YA Contemporary

Review of Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

February 28, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

What a beautiful emotional ride this story was! I went into this book totally blind — I had no idea what it was about (it was a monthly read for one of my Goodreads groups so I thought I’d be brave and pick it up without so much as even reading the blurb). I was delightfully surprised by this special book and ended up loving it.

The blurb is as follows:

Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.

Introducing Tanner

As the blurb suggests, the story revolves around Tanner, an 18-year-old half-Jewish bisexual high school student who moved to Provo, Utah with his parents. He is openly out to his parents who are entirely comfortable with Tanner’s sexuality.

However, given as they live in a town where the majority of people are Mormons, they’ve asked Tanner to be especially careful of whom he comes out to. It’s also worth mentioning that his mother, due to heartbreaking issues with the church, is a lapsed Mormon herself.

Where It All Begins

Tanner, who, at the urging of his best friend Autumn, signs up for “The Seminar”, a popular and highly coveted course in which the students write an entire novel in four months under the supervision of a teacher and teaching assistant.

The TA for the course is none other than Sebastian Brother, a gifted author who, after taking the class himself the year prior, is now in the process of publishing his own novel. He is also a Mormon, the Bishop’s son and strikingly good-looking.

Enter Sebastian

From the moment Sebastian walks in the course, Tanner feels a connection with Sebastian — a buzz of electricity between them. Tanner can’t deny his attraction for Sebastian and in spite of his better judgment, finds himself falling for a boy whom he sees as the most untouchable person in Provo. But Tanner is more than a bit surprised when he learns that his feelings for Sebastian are reciprocated.

Knowing the LDS stance on homosexuality, Tanner’s parents are fearful that he is going to end up getting hurt, and they try to convince him that pursuing the Bishop’s son cannot lead to a happy ending. Though Tanner is well aware of the probable outcome of his feelings for Sebastian and he knows that he’d be better off not pursuing the man, his heart isn’t so easily convinced. This leads to an emotional, heartfelt and realistic journey of a young man who discovers he is attracted to Mormon boy faithful to his church — but falls for him regardless.

The Church

Being the Bishop’s son, it’s no surprise that Sebastian is heavily involved with his church. As such, he is in the process of preparing to leave on his two-year mission. But Sebastian is also trying to come to terms with his sexuality, specifically his attraction to males (something he’s more or less denied up to this point).

His emerging feelings for Tanner balanced against his obligations to the church, his parents and his community create even more turmoil and conflict for Sebastian. So while this is partly the story of Tanner falling in love with a member of the Mormon church, it is also very much the story of one courageous man’s search to find himself even if it means losing everything else he has ever known.

What really worked for me in this story is the respectful portrayal (at least as I saw it) of the Mormon church. Many stories that portray LGBTQ characters’ struggle with religion tend to demonize the church and all of its members in the process. I found it refreshing this book depicted the LDS church members as friendly, loving, helpful and positive, with a significant focus on service to others and service to the community. In this way, the author does an excellent job of balancing the positives of the church with the divisive ways that religion can, in certain situations, come between family members.

The Verdict

I absolutely loved this character-driven story. The characters of Sebastian and Tanner were realistic and believable, as were the secondary characters and by the end of the book, I felt as though I really knew these people. Each character is richly mapped out so you can understand where each one is coming from and why they react the way they do. Though the actions of both Tanner and Sebastian angered me from time to time, I understood the reasons for those actions. It this way, the characters were easy to relate to.

The story was well-paced and beautifully written with vivid descriptions of settings, making me feel as though I were actually there. But this isn’t just a love story between two boys. Rather, Autoboyography is a tender, emotional LGBTQ-positive coming-of-age novel dealing with issues of identity, church, choice, rejection, acceptance, and family.

This is a relevant book that deals with issues that many LGBTQ teens are facing today and gave a realistic portrayal of what many teens go through while trying to figure themselves out and find their place in the world. In this way, I feel that this is an important book — and a must-read for any teenager who has ever felt different or lonely, no matter what their age now.

Autoboyography is moving story that I connected with on many levels, and although it was heartbreaking at times, I found it to be a beautiful, emotional read with an encouraging ending that felt complete and satisfying to me. Recommended!

You can check out Autoboyography HERE

Review of Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

February 20, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

When this book caught my eye, I realized that I had never read a John Green book — not one — which is strange considering that I enjoy contemporary YA books and I’ve faithfully watched John and Hank Green’s weekly vlog Brothers videos for several years now. Since Turtles All The Way Down is his most recent work, I decided to start with that one.

