The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

ISBN-13: 9780545140317
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Published: January 2010
290 pgs
Source: Library

Penny Lane Bloom had known Nate Taylor pretty much since birth. After all, their fathers had been friends since childhood. Penny had fantasised walking down the aisle with Nate in future, but as time passes she realised that what she had dreamed or hoped for were merely fairy tales and fantasies. Nate is no longer the old Nate she has known; he has changed or in general, guys change.

Stung by Nate's betrayal, Penny vows to give up boys and dating (at least till the end of her high school days). Inspired by a poster of The Beatles, she sets up a club called The Lonely Hearts Club for herself. She has always find solace in listening to them and to top it all, her parents are huge fans of them and she was even named after one of their songs.

Soon, words about her no-dating club got around in school and the number of members began to grow. Penny's self-confidence grows as she gets to understand her friends more and not to mention getting to meet some new friends along the way. However, she feels herself at a loss after getting to know more of Ryan Bauer, whom has had a relationship with one of her girlfriends and though Diane Monroe assures her that their relationship was long over, Penny still has some doubts about boys and relationships and furthermore, she does not want to contradict herself with the club's rules.

But that is only the beginning of her problems as Principal Braddock soon learns about the club and feels it to be discriminating against the boys in general. Not wanting to dissolve the club, the members amended the rules to include dating, but at this point Penny still has no resolution regarding her relationship with Ryan. So what is she has to do?

The Lonely Hearts Club is a light and fun read that mainly revolves around friendship and about staying true to yourself. I also liked that there are a few references of The Beatles, and reading about her parents' devotion to them brought a smile to my face. What's great about this story is it tells the readers (particularly girls) that one shouldn't ditch a friend for love, and that sometimes love will find you when you least expected it. Ah, so true.

Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez

Title:  Rainbow Boys
Author: Alex Sanchez
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Pages:  233
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
Age Level:  9th Grade and Up





Plot Summary:
Rainbow Boys tells the story of Nelson, Kyle and Jason.  Nelson is the stereotypical gay male-a little swishy, with multiple piercings and multi-colored hair.  Kyle is a quiet, sweet boy, a swimmer on the high school swim team.  Jason is a popular jock, deeply in the closet.  When the novel begins, Nelson is completely out to everyone, including his very liberal mother who is the chairperson of the local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).  Kyle is out to Nelson and the other teens in their GLBT support group, but not to his family.  He also is deeply infatuated with Jason, looking at his picture in the yearbook so often the page is fading.  Jason is dating Debra, and trying with all of his might to pretend that he is not having feelings for other boys.  When the other guys make gay jokes, or harass Nelson (whom they call Nelly), he laughs or turns away.  Finally he gets up the courage to go to a meeting of the support group, and is horrified to find Kyle and Nelson there.  When he runs, Kyle follows him.  The two boys strike up a friendship when Kyle agrees to help him with his math.  Slowly, as Jason spend more time with Kyle, he breaks up with his girlfriend and comes to terms with his true orientation.  Nelson, meanwhile, has decided that he is in love with Kyle, and tries to put the moves on him.  When that doesn't work, he descends into depression, binging and purging and having unprotected sex with an older man he met on the internet.  Afraid he may have contracted HIV, he sinks even lower, refusing to go to school.  Turns out that Nelson, who is so open about his sexual orientation, doesn't really know any more about how to go about this whole dating business than anyone else.  An act of gay bashing makes Jason realize that it is too dangerous not to stand up for himself and his friends, and leads to him finally coming out to his family.

Review:
If the above summary reminds you of a soap opera, you are not far wrong.  There are a lot of issues tackled in this book, from sexual orientation to gay bashing to bulimia to alcoholism.  Despite the somewhat soapish nature of the plot, the subjects are all handled in an honest way, without any sensationalism or gratuitous detail.  

