Spinning: A Graphic Novel Review

What happens when the thing you’re supposed to love becomes something you hate? What happens when you spend most of your life working toward something only to realize you no longer want it?

For ten years skating was Tillie’s entire world as she spent hours practicing with her synchronized skate team and for her individual figure skating certifications and competitions. Life on the rink was meant to be a break from the real world with bullies, school, and the pressures of her family.

When Tillie’s family moves to Texas all of that starts to change. At her new school Tillie feeds her growing interest in art and starts a fledgling relationship with her first girlfriend. As her world gets bigger Tillie struggles with how to reconcile to herself and her family and friends that it’s time for her to move on in Spinning (2017) by Tillie Walden.

In guise of a book about competitive figure skating, Walden offers a subtle graphic novel memoir about growing up and speaking out. During the sometimes turbulent end to her time as a skater Walden also discovers how to stand up for herself and how to come out to her friends and family. While not everything works out for Tillie and many paths are still uncharted, Spinning is an ultimately hopeful story of new choices and new beginnings.

Walden’s artwork, colored with a purple hue as seen on the cover, is full of motion and pathos as she makes excellent use of the comic panel structure to move the story forward while highlighting smaller moments in the narrative.

Spinning is an excellent graphic novel sure to endear itself to any readers who have ever struggled not just to find their next path but also how to explain that choice to others.

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration at BEA 2017*

Poetically Speaking with Me (Miss Print) about Undercover (A CLW Review)

For today’s Poetically Speaking post I’m taking over to review Undercover by Beth Kephart. Click the icon above to see the rest of this month-long series!

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“What I knew wasn’t mine. That’s the thing about being undercover: You know what you know, and you cannot act on it.”

Elisa Cantor is used to blending into the background. At home she is always in the shadow of her glamorous mother and sister, watching and wandering like her father. At school she is self-conscious and keen to stay invisible.

After all, it’s so much easier to observe things when no one is looking at you. In the woods Elisa is able to observe nature, like her father, as an undercover operative. At school, she can use everything she sees and finds to secretly write love notes for the boys in her school like a modern day Cyrano De Bergerac.

Elisa thinks she is fine with all of that; with being undercover. But when Theo Moses starts asking for notes to win over Lila–a pretty, popular girl who is always ready to remind Elisa that she is neither–Elisa isn’t sure she wants to stay in the shadows anymore.

As she hones her voice writing poems for herself–not pretending to be anyone else–and learns more about Theo, Elisa begins to wonder if there could be more to her life. With her father away on an extended trip and her family crumbling under the weight of his absence, Elisa really needs for there to be something more. When Elisa discovers a hidden pond and a talent for ice skating, she realizes it might be time for her to stop hiding in Undercover (2007) by Beth Kephart.

Find it on Bookshop.

Undercover is a marvelous novel, partly a retelling of the play Cyrano De Bergerac and partly something entirely unique.

Elisa is a narrator who sees the world not just as it is but also through her own lens, always with a sense of whimsy and wonder. Readers are easily drawn into Elisa’s appreciation for poetry when she discovers new writers and forms and begins to write poems of her own (included throughout the narrative and also in bonus material at the end of the paperback edition).

Kephart uses poetry and prose to tell a layered story about love in all of its forms whether for family, friends, nature or even for words. Elisa’s journey as she learns to love and respect herself is also beautifully told. Undercover is a slim book that has a lot to say about honesty, family and learning who you want to be. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg, The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu, And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Drawing the Ocean by Carolyn MacCullough,  I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler, Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales, A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell, The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott, This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith, Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Being Sloane Jacobs: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Sloane Emily Jacobs isn’t sure about her supposed comeback to competitive figure skating. If she can’t start landing her jumps and getting triples again her comeback might end up very short-lived. At least the frustrations and pressure of figure skating can give her a chance to get away from her family and pretend she doesn’t know the truth about her father’s indiscretions or the depths of her mother’s oblivion.

Ice hockey is a bright spot in Sloane Devon Jacobs’ otherwise dim life. Her mother is gone, her dad is busy, and Sloane might be a little angrier than she should be. Possibly all the time. With hockey as her one and only ticket to a different life, Sloane is in for a big problem when she is suspended from the team right when scouts might finally start paying attention.

