Dear Opl by Shelly Sackier

 

Title:  Dear Opl
Author:  Shelly Sackier
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
ISBN:  9781492608592
Price:  $7.99 U.S. (paperback)
Publish Date:  August 4, 2015
Target Audience:  Middle Grade

Confession time. I am not an emotional person. At all. My husband sometimes says I have no soul because he cries during movies while I sit emotionless. Things affect me, but I don't outwardly show emotion  That being said, Dear Opl actually made me cry. It's that good. Opal is a preteen girl struggling with her weight. She starts spelling her name "Opl" to shrink her name since she cannot seem to shrink her body. Opal uses food to mask her feelings. Her father died and her mother is busy trying to start a new business. Her mother is concerned with Opal's weight, but in all the wrong ways. She buys her diet foods, and skinny jeans, leaves her not-so-encouraging notes in the pantry, and encourages her to start a blog about her journey.  Even the school cafeteria is transforming their lunches into healthier options.  Opal is not at all pleased and starts the blog.  The snarkiness in her blog posts are hilarious.  Her blog becomes an overnight success and Opal begins to gain a little self confidence.  In the meantime, Opal upsets her best friend Summer because of her negativity toward Alfie Adam, the "nude chef" who is leading the charge towards the lunch changes.  In an effort to improve her health and win back her best friend, Opal starts cooking and making healthier food choices.  Her transformation is not only on the outside, but also on the inside, as she makes friends with a homeless man and offers him work in exchange for her food in order to help her mother with the new business.  Opal's transformation eventually brings about change for her whole family.  Her mother sees the error of her ways when dealing with Opal and it is all very touching.  Hence, the tears.  

I loved so much about this book.  I love that it addresses food issues, emotional eating, and the hard transition to making healthier choices.  Opal's attitude was exactly as you expect any person making these changes, but her snarkiness in it all made it entertaining.  The book wasn't preachy but young people could learn a lot from Opal's journey.  Opal's mother had the best of intentions, but it didn't come across that way to Opal.  While I bring a mother's perspective to my reading, it was also very clear to see Opal's side as well.  As my children get older, it will be important to remember how my words will affect them, good intentions or not.

There is so much more I could say about this book, but I really think everyone needs to read it for themselves!  Reader Rach gives Dear Opl 5/5 stars.

What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

Title:  What You Left Behind

Author:  Jessica Verdi

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire

ISBN:  9781492608745

Price:  $9.99 U.S. (paperback)

Publish Date:  August 1, 2015

Target Audience:  Young Adult

Meg Reynolds has been in love with Ryden Brooks for years.  When he finally notices her in AP English, she is elated.  She doesn't want to ruin it by telling him about her cancer.  They fall in love, and then she gets pregnant.  She decides to forego cancer treatment to carry the child, which inevitably leads to her demise.  Now Ryden is a 17 year-old single father, heartbroken over the loss of his beloved girlfriend, whom he believes he killed by getting her pregnant.  In What You Left Behind, Ryden is learning how to balance his new life as a father with work, school, soccer, and friendships, while attempting to cope with the loss of his love Meg.  After finding one of Meg's notebooks with a checklist in the cover, he believes there are more, filled with her words of wisdom about how to be a good father.  What he finds isn't what he expects, but what he needs to help him move on.  

This book was so hard to put down!  Between the cancer and the love story, it was very The Fault in Our Stars-esque.  The writing wasn't quite as brilliant as John Green, but it was very good.  I liked this book for multiple reasons.  First, the main character is a seventeen-year-old boy dealing with the aftermath of teen pregnancy.  I'm not the leading authority on teen pregnancy literature, but I would venture a guess that this is rare.  Second, I loved Ryden's mother.  She was the appropriate amount of supportive, setting parameters for her son regarding her duties as a grandmother, and insisting he make the decisions as a father.  I liked how Ryden's feelings were valid and real.  Verdi was able to really convey the heartbreak and hopelessness that he was feeling at some of his lowest points.  

I did not enjoy the biggest plot twist that Verdi wrote, regarding one of the journals.  I'm still trying to figure out why she did it, and the only thing I can come up with is so as not to martyr Meg.  Throughout the book you are believing that Meg made the ultimate sacrifice, choosing her daughter's life over her own, when in reality that was not necessarily the case.  It was, for lack of a better word, a strange twist.  

Verdi tidily wraps up the story, though I can't help but wonder what happens to Ryden as time goes on.  Will he go to college and make a life for himself and Hope?  I think so.  

Reader Rach gives What You Left Behind four stars.  

Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel

Title:  Edgewater
Author:  Courtney Sheinmel
Publisher: ABRAMS Kids/Amulet Books
ISBN: 9781419716416
Price: $17.95 U.S. (Hardcover)
Publish Date:  September 8, 2015
Target Audience:  Young Adult

You guys are going to think that I love every single book I read.  It's really not the case, I promise. I just happen to have a really good knack for picking out books that I think I will love.  And to be honest, the books I don't end up loving are usually ones that are recommended to me by others.  So once again, I really loved Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel.

Lorrie Hollander comes from a wealthy family.  Her grandfather practically built the wealthy town of Idlewild in New York.  His sprawling mansion, named Edgewater, was once a sight to behold.  But ever since her mother left Lorrie and her sister Susannah to run away with her new boyfriend, Edgewater has been in a state of disrepair.  Lorrie's guardian and aunt Gigi appears to have a mental illness and Lorrie just can't stand to be around the family anymore.  Since her mother left her with a trust, she chose to go to a boarding school to get away from Edgewater.  At the beginning of the book, Lorrie learns that something is wrong with her trust.  Her summer horse camp has not been paid and she must return to Edgewater to sort things out.  Lorrie never worried about money and always spent freely.  Without access to her trust, she is now poor.  At first in denial, she soon gets a job and begins to clean up Edgewater.  One day, while cleaning the attic, Lorrie finds a journal that her mother kept.  This is the climax in the story, as a family emergency arises and Lorrie's world pretty much turns upside down.  

This book reminds me of We Were Liars, in a way, rich youth living in a world most of us do not understand. The rich youth in this book, however,  Lorrie, her best friend Lennox, and her new friend, the charming son of a senator, Charlie, are much more likeable characters.  Although money is no object for them, they are still down-to-earth and practical.  The friendship between Lorrie and Lennox is one which all girlfriends strive for. Lorrie and Charlie meet in an embarrassing way, but their friendship and eventual relationship grows throughout the book and it turns out they are much more connected than even they realized. 

Reader Rach gives Edgewater 5/5 stars.