Jane - Ben Folds Five (Pretty Amy Blog Tour)

Pretty Amy

Author: Lisa Burstein
Pages: 304
ARC Acquired from: Entangled Publishing for the tour

Description from Goodreads:
Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

First Sentence: "Unfortunately, I am only myself."

Review:
Pretty Amy was not at all the book I expected it to be. I was expecting a fluffy prom book, something like Ditched. Hijinks, misadventures and pretty dresses. That was all kinds of wrong. The book is like that for approximately five seconds, and then it's very clear that this book is deeper and darker. Pretty Amy is not a fun, feel-good book, not a prom book, even though Amy does have a prom dress like the one on the cover.

Actually, Pretty Amy is mostly about trying to find your identity in the unforgiving high school years. When we meet her, Amy is desperate, and, worst of all, she thinks her life is about as good as it's ever been. She has two best friends, Lila and Cassie, though she worries that they like each other better than they like her. But hey, at least she has them, right? And they have dates for prom. Only then they get stood up, and Lila steals a HUGE bag of pot from her boyfriend, and they get arrested. It's a mess.

Although I usually avoid reviews, I know that some people have been turned off by Amy; they just could not relate to her or understand why she would make such incredibly stupid decisions. Although I must admit that I did some serious Amy-judging, I also have a better understanding of her motivations. I know what it's like to be utterly friendless, and I know what you will put up with in an attempt to be liked, to not be alone. While I would like to think I'm too damn stubborn to have ever have done some of the stupid shit Amy does, like the smoking of all sorts, maybe I would have if I had had the possibility of friendship.

Amy's self-confidence is pretty much non-existence, which is, again, something else I can totally empathize with. It's pretty clear that most of this comes from her mother's treatment of her, and her dad's neglect. Her dad does seem to care, but he seems pretty hands-off, so much so that it doesn't make much of a difference. Amy's mom is one of those women who is so completely focused on appearances; she wants everything to be perfect, and criticizes Amy constantly for not reaching her standards. Her mother just does not listen to her; in fact, when someone asks Amy a question, her mom almost always answers, not trusting Amy to even speak for herself properly. Sadly, this kind of mother is entirely believable.

Amy is a real girl. She's not especially beautiful or smart or talented or friendly. As a result, she doesn't have anything that really sets her apart, at least in her own view: "It's easy for you to tell me that I'm wasting my life. You think I don't know that? You think I don't know there's nothing that makes me special? That the only thing I may ever do that makes news is, as far as my parents are concerned, the worst thing I've ever done?" (150). Let's be honest. We all want to be special, and we all want to be loved. As an adult or a kid that has your shit together, it's easy to say that her logic is stupid (it is), but, when you feel completely boring and unlovable, pretty much anything feels worthwhile to make that feeling stop. There were two things I wanted to say to Amy throughout the whole book: 1) It gets better 2) "Look at your life, look at your choices."

Pretty Amy is definitely a book that's going to make a lot of readers uncomfortable. It's not a pretty story. There's violence, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and generally teenage angst. However, I do think this is an important book, because it definitely captures the pain of being an awkward, lonely teenager.

Now, make sure you check out my interview with Lisa Burstein!

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

     "Unfortunately, I am only myself. I am scared and alone and unsure, but I am practicing. I am scared and alone and unsure, but that doesn't mean I always will be
     Like AJ repearing words, I can repeat being me, until I start to believe it."

"Jane, be Jane
You're better that way
Not when you're trying
Imitating something
You think you saw
So Jane, be Jane
And if sometimes that might
Drive them away
Let them stay there
You don't
 Need them anyway

You're worried there might not be 
Anything at all inside
But that you're worried
Should tell you that's not right
Don't try to see yourself
The way that others do
It's no use."

Born This Way - Lady GaGa

Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom

Authors: Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin
Pages: 257
ARC Acquired from: Walker Books for Young Readers via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Luke and Tessa have been best friends pretty much forever. Due to some kindly-meant interference by friends and family, Luke comes to believe Tessa likes him and that he returns those feelings, so he asks her to the Prom. And gets shot down. Hard. Because Tessa, as she has neglected to tell him, is a lesbian. Tessa decides that she does want to go to Prom after all, but that she want to use this chance to come out and be herself, by wearing a tuxedo and escorting her lady friend Josie. When a controversy erupts, will Luke stand by her?

