June 2019 Books

Young Adult Titles

Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram (2018)

Darius is going to visit Iran with his family; the grandfather he’s never met is dying.  During the visit, he meets Sohrab, and quickly makes the best friend he’s ever had. Spoiler alert:romantic feelings enter into their relationship later. He spend holidays surrounded by family, a first for him, and travels to see the tourist sights, many of which are important to his family. His Caucasian father, identified by Darius in the book as the “Ubermensch,” has clinical depression which Darius has inherited. Their father-son relationship is in shreds, and Darius has been bullied at school and feels unwanted at home. But rather than ever feeling suicidal (the word is used in the book), depression does not rule Darius‘ life, and this book shows a marvelous coming of age, complete with Star Trek episodes and a new and worthy voice.

We Regret to Inform You, Ariel Kaplan (2018)

Mischa is at the top of her class, and has applied to 5 top schools and one safety school.  None of them accept her. She refuses to admit this failure to her mom, who has scraped to pay the tuition her scholarship doesn’t cover at an exclusive East Coast prep school. How Mischa deals with tragedy is hilarious (or maybe, Kaplan makes it so).  I laughed hard enough I had to put the book aside to catch my breath. Mischa’s actions aren’t as smart as her grades lead you to expect, and uncovering the reasons for her rejection makes for a convoluted plot, but the laughter and friendships are amazing.  The resolution of the story hints that adversity is needed to grow, but the first two thirds uses adversity to hilarious effect.

Keep this to Yourself, Tom Ryan (2018)

Mac and his small town are ripped apart by last year’s attack of a serial killer on their community, leaving 4 people dead, including Mac’s best friend Connor.  Before, Mac saw himself as the gay sidekick to the artistic golden boy who lived across the street, and his grief now leads him to look for the killer who was never caught. When he discovers a note his friend wrote on the last day of his life, he takes the clue to the police. And then he pursues his own questions to try to solve the murders, but it could be that the murderer is still around and Mac is putting himself into danger.  This mystery is tense, with a variety of ominous settings and a convoluted trail of clues.

Be Prepared, Vera Brosgol (2018)

At age 9, Vera feels separate from the other girls, who chatter about their summer camps, and so she resolves to go to summer camp, too.  But the only one her family can afford is a Russian camp, co-sponsored by her church. Her persistence pays off when she and her brother are left at a camp in the Connecticut woods.This graphic novel showed the trials of summer camp with charm, bugs, mean girls, and magical campfires. I cringed, I laughed, and I felt the loneliness and beauty of an excellently drawn story. The green color washes are perfectly adapted to show nature, camp uniforms,and khaki tents. I knew Brosgel could tell horror stories (Anya’s Ghost) but I think she excels at realism. This book is suitable for middle school, but could resonate with any girl. It stands as proof of the value of graphic novels and demonstrates the ability of a picture to express more than words.

Adult Titles

The Gulf, Belle Boggs (2019)

Frances, Eric’s elderly aunt, leaves her coastal hotel to her nephews, who hope to turn it into a school for “inspirational writing.” Marianne, Eric’s ex-girlfriend, agrees to run it, despite her initial misgivings on fleecing Christians (she’s a definite atheist). As a greedy corporation and a tropical storm lurk, seeming impossible stakes rise to a climax. I picked up this book expecting a funny satire of writing educators and workshops. What I read, though, was a much gentler story that brought together liberals and evangelicals, Southerners and New Yorkers.  Poetry, empathy, and friendship win out in the end.

Our House, Louise Candlish (2018)

If you like twisty plots, upper-middle class neighborhoods, and divorce stories, I have found the book for you. This contemporary story has two timelines, primarily Fiona’s story as told through a famous crime podcast (complete with some listener comments), both of which provide drama and humor. The other timeline backtracks to Fiona and her not-yet ex-husband Bram as they fall down the rabbit hole of a failing marriage, and this is an emotional, greedy and gripping nightmare. The story is told with three narrators: the podcast’s, Fiona’s, and Bram’s, and not always sequentially.  I’m not going to give it away because you ought to read it!

Never Home Alone: From microbes to millipedes, camel crickets, and honey bees, the natural history of where we live, Rob Dunn (2018)

Dunn is a scientist whose curiosity leads him where no man has gone before: inside a home. Feminist jokes aside, it does seem strange that researchers go abroad to study species, but rarely look inside.  Science studies of interiors often look for what is harmful, but Dunn’s final conclusion is that our homes are biomes that will be better for having a greater diversity (most biologists have this environmental perspective on biomes but rarely bring it to this setting). While I do hope to switch my shower fixtures soon, I don’t think I’ll study the nooks and crannies to find the life forms Dunn’s found. The book has lessened my pest control concerns.  This is one entertaining and accessible book that I cannot spoil; the delight is in the details.

Ayesha at Last, Uzma Jalaluddin (2018)

When novels are put into a genre, they’re often belittled, so I will try not to do this. Ayesha made an impression as a slam poet in Canada, but finished her teaching degree to become a solid breadwinner, and page one begins with the man across the street watching her from his window as she gets into her car and heads to her first day of school. He’ll become the romantic interest, we may presume, since his thoughts mirror Darcy’s in Pride and Prejudice.  Especially without the coffee cup she left on the hood, it would become a horrible day of work. When the two characters meet – and irritate each other- it is a pure delight to read for any Jane Austen fan. Jalaluddin takes character and structural ideas, as well as a few lines, from Austen, and I was surprised how easily Austen’s satire fit into a Muslim immigrant community, with arrranged marriages and social climbing. This book is fun!