Recent Reads

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Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern is an interesting look into the life of a teenage girl living in a mental hospital.  

Anna Bloom is depressed.  Really depressed.  Not surprisingly, Anna's parents feel unequipped to deal with it and ship her off to a mental hospital.  Initially, Anna's depression is not alleviated by being forced to leave her home, family, and friends for the company of other depressed teenagers in a hospital.  Her experience in the hospital is described through an never mailed letter to her best friend Tracy.

As soon as Anna learns the rules of the hospital, she is shocked to learn that she actually feels comfortable there.  Anna makes friends, develops a crush, and even begins loosing weight.  Don't think the absurdity of Anna's seemingly superficial progress is lost on her- she is well aware.  Follow Anna's touching, and often funny, journey through what she calls the "looney bin".

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Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth is a beautiful poetic book about a young Indian widow named Leela.  Following her husband's untimely death, Leela must "keep corner" for an entire year of morning.  During this time, she must wear widow's clothes and stay inside the home.  Leela is fortunate to be allowed a tutor to continue her studies even though she is a widow.  Although Leela did nothing to cause her husband's death, she is condemed for life.  Unable to remarry and a virtual pariah in her community.

Set in the time period of Ghandi, Leela is soon inspired by current events.  Through the leadership of Ghandi, the people of India are protesting the unfair colonial rule of the English.  Among other things, Ghandi preaches equality of the sexes.  And although her father follows Ghandi's example of non-violent protest of English law, he cannot seem to reconcile Ghandi's beliefs concerning women in society.  Can Leela convince her father to allow her to continue her studies to become a teacher?
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The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman is the prequel to Antsy Does Time from 2010's Lone Star List.  Here we are introduced to Antsy, a quirky Italian American boy living in the Bronx.  This book's adventures start out when Antsy notices a boy in his class, Calvin Schwa, who has the amazing ability to go unnoticed by most people.  Antsy says that his friend Calvin Schwa is, "functionally invisible" and calls it The Schwa Effect.  Scientifically testing the Schwa effect soon consumes Antsy's spare time testing different aspects of the Schwa effect like: If the Schwa was in the Boys bathroom in a cat costume and an orange sombrero, singing, "America the Beautiful," will anyone notice?  Or will the Schwa effect be more powerful than security at the airport?  These experiments eventually lead to the Schwa being dared to "borrow" something from the neighborhood's boogey-man.  Will the Schwa survive an encounter with old man Crawley or will the Schwa effect leave Calvin invisible?

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"It takes a graveyard to raise a child." ~ Audrey Niffenegger. 
"The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is about a boy named Nobody, Nobody Owens.  Nobody's lives in a graveyard and is being raised by ghosts.  Initially, Nobody, who goes by Bod, is originally allowed to live in the graveyard to escape a murderer who recently slayed his entire family except for Bod.  While Bod is hiding out in the graveyard he gets to learn all kinds of skills like fading and cold spots; all of which will come in handy when the Jacks track him down to finish their business . . .

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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.  Colin is a former child prodigy with a problem.  He has been dumped 19 times by a girl named Katherine.  Not the same Katherine, mind you, but the trend is alarming.  Being rather smart, Colin attempts to create a mathematical equation that will determine not only the outcome of his past relationships, but also his future ones.  Follow Colin on his journey to discover whether or not math can be applied to matters of the heart.

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