with such detail, you can envision them perfectly in your imagination.

I can't recommend this book enough. Ash will blow you away, it's just lovely. I finished this book feeling satisfied with a happy content feeling, but then later on, I wanted more (the author is working on a story set in the same world but thousands of years earlier, I believe). I'm so glad I bought this book because Ash is a book I will treasure and re-read countless times. Also, the cover is gorgeous! I'm so glad that one of my new favorite books has a great cover to go with it :) There's no graphic violence or sexually explicit acts so I'm going to recommend this to all who are in 7th grade and up.

I want to close this review with a quote from the author (which I found watching this video because I think she is right on and I couldn't have said it any better myself (I'm paraphrasing a bit) "The real fairytale is that nobody cares that she's gay. The fairytale is that she can fall in love with another woman and it's as normal and wonderful as any heterosexual romance." Amen! It's a beautiful romance, but Ash is about so much more; loss, love and hope. Ash is a must-read. Don't miss out on this stunning debut novel.

PS Merry Christmas everyone!!!! And I hope everyone continues to have a happy holiday season :)

Male Monday: Chameleon

Chameleon by Charles R. Smith 2008

Rating: 4/5

IQ "They see four of us walking down the street and think we wanna rob them. They think we want what they have when we not even thinking about them at all. Why can't we just be four young black kids? Better yet, why can't we just be four teenagers? Not four suspicious characters. We aren't characters. We real-I'm real." pg. 315

This is my second book being reviewed about summer within two days (see One Crazy Summer) and I really want summer to be here, now please! No school, just me, my books and friends. Ah well Winter break is coming up so I won't whine too much, since no one wants to hear that :)

It's the summer before freshman year of high school for Shawn and his three best friends; Lorenzo, Andre and Trey. They all live in Compton (except Shawn who lives in Carson but his mom drops him off at his aunt's house in Compton). They start off thinking the summer will be boring, but it turns out to be a bit more exciting than they thought. Shawn stays with his alcoholic aunt Gertie during the day while his mother works in a university cafeteria. He comes from a divorced home and only sees his dad every now and then on the weekends, however it is clear to Shawn and the reader that his father cares deeply about him.

The book offered a new perspective for me since I've never experienced a summer like the one that the boys had. They had no plans whatsoever, just whatever they felt like (and could afford )to do that day. However the book isn't monotonous, it's not completely lively, but filled with small actions and adventures that combine to form a pleasant read. I don't know much about Compton or gangs (although they are a huge problem in the city where I live) so I'm taking the author's word that the book is realistic in its portrayal of gangs. One of the most well-written parts of the book are the parts about gang violence. The two colors that can not be worn are red and blue. Red is for the Pirus, blue is for the Crips. Every day the boys do a color check, they make sure they aren't wearing a color they could get in trouble for; the consequences are grave, being beaten up or worse. I can't imagine not being able to wear what I ever want for fear of retaliation (although there are certain places that you just know not to go where I live, just like in Compton, but not as bad, I don't think). The naive me wants to ask "Who cares?" but that's only a question that a gang member could answer, because I really don't get it.

All the characters keep you firmly engaged in the story. Shawn is a great character; he's smart, good at basketball, funny and loyal. He'll do anything for his boys and they for him. He truly has a great group of friends. Shawn also thinks fast on his feet, with hilarious results (an incident with a dug while trying to get pomegranates results in a new fashion statement). Shawn's mother is a bit overprotective, but smart and loving. She's determined to see Shawn go to college and often brings back suggestions of books Shawn should read (she gets the suggestions from professors at the university she works at). Shawn's father travels a lot and educates him about the places he's been to, he also wants to see Shawn go to college. Shawn has a strong bond with his father, which is really nice to read about.

What I didn't like about the book was that I don't think it was ever made really clear as to why Shawn's mother continuously drove him 12 miles from their home in Carson to his alcoholic aunt's house in Compton. She kept complaining about Compton being dangerous, but her solution was to try and force him to stay at home with his aunt. His aunt isn't exactly a great influence, he has to take care of her quite often and she causes him to have some painful, humiliating memories. Why couldn't Shawn's mother just leave him at home by himself? He's about to be a freshman, definitely old enough to watch himself. I think her reasoning could of been made a little clearer. I also would have liked to learn a little more about Shawn's friends, we learned a lot about Lorenzo, but not so much about Andre and Trey. And a few more details on Marisol (Shawn's first-love) would have been nice.

Chameleon takes you through a whole course of summer. It's a fun, humorous, painful, bumpy ride to fall, high school and maturity. The novel is highly entertaining. It starts off with a yo' mama joke and the fun continues on. It's an entertaining read that consists of boys being boys (i.e. making jokes, talking about girls, playing sports and being restless) and compelling characters. The boys deal with gangs, sterotypes aganist African American males, dogs, alcoholism, drugs, basketball, girls, hot days and kung fu. I love reading books about guys because they're so funny, they're blunt and sometimes a bit crude, but I like that every now and then! Their humor is refreshing and often they are less concerned about what others think of them. It's nice to see a positive book about an African American teenager struggling with life in the inner-city. Shawn, is one of the lucky ones (sadly there are too few cases similar to his) with two loving parents who (though not together) support him and love him, which will enable him (along with his brightness) to go far in life. 8th grade and up.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Chameleon from Laura Rivas at Candlewick Press. Thanks Laura!