Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

Here's a bite (pun intended) about the book snagged from Ms. Kwasney's website:  Doomed loves, failed families, nixed dreams—someone else's leftovers are heaped on our plates the day we come into this world.


Big Macs and pop tunes mask the emptiness as Madeline watches her mom drink away their welfare checks. Until the day Tad, a quirky McDonald's counter boy, asks Madeline out for a date, and she gets her first taste of normal. But with a life that’s anything but, how long can normal really last?

Hanging with Jeremy, avoiding Mam, sticking Do Not Disturb Post-its on her heart, Desiree's mission is simple: party hard, graduate (well, maybe), get out of town. But after Desiree accepts half a meatball grinder, a cold drink, and a ride from her mother's boyfriend one rainy afternoon, nothing is ever simple again.

Too many AP classes. Workaholic mom. Dad in prison. Still, Ariel's sultry new boyfriend, Shane, manages to make even the worst days delicious. But when an unexpected phone call forces a trip to visit a sick grandmother she's never met, revealing her family's dark past, Ariel struggles to find the courage to make the right choice for her own future.

As three girls from three different decades lives converge, they discover they are connected ways they could never imagine. Each of them finds strength that brings her closer to healing a painful past, and faith that there is a happier future.
 
My Take
 
This wound up being my final book of the year.  This little gem was number 100.  I saw this on a list for teens, made by teens, for my library (I try to keep up with what they're talking about).  I enjoyed this book a great deal.
 
One of the girls sections was even written in free verse.  You know that's been my thing lately.  Anyway, for all of their differences, these girls had undercurrents of similarities.  You know we're all more alike than we realize.  They were all very different people though.  The times were different and I thought that part was really cool too.  I had my favorites of the girls, but loved their stories individually and the meshing of them as well.
 
I kept thinking, now I know these girls have to be linked in some way.  It took awhile, but did start becoming clear.  However, there was one final link between all of them that I never saw coming.  It was like lightning out of a clear blue sky.  Where did that come from?!  It was awesome!  Hats off to Ms. Kwasney for sneaking that one in there and blowing me away with it. 
 
I loved this book because it told you that while yes, we come into life with leftovers, it's all in how you use them.  It told girls that it's okay to value who you are and NOT allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of.  It spoke to the strength of women, whether we know it or not.  We, as women tend to sell ourselves short or let ourselves feel 'less than'.  This book celebrates women in all of their flawed, broken, but still amazingly strong states.  And the cover is very cool really.  I'm giving it 5 kisses!

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Here's a bit about the book: From Booklist
Gr. 9-12. Full of anger at her father, an alcoholic who abuses her mother, Pattyn begins to question her Mormon religion and her preordained, subservient role within it. She is confused by her mother's acceptance of the brutal abuse, and although she is furious at and terrified of her father, she still longs for his love and approval. As the consequences of her anger become more dramatic, her parents send her to spend the summer with her aunt on a Nevada ranch. There she finds the love and acceptance she craves, both from her aunt and from a college-age neighbor, Ethan. Told in elegant free verse, Burned envelopes the reader in Pattyn's highs and lows, her gradual opening to love, and her bouts of rage, confusion, and doubt. It exposes the mind of the abused, but regrettably offers no viable plan to deal with the abuser, a reality perhaps, but a plot element that may raise eyebrows in the adult community. Still, this will easily find rapid-fire circulation among its YA audience. A troubling but beautifully written novel. -Frances Bradburn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
 
My Take
 
Once I got this book from the library, I was a tad intimidated when I saw that it had be at least 500 pages.  Then I looked at the pages and realized this book was written in verse.  I'd never read a novel written in verse before this.  I've heard wonderful things about Ms. Hopkins books.  It's way overdue for me to read them.  I don't think there's much chance of me making my 100 book goal for the year, but I've come close.
 
Immediately I felt for Pattyn.  Her home life was horrible and she was reaching out for love.  She's trying to find some kind of self-worth while being raised in a society where females are considered nothing more than property.  If you're told you're worthless, how can you value yourself or feel as though you have a future worth hoping for? 
 
This book was lovely.  I read it quickly and found myself absorbed in Pattyns story.  It was tough to put down because I wanted to see where the story went.  Wow, did it go somewhere too.  It kept me turning the pages right up to the astounding conclusion.  I'm giving this one 4 1/2 kisses and plan to read more of Ellen Hopkins. 
 