The blurb is as follows:

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

The Missing Billionaire

The story starts out when Russell Pickett, a billionaire goes missing just before his arrest, and there’s a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Aza and her best friend Daisy search for clues about his disappearance, hoping to collect the reward. It’s worth mentioning that Russell Pickett is no stranger to Aza — or at least, his son Davis isn’t.

As it turns out, Aza and Davis were at a summer camp together years ago (which they named “Sad camp” as it was for children who’ve lost one of their parents). Once Aza and Daisy stumble onto the Pickett property and subsequently get caught, they are taken by security to the billionaire’s son, resulting in Aza inadvertently rekindling her friendship with Davis.

Davis and Noah

Davis and Noah are Pickett’s two children who are now left to fend for themselves, supervised only by paid house employees while authorities search for their fugitive father. Davis figures out what Aza is up to, and pleads with her not to search for his father. He doesn’t want to put his brother Noah (who’s only 13 years old) through the agony of seeing their father arrested and the subsequent media circus that’s bound to follow. Aza is torn, especially once she begins to fall for Davis. She also discovers a protective instinct seems to surface within her whenever she’s around Noah.

Where’s the Mystery?

So as I’m reading along, I noticed that not all that much is really happening in regards to the search for Russell Pickett. Aza and Daisy seem to have given up their quest, and there’s not really any other action going on relating to the billionaire’s disappearance. That’s when it hit me: Turtles All The Way Down is not about the mystery of a fugitive billionaire: it’s something completely different. The book has very little to do with what’s going on in the physical reality — it’s really about what’s going on in Aza’s mind.

Into Aza’s Mind

Rather than a mystery, this novel is instead a powerful story about mental illness. The story is told from the first-person point of view of Aza, who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which manifests for her as thought spirals which grip her and refuse to let go. That is to say, once she grasps onto a thought, she cannot pull herself back up from it, no matter how hard she may try. She’s trapped in her own mind.

For Aza, one particularly disturbing spiraling revolves around a fear that potentially fatal bacteria has gotten into her body somehow and will lead to her passing away from C. Diff (Clostridium difficile).

The Main Story

In this way, the disappearance of the billionaire is secondly to the working of Aza’s mind and how her OCD affects her relationship with Daily, her mother, and Davis. The story is heartbreaking at times as Aza struggles with her desire to be a “good” daughter, friend and girlfriend, but her mind simply doesn’t allow it. It’s not surprising that this all leads to significant self-confidence issues and depression on Aza’s part as she fears that she’s making everyone around her miserable.

The book wasn’t always easy to read, and I think that was the point. This is a book that hurts your heart as we experience first-hand what it’s like to be in her mind and witness how anxiety can completely take over a person’s life.

Through Aza, we gain insight into what it might be like to live with constant runaway intrusive thoughts and how difficult it is to keep a grasp on reality. For me, this story provided an eye-opening and raw portrayal of what’s the struggle might be like — a struggle that others around you might not always understand. For example, Daisy considers Aza as kind of self-centered and selfish, obviously not fully understanding that Aza had no control over her thought spirals.

Though it dealt with serious subject matter, the book was also light, humorous and laugh-out-loud funny in places. Green did an excellent job of balancing the seriousness of the book’s theme with playfulness and lightheartedness, and in so doing, I couldn’t help but fall in love with all the characters in this book.

The Verdict

Turtle’s All The Way Down was about a young girl’s struggle to find her place in the world and figure out her part in the big picture of things, something that many of us struggle with from time to time.

This was a beautiful engaging book not just about OCD, but also about friendship, loyalty, about finding yourself and about sticking by and being there for one another throughout the thick and thin of life’s experiences. It was also a gentle reminder of the importance of stopping and putting ourselves in the shoes of our loved ones from time to time.

The book was a powerful character-driven and unique story that was heartbreaking in some places and funny in others. The ending was perfect and hopeful — overall, a brilliant story. Another excellent 5-star book for me. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Green’s work. Recommended!

You can check out Turtles All The Way Down HERE

Review of History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

February 16, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for an author who’ll rip your heart out from your chest and make you cry, then Adam Silvera is your man. I knew going in that History Is All You Left Me would be a heartbreaker but I was amazed at the intensity and range of emotions I experienced while reading this exceptional and at times emotionally draining story of love, loss, friendship, grief. . . and hope. Now I don’t want you to think that this book is one huge downer because it’s really not…there’s so much more to it.

