The Sun Trail by Erin Hunter and Wayne McLoughlin

The Sun Trail (Warriors: Dawn of the Clans Series #1), Erin Hunter and Wayne McLoughlin. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. e-book, 249 pps.


     I read The Sun Trail with delight. Once again, this Erin Hunter book following the development of [fictitious] cat clans captivated me.

     A group of cats taking refuge in a cave are barely surviving due to lack of food. There is a discussion and then some more discussion. Finally, the group splits into two. One group stays in the cave. The other group sets off along the sun trail to find a new place to live that can sustain it. A young male kit sneaks off with the second group and his mother is forced to send the kit's older brother off to ensure his safety.

sapphoq reviews says: This book traces the early history of the cat clans. There is much to like about The Sun Trail. For those parents who monitor what books their kids are reading, I think this one is suitable for teens and pre-teens. The series has attracted fans which include adolescent boys. And who doesn't love cats? These cats are more rugged than adorable. Yet the magic of kittens is found in the pages along with the charm and dignity of older cats. Highly recommended for pre-teens, teens, and those adults who love cats.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black. Boston: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette, 2013. e-book, 340 pps.

http://www.blackholly.com
Holly Black on twitter-- @hollyblack

     Teen Tana lives with her father and younger sister Pearl. Her mother became infected some years ago and died. The first chapter of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown depicts Tana waking up the morning after a party in a bathtub. Things are not good.

     Due to an outbreak of vampires, the streets are not safe after dark. Even at home, one must ensure that windows and doors are shut. Vampires can squeeze in when taken by hunger. Coldtowns have been established in places which used to be large cities. If someone is turned by a vampire and does not successfully throw off the infection, he or she is obligated to show up at a Coldtown. A few non-vampires also live in Coldtowns for a variety of reasons. Tana and a couple of cohorts do show up.

     Despite the popular show of a wild vampiric ball on television, the truth in the Coldtown where Tana shows up is far less glamorous. An ancient feud between vampires is going on. Tana gets involved. Through a series of missteps and adventures, she survives uninfected.

sapphoq reviews says: Holly Black is a popular author and it was easy for me to understand why as I read through The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I enjoyed the book, the first of a series. Suspense of disbelief came early for me. The teen characters reminded me very much of the teens I had known when I was in high school. The depiction of life in a Coldtown was inventive. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is suitable for teens [and some of us adults too]. I highly recommend this one.

n.b.: Parents, if you object to the subject matter in this book, it is your responsibility as parents to monitor what your teens are reading. I just write the reviews.

Dear Nobody by Mary Rose

Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose, Mary Rose; edited by Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil. Naperville ILL.: Sourcebooks Fire, 2013.

     Mary Rose was a teen who had cystic fibrosis and died from complications. Dear Nobody is her diary. Unlike Go Ask Alice by Anonymous, Dear Nobody is a true diary with no particular premise [I found out after my teen years that Go Ask Alice was written partly with the idea that teens from divorced families are more likely to do drugs]. Mary Rose wrote about her experiences with partying and drug rehab, being terminally ill and knowing it, family relationships, boys, and friendship.

sapphoq reviews says: I found myself liking Mary Rose. Her drawings are quite good. Her writing is poignant. I am sorry she is gone. Her words still survive. 
     I found especially interesting her point of view as a teen in an adolescent program of a drug rehab. I worked in such a place for three miserable years of my life. [I prefer teens in groups of one]. I suspect that many people who work in the addictions field will sign and say, "Oh she was in denial." I think there was a bit more going on than denial. Sometimes what we refer to as denial is actually ambivalence. 
     I think we lost someone great when Mary Rose died. Highly recommended. [And probably okay for most teens to read].

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Skippy Dies, Paul Murray. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc./ Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. e-book, 629 pps.

     Skippy dies in the donut shop near his male-only boarding school abruptly. His buddy Ruprecht is with him. The waiter thinks that Skippy is choking but he isn't. We learn all of this in the Prologue before Chapter One.