One chance meeting for these unlikely named girls changes everything when they swap places for a summer at skating camp. In their efforts to avoid real life both Sloanes find more than they bargained for and possibly exactly what they needed to know in Being Sloane Jacobs (2014) by Lauren Morrill.

Being Sloane Jacobs alternate between Sloane Emily and Sloane Devon’s first person narrations with handy headings labeled for each character. The headings are especially handy as, without benefit of external details like Sloane Emily’s rich family or Sloane Devon’s hard knock hockey persona, the two heroines have a habit of blending together.

The story is perfectly fun and easy to read so long as you can go along with the premise of these girls swapping lives. Being Sloane Jacobs has a vibe very similar to The Parent Trap with rich Sloane Emily and poor Sloane Devon swapping lives but in a cute, non-irritating way that mostly works. It was difficult to understand why–in a world of need-based aid, state schools, loans and merit scholarships–Sloane Devon would have no other option to get to college but for an athletic hockey scholarship although it is also an area outside of my expertise.

Morrill’s writing is snappy and moves the plot along (although jarring slang that seemed dated in comparison to the modern story did often turn up) and–when the Sloanes converge–creates a seamless plot with clever moments of overlap as the two girls assess each other. The story here is a fun blend of serendipity, athletics and romance that is ideal for readers who want a dose of sports in their books. Being Sloane Jacobs is definitely a lighter read that will leave readers smiling.

Possible Pairings: Tumbling by Caela Carter, Girl Overboard by Justina Chen, Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach, 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson, Drawing the Ocean by Carolyn MacCullough, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski, A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell, Pivot Point by Kasie West, How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Lola and the Boy Next Door: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Lola Nolan’s New Year’s resolution was to never wear the same outfit twice.

She wants to attend the winter formal dressed like Marie Antoinette, but not quite. She wants a wig so big a bird could live in it. She wants a dress so wide that she’ll need to enter through a set of double doors. She also wants everyone to see that she’s punk-rock tough under the frills when they notice her platform combat boots.

She wants her parents to approve of her boyfriend, Max. Sure, Max is twenty-two and Lola is seventeen. But so what? Her father Nathan was significantly younger than her other dad, Andy, when they started dating. Isn’t that further proof that Max is the one? Not so much according to Nathan and Andy.

Lola also never ever ever wants to see the Bell twins ever again. Ever.

When a moving truck rolls up next door, Lola realizes she isn’t going to get what she wants. Not where the Bell twins are concerned anyway.

After steamrolling through Lola’s life two years ago, Cricket Bell–aspiring inventor and snappy dresser–is back along with his talented, figure-skating twin sister Calliope. While Calliope chases an elusive spot at the Olympics, Cricket is starting college and seems to be chasing . . . Lola.

But Lola doesn’t care about Cricket anymore. She wants different things now. Things like her boyfriend Max and her Marie Antoinette dress. And that’s enough.

Except it really isn’t. After years spent wanting to never see the boy next door ever again, Lola is starting to wonder if she’s been wanting all of the wrong things in Lola and the Boy Next Door (2011) by Stephanie Perkins.

Find it on Bookshop.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is a companion to Perkins’ debut novel Anna and the French Kiss.* (Readers of both books might recognize some characters from the first book in this one but it’s most definitely a standalone if you want it to read this one first.)

As much as I enjoyed Anna and her story, I loved Lola so much more. With her vibrant outfits and quirky personality Lola is all win. With their witty banter (not to mention having style in spades), Lola and Cricket shine as a couple you’ll want to root for–even when Lola’s own feelings are mixed at best. Perkins vividly recreates San Francisco in the pages of Lola and the Boy Next Door with well-realized settings that complement her dimensional characters.

Without revealing too much, Perkins takes what could have been a conventional romantic story in a different direction with the pacing and structure of the story as well as some clever diversions with other characters. Combined with Lola’s obvious transformation throughout the story all of that makes Lola and the Boy Next Door a book well worth checking out.

*The final companion Isla and the Happily Ever After is due out in 2013 and if it goes the way I think it’s going to go–it is going to be soooooooo awesome!

Possible Pairings: Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett, North of Beautiful by Justina Chen, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, When It Happens by Susane Colasanti, Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg, The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby, Don’t Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough, After the Kiss by Terra Elan McVoy, Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Summer in the Invisible City by Juliana Romano, Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan, The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott, Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altedbrando