Summer Reading

The Spell Book of Listen Taylor
    The style of this book is similar to Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book because it is very straightforward.  The lack of emotion in the tone produces a feeling of detachment and contributes to the unrealistic and bizarre nature of the narration.  Devices such as personification add beauty, but are also part of the unusual style.  For example, the first sentence, "After midnight, the apartment waited, still in the moonlight and the heat," is rather typical.  Yet Jaclyn Moriarty takes it a step further with the words, "A moth touched its wing to the front porch light, and the apartment cleared its throat sharply."  Furthermore, the next two sentences describe a "sleepy confusion of boxes" and a ladder laying on its stomach, a virtual explosion of personification.
      This is one of my least favorite books.  I kept reading it because I like to finish what I start...and, partially, I did want to see how everything fit together.  The main reason for this is the unusual tone, but in addition, it seems that everyone in the book is having an affair with someone.  I assume that this is part of the themes related to secrecy and privacy, but it also seems to reflect our society's casual acceptance of adultery.  Due to the style of writing, the reader does not feel a connection to the characters.  I did, however, appreciate the author's skill in weaving together the abundance of seemingly unrelated facts and story lines, only fully explaining it toward the end.
     After writing this post, I looked up reviews.  I think that the NY Times review explains a lot about my opinions.  Essentially, it describes this book as an adult book that may not really interest teenagers...I haven't been a teen for several years, and it doesn't especially interest me.  It also mentions the "sometimes foolhardy" women...another reason I didn't like the characters.  I don't think the "sometimes" was a necessary part of that phrase.

Adrift
     Adrift is the fictional story of 5 teenagers adrift on the Atlantic Ocean, yet it also includes layers of storytelling such as an initially unknown past traumatic experience shared by Matt and John.  The two working class boys meet three rich friends on the beach, a contrast that exists throughout the story.  JoJo and his girlfriend, Estefania, are visitors from Brazil.  Driana, who catches Matt's eye, invites Matt and John to a party in her family's mansion. After the party, the teens discover that Estefania has gone out windsurfing at night and set out in a neighbor's boat to rescue her.  Unfortunately, they do not have enough gas to return to shore...Major themes of the novel include the cost of survival, the consequences of guilt, and the effect of trauma on relationships.
   
Running Out of Time
     One of Margaret Peterson Haddix's first books, Running Out of Time still includes her signature plot twists, but seems a bit less complicated than her other books.  Also characteristic of Haddix, the historical details and perspectives come to life naturally through careful attention to detail.  I was also surprised by the overall frightening experience of Jessie in our world, including encounters with drunken and apparently lustful males (though not a graphic or objectionable scene for young readers), the skepticism of the media, and the at times illogical functioning of the justice and social services systems.