Jarvis 24

So far, Marc E. Jarvis has lost a white football boot, a school tie and a best friend.

But there's more in store for him when he completes Work Experiences at a local car yard - where his world is truly rocked, shocked and shaken.

Then Marc meets Electra.

And nothing will ever be the same again...

A story of true friends, crazed coaches, shooting stars and loves lost and found.

This was the last on my "to read" list for the CBCA's short-listed books, as it was the book that I thought I would like least. I'm not sure what didn't appeal to me - perhaps it was the cover? And the blurb on the back of the book didn't exactly send me into raptures either. A book about a young guy who likes footy? Not really my cup of tea, I thought.

However.

I loved this book! It was so funny; I mean, seriously laugh-out-loud funny. Some of the things Marc and his friends come out with - truly funny one-liners and ridiculous situations that are hilariously cringeworthy in their "Yup, I've been there!" believability.

I'm glad I gave this book a go, it has a big thumbs up from me. I think this book would appeal to high school students, in particular boys who would be able to relate well to Marc. The themes that this novel explores - friendship, family, loss, acceptance - are woven into a story that is at once entertaining and thought-provoking.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Michah Wilkins ins a liar. But when Micah's boyfriend, Zach, dies under brutal circumstances, the shock might be enough to set her... Especially when lying comes as naturally to her as breathing. Was Micah dating Zach? Did they kiss? Did she see him the night he died? And is she really hiding a family secret? Where does the actual truth lie? Liar is a breathtaking roller-coaster read that will have you grasping for the truth until the very last page. Honestly.

Honestly? I couldn't stomach more than 153 pages, and most definitely wasn't grasping for the truth until the last! Honestly? This is the worst book I have ever read!

I can't begin to explain what was so bad about it. An unlikeable character for a start, and a weird, rambling plot that tries too hard to be clever. A cringe-worthy, condescending tone and too many "f" words. Long, drawn out "twist" that wasn't even that exciting anyway, and the whole "X is true" and "I lied about X" got really boring after a while.

I feel almost cheated that this book is shortlisted by the CBCA. By committing to reading every book in the CBCA's Older Readers category, I thought I would be treated to some wonderful reading experiences. This book is a major disappointment, and reading it was a complete waste of time.

Since when did YA literature become obscene?

As part of my undertaking to read all of the shortlisted CBCA books, I am now reading Liar by Justine Larbeleister. To be honest, I'm not sure I'm going to get through it. I'm up to page 87 and so far, it's not really "speaking" to me. I don't like the main character. I don't really care what happens to her. Horribly, I couldn't care less about finding out what happened to Zach!

On a broader theme, I am shocked at the high use of obscenities in a book aimed for teens. Why do we assume that all teens speak like this? Since when has it become acceptable to use the "f" word with such reckless abandon? Is it for the shock value? Does good taste really have to be sacrificed for the dialogue to seem real? Do kids really want the characters they read and care about to speak like this?

Why do so many YA books contain obscenities? I am sure that when I was younger, authors (at least, the authors of the books I used to read) didn't rely on gutter talk to make their stories seem "real". We wouldn't accept students talking like this in the classroom, and teachers would never use that kind of language when talking to students. So why is it alright for authors? My sensibilities feel under attack.

Is the frequent use of swear words it to cover up an otherwise insipid plot, uninspiring characters, and general lack of literary finesse? To me, they don't add anything but tedium to the story, and I cringe when the "f" word is used needlessly. Do others feel the same?

I think it's safe to say that Liar does not have my vote for the CBCA awards. I kind of feel depressed that this book is considered the creme de la creme of YA literature here in Australia.

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Taylor is the leader of boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.

And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manucript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.

*** Contains Spoilers***

I only finished reading this book yesterday, and want to write down some points of review while it's all still fresh in my mind. Fresh, but not clear. I don't think the plot of this book will ever be fully clear to me, no matter how long or short a time I dwell upon it.

To be honest, for most of the book I was a muddled mess, trying to figure out who was who, what was who, who was what and what was what. It took me half the book to begin to figure the plot out, and practically the other half to actually get into it. Just as I was starting to enjoy it, it ended. Not altogether abruptly, but after spending so long just trying to get my head around what was going on, it did seem to finish without giving me much time to actually revel in the fact that I finally got it.

