A.J. Jacobs has already improved his spirit and his mind by following the Old Testament for a year (in The Year of Living Biblically) and reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica from cover to cover (in The Know-It-All). Now he humbly — and once again with great good humor — broaches the diet & exercise craze.
I see mention of this book everywhere I turn lately, The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR. Some reviews are more positive than others, but most critics applaud his pursuit of self-improvement.
Then there are the very entertaining articles by the author himself. The Slate article about hygiene (repeating the title of which would get this post blocked by every school under the sun), the Huffington Post article about weight loss, and especially “37 Takeaways from Drop Dead Healthy” on the Simon & Schuster website where #1 (Sitting is worse for you than a Paula Deen glazed bacon donut) is later followed by #20 (Are still sitting? If you continue to do so, there’s a 43 percent chance you will be dead by the end of this list).
JACOBS, A. J. Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection. 384p. S & S. 2012. Tr $26. ISBN 978-1-4165-9907-4. LC 2011039172.
Adult/High School–After “perfecting” his mind in The Know It All (2004) and his soul in The Year of Living Biblically (2007, both S & S), Jacobs’s newest quixotic quest is to perfect his body, embarking on a two-year whirlwind tour of all the scientific and pseudo-scientific health advice he can get his hands on. Despite the hyperbolic subtitle, however, Jacobs displays admirable amiability and humility, making him a perfect guide through the morass that is fitness literature. He is genuinely interested in becoming a healthier person and takes readers through each body system as he makes improvements in his lifestyle, never claiming to have discovered the ultimate answer, but simply offering readers his usually quite astute observations as they come. The book, then, is more a personal narrative than a real health guide, but readers may be surprised at how much practical advice it contains and how aware of their own health they become. Adding to the personal narrative are several powerful chapters that recount Jacobs’s last years with his aging grandfather. These chapters are nominally connected to the main narrative by his quest for longevity (which his 94-year-old grandfather clearly has achieved), but in practice they are a moving account of what has been a key relationship for Jacobs with a truly incredible man. Between these two narratives there is more than enough for any fan of narrative nonfiction, particularly those with an interest in healthy lifestyles.–Mark Flowers, John F. Kennedy Library, Vallejo, CA
The fifth installment in Lisa Lutz’s Spellman series has arrived. We reviewed the fourth back in 2010. Makes me laugh to reread my post that day — the movie version never happened, obviously. Ironic since The Spellman Files began life as a screenplay.
I was on the Alex Awards the year The Spellman Files made the list, and Lisa was scheduled to speak at our program at ALA the following summer. She broke her leg very badly just a couple days before and had to cancel. Four books later, I finally had a chance to meet her and hear her speak at a Simon & Schuster librarian preview a couple months ago. She was a lot of fun — and I’m telling you this is because she mentioned her wish to do more school visits. Although, given her success with getting kids to read her books…check out this video. (Just kidding!)
If you’re at PLA and reading this, Lisa is scheduled to appear on the AAP Mystery Author’s Panel tomorrow, Friday, at 10:45am. Wish I was there!
LUTZ, Lisa. Trail of the Spellmans. Bk. 5. 384p. (The Spellman Series). appendix. S & S. 2012. Tr $25. ISBN 978-1-4516-0812-0. LC 2011032509.
Adult/High School–This addition to the series continues to follow the comic adventures of a family detective agency. While there are references to the previous books, it can stand alone. The cases private detective Izzy Spellman takes on are hardly dark or dangerous. Walter’s anxieties require that he have someone check his home when he’s out, just in case he left the bathtub running or forgot to unplug the toaster. At first when Izzy is called to verify that everything is OK in the apartment, she considers it a simple service for Walter’s peace of mind. Then small signs of an intruder start escalating, and she has to identify who is playing games with Walter’s psyche. Another case involves over-protective parents who want their college-age daughter followed every moment to ensure she isn’t tempted to get into trouble. Finally a wife’s surveillance of her husband makes little sense until Izzy discovers her true motive. As in the other installments, the cases are secondary to the melodrama of Izzy, her parents, her younger sister, and her older brother and his family. Izzy narrates the one-upmanship that characterizes family relations through a wickedly sarcastic and immature point of view, with a sprinkling of wise-cracking footnotes bringing additional humor. Colorful secondary characters contribute to the overall madcap feel. Recommend the entire series to teens who enjoy the light tone and flavor of Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” series.–Priscille Dando, Robert E. Lee High School, Fairfax County, VA
Deborah Feldman was born into the Satmar sect of a Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her memoir addresses her coming-of-age and eventual departure from that community. The book’s publication created a flurry of publicity.