The Blurb is as follows:

When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.

To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.

If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.

Theo’s Funeral

The story opens at the scene of a funeral. Told from the first-person point of view of 17-year old Griffen, we learn that the funeral we are seeing is that of his ex-boyfriend and first love Theo. Griffen is devastated by this grief and through the narration, Griffen continuously “talks” to Theo in his thoughts as though they were both in the same room together. At first, I thought this was kind of morbid but then, how many of us think of our loved ones who’ve passed and talk to them in our thoughts, thinking perhaps of what we’d say to them were they still here?

Griffen’s heart is ripped open even further the day of the funeral when Theo’s current boyfriend Jackson shows up and shares his memories of Theo during the service.

The History

What’s interesting about this book, is that the chapters alternate between present day (the funeral day and the following days afterward) and the story of Theo and Griffen’s history together. Via the “history” chapters, we learn how they became friends and fell and love, how they both came out to their parents together, the first time they have sex together and the reasons behind their breakup, all leading us to Theo’s passing.

A big part of the story – both past and present – is Griffen’s attempt at dealing with his OCD. We see him trying to deal with Theo’s death while trying to keep what he refers to as his “compulsions” in check: obsessively counting (no odd numbers allowed), ensure that nobody is ever situation on his left side at any time, etc.

Alternating the chapters between past and present provided a nice balance in the story. In one chapter, we read through grief and pain while in the next, we experience the exhilaration of an exciting first love. The author did an excellent job with this, and the past and present method of storytelling really worked well for me.

Jackson

Jackson, who is staying with Theo’s parents, surprisingly reaches out to Griffen and an unlikely friendship develops between the two of them, as they share their memories of Theo and end up supporting each other through the grieving process.

Though Griffen feels as though he should hate Jackson given that Theo replaced Griffen with Jackson, Griffen discovers instead that Jackson is the only person he can talk to — the only person who truly understands what he himself is going through.

I applaud the author for not making Jackson into some kind of villain, given that he was the one who stole away our protagonist’s first love. Jackson ending up being not only an interesting character but also a rather likable character and someone with whom we empathized.

The Themes (as I saw them)

As Theo and Jackson shared their memories, I was struck by the repeated message of how important it is for us to appreciate the people in our lives while they’re here.

Another one of the themes that seemed to run throughout the novel was that though we may have grandiose plans for our future, there’s no guarantee that we or our loved ones will be around to carry them out. So in this way, it’s essential that we “live in the moment”, and not postpone living for some later future date which may never come.

Life isn’t always going to turn out the way we intend and we don’t always get to choose our future. And when life does throw us for a loop, we have to realize that it’s okay to experience all the emotions that come with it because that’s what living is all about. Sometimes messy, sometimes scary but there are always more surprises for us around the next corner.

Griffen’s Journey

By seeing the past and the present firsthand, we accompany Griffen on a journey of the excitement of first love, his challenges with OCD, the emptiness he feels when Theo moves on, the jealousy that Jackson’s presence instills in him, the terrible grief and gut-wrenching heartache he goes through when Theo dies and finally, moving on.

Now it’s worth mentioning that Griffen doesn’t necessarily handle each situation in the best way — but do any of us? Especially when faced with such extreme situations? His failures and foibles just made him even more human and someone I think most of us can relate to.

But There Are Surprises

As we experience Griffen and Theo’s past, we expect a simple and tender story of two boys falling in love, resulting in tragedy. But there’s much more to it than that. There was one surprise twist that I did not see coming. Additionally, the mystery surrounding Theo’s death finally comes out into the open at the end of the book.

The Verdict

Loved it, loved it, loved it! I was hesitant going in — I mean who can approach a novel about death, grief, and pain without more than a bit of hesitation? But what I found instead was an incredible emotional and gripping character-driven story that was tender and raw at the same time.

I don’t want to give you the impression that it was a depressing downer of a book. It wasn’t. Now I’m not saying that it’s an easy story to read because it’s not. But what it is (in my humble opinion), is a beautiful, well-written emotional story with deep (though flawed) characters that is well worth reading.

It’s not only a book about love and loss, but also about forgiveness and hope. History Is All You Left Me is definitely a 5-star book for me. Recommended!

