"Karma" by Cathy Ostlere

517 pages

On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi is gunned down by two Sikhs. This sparks riots in Delhi for three days, and Sikh families are killed in retaliation for the Prime Minister’s death. It's pretty bad timing for sixteen-year-old Maya and her Sikh father, Amar, who have just arrived in Delhi from their home in Canada to spread the ashes of Maya's mother, who was Hindu. When Maya and her father are separated, she has to try to find him in this strange, very dangerous world. Along the way, she witnesses unbelievable horror but also finds love in an unexpected place.

First of all, I have to comment on the format of Karma. It's written in verse, and I wish it hadn't been. I know I say this in every review of a novel in verse, but I just don't see why it's written this way. When I read parts aloud to myself, it sounded just like a regular book. The language isn't particularly poetic. There's nothing unusual done with the structure. The format just distracted me. Also, the story is supposed to be a diary, so to me it seemed like there were two gimmicks going on. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to "get" novels in verse. That said, I still enjoyed this book. Maya is a likable character who many readers will relate to. She's always struggled to reconcile the two parts of her heritage, Sikh and Hindu, and before her mother's death her parents were always pulling her in two different directions. Then she gets to India and is thrown into all this chaos and terror, and it just overwhelms her...and all of this happens while she's still trying to deal with her mother's death. She's definitely not perfect and she makes some mistakes, which actually made me like her more. The romance part is a little too much for me; Maya and Sandeep are both young and just met but they fall in love immediately, which is annoying and unrealistic. I wish their relationship grew more slowly and was less intense. However, I enjoyed the rest of the story. It's got enough action to make it move along quickly, and a lot of heart as well.

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

2012/451pgs

Marcie's mom has made her up and move and leave all her friends, and her cute boyfriend, behind. Her father left her mother for a younger man, her mother is depressed and Marcie is feeling lonely. So when she meets JD and he shows an interest in her, Marcie allows her crush to take over. But she can't break up with Linus who's back home-he's too sweet and she can't do it over the phone. But what if Linus is gay like her dad because he never wants to go as far as JD? And why does being a teenager have to be so confusing?

A compelling novel in verse that doesn't shy away from tough topics and relationships.

Love & Leftovers

by Sarah Tregay, 432 p.

I chose this book for an upcoming book discussion without reading it - man did I have some good luck.  This is just a beautiful story of heartbreak and confusion and finding out that when you've finally got things figured out, you don't really know anything in the first place.  I'm not normally a fan of books written in verse, but this story really couldn't have been written any other way.  It's so much more personal and makes everyone come to life.

Two thumbs way, way up.

Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

2011/224 pgs

Lupita's mother is battling cancer which leaves Lupita in charge of her brothers and sisters. As the eldest, Lupita takes on more responsiblity as her father works to pay for the hospital bills and stay close to her mother. Lupita is an aspiring actress and finds solace in her theater classes-a place she can escape to.

This novel is told in verse and was shortlisted for the Morris award as well as winning the Pure Belpre author award. It's a heartbreaking and beautiful story about Lupita as she grows up amid difficult times and find hope in her future. The verse format works well to tell Lupita's worries, struggles and desires and it's a well written story about family and love.

May B by Caroline Starr Rose

2012/231pgs

About the Book: May has been sent to a neighbor's homestead to help out. It's only for a few months and it's a way her family can earn some extra money. Plus, it's not like she's doing much in school anyway-she's having trouble reading, so why does she need school? The neighbor's new bride isn't liking life on the Kansas prairie and she needs help cooking and cleaning. But when a tragedy leaves May alone as winter approaches, May must rely on her wits to survive.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: May B is a book that appeals to my tween self. If I had read this as a tween, I would have devoured and loved. I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder and living on the frontier (of course it was much more glamorous in my mind!) so this book was right up my ally.

May's story is told in verse which packs a powerful punch to May's journey. It works well because for most of the novel, May is alone, trapped in a snowstorm and trying to survive. I tend to not like books with little dialogue and with May on her own for most of the story, there's not a lot of dialogue happening in this book. But the verse format worked well for the story. It shows the seriousness of May's situation-she is alone and trying her best to survive. I felt May's emotions and related to her more with the verse poetry. Each poem was like a glimpse into her thoughts instead of reading one long passage of her internal narration. I'm probably not describing it very well, but it worked wonderfully to help tell this story!