Did I like this book? Again, yes and no. I read it in a couple of days, so it certainly was engaging. Did I care for the characters? I enjoyed reading about them, but as for actually caring, I'm not sure. I can only deal with so much dysfunctionality until it feels like dysfunctionality for the sake of it. I'm all for overcoming obstacles, but sometimes I'd really love to read a story about someone who was, well... normal. Someone who doesn't have a missing mother, who wasn't abandoned as a child, who doesn't have a drug problem or is enduring severe emotional trauma of some kind or another. But then, I suppose there wouldn't be much of a story if everything was hunky-dory for our protagonist.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. After I realised that the writing in italics was supposed to be a manuscript for a novel that one of the characters was writing, it became a bit clearer, although I still had to mentally recite who was who each time the story flitted from one narrator to the other, as for some reason I just couldn't keep track of the characters.

I really enjoyed how all of the threads came together at the end; that Fritz was the Hermit and the reason he became like he was; who the Brigadier was and what he meant to Hannah; where Hannah had disappeared to and why she never told Taylor how she knew her; how Jessa McKenzie and Taylor Markham were related; why Hannah persisted with the feral, vicious cat, and how Taylor Markham got her name (her mother always said that Taylor named herself, and Taylor took this as meaning that her mother didn't care enough to even name her. But as it turns out, her father gave the name to her; it had come to him in a dream).

One thing I didn't like about the story was the at times excruciating detail about the territory wars. It made up the bulk of the story, so I suppose I can't say it was irrelevant, but it was almost unrelated to the other things going on in the book. The book seemed to be about territory wars between different groups of kids; the Townies, the Cadets and the kids from the Jellicoe Road school. The elaborate lead-up to the main twist in the story was almost forgotten by the end, when everyone seemed to be best friends. I wondered what all the fuss about the territory wars was about if they could all get over it so easily. Another question for the pile, I suppose.

All in all I enjoyed this book and found it an engaging read, although for me it didn't quite hit the mark. I've read some rave reviews about it though, so I'm sure there are plenty of people who disagree with me. Just a minor point, but one thing that grated with me was the scene towards the end of the book where Taylor and Jonah had unprotected sex - I realise that to write "With a sultry, come-hither look, he reached for the condom..." would have killed the mood for the reader somewhat, however I found it quite irresponsible of the author to glamourise unprotected sexual intercourse among teens. Getting down from my soap box now. :-)

I feel that this book is suited towards upper high school students.

Loving Richard Feynman by Penny Tangey

Richard Feynman was a Nobel prize-winning physicist. Catherine is a science-loving fifteen-year-old. Richard helped build the atom bomb. Catherine's just trying to survive school.When your life is falling apart around you, is talking to a dead physicist normal? Catherine thinks so, but it isn't until her life starts unravelling that she learns who she can really trust.

This is the second book I have read that is part of the CBCA Short-list for 2010. I intend to read them all, so that I can participate in a mock judging that will be held in one of our Children's Literature tutes later next semester. I chose to read this book first because I liked the cover (the colours and font layout appealed to me), and it seemed an easy read. Also, the premise of writing to a dead physicist was interesting enough to entice me to want to read it.

As I was reading this book, I went through phases of liking and disliking it.

I liked:
- its easy-to-read style, set out like a diary in the form of letters to Richard Feynman.
- I could relate to feeling stupid at school, as I was a bit of a misfit myself at fifteen.
- as a crafter, the idea of a students for Natural Fibre Crafts Alliance, who contended against the ban on bringing knitting to school, tickled my funny bone!

I didn't like:
- the protagonist, Catherine, is a budding scientist and this may explain the lack of "feeling" in the book. I found it quite an analytical account of a fifteen-year-old's world. I know that I, for one, wouldn't have been able to write so rationally or in such a detached manner at that age, so it strikes me as a little unbelievable in the sense that these letters are supposed to be an outlet for her innermost feelings.
- how the whole issue of her Dad cheating was glossed over in barely more than a single diary entry. Far from being a "life falling apart" type moment (as it says on the back-cover blurb) Catherine seems to deal quite well with it. How she feels about her father perpetrating the ultimate betrayal of trust on their family seems to be conspicuous in its absence. In fact, she seemed more concerned with Richard Feynman's transgressions in decency against the opposite sex than she did with her own father's philandering. Weird.

All in all, however, this was quite an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to early-mid teens who may relate to Catherine's struggles to fit in at school.