You can check out History Is All You Left Me HERE

Review of Goodnight, Boy by Nikki Sheehan

February 8, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I was browsing the Young Adult section at my local library the other day and a book by the name of Goodnight, Boy by Nikki Sheehan caught my eye. I knew nothing about this book, but the description on the back cover peaked my interest. The blurb is as follows:

A tale of two very different worlds, both shattered by the loss of loved ones. Tragic, comic and full of hope, thanks to a dog called Boy.

The kennel has been JC’s home ever since his new adoptive father locked him inside. For hours on end, JC sits and tells his dog Boy how he came to this country: his family; the orphanage and the Haitian earthquake that swept everything away.

When his adoptive mother Melanie rescues him, life starts to feel normal again. Until JC does something bad, something that upset his new father so much that he and Boy are banished to the kennel. But as his new father gets sicker, JC realizes they have to find a way out. And so begins a stunning story of a boy, a dog and their journey to freedom.

Living in the Kennel

The entire story takes place in a kennel where a teenage boy named JC has been locked in along with his dog (Boy) by his stepfather. The entire story revolves around JC’s storytelling as he recounts his life story to his dog, Boy. The author’s use of internal dialog was expertly done and really added a distinctive element to the story.

We learn bit by bit that JC is an immigrant boy from Haiti who has gone through one horrendous experience after another: abuse at orphanages, surviving an earthquake and living on the streets to name a few. We learn through JC’s dialog what a tough, resilient and brave kid he really is, and it’s these qualities that allowed him to overcome every difficulty he’s had to face.

Enter Melanie and The Stepfather

JC’s tells Boy about how he ended up in the United States with Melanie and her boyfriend or husband (I don’t believe their marital status is ever mentioned). We figure out pretty quickly that the “adoption” wasn’t an entirely legal one, meaning Melanie and her partner pretty much snuck the boy into the United State.

JC depicts Melanie in a positive light, and we can tell that he is quite fond of her. Not so much with the stepfather, however; though JC’s dialog, we get the impression that the stepfather resented the boy and made everyday life more difficult for him because of that resentment.

I did a bad thing

We eventually learn the reason how JC and Boy ended up in their current predicament. According to JC, he did a bad thing that upset his stepfather so much at the locked JC and Boy away in a Kennel (we do learn what the bad thing is – but I’m not telling!).

Melanie is away during this time so she’s unaware of what’s going on at home. JC’s stepfather visits the kennel with less and less frequency, and JC realizes that he has to somehow get him and Boy to freedom, as their life may very well depend on it.

The Verdict

I wasn’t sure at first whether this was the kind of story I wanted to read. It sounded heartbreaking and indeed, in places it was. But it was also so much more. Though the reader experiences a rollercoaster of emotions as we move through the story, it is also hopeful. No matter what horrors JC experiences, he never seems to get depressed or wallows in despair or self-pity.

It’s interesting to note that there was almost no dialog throughout the entire story — all of it was portrayed through JC’s thoughts and one-way discourse to Boy. In this way, the author did an amazing job of portraying JC’s excellent character voice.

The lack of two-way dialog didn’t mean that the book was difficult to read. On the contrary, the author’s clever use of white space (some pages only contained a couple of sentences) made the book not only readable but added extra intrigue and emotion that kept you turning the page.

Yes, as a reader you are shocked at the beginning by the horrifying conditions that the boy and his dog are living in, and you certainly can’t help but tear up many times throughout the book. It’s sad. It’ll tear your heart out in places. But Goodnight, Boy is also a beautiful, moving and hopeful story of an abused boy, his dog and their journey towards freedom. It’s a deep, engaging and original book that kept me interested all the way through, and I’m so glad I read it. Recommended!

Trigger warning: This book contains scenes of child and animal abuse and neglect.

You can check out Goodnight, Boy HERE

Review of Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda

February 6, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

“White shouldn’t be the default any more than straight should be the default. There shouldn’t even be a default.” Simon Spier

I’ve been hearing a lot about Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda over the past several months and it’s been on my wishlist for a while now. After learning that it’s going to be made into a movie called “Love, Simon”, I moved it to the top of my TBR list.

This is an excellent story about a teenage boy who has to deal with the aftermath of coming out to everyone at his high school when another student finds out his secret and threatens to blackmail him. Here is the blurb:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story — wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.

Never walk away from your computer

Simon learned this the hard way. He walks away from his computer for just a moment, forgetting to close down his email program, which, unfortunately, gets into the wrong hands. Another student, Martin Addison, walks by Simon’s abandoned computer and discovers that Simon has been anonymously corresponding with a boy named “Blue” and the two have been discussing their lives, including being gay. Up to this point, Blue is the only one who knows that Simon is gay.

