The Summer I Wasn't Me

I read this book in one sitting.  Granted, I read it in the backseat of a car heading 4 hours back home from PLA in Indianapolis...there wasn't anywhere else for me to go.  But!  This made the time go by much faster, and pretty enjoyably minus a brief bout of car queasiness.  

The Summer I Wasn't Me is a YA novel by Jessica Verdi.  Lexi's father has recently passed away, her mother isn't coping well, and she's just found out Lexi likes girls.  To rescue her unraveling family, Lexi agrees to go to New Horizons-a camp that promises to transform her; to make her like boys.  She wants to do this, she wants to start over.  However, her summer at New Horizons brings surprises, both good and bad.  

I love the movie But I'm a Cheerleader.  I think it was the first LGBTQ movie I saw that was, while satirical, poignant enough to leave a lasting impression.  Actually, I still have the song Glass Vase, Cello Case in my iTunes "Favorites" playlist.  This book was similar- but so much more gut-wrenching, heart-breaking.  I think I connected with the characters more.  Lexi is pretty awesome, and The Great Gatsby is one of her favorite books.  The symbolism in the books comes into play quite a bit throughout The Summer I Wasn't Me.

What's kind of a kicker, too, is Lexi's perspective is one who has grown up in the church.  At one point she brings up the sermons and how it was "getting harder and harder to listen to everyone talking about me like God didn't love me quite as much as he did them.  They didn't know they were talking about me, of course, but that didn't make it hurt any less."  

It's so...crazy, but then you realize that there are camps like this.  I tried to find a memoir from someone who had been through a similar experience, but to no avail.  

This book brings up tough issues like religion, family, choices in general, abuse, but specifically from the perspective of LGBTQ teens.  Definitely a conversation-starter on many levels.  

Bonus!  Author Jessica Verdi will be guest posting in a couple of weeks- stay tuned!




The Summer I Wasn't Me is published by Sourcebooks Fire. Review Copy graciously provided by the publisher.
Released: 04.01.2014

Dust of Eden

I like novels; I like poetry.  I'm not the biggest fan of novels in verse.  

"Well, then, Sarah- why would you REQUEST a novel in verse? Not even an e-galley, but went out of your way to contact the publisher to ask for a hard copy?"

Because...this one is about a part of US History that's interested me ever since I first learned about it.

Mariko Nagai's Dust of Eden is about thirteen-year-old Mina Masakao Tagawa.  In December of 1941 she and her Japanese-American family are forced to leave their home in Seattle to live in an internment camp in Idaho for the next three years.  Through this time, Mina writes to her best friend Jamie, connects with her grandfather, and watches a struggle with her brother.

I don't know if it's because I have to concentrate harder or what...I tend to only read them when it's required.  In this case, it was worth it to slow down.  It made the reading that much more powerful.  In slowing down, I was able to make connections where I may not have before. 

I'm sure the dust aspect had something to do with it, but I kept getting thrown back into The Grapes of Wrath- which of course meant I was looking for parallels and symbolism at every line.  I found it ;-)   For example, her grandfather trying so hard to grow his roses- searching for beauty in the dust.  There's also a moment for the brother, overseas in the military, that makes the reader pause and think.

As a historical fiction, Nagai brings in true events.  There's a significant moment where a man gets shot by guards at the camp for trying to escape- the first victim, Ichiro Shimoda.  I'm sure there are other things, but that one stood out most.

It was also interesting to note the situation the men in the internment camps were put in- a conflicting position on whether to join the military for their country, but their country that put them in these camps.  

A few months ago I read The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee.  One of the things I found most interesting was the evolution of the fortune cookie, especially since they had been invented by the Japanese.  What she found was that when the Japanese were moved to the camps, the Chinese "took over" and that is when the Chinese writing showed up on the slips of paper.  Little things like that make you want to learn more about this part of our history- uncomfortable as it may be.

A powerful book for middle-grades.  It's a great introduction to the subject, and could start a lot of good conversations.





Dust of Eden is published by Albert Whitman & Company.  Review copy graciously provided by the publisher.
Release Date: 03.01.2014

Samurai Summer

So, I picked this book, because I tend to be drawn toward all things Asian.  And then I realized the author is Swedish (wha...???)  Then I actually started reading it, and learned it's about a summer camp.  Having spent many a summer at summer camp (and band camp, and theater camp), I was intrigued.

Sidenote: The term "camp" has actually been the base of many an argument between my husband and me.  I grew up in New England, where a camp- not a summer camp- is basically a summer home.  Or winter home.  Away from "it all." Nearness to a body of water is generally a given.  We have a nice one on Moosehead Lake. My husband says this is a cabin, and camp is where you play games with a bunch of kids, do crafts, and have counselors.  Deer/moose camps are something else, entirely.

Plus, the cover's pretty awesome, eh?

Samurai Summer by Åke Edwardson (translated by Per Carlsson) is the story of Kenny's last summer at camp.  Kenny's real name is Tommy- he renamed himself after ken (Japanese for sword).  He is obsessed with the ways of the Samurai, and is training himself to become one. It is set in Sweden in the early 1960s- families are just starting to get TVs and telephones.

The camp is run by "The Matron" and has visits from her creepy son, Christian.  Campers wash in a sludgy brown lake, and eat oatmeal that "tastes like chicken poop."  Dessert is similar to fruit cocktail syrup.  Campers only get to wash up with hot water and soap once, in the middle of summer, before parents come.  Counselors steal candy from the campers. There are 40 kids attending the camp, but there is no laughter.  

To escape The Matron and her counselor lackeys, Kenny and his friends escape to the forest, where they are building a castle.  As Kenny gets to know Kerstin, a girl at the camp, he toys with going against the rules, and showing her the castle.  When Kerstin suddenly disappears, Kenny teams up with his samurai "trainees" and they try to find her.  The result is a grim "us vs. them" battle.

***

I enjoyed Samurai Summer.  It wasn't a fun read- it actually got to be pretty disturbing- but it was very well-written.  There was a point I had to put the book down for a sec, because the description of the food was making me nauseous. It was like a darker, more disturbing, Holes (Sachar). 

There is a lot of information about samurai.  Legends of famous samurai like Miyamoto Musashi, who beat his opponent Sasaki Kojirō with a boat oar; training one's thoughts toward that of a warrior; LOTS of romanized Japanese, especially for weapons.

There's an ominous feeling throughout the whole book- absolutely not happy.  There are entertaining moments, however.  One of my favorites is when Kenny and his friend Janne sneak into town and meet a couple of "Explorers" their age, paddling a canoe.  The Explorers want to travel to Missouri (remember, this takes place in Sweden).

I was also interested in the significance of the bag of Twist candy.  Like, it's mentioned in almost every other paragraph, and I was like "what the heck is this stuff?"  Thanks to Google, I found out it's a bag of different flavored chocolate candies from Norway.  Of course now I want to figure out how to get my hands on some...

As I said, it's not happy.  But it's very well-written.  I would definitely recommend it to boys- probably Junior High and up, anyone who was a fan of Holes, and anyone interested in Samurai culture.

Samurai Summer Release date: 6.25.13  ARC provided by NetGalley