Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity

Clark, Kristin. Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux BYR, 2016.

Jess's father is getting married in Chicago, and at the last minute Jess decides to drive across the country with her best friend Chuck to be at the wedding. The only thing is, Jess's father thinks she's not coming. Also, her father thinks Jess is a boy, not a girl.

This was an unusual story involving a trans* character, in that the book wasn't focused on the trans* character realizing she was trans* or beginning her transition, etc. etc. Jess was already out to the important people in her life - her mom, her dad, her best friend - and she had graduated from high school and was in the process of transitioning so she could begin college as a girl. The story, instead, is about Jess coming to terms with her parents' divorce, her father's remarriage, and the fact that maybe, just maybe, she might have feelings for her best friend.

I am glad for a book that features a trans* character that is about things other than her transition. Also, I have driven the I-80 route from the Bay Area to Chicago three times already, and the author got the details perfect, from the stop in Elko (why does everyone stop there?), to the random tree installation in the middle of Utah to the fake fort in North Platte. I'm also glad the characters aren't perfect. Jess is *a little* self-centered, and Chuck calls her on it, and I'm glad he does, because she starts to realize it by the end of the book, which is a good thing. I'm also glad we didn't get the Disney-esque ending of "I met up with my dad and he totally accepted me and everything is roses now!" because that isn't reality for most people.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: teens talk of "hooking up" even though nothing happens in the book; one character smokes; Jess and Chuck are offered (and accept) beer to drink at one point
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Drag Teen (for the road trip), The Porcupine of Truth, Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.

Still Life with Tornado

King, A.S. Still Life with Tornado. Dutton BFYR, 2016.

Sarah is 16 and she's quitting school. She stops going one day and refuses to go back, using her time instead to wander the city. Then she runs into her 10-year old self and her 24-year old self. The other Sarahs help 16-year old Sarah to face some hard truths about her life.

The chapters in this book alternate between flashbacks to when Sarah's family took a trip to Mexico when she was 10 and now, when Sarah is 16. Sarah's father is physically abusive to her mother and her brother, but Sarah wasn't ready to face that until now. She also needs to deal with a bullying situation at her school as well as what to do with herself now that she is not attending school at all. I liked this book much more than previous A.S. King titles and found it easier to follow. I would recommend it to teens who like sad books or books about kids facing hard things in their lives.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: bullying, domestic abuse, language, alcohol use by minors
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Speak, Girls Like Us, Split

An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes

Ribay, Randy. An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. Merit Press, 2016.

Three friends find themselves on a cross-country trip that binds them together better than their weekly Dungeons & Dragons meetings have over the past several years.

This book was told from the perspective of each of the four main characters, whose backgrounds and personalities are quite different. We get to hear their stories from their own perspectives in a way that helps us understand what is happening better than the characters themselves do. There is a lot of character growth throughout this story; this, combined with some of the unrealistic aspects of the characters adventures makes this an ideal script for an after-school special. It's not a bad book, but it isn't stand-out amazing, either.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: homophobic slurs, one boy is beaten fairly severely because he's gay
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity,Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie, The View from Saturday

Front Lines

Grant, Michael. Front Lines, Katherine Tegan Books, 2016.

The world is on the brink of a second world war, but something has changed from the history we know: the United States has extended the draft to include both male and female people over 18. This book follows three different girls who all enlist for various reasons and end up running into each other during the course of the war.

Told in alternating chapters among the three characters, this is a fairly standard war story with a small twist. It's still about training and fighting and killing people and questioning your motives, etc. etc. But the difference is that the three characters we follow are female, so in addition to typical soldier issues, they are also dealing with quite a bit of sexism (and racism, and classism, etc.). The three girls are from three very different parts of the country and each have their reasons for enlisting. This story is action-packed, fast-paced, and an easy book to recommend to teens.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: sexist, racist, homophobic slurs - all fitting with the time period depicted; violence
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: All Quiet on the Western Front, Wolf by Wolf,Rose Under Fire

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko

Stambach, Scott. The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko. St. Martin's Press, 2016.

Ivan lives in an orphanage in the Ukraine. As a result of the Chernobyl accident, he and the other children at the orphanage are dealing with various disabilities. Ivan himself has only one arm/hand, no legs, and although his mind is unaffected, it is difficult for him to speak. He amuses himself by playing tricks on the other children and on the nurses, until one day a new person arrives who steals his heart away.

Initially when I read this book, I enjoyed it as much as anyone can enjoy an adventure in the mind of a teenage boy. The story was interesting because of the different setting, but it was still "teen boy loves girl and is sad and telling his story so obviously he didn't get the girl for whatever reason." It still had lots of scatological humor and references to masturbation. I wasn't super impressed. But then I read Emily's review and my opinion changed a bit. I had not thought about what this book would look like through the eyes of a parent of a child with a disability. And it's true that Ivan is particularly horrible to the other children, I didn't see this as mocking children with disabilities, but rather showing Ivan to be a particularly normal and not entirely sympathetic character. However, the reactions from the author and a few of his supporters left a bad taste in my mouth. For these reasons, this book receives 2 stars from me.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: profanity (English and Russian), scatological humor, references to male genitalia/masturbation, underage alcohol use, ableist slurs
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars