Oh, Rainbow Rowell...you did it again.
This is the third time I've stolen away during work breaks, cut my workout short, and ignored my bedtime (5 AM comes oh so early...) to finish one of your books. Where I can't wait to get back to your characters, and can't seem to get out from that blurred reality/fiction line and think I'm actually friends with them. Which I guess goes really well with this new book!
Fangirl, the new YA novel by Rainbow Rowell, takes a look at fanfiction culture- and being a college freshman. Socially awkward Cath writes fanfiction about Simon Snow (a Harry Potter-like character), and has made a name for herself in that world. However, college throws a wrench into her introverted life- her roommate is mean, her twin sister won't talk to her, her Dad is manic, and there's a boy that won't leave her alone. She just wants to stay in and write, but things keep forcing her to leave her comfort zone. Will Cath learn to live in the real world? Or will she stay in her stories?
If you couldn't tell from my first paragraph, I loved this book. It may be my Introverted, INFJ-ishness, but I related SO much to Cath! Or as I wrote in my notebook "I have Cath-like tendencies!"
The novel threw me back to my college days- dorm living, pushy professors (those are always the best ones, though, right?) It also reminded me of how I preferred to stay in reading & watching movies until someone would pull me out into a social setting.
Rowell writes such real characters- smart, funny, flawed, awkward. A board member and I even discussed last night after our meeting how real Eleanor & Park was. She had said she didn't like the ending, but she loved the book- "Everything was just very...real," she said. I agreed, and that is one of the Rainbow Rowell novels I devoured in a single day. I genuinely liked the key players in Fangirl, and the few I didn't like were for good reason (they were well-written a-holes!)
And so, I will just leave this at: if you are an introvert, socially awkward, reader/writer of fanfiction (or a reader/writer in general), have dysfunction in your family, and love little "aw" moments- read this. I can't say enough good things about it.
Fangirl is published by Macmillan. ARC received from publisher at ALA 2013.
Release Date: 09.10.2013
Ah...I needed this.
In This Together Media is an awesome publishing company that publishes books about real girls [insert Pinocchio joke here]. But seriously, when I was contacted to review the book, and started reading about this company- how could I not get behind it! Girls need to know they can be smart and strong, and also that they don't need to see each other as competition- we should build each other up. So! Follow the link! Learn more!
Personal Statement by Jason Odell Williams is a hilarious satire on the college admission "game." Emily, Rani and Robert are from upscale Connecticut, and all have motives to be the best. Not just the best grades, but also philanthropy. When a Class 3 hurricane makes its way to the New England coast, they jump on the opportunity to make themselves stand out! Told from the perspective of the three teens, and a 20-something observer who's already been through it all, Personal Statement takes a look at the dirty underbelly of college admissions...competitive volunteering.
This...this was everything I wanted the movie Admission to be. Coincidentally, I got the e-mail asking to review the book as I was setting up our overly-complicated physical media-playing system to watch Admission. I figured it was a sign. [Note: Admission was good! Just not what I expected humor-wise.]
The cast is refreshingly diverse! Smart and snarky, real, and not a WASP among them (says the WASP reviewing...). I was laughing from page one at the humor, but also at the truths revealed about college, admissions, debt, etc. I was nodding with a "So true!" every few pages. And, lots of pop culture references!
Also, jealous of these lucky New Englanders. Whenever I say I'm from Maine I have to follow up with "but the town was kind of King of the Hill-ish...but with Downeast accents. Not really what you see on postcards." These kids are postcard people.
This was an original, hilarious satire. Anyone who has been through the college admissions process, or is about to go through it, should probably read this. I kind of want it to be made into a movie, and then shown at school assemblies. I'm also going to take a look at the other books from In This Together Media...you probably should, too.
Personal Statement is published by In This Together Media. Review copy graciously provided by the publisher.
Released: 08.01.2013
