Lock and Keyby Sarah Dessen
This was my first Sarah Dessen book and I really really liked it. The main character, Ruby, wears a necklace with a key on it that becomes symbolic of letting go of her past and embracing her future. Ruby is in high school and is abandoned by her mother. She ends up living with Cora, her older sister, who has a completely different lifestyle, a wonderful husband, and an interesting young male neighbor who befriends Ruby.
This was my first Sarah Dessen book and I really really liked it. The main character, Ruby, wears a necklace with a key on it that becomes symbolic of letting go of her past and embracing her future. Ruby is in high school and is abandoned by her mother. She ends up living with Cora, her older sister, who has a completely different lifestyle, a wonderful husband, and an interesting young male neighbor who befriends Ruby.
I love characters, and this book is studded with interesting ones. Among them are the boy who tutors Ruby in calculus, the woman who hires Ruby to work with her in the mall, and the young woman who works at the movie theater and becomes her friend. Ruby is shedding her old life gradually and living fully in her new life.
The book is very sweet and ties up very nicely at the end but is also very realistic. I love books about second chances. This is an author to watch!
Does My Head Look Big In This?
by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Yes, I judged this book by its cover and I knew I had to read it. Even though fictional, I learned so much about the hijab, the Muslim head scarf, and I ended up being so proud of Amal for wearing it.
With humor and poignancy, the author does a marvelous job of portraying young adulthood and what it is like for young people to stand up for their religion. I was given an attitude adjustment, also, as I have had a terrible aversion to the hijab (thinking that it oppresses women) without taking the time to learn more about it. This book shows how the clash of the "old world" and the "modern world" happens to all of us. Also, Amal's growing friendship with a grumpy Greek woman reflects very well how everyone fights hard to assimilate and everyone prizes family life.
The book is set in Australia which brings its own culture to bear in the story. Very interesting! A particularly wonderful scene is when Amal is asked to give insight about terrorist bombings in Bali because she is Muslim and she counters, if someone is Catholic should we have them talk about the Ku Klux Klan or the IRA? Great read!
- Elizabeth Timmins, Muehl Public Library, from Goodreads.com
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