Dramarama

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Two teens from small town Ohio dream of making it big on stage.  Demi is gay and black and determined to leave small town forever.....leave behind what small town expects him to be and what his parents grit their teeth and bear.  Sadye (Sarah) can't wait to leave behind being a nobody, that nobody understands.  So the two bestfriends audition for summer drama camp. 

Once they make it to Wildewood Academy; one of them sees their dreams quickly coming to fruition while the other realizes that though their love for the arts makes their heart beat, they might not have what it takes to be the big star. 

There's lots of love, laughter, singing, dancing, and a strain on true friendship.  If you have not had much experience with musicals or theater, you may struggle with the references to the multitude of productions spoken about.  At the end the author leaves a list of movies and a playlist that the characters like.

Rating 3  Loved the musical and theater parts.  Sweet book about owning who you are and making it work.  Worth a quick read.

Rating PG 13  Underage drinking, homosexuality, sexual references.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

     The second book I've picked up by humorist David Sedaris, was funny and easy, but this time I didn't weep with hysterical ecstasy.  I had a good time reading it like I would have a good time eating a cheeseburger.  It was good........but not the best thing ever.
     The funniest parts for me where when Sedaris is half heartedly learning French.  His translations made me laugh outloud.  Even giving this book a three.......I still wish that I were Sedaris funny enough to write wee vignettes about random parts of my dull life.

Rating 3
Rating PG 13 language, sexual content, homosexuality

Angel Falling Softly

Angel Falling Softly by Eugene Woodbury

I have been trying to get my mitts on this for a very long time.  I kept seeing scathing reviews and knew that if it were that controversial..........well I had to read it.

The low down is that Rachel is an LDS bishop's wife.  Her young daughter Jennifer is dying of leukemia.  A gorgeous young vampire named Milada moves into the ward.  Rachel figures out what Milada is.  She asks Milada help her save her child's life by infecting her with the virus that makes one a vampire.

While there was an awesome story in there... it derailed.   Milada's high powered job which entailed buying out companies and shallow relationships between mother/daughter and wife/husband left me desperate for the meatier story that never fleshed out.
Now I do appreciate when an LDS author has the courage to write characters that aren't all unattainable, cheesy, do gooders.  On the other hand if you are going to write as an LDS author and not just your general population author.....there have to be some things which you just leave out.  I can take sex between married people, heck I could even deal with an affair, what I struggled with was the lesbian scenes......for sort of no purpose.  There were some snippets of tantalizing writing which would have been great if they were delved into at all.  Such as Rachel having to decide if she wanted to destine her daughter to Hell in order to save her life......which is what I think the book may have been about. 
Rachel kinda seemed not to a have a dying daughter and to be living her religion for the sake of appearance.  I'm pretty sure that isn't how she was supposed to be though. 

The book felt like it wanted to be edgy and then slithered off the cliff by accident.  Yet some how, I still liked what there was to like.  Vampirism caused by a virus.  The vampires could eat and be in the sun (although they sunburn severely when they are unprotected).  The virus causes them to be albino like and their body ages only fractionally over a long time. Plus the author had a great grasp of when to put in scriptures and that part actually turned out pretty cool.

Rating 3  Meh.....I liked it but I know there was a better story in there that didn't get written.
Rating Ugh...probably R.....maaaaaaybe PG 13.  Some swearing, lesbian hook up, talk of sex, alluding to sexual assault.

Crashed

Crashed (Skinned trilogy #2) by Robin Wasserman

In the follow up to Skinned, Lia Kahn has left the home of her former family and is living in a compound/mansion with other mechs. Rights of the mechs' are in question as the Brotherhood become more vocal about how dangerous this new breed of people may be. When Lia's former friend Auden begins speaking out for the Brotherhood against the mechs, Lia is devastated.

Even though she has had no contact with her family in months, when things get tough, they pull through for her.

While living in the compound and trying to figure out or forget what she has become, Lia finally lets someone get close to her. She gets to know Riley.

Although I love the 'idea' of these books, I felt like this one was pretty flat. It took about three hundred pages to feel like I had finally reached the heart of the book. Before that there was too much emotional turmoil........you know the kind.........where you just keep rehashing something you can't seem to get over.

I was glad to see Lia finally have a friend. She felt much more angry in this book and I wasn't going for it.

I did however like learning more about the society after the big wars, and how the caste system had placed people in cities, corp-towns or rich suburbs.

Rating 2.5 I did like the book. It just took a lot of time to cover little ground.

Rating R For language, sex, some homosexuality, drug use (even though it was more like a download, you still understood that it was drug use).

Sprout by Dale Peck

Sprout is a teen in small town Kansas. His mother is dead. His dad is an alcoholic. He dyes his hair green. He is gay.

Sprout's life begins really changing when one teacher sees his writing potential. She spends a summer coaching him to enter a writing contest. She learns a lot about Sprout. She also falls in love with his quirky alcoholic father. Sprout realizes through his writing that he wants to delve deeper into his sexuality. He has been having a relationship for four years with a boy known to everyone else as a heterosexual and as Sprout's enemy. Then a new boy (Ty) shows up at school. Sprout realizes he wants a boyfriend. He and Ty have a harrowing relationship based on many of their past personal issues.

This book was sweet, random, quirky, sarcastic and eye opening. Sprout broke my little heart in two. I completely fell for him and his struggles.

Rating 3.5 Smart, sweet book. Dopey use of things like BTW. I know.....fits the whole teen thing but still dorky.
Rating R sex, gay sex, swearing, child abuse, alcoholism, death