An author video, available on Feldman’s homepage, shares a bit of what she was hoping to achieve and how attending college, in secret, helped give her courage to change her life. Her February 14th appearance on The View created quite a bit of controversy.
FELDMAN, Deborah. Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. 272p. map. photos. S & S. 2012. Tr $23. ISBN 978-1-4391-8700-5. LC 2011001386.
Adult/High School–“An empty vessel clangs the loudest.” Outspoken, insolent women in the Satmar Hasidic sect of Judaism are likely to be spiritually hollow. From an early age, this adage is repeated to intellectually curious, always questioning Devoiri Feldman. Her oldest aunt, controlling, take-charge Chaya, constantly reminds her to obey, as do her teachers and her Yiddish textbooks. Feldman carries a stigma of shame in the Satmar community of Brooklyn, NY. Her father’s childlike behavior and lack of personal hygiene leave him all but unemployable. Her mother flees her untenable arranged marriage, leaving young Devoiri to be raised by her strict paternal grandparents. She yearns to take control of her future even as she knows the restrictive path her religion dictates. Compulsively readable, Unorthodox relates a unique coming-of-age story that manages to speak personally to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider in her own life. Feldman bravely lays her soul bare, unflinchingly sharing intimate thoughts and ideas unthinkable within the deeply religious existence of the Satmars. She finds solace and inspiration in the pages of forbidden novels like Little Women that she keeps hidden beneath her mattress. At 17, she is completely unprepared for the intimacy and strictures of her own arranged marriage. After giving birth to a son just over two years later, Feldman musters the courage to take the steps that will ultimately sever her ties to this community. Teens will devour this candid, detailed memoir of an insular way of life so unlike that of the surrounding society.–Paula J. Gallagher, Baltimore County Public Library, MD
What teen is going to sit down and read a 656-page biography??
Well, I have to tell you, Steve Jobs is one of the most-requested nonfiction books in my library this year. Just yesterday, walking down the hall, a teacher asked if the library owned it. Sitting at my desk about half an hour later, a senior stopped by to ask if we had it. We do, we do! But it’s checked out to a science teacher, who has come by twice in the last week to tell me how much she’s enjoying it. A 9th grader read it over the holiday vacation. Just what is it about this man?
Obviously, there are hundreds of articles and reviews and interviews available concerning this book. After all, it was the #1 best-selling book of 2011 on Amazon.com. But the fact I found most interesting is that its author considers it only a first draft. Isaacson is considering an expanded version.
* ISAACSON, Walter. Steve Jobs. 656p. illus. photos. bibliog. index. notes. S & S. 2011. Tr $35. ISBN 978-1-4516-4853-9. LC 2011045006.
