Thirteen Reasons Why

If it's September,  Books and Beer Club is reading a banned book. This year's selection was Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, a book I read for the first time in early 2010. It is a very banned book.

Hannah, a girl in Clay's class, has committed suicide. Weeks later, a box of 6 7 cassette tapes arrives at Clay's house. He's curious enough to find a cassette player, not an easy task, because who was listening to audiotapes back then. He's shocked when he hears Hannah's voice. 

He's compelled to keep listening. He wants to hear Hannah's reasons for why she took her own life. And he believes that he might be responsible in part. I'm not going to go into too many details of the story. It's told in an interesting manner. We hear a little Hannah on the audiotapes interspersed with Clay's reactions and thoughts about what he's just heard.

Let's go back to my first reading. Each year while I was teaching, I had each student select a book that we'd read at the same time and discuss, one-on-one. I got lots of the popular fifth grade books, sometimes I'd even get duplicates so I had less reading to do and more time for discussing. I hadn't heard of this young adult novel in 2009 when a fifth grade student of mine suggested that we read Thirteen Reasons Why. I looked it up and immediately contacted the student's mom to make sure that she was okay with us reading this novel that had pretty mature content. After all, it had been banned all over the place. The mom was fine with us reading the book and was glad that her daughter would have the opportunity to discuss this mature content with me, an adult. I barely remember the girl's name, but I do remember some of the really deep conversations that we were able to have. Even thinking about it now, wow. Just wow.

It also gave me an interesting context in which to approach my Books and Beer Club discussion. I really loved this month's meeting. Maybe because everything around this very difficult book brought back good memories of one of the favorite things I did with students while teaching.
 

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

I loved Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley. I listened to the audiobook while walking, but it really would be a great book to listen to while commuting. I think it would be laugh out loud funny if you were reading it on a train. Hey, you might make some friends on the commute.

Iona Iverson is a 57-year old "agony aunt" (don't tell her I called her that) who commutes into London every morning, sitting on the same train, in the same car, in the same seat, at the same table. With her dog, Lulu.

On a fateful day, a man Iona calls "Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader" (you know the type) chokes on a grape sitting right across from her. This event causes Iona to break some of her commuting rules. She reaches out to others trying to find someone to help the choking man. One thing leads to another and within a few weeks, Iona has her own commuting family.

The characters are well-developed and I enjoyed watching the relationships amongst those in the group evolve. I appreciated that Iona is an older woman trying to stay relevant in the modern, working world.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Books & Beer Club reads a banned book each September for Banned Book Week. A few of the classics were selected, but I threw out The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie because that was the banned book that several in my little book club were planning to read for our October meeting observing Banned Book Week. I wanted to read True Diary, but I'd already read and selected The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison as my banned book for October. Figured I could do double duty... True Diary has such awesome reviews.

Then why is it banned? There's profanity, alcoholism, sexuality and violence. I still don't understand what makes those things ban-worthy. This novel is autobiographical, using most characters who are composites of people the author grew up with, and I'll bet it comes very close to reflecting the life of a Native American, an Indian, coming of age in the 1990s on a reservation in Washington State. The author is an Indian and was raised on the reservation.

Junior - or Arnold - comes from a loving family. He lives with his alcoholic father, his mother, his grandmother and his older sister, Mary. If they have nothing else, they have love. And they have each other. Junior was born with health problems and as such, he's the target of many of the bullies on the reservation. The kid bullies - and some adult bullies. Junior is also smarter and more curious than probably all the people on the reservation. He's a reader. A real book lover. Junior's best friend is Rowdy whose home life is not nearly as loving or peaceful. Rowdy is one angry kid, but he's Junior's devoted protector.

The Diary covers Arnold's first year in high school. He starts at the school on the reservation, but after an incident happens on the first day, he transfers to the white high school 22 miles away from where Arnold lives. He works to be accepted at his new school and to still feel a part of the reservation. It's not as easy as one might imagine.