I think this is scheduled to be my last post for the year.  What a fantastic year it's been too.  Thanks to all of my readers.  I can't tell you how wonderful it is knowing that you appreciate and read the reviews I post here.  I'm still reading to finish out the year and to get as close to that 100 books as I possibly can.  Stayed tuned and have a Happy New Year!

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Here's a super short blurb from Ms. Dessen's website: Rogerson Biscoe, with his green eyes and dark curly
hair, is absolutely seductive. Before long, sixteen-year-old Caitlin finds herself under his spell. And when he starts to abuse her, she finds she's in too deep to get herself out.

My Take
This was my first time reading a Sarah Dessen novel.  I really liked this one and have a couple more on my list soon.  In the beginning you really feel for Caitlin, her sister taking off and on her birthday nonetheless.  Then she meets Rogerson.  Things seem to be going so well.  Well, except for the fact that he never really takes her anywhere and she's becoming always going on his 'appointments' with him...and now she's smoking tons of pot. She is trying to find her way, a unique path apart from her older sister, whose shadow she's been living in for so long.  She thinks she's on the right path.  Then Rogerson hits her!  Things only get worse from there.
It was so draining to watch Caitlin spiral down the rabbit hole.  I think the fact that Ms. Dessen makes you feel as though you're being emotionally pulled down with Caitlin is a plus.  We get to experience all this right along with her. 
You pray for someone to see the hideousness that is happening.  It's a long time before they actually do and it's only because they are slammed in the face with it all.  I think this is a great read for teenage girls.  I hope they all have enough self confidence to say no to the Rogersons of this world and to tell someone what's happening to them.  I'm giving this one 3 1/2 kisses!

Border Crossing by Jessica Lee Anderson

Here's a bit about Border Crossing from Ms. Anderson's website:  Manz is sure of one thing—he lives on the wrong side of the tracks in dusty Rockhill, Texas. Life is tough for everyone—his hard-drinking mother, her truck-driving boyfriend, even his privileged friend Jed—but especially for Manz, the mixed-race son of migrant apple pickers. If he could only get out of town, his life would be better.


When the summer heat sets in, Manz and Jed take a job rebuilding fence for a cattle ranch outside town. There he meets Vanessa, who works in the ranch's kitchen. The two hit it off, but Manz isn't sure he can trust her. As the dog days drag on, Manz must negotiate an unwieldy terrain involving an unpredictable, alcoholic mother, a best friend whose father uses him as a punching bag, and a simmering, creeping delusion that "Operation Wetback"—which brutally relocated illegal aliens deep in Mexican territory following World War II—has been put back into effect. Manz's bright and questioning mind begins to give in to its own claustrophobic temptations as he finds guidance in the voices that have been growing louder and more insistent each day.
*Note: I won this book from Nerds Heart YA.  I want to thank them.  Stop by their site sometime.

My Take

To represent a young adult with mental illness in a book can be challenging.  To depict them beautifully and with any kind of honesty is even more difficult.  However, that is exactly what Ms. Anderson winds up doing.  She masterfully writes about the frightening descent into schizophrenia.  Soon enough we feel Manz's terrifying paranoia that everyone is out to get him.  His fear of being deported, despite his being a legal citizen is crippling him.  Manz's family does not discuss their problems.  His mother drowns the grief of the loss of Gabriel (Manz's half brother) in the whiskey bottles she hides.  Tom, Manz's stepfather covers his grief in constant jokes. 

Manz wants to help Jed, his best friend and Jed's sister Sally.  Their father is physically abusive to the entire family.  Sadly, he can't seem to ignore the voices long enough to see any avenues of assistance for them. 

This book was lovely, in a heartbreaking sort of way.  It was sad to see Manz deteriorate and fall under the spells his own mind was casting on him.  As a parent, you long to be the balm that soothes, to have the hand that heals.  Mental illness is a cruel monster indeed.  You loved one often looks whole and healthy, while inside the confines of their mind, they're waging a war for their very life.  Ms. Anderson depicts that desperation, the spiral that pulls you in deeper so well.  I appreciated this book for exactly what it was, an honest story, beautifully told.  Four big kisses for the honesty and integrity of this one!