Each of the boys comes from a very different family.  Nelson lives with his mother, and has almost no contact with his father.  Nelson's mother is the epitome of what gay-accepting parents should be.  She stands up for her son and his right to be who he is, and is actively involved in working for gay rights.  Kyle's parents are well-meaning, though his dad is constantly pushing him into sports.  That's the only reason Kyle joined the swim team, though he finds that swimming is something that helps him clear his head.  When he comes out to his parents, they are taken aback, and both of them struggle to understand how he became the way he is.  When push comes to shove, however, and they find out that he is being harassed at school, they stand up for him.  Jason's dad is an alcoholic-a violent one at that.  He found Jason and another boy experimenting when they were 10, and ever since he has called him pansy or faggot.  It is only after Jason brings Nelson and Kyle back to his house after they were jumped on the street, and his dad starts in on them, that he is able to stand up to him and tell him his deepest secret.  There's no storybook ending here-Dad does not suddenyl decide to go to AA and become a PFLAG member.  He leaves the family and disowns Jason.

It is this authenticity and honesty that makes the book so appealing.  Each of the boys could represent someone I know, or should I say that I know someone who went through what each of these boys did.  The characters are well-developed, and you feel sympathy for each of them.  The plot is well-paced, and the events feel real.  When Kyle's mom finds his gay porno mag, you wince right along with him.  When Nelson gets so depressed he can't get out of bed, you remember what being 17 was like yourself,  how intensely teens feel everything.  Sadly, the boys harassing Kyle and Nelson are also completely believable.  The book was written in 2001, but even with all of the advances in gay rights and awareness that have happened in our country since there are still too many boys like them in our schools.

Sanchez does an excellent job of balancing the personal stories of the boys and some heavily debated societal issues.  When the boys want to start a Gay Straight Alliance at their school, there is the expected opposition from religious groups.  The teachers ignoring the harassment the boys are getting, and in fact blaming them for it because they can't act more "normal", is something that is still true.  Parental acceptance of gay youth differs, though I like to think that more parents are supportive than there used to be.  Overall, this novel brings home the issues that gay teens face every day in a very accessible, personal way.

The God Box (imported from Second Childhood Reviews)

Title:  The God Box
Author:  Alex Sanchez
Publsiher:  Simon Pulse
Pages:  248
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
Age Level:  8th-12th Grade






Plot Summary:
Paul is a high school senior in a small Texas town.  He and his girlfriend Angie have been together since middle school, and they enjoy the same things-listening to their favorite Christian rock CDs, singing in the church choir, and being members of their school's Bible study club.  Paul tried not to worry about the fact that while he loves Angie, he does not feel the same attraction for her that most boys describe feeling for girls.  He prays on it most nights-prays that he will lose the "unnatural" feelings he has towards boys so he can be a good Christian.  Enter Manuel, new to school and the first openly gay teen Paul or his friends have ever known.  Manuel is also devoutly Christian, and Paul is thrown into turmoil.  Is it possible to be Christian and gay?  Slowly Manuel opens his eyes to new interpretations of the Bible passages that get trotted out to "prove" God's hatred of homosexuals, but it is not until one terrifying night that Paul decides that being true to himself as one of God's creations is the best way to honor his creator.

Review:
I loved this book, and I'm not even going to try to find some cute, book-reviewer way to say it.  I think that this book should be required reading in every Christian school/Sunday school/Bible study in the country.  If you looked up the definition of "Christian" in the dictionary, Paul's picture would be there.  He loved the Lord, and strove every day to live up to Jesus's standards.  He was kind, and compassionate, and actively engaged in his faith.  But he had been taught that his attraction for men negated all of the prayer and good deeds he's ever done.  Manuel slowly, one Biblical argument at a time, dismantles all of the dogma Paul had been taught.  Their Bible discussions are thoughtful and thought-provoking.  Manuel is not written as some raging queer radical-he's just an average kid, same as the rest, only comfortable enough with himself to live openly as gay.  Even in the face of taunts and danger (sounds a little bit like Christ himself, doesn't it?), he stays true to who he believes God wants him to be.  I really believe that this book put in the hands of the right child at the right time could literally save lives.

Wordless Wednesday

I didn't mention last week that my Singapore series has ended, my apologies. Those pictures were taken during my best friend's visit in 2006 (she's from America). Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed them.

Starting this week, I will post a short series featuring some dessert/ice cream I tried locally and overseas. Happy tasting viewing!

Mango Ice

Xin Wang Hong Kong Café, Singapore

Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

"I'm done dating. At least while I'm still here at this school and have to deal with these idiots. So I started calling myself The Lonely Hearts Club."

Tracy looked confused. "Is that a Beatles reference?"