     The rest of the book is an extended study in character and motivation of Skippy and the people around him. Each chapter deals with the events of a specific period of time either before or after Skippy's death.

sapphoq reviews says: My initial reaction to the length of the book was something akin to a small panic. As I continued to read, I began to appreciate the tale that Paul Murray has laid before us. 
     Everything is in there: bullying, teen angst, teacher problems, a girls' counterpart to the boys' boarding school, screwing around with science until it becomes unrecognizable, drinking, bits of teen sex [but not in much detail], and how our desires and actions or non-actions reflect who we are and shape us into who we are becoming.
     Adults may wish to preview this book before allowing their teens to read this one. There were very few curses in Skippy Dies-- the word "shite" is the most common one-- but there are bits of drug selling and drug taking along with the other stuff.
     I found Skippy Dies to be an intricate and satisfying read. Highly recommended for those adults and mature teens who don't mind a long but deep novel. 

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Asylum, Madeleine Roux. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. e-book, 216 pps.

Some teens labeled as gifted descent upon a college in New Hampshire for a summer program. They stay in a dorm building which used to be an asylum. Three of them become pals. Daniel is described in the book as being anxious and was given the label of "mild dissociative disorder." Jordan is a gay teen who is supposed to be somewhere else. Abby is an artist. They explore the warden's office on the first floor of the building and find other hidden stuff there.

sapphoq reviews says: I was dismayed by the label of "mild dissociative disorder." It seemed not to fit the story as it was told. I think it might have been better to use the words "fugue states" and to explain to the [probably mostly teen] readers what that is.

Asylum started off slowly. I didn't really get interested until the trio began their extended exploration of the secret rooms. Until that point, I was forcing myself to stick with the book. The ending was somewhat predictable. I would have liked also for the characters of Daniel's roommate and the history professor to be fleshed out a bit more. 

The old photos were pretty cool but easily located on the internet. 

A disappointing read, even for teens. Skip this.

Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver

Delirium, Lauren Oliver. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2012. 480 pps.

Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. 375 pps.

Requiem, Lauren Oliver. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2014. 432 pps.

Lauren Oliver is on Twitter (tm) as https://twitter.com/OliverBooks

The Delirium Trilogy opens in Portland, Maine. It is a city that the author appears to have intimate familiarity with. I recognized it. That Lauren Oliver was able to re-create a Portland in her trilogy [albeit a dystopian Portland] made me warm up to the writing immediately. She displays the same knowledge of all of the geographical locations she uses in her books. And I like that. A sense of place adds depth to any story.

In the trilogy, love is a disease. There is big government, censorship, messing with brains, and dictates that must be followed on a very large scale. Some readers may only be interested in the love story. But there is much more here than that.

                 ~ Less Government, More Fun ! ~

sapphoq reviews says: Although the Delirium Trilogy was written for teens, there is much in these books for astute adults to love. Fans of Veronica Roth [yes, I am!] will love this very different view of a dystopian world. Highly recommended.

Enduring Shame by Anonymous

Enduring Shame: A Sex Offender's Journey Through America's Legal System, [by] Anonymous.  self-published, 2013. e-book,  130 pps.

[N.B. Craig's List, FaceBook, Twitter are all companies which own and operate advertisements on line and/or social media. No infringement of their trademarks, registrations, or copyrights is intended. This is a book review. The author of the book being reviewed mentioned these three services so I did also. None of the companies approve of this book review in any fashion. Copy trolls are not welcome in the space of this blog.  ~ sap]

     The author of this book was diagnosed as having Asperger's. He admitted in Enduring Shame to be somewhat obsessed with having sexual chats with adult women on-line. This sort of thing put the fascination on him. He decided to run an ad on Craig's List to have sexual chats with "younger women" online. Someone responded to his ad. She claimed to be a fourteen year old female. Since there were no other non-spam type responses, Anonymous Author sent her some pictures of the x-rated variety.

     The author arranged to meet the girl in a park. He says that he did not bring a condom. He changed his mind about meeting her and he was arrested. He stated in the book that he had turned his car around and was proceeding away from the park when he was pulled over and arrested.

