It's many years since I was a teenager, and when I was one of them, nobody wrote books just for us. For example, I'd progressed from fairy stories to magic to ghost stories to horror and science fiction, and first started reading science fiction by Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke - I didn't know until quite a bit later that people like Andre Norton were writing sci-fi for the younger reader. And as soon as we started high school (average beginning age 13) we were given Dickens to read for English class - and we certainly weren't given anything written by a contemporary author. There wasn't a teen market, there weren't in-between types of books. Teenagers were simply children in their teens, and were expected to be ready to read novels written for adults.
Mind you, nobody wrote books with sex scenes or with extreme violence - or if they did, those books were well-hidden.
Not that I'm complaining about this new genre. I think it's excellent that books are written about teenagers and their world - a lot of my generation would have been delighted to realise we weren't the only ones facing the issues we struggled with. Being able to read about somebody in our own age group might have made a big difference to a lot of lives.
But that's all history.
This week I've finished three teen-reads (oh yes - that reminds me of something else I was going to say. I'm not going to call the genre Young Adult because, quite frankly, I don't consider adulthood to begin until the teens are left behind). Each of these looks at issues to with the relationships and honesty, but each does it in a completely different way.
The first I'm listing is:
![Rotten]()
Rotten by Michael Northrop
I had a Staffordshire Terrier for a while - I don't remember the details too well but I think we got him from the SPCA, and I expect he was bit like this 'rescue' dog in the book. He was adult already, and he was a bit timid most of the time. But he hated cats, and he terrorised our ones. He also turned on us when we tried to stop him harming the cats. He'd immediately retract, but it was still alarming. Then when he got through the fence and killed the neighbour's cat I took him to the vet and got him put down. I couldn't run the risk of him biting someone if they got in the way.
In this book, Jimmer (JD) is getting to know a rescue rottweiler that his mother adopted while he was upstate for the summer "visiting his aunt". JD is reluctant to befriend the dog, he's reluctant to tell his best friends where he really was over the summer, and he's worried that his girlfriend won't ever speak to him again. He starts working on the first of those problems but he doesn't know how to start talking to the people in his life.
And then (novels need an "and then", and I like the way this one is written) one of his friends gets himself bitten by the dog.
I like this book. There aren't any plot surprises, but that's okay. It's a genuine story about situations and people who are fully believable, and it draws the reader in to issues of friendship that are undoubtedly high in the mid-teens. I love the dog, whose personality is written very nicely, and who reminded me of the various dogs I have owned and loved.
My daughter had passed Rotten on to me after she'd received it to review. She also is no longer a teenager, but also doesn't limit herself.
I've read a number of other books by Fleur Beale and I've enjoyed every one. Sadly, there is not enough time in life to read everything I want to read, and Fleur was languishing on my waiting-to-read list. But then a Goodreads Challenge allowed me to manipulate my list, and when I ordered it alphabetically according to the authors, this following book was 10th on the list and therefore the one I had to choose (and no, it wasn't at all complicated - J (for July) is the 10th letter in the alphabet, so I needed my 10th book on the waiting list).
![I Am Not Esther]()
I Am Not Esther by Fleur Beale
Kirby is a very capable 14-year-old who manages the finances for her and her mother - in fact, she manages just about everything in their household, but that works fine. They're happy.
But suddenly, her mother is moving them down to Wellington, and when they get there Kirby discovers that the Wellington move is all a subterfuge. In actual fact, her mother is going to Africa for a year to do some voluntary work, and Kirby is being sent to live with family she never knew existed, and in a community that her mother had (seemingly) always hated. What on earth is going on?!
With the Pilgrim family, Kirby is given a new name and the work of integrating her into their life is begun. She clings to the mantra "I am not Esther", but it's not that easy. She loves the little 5-year-old Magdalene - how can she think of the hurt it would cause her when she 'escapes'? Maybe it would be best to stay - after all, her own mother abandoned her to these people, so where else can she go?
The author builds this up nicely - the defiance, the uncertainty, the doubt over who to trust, the impossible choices ... An excellent teen-read.
For a few years, when I was transitioning from teenager to adult, I worked with a girl who belonged to a strict Christian sect. They weren't as strict as the group in this book, but nevertheless there were many, many restrictions on what she could do and who she could be friends with. Some 10 or so years later I met a man who had belonged to that same church, joining in his adulthood because he thought the discipline would be good. He eventually left, but not without a great deal of soul-searching, and not without a great deal of recrimination from the members and elders. He still talks about it on occasion, and still with the same level of disbelief and anger at the control exerted and 'games played'.
This third book uses humour to tackle issues faced by teenagers at school, and it has a similar focus to "Rotten" in the difficulty kids have in talking honestly with each other. We're all afraid of being judged, I guess.
![The Symptoms of My Insanity]()
The Symptoms of My Insanity by Mindy Raf
I think I borrowed this book from the library because I simply love the title - I've realised that I select quite a few books from the title alone (and I avoid books for the same reason, e.g. Eat, Pray, Love. However, I might give that one a try some time, because a customer in the bookshop today was telling me how much she enjoyed it. Mind you, that same customer really likes that kind of title, so maybe her tastes differ from mine for the text as well as title styles .... I don't know - I haven't marked it to-read yet).
But I digress.