Review:
Last year, I read Notes from the Blender by Brendan Halpin and Trish Cook. It was completely adorable, with excellent teen characters and touching on real issues. Halpin has done it again, this time partnering with Emily Franklin.

Multiple points of view can either be amazing in a book or completely awful; there doesn't seem to be too much of an in between. Both of Halpin's books that I have read are great examples of good ways to do it. Of course, it's a bit easier with two authors, each writing their own character. Still, I love it entirely, because it gives both of the characters their own unique voices.

The opening scenes, where Luke becomes convinced that Tessa is crushing on him, are absurd but in a totally true-to-life way. His analysis is way off, obviously, but who's isn't? He starts evaluating everything, reading only the things that add up to the answer he expects to find. Of course, none of this would have happened without the prodding of other people. This is clearly an argument against matchmaking.

The controversy about whether Tessa and Josie should be allowed to go to the Prom just makes me fighting mad. I mean, how could that possibly hurt anyone else? Of course, even worse is that I know there's a book about this because things like this really happen, because so many people in this country are still so parochial that they think it matters who people fall in love with. Come on, America, get over it! Oh, and at this point, I need to include a fantastic quote from Luke's part of the narration; keep in mind that it could be different in the final copy of the book:

"There are people who think I'm a hero because I'm standing up for biblical values. Like I've ever read the Bible in my life. Maybe if I did, I could find the part about how making a girl's life into a living hell is something that God thinks you should do."

Really, this was just the sweetest book. I completely love the message, one of acceptance and open-mindedness. There's no hating on Christianity or religion in general. Halpin and Franklin aren't trying to demonize anyone. I want to add a copy of this to my personal library and shelve it metaphorically next to Will Grayson, Will Grayson, though not literally, because I shelve alphabetically by author. This book made me cry and laugh out loud. Not many do that.

Now, go listen to some Lady GaGa (aka Miss Kaboom) and let your freak flag fly, be it what it may. We're all better when we're ourselves!

Rating: 5/5

"Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'cause baby you were born this way"

It's My Party - Lesley Gore

Ditched: A Love Story

Author: Robin Mellom
Pages: 273
ARC Acquired from: Hyperion via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Justina has a bit of a reputation. See, this one time at a party, she made out with two guys on the same night. This isn't really an isolated incident either. She and her best friend happen to like kissing, and so they decided, upon entering high school, that they might as well do a lot of it. Until that party where she got caught kissing two different guys and everyone started insulting her. Then, she swore she would not kiss another boy until she found boyfriend material. And she finally has in her new best friend, Ian. They're going to Prom together and she knows that the epic kiss will finally happen. If that's so, why does she start off the morning after Prom in a ditch, having been ditched (literally and figuratively).

Review:
Justina's story begins on the morning after Prom. She indulges in a bit of temporary amnesia, for the audience's benefit, not hers. She wonders about a tattoo, a bruise in the shape of a french fry and the various stains on her dress, even though it soon becomes apparent that she remembers everything. This is definitely the low point of the novel. It certainly does grab your interest, but I didn't appreciate the pretense that she didn't know what had happened.

However, even as her clearly perfect memory frustrated me, I loved finding out her story bit by bit. Justina drags her unfortunate self to the 7-11, the good one, and begins unloading her depressing tale of woe onto the clerk (Gilda), later joined by a customer (Donna). This method of storytelling is a classic because it works. Plus, I just loved the way the chapters alternated between the food she was fed at the 7-11 and the various injuries and stains she attained during the night before.

Ditched is one of those stories where every possible bad luck thing that can happen does. Of course, some of them are Justina's fault, but many of them are not. A big bit of the blame goes to her mom, who thought Justina should dye her shoes to match her iridescent blue dress from the thrift store. It was also mom's idea to have bought said dress, which turns out to be a magnet for stains and not made of the sturdiest stuff.

If you're looking for some good schadenfreude, Ditched will not disappoint. I certainly feel a little better about missing out on the prom.

Rating: 3.5/5

"Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he's supposed to be mine"