     The man received legal consequences for his actions in accordance with the laws of his state. The man appeared in his writing not to understand that he should not have corresponded with someone who was not a legal adult in the first place-- never mind sending her dirty pictures through e-mail. His excuse that he wanted to "break up with her" or terminate the [budding?] relationship that day in the park I consider to be fecal bovine matter.

     The professionals described in Enduring Shame were portrayed as mean and petty. That a shrink would remark to a secretary that he wants to 'retard proof' something is horrid. On the other hand, I found the sending of porno pictures through e-mail (especially to someone who plainly claimed that she was not an adult) to be reprehensible.

     That the adolescent turned out to be a police officer does not lessen the crimes that Anonymous Author committed. The author was not falsely accused of something. He was guilty of criminal actions from the moment he e-mailed the cop who was pretending to be fourteen.

     I can understand why the author was legally barred from both FaceBook and Twitter. There are those that want to sexually assault teens on both sites as well as teens themselves. The author did not have sex with teens, but sex crimes-- like other criminal behavior-- can escalate over time. By providing legal supervision to the author in the community, it is hoped that his likelihood of sending sexually explicit photos or raunchy e-mails to teens will lessen to zero. It is highly likely in my opinion that the arrest of Anonymous Author prevented his committing any future crimes against teens.

sapphoq reviews says: The writing itself was adequate. The book has some small value in demonstrating the excuses that sex offenders use to justify their criminal actions. Here is a short list of excuses used by sex offenders:

1. I didn't do it, I wasn't going to do it, or I did do it but I could not help myself or I didn't know that the mark was under-aged.

2. It doesn't really count because the "young female" or "young male" was actually a cop. Since no real teens were involved, what I did, wanted to do, or was going to do shouldn't matter. Besides that, I was entrapped. I never would have taken any of the actions that I took if the cop or decoy didn't approach me first.

3. I don't understand what the big deal is anyways. Teens are horny and are waiting in line to have sex with creeps like me.

4. I have a psychiatric diagnosis, psychological problems, a disability or something that ought to excuse me from taking any responsibility for my actions. Or, I am in therapy for this and the therapy isn't working yet.

5. I was meeting with the teen in order to 'mentor' him or her and explain why teens should not engage in conversations about sexual matters with scumbags like me.

Now that I've given you this partial list, you don't have to waste your time reading this book.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky.  New York:  MTV Books, 1999 and 2010.  e-book, 146 pps.


Charlie writes letters to someone unnamed.  Charlie is full of anxiety about his freshman year in high school.  But he survives it with the help of some true friends who are seniors.  Through the year, Charlie learns about relationships and experiments with light sex.  We are nearing the end of Banned Books Week.  I don't know why I missed this book when it first came out in 1999, but I did.

sapphoq reviews says:  Stephen Chbosky has penned an extraordinary coming-of-age novel which deserves its' place among the other great classics which Charlie's English teacher Bill has him read.  Charlie is a sweetheart and I found myself wishing that I could meet him.  This one will tug at your heartstrings.  Highly recommended, unless of course your parents or your church is sponsoring a book burning in the backyard this weekend.

If You Find Me, by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me, Emily Murdoch.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013.  ebook, 198 pps.

Carey and Jenessa are two half-sisters living in a broken down camper in the woods with their mother.  Mother is drug-addled and not a very nice woman as things turn out.  The kids are used to being poor and eating a lot of beans.  Jenessa doesn't talk.  Neither child goes to school.

All of these things change when two visitors invade their sanctuary.  Carey and Nessa are then re-introduced to a world that was left behind many years ago.

sapphoq reviews says:  Parents with quabbles about prostitution, rape, and drug addiction may not wish their teens to read If You Find Me.  Also, if a teen is on the sensitive side, she may wish to skip this one.  If You Find Me addresses some tough issues in a way that is sure to appeal to the average teenage girl.  Carey is the narrator and as such is an excellent choice.  Jenessa is a sympathetic younger sister character whose differences are highlighted by her mutism.  If You Find Me is an excellent example of Teen Chick Lit.  Although it sags a bit towards the end in its' predictability, many teenaged girls will enjoy this fiction book by a first-time author. 