I really enjoyed this book. The plot and the characters are predictable, but I really liked Izzy, the narrator, and I enjoyed the deprecating sense of humour with which the author led us through her life. I also really like the creativity that's described through Izzy's artwork. Along with the look at Izzy's hypochondria the book touches gently on issues that impact teenagers and on family issues that touch us all, and if the ending is a little nice, well ... sometimes things do all turn out nicely.
So, some easy reads this week, but all most enjoyable and most relevant to today's teens.
Mind you, nobody wrote books with sex scenes or with extreme violence - or if they did, those books were well-hidden.
Not that I'm complaining about this new genre. I think it's excellent that books are written about teenagers and their world - a lot of my generation would have been delighted to realise we weren't the only ones facing the issues we struggled with. Being able to read about somebody in our own age group might have made a big difference to a lot of lives.
But that's all history.
This week I've finished three teen-reads (oh yes - that reminds me of something else I was going to say. I'm not going to call the genre Young Adult because, quite frankly, I don't consider adulthood to begin until the teens are left behind). Each of these looks at issues to with the relationships and honesty, but each does it in a completely different way.
The first I'm listing is:
Rotten by Michael NorthropI had a Staffordshire Terrier for a while - I don't remember the details too well but I think we got him from the SPCA, and I expect he was bit like this 'rescue' dog in the book. He was adult already, and he was a bit timid most of the time. But he hated cats, and he terrorised our ones. He also turned on us when we tried to stop him harming the cats. He'd immediately retract, but it was still alarming. Then when he got through the fence and killed the neighbour's cat I took him to the vet and got him put down. I couldn't run the risk of him biting someone if they got in the way.
In this book, Jimmer (JD) is getting to know a rescue rottweiler that his mother adopted while he was upstate for the summer "visiting his aunt". JD is reluctant to befriend the dog, he's reluctant to tell his best friends where he really was over the summer, and he's worried that his girlfriend won't ever speak to him again. He starts working on the first of those problems but he doesn't know how to start talking to the people in his life.
And then (novels need an "and then", and I like the way this one is written) one of his friends gets himself bitten by the dog.
I like this book. There aren't any plot surprises, but that's okay. It's a genuine story about situations and people who are fully believable, and it draws the reader in to issues of friendship that are undoubtedly high in the mid-teens. I love the dog, whose personality is written very nicely, and who reminded me of the various dogs I have owned and loved.
My daughter had passed Rotten on to me after she'd received it to review. She also is no longer a teenager, but also doesn't limit herself.
I've read a number of other books by Fleur Beale and I've enjoyed every one. Sadly, there is not enough time in life to read everything I want to read, and Fleur was languishing on my waiting-to-read list. But then a Goodreads Challenge allowed me to manipulate my list, and when I ordered it alphabetically according to the authors, this following book was 10th on the list and therefore the one I had to choose (and no, it wasn't at all complicated - J (for July) is the 10th letter in the alphabet, so I needed my 10th book on the waiting list).
I Am Not Esther by Fleur BealeKirby is a very capable 14-year-old who manages the finances for her and her mother - in fact, she manages just about everything in their household, but that works fine. They're happy.
But suddenly, her mother is moving them down to Wellington, and when they get there Kirby discovers that the Wellington move is all a subterfuge. In actual fact, her mother is going to Africa for a year to do some voluntary work, and Kirby is being sent to live with family she never knew existed, and in a community that her mother had (seemingly) always hated. What on earth is going on?!
With the Pilgrim family, Kirby is given a new name and the work of integrating her into their life is begun. She clings to the mantra "I am not Esther", but it's not that easy. She loves the little 5-year-old Magdalene - how can she think of the hurt it would cause her when she 'escapes'? Maybe it would be best to stay - after all, her own mother abandoned her to these people, so where else can she go?
The author builds this up nicely - the defiance, the uncertainty, the doubt over who to trust, the impossible choices ... An excellent teen-read.
For a few years, when I was transitioning from teenager to adult, I worked with a girl who belonged to a strict Christian sect. They weren't as strict as the group in this book, but nevertheless there were many, many restrictions on what she could do and who she could be friends with. Some 10 or so years later I met a man who had belonged to that same church, joining in his adulthood because he thought the discipline would be good. He eventually left, but not without a great deal of soul-searching, and not without a great deal of recrimination from the members and elders. He still talks about it on occasion, and still with the same level of disbelief and anger at the control exerted and 'games played'.
This third book uses humour to tackle issues faced by teenagers at school, and it has a similar focus to "Rotten" in the difficulty kids have in talking honestly with each other. We're all afraid of being judged, I guess.
The Symptoms of My Insanity by Mindy RafI think I borrowed this book from the library because I simply love the title - I've realised that I select quite a few books from the title alone (and I avoid books for the same reason, e.g. Eat, Pray, Love. However, I might give that one a try some time, because a customer in the bookshop today was telling me how much she enjoyed it. Mind you, that same customer really likes that kind of title, so maybe her tastes differ from mine for the text as well as title styles .... I don't know - I haven't marked it to-read yet).
But I digress.
I really enjoyed this book. The plot and the characters are predictable, but I really liked Izzy, the narrator, and I enjoyed the deprecating sense of humour with which the author led us through her life. I also really like the creativity that's described through Izzy's artwork. Along with the look at Izzy's hypochondria the book touches gently on issues that impact teenagers and on family issues that touch us all, and if the ending is a little nice, well ... sometimes things do all turn out nicely.
So, some easy reads this week, but all most enjoyable and most relevant to today's teens.