Adult/High School–Isaacson exhaustively details the life of one of the most iconic figures of our times. He conducted 40 interviews with Jobs himself as well as numerous interviews with Jobs’s business associates and friends. We hear loud and clear that Jobs sought to define Apple as “the company that thrives best at the intersection of artistry and technology.” The history of Silicon Valley and the technology industry is so intertwined with his life that they are almost one and the same. Isaacson does not spare readers the details of how difficult Jobs could be in dealing with friends and associates, but his ability to see beyond the cutting edge, coupled with his legendary “reality distortion field,” has produced some of the most innovative products of our times. Young adults of today, who have grown up immersed in technology, will gain an understanding of the arguments for and against open vs. closed systems and how they affect business decisions and outcomes. They will also be able to see the impact of quality design. Although longer than most biographies recommended to teens, this title is destined to be a classic. The dense details can be distracting at times, but readers who are particularly interested in technology will be hooked in the first chapter. Those who would like more information on the history of Silicon Valley may want to read John Markoff’s What the Dormouse Said (Viking, 2005).–Vicki Emery, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Fairfax County, VA
DAVIS, Katie & Beth Clark. Kisses from Katie: A Young Woman’s Journey of Faith, a Remote Village, a Love Without Limits. 288p. photos. S &S/Howard. 2011. Tr $24. ISBN 978-1-4516-1206-6. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Like many teens, Davis felt a stirring to do more with her life than gain the security of a good job and family. Unlike most teens, however, she acted on this in a big way. Traveling halfway across the world to a remote village in Uganda, she volunteered at an orphanage for three weeks during her senior year in high school. This turned out to be the higher calling that she was yearning for. After graduating, she moved to Uganda to start a kindergarten class. Four years later, she has learned to be, “…a teacher, a nurse, a handyman (plumbing and electrical work included), a cook, an exterminator, a maid, a servant, a mentor, a mother, and, most important, a daughter of the King.” As a deeply devout Christian, Davis does not relate her story in a strictly linear narrative, but as an ongoing prayer, reveling in God’s purpose and love. As such, Christian teens will find her story deeply inspirational. Other teens may be able to translate her spiritual outpourings into their own belief system. Davis is a genuine and appealing young woman, as evidenced by her YouTube videos, who has indeed brought positive change to a tiny piece of the planet.–Diane Colson, formerly at New Port Richey Library, FL
Jaycee Dugard’s memoir was an instant bestseller, and its teen appeal is obvious — Dugard was a teen for half of the time she was in captivity, and teens enjoy reading sensational, true stories. It is especially haunting that writing a bestselling book was on a list of goals she made while in captivity. Also interesting that A Stolen Life bears similarities to Emma Donoghue’s Room.
Most readers, including critics, seem to come away from the book genuinely impressed by Dugard’s ability to survive and rebound from her experiences. Dugard established the JAYC Foundation to help the families impacted by abduction, and just yesterday she was in the news again for filing a law suit against the federal government. Phillip Garrido, her abductor, was on federal parole for 8 years of her captivity. Any funds she might win in the suit would go to the foundation.
DUGARD, Jaycee. A Stolen Life: A Memoir. 273p. illus. photos. S & S. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-1-4516-2918-7. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Teens who have read about the girl who was kidnapped at age 11 and held captive for 18 years will be anxious to read this book. Written, as Dugard says, “in my own words, in my own way, exactly how I remember it,” the book provides details of her experiences. While it might not be as explicit as teens hoped, they won’t be disappointed: what is and isn’t revealed is thought-provoking. She discusses her past of being forced to hide in public to protect her abusers and her current need to hide to protect her children from media attention. Photocopied journal entries and lists are included along with grainy photographs. Many of the lists are like any teen’s and would be boring except for the context. For example, #1 on “Dreams for the Future” is “See Mom.” A list entitled “Affirmations” begins “1. Only I can make it happen. 2. I control what I eat. 3. Every day I become the person I want to be.” It’s disturbing to see how many encounters her kidnappers had with authorities and how long it took them to find her even with the entire “family” walking into a parole office. Some of the most interesting chapters of the book are at the end: Dugard’s rescue, reunification, and “free” life, and the huge burst of freedom and fear that brings. While other books explore the abuse and captivity, Dave Peltzer’s A Child Called It (HCI, 1995), Emma Donoghue’s Room (Little Brown, 2010), and Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl (Simon Pulse, 2008) to name a few, Dugard’s memoir is refreshingly innocent, kind, unsensational.–Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Juvenile Hall, CA
Writing books from a wolf’s point of view isn’t easy, but that is Dorothy Hearst’s goal in her trilogy, The Wolf Chronicles. Hearst writes, “The biggest challenge was getting the level of anthropomorphism right. If I were to be completely accurate in depicting how a wolf perceives the world, the book would have been impenetrable for my (human) readers. But I didn’t want to make the wolves seem like furry people. Striking that balance was the biggest challenge, though it was more fun than frustrating.”