Simon and Blue met via an anonymous Tumblr post and since then, have been emailing each other on almost a daily basis. Though Blue goes to the same school as Simon, neither of them know the other’s identity, thus creating a safe atmosphere to discuss those serious issues that they can’t so easily talk about with anyone else.

Martin takes a screenshot of the emails and then blackmails Simon into getting his friend, Abby, to date him.

The Blackmail Begins

Holding up his end of the bargain, Simon invites Martin (who is seriously annoying, by the way) to hang out with him and Abby on several occasions, fearful that Martin will reveal Simon’s secret to the entire school. At this point of the book, even Simon’s best friend Leah doesn’t know that he’s gay and he wants to keep it that way — at least for the time being. Fearful that Blue would terminate his friendship with Simon if he found out that someone had taken a screenshot of their email, Simon keeps this new secret to himself as well.

What worked for me in this book was that Simon didn’t struggle with being gay. He knew he was gay and fully accepted himself. He never tried to deny who he was. What he did struggle with was how his loved ones might potential react to the news.

The Emails

I loved reading the email exchanges between Simon and Blue, especially once they began to become more flirtatious. There was a teasing yet caring tone to their emails, leading to an amazing build-up between the two of them that wasn’t rushed or forced. It was obvious that has the days and weeks past, the connection between the two of the deepened as their friendship moved organically into something bigger. These two characters really came to life for me as their relationship blossomed and I quickly became enamored with the both of them, wishing and hoping for a happy ending for the both of them.

As with any online relationship, there are the fears that crop up before we meet the person: Will they like us? What if they don’t find me attractive? What if I don’t find him/her attractive? All of these things run through Simon’s mind, making the situation all the more realistic, and I found myself having the same fears as Simon. As a ready, I wanted Simon and Blue to have their HEA.

Coming Out Slowly

As their relationship deepened (though it was still anonymous), they both decided that perhaps it was time to come out. First Blue to his family and then Simon to his friend Abby, leading them to discuss the fear and uncertainty they felt before finally letting the cat out of the bag. It’s apparent that it’s their feelings for each that gives them the courage to take the first steps in the coming out process.

Luckily for the both of them, Blue’s parents were supportive as was Abby. Simon still not quite ready to tell anyone else though. He wants to come out on his terms at his own pace, though he does plan on telling his own parents soon.

A Forced Coming Out

Of course, Simon’s secret gets out (I’m not giving out any spoilers here – we learn this fact in the blurb), and everything changes for Simon. Within one day, everyone at school learns that Simon Spier is gay — and given that we know Blue is a student at Simon’s High School, it’s not too hard to figure out that he’s learned Simon’s identity as well. In fact, during an email exchange, Blue states “I think I know who you are”.

Simon still doesn’t know the mysterious Blue’s identity, however, and it’s amusing to observe Simon as he studies the boys at his school, trying to guess which one of them could be Blue. He finally thinks he narrows it down to two boys. Now he just needs to figure out which one it is.

Now I will say that there are some clues as to Blue’s identity sprinkled throughout the book through the author does a great job of throwing us off track and making it difficult to guess. I didn’t quite guess the identity of Blue as much as hoped.

The Fallout

Coming out is never easy, especially when it wasn’t your decision. We see this in the aftermath: friendships are strained (possibly lost) for good and relationships are threatened. The author did a fine job of portraying the possible fallout for a high school student being forced out of the closet. It was also cringe-worthy seeing that someone could be as cruel as Martin (though not surprising — he was a right jerk).

Of course, Simon is devastated. Not only is he upset because his friendships are on shaky grounds, he feels robbed, resentful and violated. Coming out was something he wanted to do on his own terms, and because of his blackmailer, that decision was taken away from him . . .and then there’s Blue.

The Big Reveal

So do we eventually learn Blue’s identity? If we didn’t, it certainly would have been a frustrating book – the kind you’d throw across the room. Luckily, it didn’t come to that, and we do learn Blue’s identity — and wow! What a sweet scene!

I’m guessing that it’d be difficult for many people to read this scene without tearing up. I know I was reaching for the tissues (but it a good way!).

The Verdict

I loved this book on so many levels, and it completely stole my heart. This book expertly showed the struggles that not just a gay teenager but that most teenagers go through on a daily basis. The book is told from Simon’s first-person point of view, and I found him lovable, funny, witty, intelligent, likable and brave; and though somewhat flawed (as we all are), he’s an all-around great kid. But most of all, I found him true to himself.

