Teen Tuesday: Stepping Off by Jordan Sonnenblick

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Stepping Off by Jordan Sonnenblick. 336 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., June, 2024. 9781339023175.

Teen Tuesday features Stepping Off by Jordan Sonnenblick. Sixteen-year-old Jesse Dienstag lives on Staten Island, commutes into Manhattan to attend a prestigious public school and yearns to leave the real world for his family's vacation home in Pennsylvania each summer where he teaches tennis at the local recreation center and hangs out with his two besties, Chloe and Ava, who also happen to live on the same cul de sac as Jesse. There's a wrinkle this summer though. Jesse realizes that he is in love. With both of them. If he's being honest though, he's a bit more in love with Chloe and hopes he can maintain his best friendship with Ava. Love problems aren't the only things Jesse is facing during the summer of 2019. He's devastated to learn that his parents' marriage is in trouble, though neither one addresses the issue with him. His perfect July 4th moment with Chloe and Ava is marred by tragedy, leaving Jesse and Chloe struggling to find ways to support Ava and her sister. 

Returning to the "real world" leaves Jesse stressed and his school work suffers. He also feels a bit left behind by his city best friend, Carson, who seems to have matured over the summer. Visits to Chloe and Ava don't help. As the stress builds, the pandemic hits. 

No one does male teen angst the way Jordan Sonnenblick does. Jesse is smart, self-deprecating and a bit wise beyond his years, but so dorky and cringey, yet hilarious in his romantic misadventures. My students love Jordan's books, and I know this won't sit. Stepping Off is the perfect romance for middle school readers. 

 

Teen Tuesday (a day late): You + Me+ Him by Kris Dennison

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

You and Me and Him by Kris Dinnison. 288 p. Clarion Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, July, 2015. 9780544301122. (Own.)

I've been very sick and very busy since last Thursday and I'm so-o behind and scattered! I posted this to my school's learning management app yesterday and forgot to post to my blog. So, here I am a day late and a dollar short. I didn't have the energy to post a Middle Grade Monday post. I basically slept the weekend away and went to school on Monday because I had no fever, state testing is going on and there are no subs. 

Teen Tuesday features You and Me and Him by Kris Dinnison. This 2015 debut is the first-person narration of self-proclaimed fat girl and high school junior, Maggie Bowers. She's comfortable with her weight even if her mother continually nags her over it. She has a fun job at a record store and a bff in Nash, the only out boy at high school. The two are soul mates who always have each other's back. They are gobsmacked by the arrival of a cute new boy named Tom. Tom is handsome, confident and, when he approaches Maggie and Nash, they can't believe it. Then Nash calls "Dibs!" Tom shows a genuine interest in both of them, choosing to sit with them at lunch over other offers from up-the-high-school-food-chain. 

Tom, they learn, has moved a lot. So much so that he effortlessly blends in. He's equally friendly to everyone and Nash can't get a sense of whether he is gay. Maggie falls into an easy friendship with Tom, but when Tom's interest seems to veer toward romance, Maggie panics. She's definitely attracted, but Nash called dibs and he is the most important person in her life. When a former best friend turned popular girl tries to reconnect, Maggie is curious and Nash is adamant about not trusting her.

At turns hilarious and poignant, Maggie's voice is charming as she muddles through the complications in her life. She's self-reflective and likes to keep most people at a distance. This love triange is unique for a couple of reasons: it's mostly unrequited- Nash likes Tom, Tom likes Maggie and Maggie refuses to like Tom out of loyalty to Nash. While there are the usual YA tropes, make no assumptions.

#tbt: Matched by Ally Condie

Image: Penguin Random House

#tbt celebrates the upcoming 10th anniversary this fall of the publication of Matched by Ally Condie. Matched was Ms. Condie's debut and is book one of a dystopian trilogy of the same name. Crossed and Reached are the sequels. Cassia Reyes is seventeen-year-old who lives in a tightly controlled community run by the Society. She is eagerly awaiting the assignment of her life partner. She's secretly hoping it will be Xander, her best friends and is overjoyed when it is. When she reviews information regarding her match later, it is not Xander's picture on the monitor, but Kai's. Kai is an outcast and not a suitable match. Cassia, whose eye for patterns has placed her on a career path to becoming a sorter, is intrigued. She's intrigued by Kai. She wonders if the Match system is flawed. She begins questioning everything about the Society.

If you enjoy dystopian literature, check out the Matched trilogy. 

