Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts

 This is a story of an unlikely friendship.  While in the hospital after a bone marrow transplant, Zac hears the angst of his next door neighbor.  Beginning with a knock on the wall, Zac reaches out to Mia.  She doesn't want anyone's help and keeps her sickness a secret even from her closest friends.

After leaving the hospital, Zac finds his thoughts drifting back to Mia.  Then one day she appears - broken, lost, and looking for money to run away.  With a newly amputated leg, all Mia wants to do is escape.  Slowly Zac helps her find the things in life that are worth fighting for.

At the beginning of the book, I thought it was very similar to The Fault in Our Stars.  However, the similarities started to fade, and Zac and Mia took on a life of its own.  The Fault in Our Stars is probably one of my all-time favorite books, but I thought Zac & Mia's characters were more believable.  This novel is a story of friendship and how sometimes all you need is a little hope to get you through the toughest of days.  What could be a romantic component is not capitalized upon, and it makes the book work.  It is instead about two people who form a bond over a shared hurt, understanding how much one's life is altered by a disease as devastating as cancer.  It is through this bond that each is able to grasp onto hope that propels them through another day.

I will definitely be recommending this book to my students who loved The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor & Park. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin





"Sometimes books don't find us until the right time."

I hope everyone finds this sweet story.  It is the story of how the power of books can bring people together as well as the way in which love can be found in the most unlikely packages.

A.J. Fikry is a bookstore owner who has become lonely and crotchety since his beloved wife died.  Just when he is losing his passion for the life that once excited him, an unexpected package arrives in his store and completely transforms his life.  Suddenly, his cold, hardened heart begins to open to the possibility of love and friendship.  People in his small town notice the change, and they are soon affected by it too.

Each chapter is prefaced with a description of a short story that Fikry is leaving to his daughter. It is definitely a book for book lovers.  Books are referenced throughout the novel, and one walks away with a deeper appreciation for books after reading this magical tale of loss, love, and hope.

Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

Shane Burcaw uses humor and candid realism to discuss what it is like to live with spinal muscular atrophy.  As a 21-year-old who has spent his entire life in a wheelchair, Burcaw tells stories from his childhood, teens, and young adult years that give readers a glimpse of what it would be like to live with a life-threatening, debilitating disease.  While it could be a story riddled with self-pity, Burcaw instead discusses topics such as using the bathroom, having a girlfriend, and going to school with such a humorous voice that readers can't help smiling.

Burcaw's voice as he recounts incidents in his life is similar to that of Jon Sciezka in Knucklehead.  It is with the same wit that he is able to communicate the ups, downs, and everything in between associated with his disease.  Startlingly real and incredibly honest, Laughing at My Nightmare will have readers smiling the whole way through.

While this book is too mature for my sixth graders, I would not hesitate to recommend it to high school readers or more mature readers with a parent's permission.  The message in the book is too important for students to miss out on.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

 

Very rarely do I finish a book and want to open it right back up and start again.  This was exactly how I felt upon the completion of I'll Give You the Sun. I wanted to dive right back into the pages so I could experience its beauty all over again.

 

Reading I'll Give You the Sun is like eating the most decadent piece of chocolate - you want to savor every morsel and never want it to end.  The language Nelson uses is lyrical.  I found myself frequently rereading sentences just so I could relish the way the words went together to create this beautiful piece of art. Because of the language Nelson used, I could feel every emotion the characters were feeling.

 

Within the story, there was an abundance of emotion.  It is the story of close twins Noah and Jude, told in alternating perspectives.  Noah's story takes place around when he's 13, and Jude's story picks up three years later, after an accident that has impacted their lives and left them not speaking to one another.  Noah is navigating his way through his teens with a secret of falling in love with the boy next door.  Jude has been accepted to an art school, where she is haunted by the ghosts of her mother and grandmother.  She realizes that she can make her dead mother proud if she can just create one piece of art for her.  This project leads her to her soul mate as well as a famous sculptor who becomes an influential mentor.  Jude and Noah discover and uncover secrets about themselves and their mother that shape the way they see the world.  As they tell their sides of the story, it is clear that each only has half.  It is not until they come together again that they can put the pieces together, where everything comes full circle and secrets are revealed.

 

This novel is surprising, breath-taking, and full of hope.  The passion on the pages will stay with readers long after the final word is read.  The characters and story are ones that will not easily be forgotten.