This is one of the rare books reviewed here on AB4T that is suitable for readers as young as middle school. There is no reason that The Wolf Chronicles should not be recommended to younger readers.
As for authenticity, Hearst conducted extensive research in, from her biography, “the areas of wolf biology, behavior, coevolution, cognitive science and other related areas…and…also interviewed many of the top wolf and dog experts in the world.” She includes FAQs and a reading list on her website. Animal-obsessed teens will appreciate both, and their teachers & librarians will appreciate the Reading Group Guide.
HEARST, Dorothy. Secrets of the Wolves. Bk. 2. 384p. (The Wolf Chronicles). S & S. 2011. Tr $24. ISBN 978-1-4165-7000-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–It has been three months since young wolf Kaala prevented a war between her pack and the humans. While gracefully reminding readers of the events in Promise of the Wolves (S & S, 2008), the action barrels forward. There is division within the Greatwolves Council. One faction, led by upstart Milsindra, believes that wolves and humans must remain separate. Zorindru, the ancient wolf leader of the Wide Valley, believes that they must work together to survive. The Council grants Kaala one year to demonstrate that humans and wolves can live together. If she fails, all Wide Valley wolves and humans will be killed and the experiment taken up elsewhere. Kaala is controversial. Some wolves believe she is the prophesied “one pup to save them all,” while others believe she is drelshik, cursed. She depends on her allies–packmates Azzuen and Mara; her raven friend Tlitoo; and TaLi, the human with whom she has bonded–for help. Kaala also consults the spirit wolf in a realm poised between life and death. Kaala and TaLi believe that an alliance is crucial for maintaining the Balance, for reminding humans that they are but one part of the natural world. The story is recommended for readers who enjoy stories told from an animal point of view, such as David Clement-Davies’s Fire Bringer (2000) and The Sight (2002, both Dutton), though some may tire of the politics of human tribe and wolf-pack hierarchies. Still, most will be fascinated by the mythology of the valley, the insights into wolf behavior (carefully researched by the author), and a peek at life 14,000 years in the past. –Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
This novel has an interesting genesis. British editor Lydia Newhouse had the idea of writing about Jo March’s great-great granddaughters, combining their stories with found original letters by Jo. Gabrielle Donnelly won the commission to write the novel. Her author website, and particularly an interview in the About section, covers her love of the original novel (indeed, the original trio of novels) and her approach to creating this sequel.
DONNELLY, Gabrielle. The Little Women Letters. 368p. S & S. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-1-4516-1718-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School– This tender homage to Alcott’s enduring classic is the perfect summer read for teenage fans of the original. This story presupposes that Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as well as Marmee and Mr. March, are not fictional characters but actual ancestors of Emma, Lulu, and Sophie Atwater and their American mother, Fee, who now all live in London. There is sensible, organized Emma, about to be married to her dependable boyfriend, Matthew (readers will see plenty of Meg in her). Then there is the odd duck, Lulu, struggling to find her place in the family and in the world, and readers are sure to find more than a bit of Jo in her. Aspiring actress Sophie, the scatterbrained, self-centered youngest daughter, will bring to mind a young Amy March as she matures from the girl who sleeps with a clothespin on her nose to the caring, beautiful artist who marries Laurie at the end of Little Women. Jo March is the great-great-grandmother of the Atwaters, and when Lulu is sent up into the family’s attic to look for a long-lost recipe book that one of her great aunts wrote, she finds boxes of letters written by Jo and her sisters, including letters Jo has written to Beth, even after Beth’s death. The juxtaposition of Lulu and her sisters’ present struggles to cope with life as young, independent women in modern-day London with the problems and concerns that Jo and her sisters share in their correspondence works well here. The story is a bit predictable, but comforting, and certainly a step up from most chick lit. The only thing that detracts is the final letter of the book, which feels out of place and takes the quality of the story down just a small notch.––Caroline Bartels,Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY
Cara Hoffman has written an intriguing, tangled puzzle of a novel that defies categorization, and the excitement surrounding it is contagious. It seems like every day for the last two weeks I have seen a different tweet, article, or rave for this book. It landed on Entertainment Weekly’s Must List, and is today’s #fridayreads giveaway on Twitter. Most major review sources have made special note of it, including Publishers Weekly, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and The Boston Globe.
