Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story

LaPoma, J. (2015). Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story. Laughing Fire Press.

Adult - New Adult / Contemporary Fiction

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 Stars

In Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story, author Jonathan LaPoma takes readers into the life of twenty-four-year- old Luke Entelechy as he takes his first full time teaching job at an F-rated school in Miami.  The job is full of challenges, none of which are made easier by Luke’s personal issues and motivations -- he takes the job mostly for the paycheck while he pursues his real goal of being a writer.  As the school year progresses, Luke struggles to find a balance between the emotional, sometimes physical demands of his job and appropriate outlets for decompressing when the school day ends.  And at the end of the day, Luke and his students are all aiming for the same thing: to survive.

The trouble with Developing Minds is that it can’t decide what kind of book it wants to be: a young twenty-something coming-of-age story or a new teacher survival story? The book never fully develops into either and the two storylines don’t harmoniously weave together.  As a coming-of-age story, readers need to be prepared for explicit and degrading sex scenes, copious amounts of drugs and alcohol use, and carelessness with little to no remorse. Though there is a cast of memorable characters in this part of Luke’s life, they are unlikable and even despicable in their actions. Luke sometimes shows growth and seems on the cusp of maturity, but he fails time and time again to turn the corner, acting selfishly more often than responsibly.  Admirably, despite his off-hours activities, he makes it to school every morning. However, readers must wonder what strides could have been made if only he and his co-workers had given one hundred percent to their students instead of the leftover, hungover shells that showed up to teach? 

As a new teacher survival story, Developing Minds is much more interesting, and the book is slow-moving until Luke starts the job.  With the backdrop of about the toughest environment a teacher could be given, LaPoma’s world-building is outstanding. The school and all its occupants are in survival mode, and with chaos, disrespect, and violence the norm, the natural consequence is that administrators, teachers, and students must choose their battles -- or check-out completely.  LaPoma nails the emotional turmoil most teachers experience – especially in situations where they are not in control.  The helplessness and despair of Luke and other teachers in the school is palpable, and it is in Luke’s progression of overcoming those feelings that Luke shows real growth. Unfortunately, just as he begins to understand his students, empathize with their situations, connect with them, and ultimately teach them, he abandons them.    

Jonathan LaPoma writes very well, though some additional editing is needed to correct numerous comma splices, a few pronoun errors, and some page numbering issues. There were full side-stories that should have been edited out (namely in his relationships) as they didn’t add anything or move the story forward in any way.  Though the book is pitched as dark humor or satire, I rarely found it humorous. Rather, it was disturbing, depressing, and ventured too often into the truly distasteful. Overall, Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story has some excellence, but those parts are mostly overshadowed and buried in the raunchiness.

This book was reviewed for Reader Views and is re-posted here by their permission. A print copy was provided to me in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give. 

CLICK HERE TO ENTER TO WIN A COPY ON GOODREADS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan LaPoma is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, songwriter, and poet from Buffalo, NY. In 2005, he received a BA in history and a secondary education credential from the State University of New York at Geneseo. A few months after graduating, he and a friend took a seven-week cross-country road trip from Buffalo to the Pacific. Within a year of his return, he bought a one-way ticket to Mexico, where he lived in a small Pacific coast town for five months and traveled throughout the country in an attempt to find answers to questions that haunt many young adults trying to find their place in the world. These experiences have become the inspiration for much of his writing, which often explores themes of alienation and misery as human constructions that can be overcome through self-understanding and the acceptance of suffering.

LaPoma has written two novels, five feature-length screenplays, and hundreds of songs and poems. His screenplays have won over sixty awards/honors at various international screenwriting competitions, including first-place victories in the 2014 Hollywood Screenplay Contest (Grand Jury Prize), the 2015 Las Vegas Screenplay Contest (two wins: Grand Jury Prize and Grand Prize in the Drama category), the 2014 London Film Awards (Grand Prize: Feature Screenplay category), the 2014 Awareness Film Festival, and the 2014 West Field Screenwriting Awards (The New York Award). He lives in San Diego, CA, and teaches at a public secondary school. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS BOOKS 

AND CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR 

GOODREADS    TWITTER    FACEBOOK    WEBSITE  

This Is Not A Drill

McDowell, B. (2012). This is not a drill. NY: Penguin.

