Angieville

It's been a couple of years since I picked up a Carolyn Mackler novel. I started with the wonderful Vegan Virgin Valentine and enjoyed it so much I followed it up with her Printz Honor-winning The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things , which I also thought was an entertaining and thought-provoking read. And while Mara from Vegan Virgin Valentine is my favorite of her protagonists, I particularly enjoyed Virginia's journey to self-possession in The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things , with her "Fat Girl Code of Conduct" and her refusal to starve herself to change who she is . When I heard about Tangled , I was interested in the story of four very different teenagers whose lives become entwined and how they are changed as a result. So when I encountered the opportunity to review the book here I jumped at the chance to return once more to an author I'd enjoyed so much in the past. Jena is on the vacation from hell. Which is ironic as she's come...

It's Banned Books Week and I was amused to find one of the books I reviewed earlier this year on the list of the Ten Most Challenged Books of 2006 . Carolyn Mackler 's The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things was banned for a number of reasons, my favorite being that it is "anti-family." Turns out the story of an overweight girl who, refusing to succumb to peer and societal pressure to be skinny, learns how to be happy in her own skin, is really just cleverly disguised anti-family propaganda. I totally get that now. Chris Crutcher , a perennial favorite among book banners, is also represented on the 2006 list. Bless him. For the record, Crutcher's books are awesome and a great way to go out and celebrate Banned Books Week would be to cozy up with a copy of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (my favorite of his). I think I'll celebrate by getting myself one of these super cool wristband s . So grab a copy of Fahrenheit 451 or Harry Potter or whatever othe...

Best reads of the past month: Eva Underground by Dandi Daley Mackall Until I read this book, I knew next to nothing about the modern-day Communist occupation of Poland. Mackall's book takes place the year I was born and it follows a young woman named Eva who leaves her home and friends in Chicago to follow her father to Poland where he joins the underground movement. Sharing a tiny room with her father in a house full of rebels, Eva learns that sometimes life takes you by the throat and hurls you bodily into the middle of a war zone. She learns there are things in that war zone worth fighting for, that her life can be bigger than it was, that the seed of a plum can hold the spirit of a nation. A wonderful read about a harrowing and fascinating period in history. Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland I came across Kurland in a collection of short stories including a favorite of mine--Sharon Shinn. Up till now, she's written mostly romance novels ( not my cup of tea) so I approac...

Best reads of the past month: Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler This fun little book was like a sweet summer's day in the dead of winter. Mara Valentine reminds me of myself in high school. Socially backward and uninterested in being otherwise. Single-minded when it comes to being valedictorian. Hopelessly in love with a really cool guy. One of my favorite things about Mara is that, rather than letting herself be consumed by her ex-boyfriend's lameness, she opts for a healthier obsession and becomes a vegan. Awesome. Best rereads of the past month: In the Hand of the Goddess , The Woman Who Rides Like a Man , and Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce Read the first one last month, so I had to follow up with the rest of the series. What fun books. They got me through being 13. Somehow I'm not surprised they can get me through being 28, too. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling The anticipation for Book 7 is rising fast. I figured I'd go back and g...