Although this may not be an easy read for teens, it does have the potential for great appeal to tenacious readers. And there is a teenaged girl at its heart.
HOFFMAN, Cara. So Much Pretty. 304p. S & S. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-1-4516-1675-0. LC 2010027852.
Adult/High School–Puzzle drama has been a very successful formula for television shows like Lost and Fringe, which depend on discretely embedded clues to make sense of confusing narratives that are often entangled with multiple perspectives. Readers familiar with such shows will be comfortable with the obscure and seemingly disjointed revelations in So Much Pretty, which begins simply enough with a missing person. Although 15-year-old Alice Piper is missing, she is not the brutally murdered young woman whose body is found at the outskirts of her upstate New York hometown. Stacy Flynn, an investigative reporter who has moved to Haeden from Cleveland applies her big-city sensibility to clues she hopes will solve the murder that locals seem too ready to blame on a drifter. But that is not the murder she clears up. There is another horrific crime that shocks Haeden, and Flynn learns who is responsible. First-time author Hoffman arrays several voices from across decades to form a kaleidoscope of clues and insights that eventually, but barely, reveal the mystery behind the murders. They also hint at a greater mystery–how each of us is blinded by self-delusion and denial to a degree that inevitably, and sometimes horribly, corrupts with righteousness our best attempt to make moral choices. As haunting and disturbing as Alice Sebold’s Lovely Bones (Little Brown, 2002), So Much Pretty will be equally provocative and unforgettable for teen readers, especially those who love solving a good puzzle.–John Sexton, formerly at Westchester Library System, NY
Today it is my pleasure to present a review of Kings of Colorado, a book that has flown under the radar up to this point, despite strong reviews.
There is a revealing conversation with David Hilton on the Simon & Schuster website. Hilton used to be a middle school teacher, so he knows young people. And it is interesting that he cites Stephen King’s short story, “The Body,” as one of his influences. Some readers have likened Kings of Colorado to Stand by Me, the 1986 movie based on that story.
HILTON, David E. Kings of Colorado. 273p. S & S. 2011. Tr $24. ISBN 978-1-4391-8382-3. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–William Sheppard is 13 when he stabs his father. The man does not die, and his mother is not protected by the act or aftermath: Will is bused off to Swope Ranch Boy’s Reformatory in the wilds of Colorado for two years. Those two years are described in horrific detail in short chapters packed with brutal and realistic action. Will finds himself in the company of mostly innocent and definitely vulnerable boys, boys in impossible situations who tried to protect a mother or a sibling, or who simply got into basic everyday trouble. But at least two of them are seriously sociopathic, and along with the abusive prison guards and warden, Will and his friends are wrenchingly shattered, forever defined by the almost-constant yet always-surprising assaults. As Will’s friend Mickey says, “We’ve gotten used to this place. Become comfortable. … along the way we’ve made friends….And then, when we aren’t expecting it, this place rakes us right back into reality…Rips our heart out just for fun.” Gorgeously written, evocative, profound, and downright powerful, this is a perfect book for teens. The adult Will takes up less than 30 pages of the entire book, the premise being that the narrative is his written experiences and memories. Set in the ‘60’s with a focus on breaking horses, the psychological insight crashes through any and all barriers of time and place. As Will says about his desperately scribbled pages: “Terrible and cathartic.”–Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Juvenile Hall, CA
Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.