There's also a storyline that deals with May's dyslexia. May dreams of growing up and becoming a teacher, but she can't read. She's always had trouble in school and she had one teacher who has encouraged her dreams and one who has not. May has a difficult time trying to figure out who to believe and if she should hang onto her dreams of teaching. The nice thing is that her struggle with dyslexia isn't laid out all at once and told to us. We're shown slowly throughout the novel that May is struggling in school. This works well because we come to discover May's dyslexia by it being shown to us instead of being told.

The frontier aspect of the story will have lots of appeal to fans of historical fiction. May describes the household, the landscape and her struggle to survive. I would hand this book over to readers of Little House on the Prairie who I'm sure would love it.

Inside Out and Back Again

By Thanhha Lai, 272 pages

This is the story, told entirely in verse, of a young girl whose family is forced to flee Saigon after the Vietnam War. Ha finds herself in the foreign land of Alabama, where not only does she not understand the language, she doesn't understand the customs, traditions, or day-to-day life. There is help, however, from friendly benefactors and neighbors, and somehow Ha and her family begin to not only adapt, but also heal from their harrowing experiences. A 2012 Newbery Honor.

"Triangles" by Ellen Hopkins

529 pages

"Triangles," Hopkins' first adult novel, alternates between the perspectives of three friends who are all facing a different kind of midlife crisis. Holly is filled with regret about her life as a stay-at-home mom with a workaholic husband. After losing sixty pounds, she distracts herself from her problems by flaunting her new body and eventually indulging in extramarital sex. Meanwhile, her friend Marissa is dealing with a severely handicapped, terminally ill daughter and a rebellious gay teenage son. Marissa's sister, Andrea, is a single mom who has vowed celibacy after yet another failed relationship...that is, until she learns of Holly's affair and turns into a shoulder to cry on--and then more--to Holly's spurned husband, whom Andrea has had a crush on for quite a while.

I've been disappointed with some of Ellen Hopkins' books but really liked others, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this adult one. If I had to sum up my feelings about it with one word it would be: eh. I just didn't really like any of the characters, and it's really difficult for me to like a book if I don't care about any of the people in the story. The only characters that made me feel anything at all were Marissa and Shelby, her handicapped daughter, but they didn't make up for the indifference I felt toward the other characters. Since it's written in the verse that has made Ellen Hopkins so popular, it moves really quickly, but I found the style distracting (as I have with some of her other books). I thought most of it was a bit predictable as well. Definitely not Hopkins' best effort, in my opinion.

Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes

2011/150 pgs

About the Book: Joylin is finding herself at the crossroads of middle school. She's always been content the way she is, playing basketball and enjoying her friend's. But now her best girl friend is flirting with her best guy friend and basketball seems different. Then Joylin notices Santiago and suddenly her clothes aren't right, she wants Santiago to notice her, and Joylin is feeling a bit left out. Why does middle school have to be so confusing?

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: Planet Middle School is a short and sweet novel in verse. I listened to this book on audio and while I could tell it was written in verse, it still worked well on audio. I really enjoyed the narrator and she really drew me into the story and made Jaylin come to life.

The book itself is short (the audiobook is just over an hour), but I felt with the narration the character's came to life. I felt for Jaylin and the confusing time middle school can be. She's always been a bit tomboyish and now that she's interested in Santiago, she feels she has to change.

Because of the length, the book wraps up fairly quickly with Jaylin learning a lesson about life a bit too easily. I did like that the ending is not fairy tale-ish but instead rings true and realistic-and Jaylin is OK with that. I think the subject matter of navigating the tricky time of change in middle school is covered nicely. Give this to tweens looking for a quick, relatable a read.

"Identical" by Ellen Hopkins

565 pages

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins. On the outside, everything in their lives appears to be perfect. They have plenty of money; their father is a prestigious district court judge and their mother is running a what seems to be successful campaign for Congress. However, things are not what they seem. Kaeleigh is the good girl, which she has tried so hard to be since she was nine and her father started sexually abusing her. She deals with her pain by cutting, bingeing, and purging. Raeanne, on the other hand, uses painkillers, drugs, alcohol, and sex to forget both the rejection of not being Daddy's favorite and the guilt she feels for being unable to protect Kaeleigh. Both girls are barely hanging on by a thread that can't hold much longer.

This is one of my favorite Ellen Hopkins books. Whereas some of the others become repetitive and don't have a lot of memorable plot points, this is a fresh story with an interesting twist. Admittedly, I figured the twist out after about 50 pages due to some clues I'd overheard, but I still enjoyed it. Also, I like that Hopkins is looking at an extremely difficult subject from multiple angles this time as opposed to having one perspective like she usually does. The verse format still bugged me with this one, as it mostly reads like prose that just happens to be divided up in random places. There are a few parts that actually sound poetic or have some cool text design on the page, but a lot of it sounds just like a regular novel when you read it out loud. That distracts me and bothers me because it makes me feel like the novel-in-verse thing is just a gimmick. That said, I still like this book a lot and will definitely be recommending it to readers of gritty realistic fiction.