Born at Midnight by c.c. hunter

Born at Midnight, C.C. Hunter.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2011.  e-book, 288 pps.

@CCHunterBooks on Twitter;  http://www.cchunterbooks.com/

Born at Midnight is first in a series written by c.c. hunter.  In the tradition of Rick Riordan, c.c. hunter's novel focuses on the journey of one teen, Kylie Galen, to find her true self in the midst of so many lies.  Kylie, much to her horror, finds herself on a bus being sent to a camp for troubled teens.  Only the camp and the campers are not what they appear to be.

The "trouble" is not of the typical adolescent variety.  The campers are different.  They are vampires, witches, werewolves, fae.  And unknown.  Kylie is the Unknown one.  As such, she initially feels left out by even the teens at the camp.  There is a director who counsels Kylie through her difficulties, some fine cute teen boys, a bit of danger, ghosts, distant relations, a really pissed off lion, and a cute kitten.  The end leaves the reader hankering for more.

I could not help myself.  When at the bookstore this past Saturday, I read all of the other books in this series too. 

sapphoq reviews says:  Good:  Born at Midnight was the correct length to tell the story it told.  [So were the other books].  Bad: Holiday's counseling sessions with Kylie had too much of a feel of therapy for my liking.  Good: Kylie's two friends and all of the campers in the books each had a distinct personality.  Bad:  I thought Holiday's co-leader should have been a lesbian and Holiday her bisexual lover.  An opportunity not to cater to assumed heterosexuality was lost.  The teens at the camp by definition a non-mainstream bunch surely must have had a few non-straight kids within.  There seemed to be a bit of time devoted to the idea that teens should wait until marriage before going all the way.  It came off as propaganda rather than a value sincerely held by Kylie.  Good:  The story in Born at Midnight [and in the sequels] kept moving.  The plot and sub-plots were interesting.  The crises were well-thought out and plausible.  The ghosts were believe-able.  The resolution made sense.  Teens and young adults who were bored with all of the Greek gods and goddesses in the Riordan series will like this series better.  Recommended for the teen and young adult reader.

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Sweet Venom, Tera Lynn Childs.  New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2011.  e-book, 231 pps.

Gretchen is a monster hunter and she goes to a public high school in San Francisco.  She is abrupt, proud, and a fighter.
Grace is a geek who just moved to San Francisco.  She goes to a private elite high school.  She is shy, retiring, and quiet.

They meet, and as fate would have it, Gretchen and Grace have quite a bit in common.

sapphoq reviews says:  The monsters were really fun in Sweet Venom.  The monsters were the absolute best part of this book.  The storyline was alright for a young adult novel.  The characters were quasi-teenagerish.  There was no cussing or sordid sex scenes or implied lesbianism in Sweet Venom.  I managed to read through this book but am not planning to buy the rest of the series.  Read it if you can borrow it.  Not too sure it is worth the money.
            

Exposed: Internet Sex Predators by R. Stephanie Good

Internet Sex Predators, R. Stephanie Good.  Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007.  ebook, 193 pps.

I like case histories.  Case histories are kind of like snapshots into the secret lives of others, a sort of quasi-professional voyeurism.  Shrinks have always loved case histories.  Especially if the identified patient of the case history is dead.  In that case, they call them "psychological autopsies".  The dissection of the dead life is done with words and report folders and a team meeting.  Maybe it's mental masturbation.  So much of life these day is just that.  Some folks like to get their quota by watching those television talk shows-- the ones where you hope that none of your relatives insist that you come along with them to be a guest on but also the ones where you scan the list of guests to see if any of them are your neighbors.  The television docs are on the rise too these days.  Jerry Springer had to tone things down, I myself enjoy Christina on the Spanish station, Sally Jesse Raphael died, I don't know if Doctor Ruth is still around or not.  Exit most of the civilized talk shows and enter the doctor shows.  The docs tell you how to live or how not to live, send your kids away to abusive kiddy camps and "therapeutic treatment" places, make yummy snack foods, and talk about how your pee and poop should look.  With samples.  So lots of folks sit around and tune into these sorts of dirty laundry shows increasingly run by doctors and other perceived experts.  Instead of doing that, I am visiting dearly demented dad or out in the woods with the dog when those shows air.  I get my kicks from case histories of the printed kind.