I could relate to so much of what he was going through, and in this way, it felt that his character was genuine and believable. In fact, all of the characters in the book were well-rounded and realistic, and I enjoyed the dynamic between them.

Simon vs the Home Sapiens Agenda is a sweet, tender and heartwarming coming-of-age story about friendship, first love, coming out and the power of friendship and family that has an appeal to everyone, both teens, and adults. I can tell you that this particular adult loved it. Though the book does deal with some tougher issues such as bullying, betrayal, and misunderstandings, the positive aspects well outweigh the negative.

This book has definitely made my top reads list and is one of those books that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling at the end. A truly satisfying read. I definitely give this book 5 stars!

You can check out Simon vs The Homo Spiens Agenda HERE

Review of Being Henry David by Cal Armistead

February 4, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I stumbled across Being Henry David on book lover’s blog (Peter Likes Books, who also has a fun Book Tube channel) and the concept sounded intriguing, especially since I’ve always enjoyed reading Thoreau. I picked it up and loved it! Here’s the blurb:

Seventeen-year-old “Hank” has found himself at Penn Station in New York City with no memory of anything—who he is, where he came from, why he’s running away. His only possession is a worn copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. And so he becomes Henry David—or “Hank”—and takes first to the streets, and then to the only destination he can think of—Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Cal Armistead’s remarkable debut novel about a teen in search of himself. As Hank begins to piece together recollections from his past, he realizes that the only way he can discover his present is to face up to the realities of his grievous memories. He must come to terms with the tragedy of his past to stop running and find his way home.

Who am I?

The story begins when a teenage boy finds himself in Penn Station in New York with no recollection of who he is and a nasty bump on his head. His only possession is a beat-up paperback copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Shortly thereafter, he comes into contact with two homeless kids, and when they ask his name he tells them that it’s Henry David, which they shorten to Hank. At this point, he wasn’t comfortable telling anyone about his amnesia. Of course, we wonder right from the beginning: What could have happened to him to have caused his injuries and amnesia?

I liked the fact that the story is told from the first person point of view, so we get constantly know what’s going on in our hero’s head; we feel his stress, his fear and his confusion as the realization dawns on him that the only thing he remembers is now.

Off to Walden Pond

After a dangerous encounter with a drug dealer, Hank is on the run. We follow him to Concord, Massachusetts where he heads almost immediately to Walden Pond, embarking upon on a literal search for his identity. One of Hanks’ biggest fears through all of this is discovering that could be a monster – a terrible person who’s done horrible things to others. Because of this, he attempts to keep the new people in his new life at arm’s length, not daring to get too close to anyone.

This is a lot more difficult than it seems as the new people slowly become integrated into his life and his heart.

The Mystery Slowly Unravels

The entire plot of Being Henry David revolves around the mystery of Hank finding out who is really is. Bit by bit, the pieces begin to return, as snapshots of information flash in his mind. Through all of this, I found it fascinating how our hero reconciles his new life and the person he’s become (Hank) with the person he was.

I also love how the author adeptly intertwines the stressful and violent life stories of the two street kids into Hank’s new, somewhat privileged life in Concord, and how they become an integral part of the story in Hank’s search for self.

Bad Decisions Were Made

But it’s not all smooth sailing for Hank, especially when some especially painful memories begin to resurface. This leads Hank to make some extremely rash decisions that are not particularly in his best interest.

It is at this point where his old world and new world collide.

Verdict

I thought that the author did an excellent job of capturing the voice of this troubled, scared teenage boy who slowly recalls the events leading up to his memory loss. Right from the first page, the story grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go until the end. I felt that the pacing was perfect and the story heartfelt; so much that I found myself tearing up on more than a few occasions (but in a good way!). The story finishes on a positive note with a resolved and satisfying ending.

Being Henry David is a captivating coming-of-age adventure story with a brave, intelligent and at time reckless main character. The secondary characters were also well-developed, and you couldn’t help but love them by the end of the book. In this way, all the characters were believable for me as well as engaging.

Even if you’re not interested in Thoreau, there’s a lot in this story to enjoy — and you just may feel a desire to read some of his work by the end of this novel. After I turned the last page, I couldn’t help to wander over to my bookshelves and search for my old copy of Walden.

From what I understand, this is a debut novel for this author, and I can’t wait to see what she come up with next. Recommended for teens and adults!

You can check out Being Henry David HERE