YA Fiction / Realistic Fiction

QuickNEasy, 224 pages, ages 12+

I gave this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, but I probably would give it more like 4 1/2 if I could.  I had an advance/uncorrected galley copy (thank you Penguin, for being at the TLA Conference!), so it's possible some of what held me back from giving it a 5 will be corrected when the book is released in October.

Unfortunately, the book is no longer fiction but realistic fiction given the world we live in and the number of school shooting incidents. It is a good story and shares a perspective that we don't often see or hear about: the thoughts and feelings of the shooter, told by the shooter in the midst of the crisis. The book is not a good example of what anyone should do in this situation (attempting psychology and heroics with someone who holds a gun), but it made the story interesting and gave us more insight into the Emery and Jake, the two teenagers.

Though the book has a romance angle, it's really background. I think boys would enjoy reading this as much as (maybe moreso?) than girls. The story is told alternating chapters between a high school senior girl and a high school senior boy. This was a good way to present the story, but this is also part of why I scaled my rating back from a 5 star.  You get the same events replayed twice - once told by Emery and once told by Jake. This got tedious for me and even though they were seeing things differently, there was still a lot of repetition.

The book says this is for ages 12 and up / 7th grade and up, and it's actually written at that level. Pretty basic writing; however, the language is pretty raw at parts, including very realistic, intense descriptions of war, death, and an F-bomb thrown-in. Realistic, given the character of the shooter, but maybe a little much for some 7th graders.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Taylor, L. (2011). Daughter of Smoke and Bone. NY: Little, Brown, and Company.
YA Lit / Fantasy

I probably would have given this a 4 out of 5 stars (I gave it 3) if I had read the book instead of listened to it. Though the narrator did a good job, it was just painfully slow to listen to this pretty long story.  I think it is a page turner if you read it, but I got a little bored because it took too long! And when I listened with headphones (on the plane, in bed), I usually fell asleep and then had to go back and listen to what I missed.

That aside, the story is interesting though it required me to suspend my disbelief a bit more than I am comfortable suspending.  The angels/demons among us premise is fine, but that so much happens with human observation (and no consequences) was tough to swallow.

The main character, Karou, is very mature at seventeen, living on her own for some time and already through a serious and mature, semi-live-in relationship with an older man.  That made her a pretty cool character, who would appeal to teenage girls, but it also pushed the book age appropriateness level a little higher (16 and up?) The book is fantasy on many levels. I love that Karou lives by the mantra of telling the truth. Her truth is so outlandish, no one believes her anyhow, but then she doesn't have to track the lies she tells!

The characters were well-done, and the cliffhanger ending just may be enough for me to READ the next installment, Days of Blood and Starlight, due out November of 2012. Below is the book trailer and you can read about both books on the author's website http://daughterofsmokeandbone.com/



NEW 09/13/12: CLICK HERE TO PREVIEW THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF THE SEQUEL, Days of Blood and Starlight.

Rotters

Kraus, D. (2011). Rotters. NY: Delacorte Press.

First of all, straight up: this book has graphic depictions of grave digging, fresh and long-dead corpses, innuendo of necrophilia and at a minimum, disrespect for the dead.  Dark. Gruesome. Unsettling. The book is absolutely unforgettable – but is that good?

Soooooo. . . . I loved the start of this book and how the kid was absolutely certain that his mom would be dying at any given time for any given reason. I laughed a little because not knowing our main character, Joey, yet, I wasn't sure if it was neurosis or humor or practicality. Still not sure of the answer 0 and this is one of the things that bothered me about this book. This seemed significant and like it should be revisited or explained or referenced at some point, and it wasn’t.  

Throughout the story, over and over again, my heart aches for this boy, Joey.  Apparently I'm on a roll with books about boys losing their moms (just finished A Monster Calls) and didn't know it.   I was convinced that surely he had to get a freakin' break at some point.  He really didn’t, though some might argue he did at the end of the book by way of the Epilogue.  Eh. But along the way, Joey’s actions confuse me and go against what seems to be his personality and his teachings from both mom and messed-up dad.  Yes, I’m vague here because I don’t like spoilers, but the inconsistency with his character bothered me.  To hint – I hated the bullying Joey was subjected to and was thrilled that Joey was planning his revenge, but the revenge put Joey on a different level for me.  The revenge was obscene and didn’t seem to fit Joey, but then maybe I didn’t really understand Joey after all.