(Pg 57, The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It has been all young adult, all the time in my house this week!  I am deep in the midst of reading books for a webquest assignment, a diversity in young adult literature presentation, a literature share, and book reviews. The books I've reviews on my new blog, Second Childhood Reviews, are listed below.  Come on over and check it out!  Here's how my week went:

Baby Be-Bop, by Francesca Lia Block

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Luna, by Julie Anne Peters

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

The God Box, by Alex Sanchez (review coming soon!)

Right now I am starting a novel about a high school boy who falls for the new girl, only to find out she was born a bay, called Almost Perfect.  I also have some more Alex Sanchez books and some more Francesca Lia Block books to get to.  I'll be reading Kate DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant, as well as The View of Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg, and Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  I may even get to an adult novel this week, of time permits.  I hope that everyone has a great reading week!

Faithful Place by Tana French

ISBN-13: 978-1444705089
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: July 2010
448 pgs
Source: Personal Library




I nearly squealed in delight when I stepped into the bookstore and saw this book on display. Honestly speaking, I never expected I would get this book sooner but nevertheless, I was glad that it was one of those times when the local bookstores are able to get some titles way earlier than others!

After reading In the Woods and The Likeness and enjoyed them, I think it is natural to feel the anticipation and the high expectations I had had on this book way before it is released. And before I share my thoughts with you now, let me summarise the story for you.

Faithful Place is the third novel of the Dublin murder squad; however if you are expecting Detective Rob Ryan or Detective Cassie Maddox to make an appearance in this book, you would be disappointed because none of them is mentioned here. I cannot remember if Detective Frank Mackey is ever mentioned in the previous book, but anyway this book is a case of his long lost love, Rosie Daly, and how her disappearance has left an impact on him as well as the people surrounding him.

When Frank was nineteen, he and Rosie had made a pact to leave Dublin for London so they can start their life anew. Rosie has a strict father and he always goes out of his way to make sure Rosie has nothing to do with the Mackey family. Truth be told, the Dalys think they are dysfunctional and their status is different. Anyway, this does not stop Rosie from seeing Frank and they are, in fact are looking forward to the day they are leaving Dublin. They had agreed to meet at Faithful Place, a run-down unit where no one is staying there anymore and is just a place for anyone who would like to do whatever their business is discreetly. After all, the place seems creepy with the rumours flying around about the basement.

However, Rosie did not turn up and her disappearance has left Frank feeling perplexed and doubtful about their relationship. As much as he believed in Rosie, there is still a tiny flicker of doubt in him after all these twenty years, now that he works as an undercover. He did not want to think of Rosie, after all he cut all ties with his family but a telephone call from his sister, Jackie, has resurrect his thoughts of Rosie once again now that her suitcase was found behind a fireplace at Faithful Place.

Frank returns to Faithful Place, and to his home where he rekindles his relationship with his four siblings as he began his investigation. It is not a surprise to say the case is not as simple as it seems to be, but the people in the neighbourhood and Detective Scorcher, the lead investigator of the case, did not make things easier for Frank as they wouldn't want him around. The community is wary of Frank's return considering his designation, and no doubt Detective Scorcher does not want anyone to mind the case he is looking into. Of course these do not keep Frank away, and the more he digs into finding the truth, the more tricky and scarier it has become.

If you have read the first two instalments by Tana French, you'd know her writing style and her psychological suspense are the main factors that never fail to capture a reader's attention. Unlike other suspense, Tana French's books do not only revolve around the whodunit element but also how the story would somehow impact the protagonist(s) in some way or other. There are usually a few thought-provoking issues for her readers to ponder about, and one could possibly say there is nothing right or wrong with them except that they usually leave more questions than answers.

Reading Faithful Place reminds me a little of my reading experience with In the Woods; I remember there was a part that left me totally stumped and frustrated but in the end I realised sometimes things are being that way. That said, I do not imply that Faithful Place contains the same part that left me perplexed but it totally boggles my mind and made me question about a few things (and believe me, this is all I can say about it) which I don't think I might have the answers in reality. I don't know about you, but sometimes I do like books like that; one that makes me ponder more about the issue (and/or motive) than the whodunit and how the case would resolve in the end.

What can I say? I totally enjoyed reading Faithful Place! I am sure this book would make a great book club discussion because there are certainly some things I would like to talk about with anyone who has read this book.