Zebra Forest

Zebra Forest
by Adina Rishe Gewirtz

When eleven-year-old Annie first started lying to her social worker, she had been taught by an expert: Gran. “If you’re going to do something, make sure you do it with excellence,” Gran would say. That was when Gran was feeling talkative, and not brooding for days in her room — as she did after telling Annie and her little brother, Rew, the one thing they know about their father: that he was killed in a fight with an angry man who was sent away. Annie and Rew spend their days under the birches and oaks of the Zebra Forest, telling stories about their father the pirate, or pilot, or secret agent. But then something shocking happens to unravel all their stories: a rattling at the back door, an escapee from the prison holding them hostage in their own home, four lives that will never be the same. (description from Amazon.com)

I had no idea originally if I was going to like this book or not. I was very surprised that not only was it a super quick read... but, I also found myself unable to stop reading. The story was a little far-fetched at first (though it tapped into my childhood fears that some random prisoner from a local jail would break into our house *exactly* like this one does...), but the way that Gewirtz writes is so emotionally compelling that I didn't care any more if the story seemed entirely plausible. 

Both Annie and Rew's reactions to their father's sudden reappearance in their lives felt absolutely real. The intense resentment at having thought their father was dead, only to learn he'd been alive all that time and that they could have visited him. The hope that maybe he'd been falsely imprisoned, though they really knew he was guilty. Their anger at their grandmother for lying to them, even as she was having trouble coping with reality.

I really liked how the book ended, too. Things were emotionally satisfying, but also realistic. Well done.

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my Library

It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story

by Ned Vizzini

 

Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That’s when things start to get crazy.

At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he’s just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig stops eating and sleeping—until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety. (description from Amazon.com)

 

I really need to listen to my teen readers at the library more often. The trouble is I usually have such a huge stack of books that I'm dying to read any way that when a teen suggests a book I tell them, "oh yeah, I'd like to read that...it's going on my list" and then it takes ages for me to get to it...

 

I had three different teens recommend this book to me.  Then I picked it up, looked at the cover, and put it back down. (I know, shame on me!) I also, unwittingly, checked out the movie from the library and then returned it unwatched.  It wasn't until I received the audio book for review that I finally got around to "reading" this great story.

 

And, yes...it was indeed a great story! Others have said this, but it bears repeating...for a book about a suicidal teenager, this was actually a surprisingly funny book.  Vizzini manages to make this book feel achingly "real" precisely because it covers such a huge range of emotions.  There are NO one dimensional characters and the plot is utterly realistic. What a well done book. 

 

I highly recommend this one (and I have since checked out the movie again, because this time I will actually watch it! I want to compare it to the book...)

 

Full disclosure: Audio book received to review for SLJ