The book is engaging from the start. It's a novel about some pretty heavy, serious stuff but written in a lighthearted humorous manner that makes it easier to read, although that doesn't diminish the seriousness of what Alexie is sharing. Big themes in the novel are bullying, racism, alcoholism, grief, and the meaning of friendships and family. There's also a far share of teenage angst. After all, Arnold is 14-years old.

Junior is also a cartoonist. That's how he handles much of what churns through his mind. Junior's cartoon creations are excellently brought to the pages of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Ellen Forney who somehow gets into Junior's brain as she puts marker to paper. Markers are not her usual medium but they were most probably Junior's. The cartoons come off as being very authentic.

I hope the Books & Beer folks enjoy the book as much as I did. There's certainly a lot to talk about.

George

One of my book clubs decided to select a banned book to read for our October meeting which falls right after Banned Book Week. George by Alex Gino showed up on so many of the lists of most banned books. We decided to go with this novel, a middle grade reader, so that we can really delve into why books are banned, why was this particular book was banned, and how we feel about all of it.

George is the story of a transgender fourth-grade girl who is getting ready to let those in her life who are important to her know that she is a girl. Reading this novel really made me think about parts of the coming out process for transgender youth that I hadn't thought about before. As I read, I kept wondering about how I would have discussed this novel as a teacher with one of my students. There is so much to discuss here, for both adults and children. `  

Big Little Lies

I'd finished Only Child and needed something else to read while I was in New York for Christmas. Spotted this on Overdrive, remembered I'd liked Liane Moriarty, figured I'd want something lighter and fluffier than Only Child. When asked by my daughter what I was reading, I said, "Some chick lit by Liane Moriarty." She knew that Big Little Lies was an HBO mini-series. What did I know?

Seriously? What did I know!

Big Little Lies was not the fluffy chick lit that I was expecting. It was funny. It was easy to read. There was lots of sweetness. But it was also chockfull of big issues. I mean big issues. Bullying - on both the child and adult level. Domestic violence. Sexual violence. And how all this impacts families around us.

If you've been following my reviews for any time, you know that I seem to enjoy books more when I can make personal connections. It seems almost wild to me all the connections I was able to make to this book and the characters in it. Crazy, I tell you!

I could relate to Madeline. She's married with 3 children. But her current husband is her second husband and her oldest child is from her first husband. And her teenage daughter decides that life will be better living with the father who had abandoned her. Oh, yes, I could relate on so many levels.

I could relate to how Madeline felt after learning more about Celeste's marriage. Madeline feels like she's not been the greatest friend. When I was faced with something similar, I felt that my support after the fact was more important than my awareness earlier on.

I could relate to Celeste on a tiny level. I was married to a wealthy man and had so much more financial freedom when I was married to him. My former husband wasn't charming nor did he care about appearances, so that's where that small connection ends.

I could relate to Jane, the single mother. Jane's youth stands out and is what keeps her apart. I wasn't a young single mother. But I was a single mother in a very married community.

I could also totally relate to Miss Barnes, the kindergarten teacher. I remember being faced with bullying in the classroom that it was impossible to be on top of. That always gave me a sick feeling. Sometimes I was aware of what was going on, but was unable to figure out who the bully was. I wanted to work with the parents, I felt I was doing my best to try to get some control over the situation, but more times than not, that was so stinking difficult!

Not only was their bullying on the kids' level, there were a bunch of parent bullies as well. Although there was no desire by the adult bullies to cover up their bullying. They did it in the open for all to see. How or why mothers (and yes, it was mostly mothers in the novel) think it's okay to act that way towards other parents is astounding!

The story is set in a beachside town in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just hop on a flight and visit Madeline, Celeste and Jane. I'm in a daily photo group on Facebook that was originated in Australia. Many of the participants are in Australia. As I'd read, I'd picture Pirriwee to look like some of the photos I've seen posted online. I wanted to be there!

And oh, did I want a coffee shop like Blue Blues and a barista like Tom.

I've read that if I watch the miniseries, my wanderlust will be over the chart! I wonder where I can watch it without having HBO. Does anyone know?

Would I recommend this book? Totally! I also think it would be a great book club book fora book club with a younger dynamic than my community book club and with more of a popular lit bend than Books & Beer.