Exposed: Internet Sex Predators is a series of case histories that R. Stephanie Good has aided the F.B.I. with.  She poses as an un-adult-- someone that grown men and women should not be approaching on-line for sex-- and goes into chatrooms.  She is very specific about what constitutes entrapment and what doesn't.  The pervs approach her persona.  The rule is that they are the ones who have to start with the sex talk first.  Once she ascertains that the perv private messaging her is not just into trading, she allows the perv of the moment to continue the conversation over a period of days or weeks when necessary.  The end result is usually a bunch of penises being transmitted to the e-mail box of a young teen and a request for a meeting.  

I had a gay male acquaintance who was a minister and a bit screwed up.  He did things like entertain strange men in the back of cars near bars and have sex with men with H.I.V. without condoms.  He didn't believe that H.I.V. transmitted A.I.D.S.  He was also fond of telling me some old saw about the cops in Fort Lauderdale who used to arrest gay men for peeking through glory holes in the public bathrooms and well, doing it through those same holes.  I never understood why anyone would want to jack off in a bathroom, especially a public bathroom which by definition is usually scummy.  My former acquaintance didn't really understand entrapment.  He figured that any contact with an undercover cop meant that the cop was enticing the future arrestee by mere presence.  I guess cops in Fort Lauderdale must all be tanned appealing hunks.  Who knew?  At any rate, lots of these sicko b-tards on the internet looking for teens also claim that they are being entrapped when caught.  Must be similar to the "But officer, some dude back there threw this bag of drugs into my car!" line that is heard so often on the television show Cops.

sapphoq reviews says:  While Exposed: Internet Sex Predators doesn't add much new to the discussion, it is rather enjoyable for those of us who like case histories in the printed form.  An easy read.  Not as knowledgeable as a John Douglas on how perps operate.  Even so, a good enough book.  Recommended to true crime afficianos who like Ann Rule and other case histories.

Adele, et. al., by Adele R. Fors

Adele et. al.,: Jehovah's Witnesses, Hells Angels, Serial Killers, Dissociative Identity Disorder... and a 14-year-old Run-Away.  2011: Smashwords Edition ebook, 165 pps.

Adele grew up in a Jehovah's Witness family.  There were problems.  Her father was undemonstrative and pre-occupied with Kingdom Hall Elder matters.  Her mother was unhappy with this and also unable to reach Adele emotionally.  When Adele was fourteen years old, she was disfellowshipped.

For several years Adele hung out with various outlaw bikers, hooked up with a few men, and became a prostitute of her own volition.  At seventeen, she turned up pregnant and went crawling back to the Kingdom Hall to beg forgiveness.  She progressed into adulthood and pointedly identified that she had other personalities inside of her.  She got into psychiatric treatment and a bad marriage, had jobs and lost the last one, was in University.  And she was once again disfellowshipped.

sapphoq reviews says:  I've known a few folks who were diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder [what used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder].  Although Adele alluded to this diagnosis in her ebook and named several members of her system, I was unable to get a good feel for what her different personas were like nor for the transition between them.  This is vastly different from my experience with D.I.D. acquaintances.  Their personas had distinct personalities and not just distinct ages.  The other memoirs that I've read about D.I.D. folk were convincing in their descriptions of their alters.  Adele's descriptions were not.  
     At the same time, I must admit that I have zero professional qualifications in respect to dissociative disorders and I've never met Adele.  After M.P.D. became a controversial diagnosis, its' name got changed.  Even so, the arguments over it did not cease publicly or privately.  Forgive me audience if I am somewhat skeptical over the whole D.I.D. thing.
     I do know that it is an act of bravery when anyone talks about their psychiatric symptoms.  Adele certainly is brave, and a survivor of a bunch of really traumatic stuff like multiple rapes.  I was saddened to discover that she was disfellowshipped [the first time] at the age of fourteen and therefore effectively thrown out of her parents' home.
     Adele et. al. did not totally sustain my interest.  Thus I find I cannot recommend this book.