Audiobook review: The Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver

It has been awhile since I've reviewed an audiobook. Since I read all three book in the Delirium Trilogy recently, I thought I'd do a combo-review.

When Delirium first hit the shelves in 2011, I was taking a hiatus from dystopian despite the fact that I really enjoyed Oliver's first book, Before I Fall (not dystopian). None of my students asked for it so I never put it on the shelf. Someone must've discovered it recently, because I started getting requests for it, so I put it on the shelf and borrowed the audiobook from the public library and started listening.

The story is narrated by Lena Haloway. She's ninety-five days away from her cure and she cannot wait. Love, aka deliria nervosa, has been outlawed. When children hit eighteen, they undergo a procedure that removes those foolish, impure and distracting impulses. Lena lives in Portland, Maine, which is surrounded by an electric fence that separates the population from "the Wilds." The government is brutally suppressive and Lena lives in constant fear of interrogation. Not so her best friend, Hana. She is wealthy and fearless, constantly breaking curfew and daring Lena to do the same. But Lena is damaged goods. Her mother's cure didn't work, requiring multiple procedures. She died during her last one. 

Sarah Drew's performance made Delirium a better book than it was. She was fantastic; although I didn't love her male voices, especially Alex's. I was able to appreciate why my girls love this book. I did like Lena's voice and her awakening and I thought Hana was a hoot. Then, there were inconsistencies that brought me out of the story. I just couldn't buy into this regime that was supposedly so repressive, yet teens were constantly breaking curfew and holding illegal parties. 

Still, the cliffhanger ending kept me interested enough to continue reading with my ears.

In Pandemonium, Drew changes the pronunciation of Hana's name from Han-na, in book one to Ho-nah. Again, the ease with which Lena and her cohort are able to elude the regime continued to be unbelievable. Also, Julian came off as way young. Not sure if it was the voice that Drew chose or the way he was written. Possibly a combination of both but enough interest remained to plow on to the conclusion.

Requiem was underwhelming. Here, the first-person narrative switches between Hana and Lena. There are some surprises. There is some suspense. The coincidence of them ending up in the same place at the end was a bit much to swallow. The love triangle? Meh. Can we please put a moratorium on heroines who might be kick-ass but whose naivté, denseness, cluelessness, thickness, or whatever makes them assume, "I'm ugly," or, "He doesn't love me," or, "He hates me!"? Enough!

And, what's with the chick on the covers surrounded by flowers? Lena's on the run and filthy for most of the second two books. Flowers and make up?

Reached by Ally Condie

Unabridged audiobook on 11 compact discs, 13 hours. Read by Kate Simses, Jack Riccobono, and Matt Burns. Penguin Audio/ Penguin Group (USA), November, 2012. 9781611761023. (Purchased)

In this conclusion of the trilogy that began with the wildly imaginative, Matched, the three star-crossed lovers are living separately while they await the fall of the Society at the hands of the Rising and its Pilot. The first book was told just from Cassia's point-of-view. Crossed was told by Ky and Cassia in alternating chapters. Reached adds Xander's point-of-view and since he was the most intriguing of the three from the beginning, this was a welcome addition.


The Rising came to power relatively easily, too easily I suppose, since the plague that they spread and had the cure for, soon mutated. Cassia was in a bit of a holding pattern, but made good use of her time by creating a "gallery" where the creatively inclined could share their art. Then, she was whisked away to the mountains with Ky and Xander to find a cure. Yep, three teenagers are the hope of mankind. But there's treachery afoot and a blustery blowhard and shifting alliances and, it just didn't add up for me in the end despite some moments of lovely writing and character growth. 

I read all three with my ears and, while I loved the first pretty unconditionally, especially Kate Simses' performance, I didn't love the second. In my review of it on LJ, I did not comment specifically on the addition of Ky or the performance of the narrator, but in Reached, I wanted to scratch my eyes out each time it was Ky's turn. Jack Riccobono whined through the entire book! Sure Ky's a bit angsty (too much for my taste. Really Cassia?), but the performance was painful. I was actually relieved when Ky went still!

The world-building, which I so enjoyed in the first book all but vanished. Sure the Society was losing power, but for all the rigidity, Cassia and the Rising sure had a ton of freedom of movement. 

So, I had to read to the bitter end and in the end, I was bitterly disappointed. I'm writing this six days after finishing and am honestly having a hard time remembering plot lines. I'm donating my recording to my public library and will be purchasing the hardcover for my own school library for fans, but I'm sorely tempted to direct inquiring students to the public library rather than buying one. I have to think on that.