THE AMBIDEXTROUS LIBRARIAN

I Was Here (Gayle Forman) In my little school library, we have a couple of Gayle Forman's novels, including the popular If I Stay , which I have to admit to not having read yet.  It's been on my list, but I always seem to pick up other books instead.  And it's still on my list, mainly because when I Was Here  came across my processing desk I thought eh, I'll give it a go instead.  I'll get to If I Stay one of these days! Let's say upfront that Gayle Forman tends to deal in weighty topics, and I Was Here  is  no different.  The novel's narrator, Cody, is left behind in the wake of the suicide of her best friend, Meg.  Cody had no idea that Meg was considering suicide, and is left grieving, baffled and alone, but also determined to find out the reasons why Meg would take her own life.  In her search, Cody discovers that her best friend hadn't shared many details of her new life at the University of the Cascades.  When Cody goes to collect Meg's

Beautiful Monster (Kate McCaffrey) Let me start by saying that I had mixed feelings about this book.   I went in with high expectations.   Beautiful Monster  had been recommended to me as a great read, and as I had read In Ecstasy ( also by Kate McCaffrey) and thought it to be a highly intelligent and worthwhile book, I was expecting another novel of the same calibre.   In Ecstasy  deals with the attractions and dangers of dabbling with Ecstasy as a teenager - everyone should read it!   Beautiful Monster  deals with anorexia, another important topic for teenagers...but I found that it just didn't engage.   The story follows teenager Tess, who, after losing her brother to a terrible accident has to deal with this loss, all the while witnessing her mother breaking apart with grief.  The strained family relationships and Tess' own belief that if she could just be perfect, everything would get better, make for a destructive combination.  These are the bones of a good, emotio

Laurinda (Alice Pung) I remember being a girl in high school.  The constant worry of what others thought of you, the fear of speaking up in case what you say was ridiculed, the conflicting desires of fitting in yet also standing out, the desire to achieve and compete whilst casually pretending you couldn't care less.  It all boiled down to the struggle between who you thought you should be, and who you actually were.  Of course you didn't know that at the time.  Reading Laurinda  brings all these thoughts back to the foreground, and sadly reminds me that the struggles of school life don't seem to have changed much. Laurinda  is a novel set in the fictional all-girls school named, unsurprisingly, Laurinda.  It follows the narrative of Lucy Lam, a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant who earned the inaugural "Equal Access" scholarship, and soon discovers that surviving Laurinda has little to do with academics and achievement, but more to do with politics, power, fear a

Jeremy (Chris Faille / Danny Snell) Even though my blog is pretty much dedicated to YA fiction, I also like to chuck in a couple of children's books, or even the odd junior fiction title.  This is mainly because my library has so many on offer, and I like to think that reading these books is akin to "professional development" (much more enjoyable than a Powerpoint lecture on collection development!!) I was putting out some picture books for display and came across this one and thought the cover picture was awesome.  OK, so I totally judged the book by it's cover...  but then, it's hard not to with a picture book, right? Jeremy is a baby Kookaburra (a native Australian bird, for those not familiar with the name). He has fallen out of his nest, and is being cared for by a loving family as he grows.  The story is simple, the pictures of wee Jeremy are so cute, and in the end (spoiler alert!!) Jeremy learns to fly and is reunited with his family.  The book  al

Jasper Jones (Craig Silvey) I first came across Jasper Jones as a prescribed text at the school in which I worked.  Half the kids complained about it (but hey, any text prescribed for English is bound to get a few complaints) but those who were brave enough to actually confess they enjoyed it, said it was "pretty good" (from a teenager, this translates to a glowing and hearty recommendation).  If you believe the publishers spin on the cover, it's billed as an Australian "To Kill a Mockingbird", and I guess once you get reading you can see the strong parallels.  Aside from the fact that Atticus Finch is mentioned numerous times. Jasper Jones is the outcast of the small (fictional) mining town of Corrigan, the teenage scapegoat who is seen as the source and instigator of anything that remotely resembles "trouble".  He is also the son of a drunk, and half aboriginal, so he is basically a happy blend of many of society's prejudices.  So when Jasp