This book has language in it, but sadly, it’s probably realistic to a teenaged boy that age.  Most boys from junior high on up wouldn't blink an eye at the language; it is firmly a part of their culture now, and they often hear worse on the football field and Xbox.

Language is one thing, but the situations explored and graphically detailed are another.  It’s beyond gross.  The SMELLS stick with me, the IMAGES stick with me, the ACTIONS stick with me, and for the most part they are nose-wrinkling, vile, and twisted. But did I like this book? I can't say for sure.  Clearly the author is talented (though it freaks me out to think about where/how he got his information to write about this).  But I really can't say who I'd recommend it to because it’s just wrong on so many levels.  Would a boy like this? Yeah, probably. But should it be suggested to him?  My gut says no. It's adult horror with a teenaged main character.

 Here’s the official book trailer for Rotters, straight from author Daniel Kraus’s website, http://danielkraus.com/rotters.php CREEPY.

The Diviners

Bray, L. (COMING SEPTEMBER 2012). The Diviners. NY: Little, Brown & Company. (ARC)

YA Lit / paranormal / fantasy
Thank you, TLA Conference and Little, Brown & Company for this free Advance Reading Copy!

UPDATE!!!!  This is an absolutely amazing fan-made (DayIn3 on YouTube) book trailer, and it makes me want to read the book again. Was I too harsh?? Was I just in a mood?  Check this out:


 

When I started reading this, I was immediately bugged by the main character, Evie, but I stuck with it and I definitely got caught up in the story. The story is a mix of Ghostbusters (The Bennington, where everyone lives, is a conduit for the spirits) and Seven (ehh. . .not going to elaborate there) and The Stand (creepy man with the tall black hat) and I'm feeling slightly disturbed that I picked-up and read two books, back-to-back, without any prior knowledge, and they both included digging up the dead. (other book Rotters, which still weighs heavily on me.) 

I was disappointed in the ending -- way too many loose ends and very little closure -- and though the 20s lingo was fun (sorry, it was the bees knees), I would feel compelled to smother any teenager who spoke in nothing but street lingo. Evie didn't need to do that to be hip; it just made her slightly annoying.  Clearly this is designed to be part of a series, but it would have made a nice stand alone by removing a whole bunch of "new" information at the end and just reconciling some stories.

And the stories are many -- there are a ton of characters and many have "gifts" that indicate we haven't heard the last from them.  Not sure how the author can weave all of them in to the next book without it becoming jumbled. We'll just have to see how good she is!

This is a pretty fun video (posted by YouTube user MrRoccoA) that has the author acting out (with action figures) and singing some of the book.

A Monster Calls

Ness, P. (2011). A Monster Calls. Somerville, Mass: Candlewick Press.
YA Fiction / Paranormal
Awards: Galaxy British Book Awards for Children's Book of the Year (2011), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Young Adult Literature (2011), Red House Children's Book Award (2012), ALA Teens' Top Ten Nominee (2012), Carnegie Medal, Kate Greenaway Medal

WOW. Did I say WOW already?  Two times is not enough. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I decided to read this (on my iPad, by the way. I am becoming so techy).  I knew it had won lots of awards and had many recommendations, but that was about it.

This story was very powerful and so well written that I pretty much read it in one sitting.  I was absolutely drawn-in to thirteen-year-old Conor's life; he is dealing with divorce, dying, bullying, isolation, fear, anxiety, and so much more, but he deals with it.  He is a reminder of what kids can deal with when they have to, and how strong and also fragile they are when they are so burdened.  I am not a bit embarrassed to say that I had myself a good cry at the end. I cried for loss and for love and for letting go and who knows what else. Heart-breaking, but definitely worth the tears to read a book so well-done.

At times, this book reminded me of another favorite, the graphic novel, The Savage, where a boy has to deal with many of the same issues.  Ness apparently wrote the book for another author, Siobhan Dowd, who created the premise but then died at a young age before being able to pen the story.  Ness did an amazing job, and accompanying the text are some awesome, dark and creepy illustrations by Jim Kay that are the icing on this very inventive story.


Here is the trailer released by Candlewick Press -- enjoy, and read this book!