"Exposed" by Kimberly Marcus

255 pages

This novel-in-verse features sixteen-year-old Liz, aka Photogirl, who was born to view life from behind a lens and turn what she sees into a beautiful image. She's not the most popular girl in school, but she's not a dork either. She gets along well with her parents and older brother, Mike, and she has a marvelous best friend named Kate. Liz and Kate are so close that she can't imagine anything coming between them. But all of that changes in one fateful night. Suddenly, Kate is avoiding Liz and people are whispering behind her back. When she finally confronts Kate, her friend makes an accusation that will change their lives forever.

This story is one that will stick with me. It confronts a very serious issue--rape--from a perspective that we don't often see: that of a bystander who is drastically affected by the alleged incident and almost becomes a victim herself. It's heartbreaking to watch Liz struggle to decide whom to believe. I like that the story shows that rape can happen to anyone and that it affects more than just the one who is actually raped (which applies to any crime, abuse, or tragedy). However, I thought the verse was a little distracting. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to appreciate it, but it seemed like the lines were composed arbitrarily and that prose would have been a better fit. That said, I still enjoyed this book immensely, and I will be recommending it to patrons and friends who like real-life gritty stuff like Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Patricia McCormick.

Audition by Stasia Warde Kehoe

2011/464pgs



Audition is a novel in verse about a ballerina, Sara, trying to decide if ballet really is her future. When she is offered a scholarship to the Jersey ballet, she spends a year dancing and soon falls for an older dancer and choreographer, Rem.

I never saw what was appealing about Rem and I found Sara to be an annoying main character. She was very wishy-washy about what she wanted. Even though I didn't care for her, the writing was beautiful and the poems fantastic.

Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

2011/255pgs



Exposed is a powerful story of friendship, family and trust told in verse. I really felt the verse format made the book better and worked well with the subject matter. A good book to give fans of Ellen Hopkins.

Karma : a novel in verse

by Cathy Ostlere, 517 p.

In October 1984, Maya and her father are on a trip to New Delhi to return her mother's ashes after her death.  On their first night, Indira Ghandi is assassinated and the city erupts in chaos, separating Maya and her dad.  Maya is then pulled through the city by Sandeep, a guy she doesn't know but who ensures her survival in a city in turmoil.

This was a really beautiful story.  The turmoil between Sikhs and Hindus in Maya's personal life mirrors similar conflicts in India.  I also loved the idea of east/west love stories, and coming to terms with one's background.

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

2011/320 pgs

About the Book: Amber's life is spinning out of control. All she wants is one day to herself. So Amber takes off to the beach is search of her one perfect day-the day before her world comes crashing day. There she meets Cade, another teen in search of a perfect day. Amber is instantly drawn to Cade and they decide to spend their perfect days together-no talking about the past or the future-just now. But Amber and Cade have secrets-and Amber is noticing that Cade's secrets seem dark and that he's living this day as if it's his last.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: I will try not to say anything about the plot for this book, because I think not knowing anything makes the book that much better. I went into this book not really knowing what it was about-just that it was by Lisa Schroeder, who I think is fantastic. I really think part of the wonderfulness of this book is going in blind and discovering Amber and Cade's secrets along the way. So give yourself that treat when you read it!

Lisa Schroeder again writes an emotional novel in verse. Amber and Cade's journeys are heartbreaking and honest. I kept finding myself what I would do in their situations. Honestly, I hate sequels (for the most part anyway) but this is a book that I would eagerly gobble up a second helping for! I want to know what happens next, how they handle each journey and path, what was the outcome of their decisions? I didn't want this book to end.

I will admit that it took me awhile to get into this book-I think partly because I didn't know what to expect. But not knowing ended up making this book that much sweeter, so stick with it and discover the gem that awaits.

I'm a bit annoyed that every time I would think-"hey, this book reminds me of this book or movie" it would be mentioned on the next page! It was a bit fun though-Ms. Schroeder knew the comparisons and acknowledged them in the story in a creative way.

If only perfect days like this really happened! But instead we can read about them and get lost in Amber and Cade's story. A sweet, memorable story about hard choices, confusing paths, and perfect days. Another winner from Lisa Schroeder!