Snow day reading

Ok, so maybe it is more like an anticipated freezing rain day. In any case, I get a day at home. Apparently I am on the every other day plan this week, having taken Tuesday off to see the orthopedist. He told me I don’t need surgery, which I’d hoped to hear and suspected, and,  to stop babying my knee. I sort of knew that, too.

While sitting in the waiting room, I started reading the first of the 2017 Morris Award books that I have yet to read.

Publisher’s Summary:Three sisters struggle with the bonds that hold their family together as they face a darkness settling over their lives in this masterfully written debut novel.

There are three beautiful blond Babcock sisters: gorgeous and foul-mouthed Adrienne, observant and shy Vanessa, and the youngest and best-loved, Marie. Their mother is ill with leukemia and the girls spend a lot of time with her at a Mexican clinic across the border from their San Diego home so she can receive alternative treatments.

Vanessa is the middle child, a talented pianist who is trying to hold her family together despite the painful loss that they all know is inevitable. As she and her sisters navigate first loves and college dreams, they are completely unaware that an illness far more insidious than cancer poisons their home. Their world is about to shatter under the weight of an incomprehensible betrayal…

Right from the get go, Devlin had me because Vanessa’s older sister is named Adrienne, and I rarely see my own name in a book.

Though not very far into the book, I can see by the writing why the committee selected this as a finalist. The prose is very well-written and the characters, even the minor ones, are well-developed. I plan to spend much of my day off work with this beauty.

The 2017 William C. Morris Award Finalists!!!!!

Here they are!

I’ve only read 2 of the 5, but I now have the 3 I’ve yet to read on hold at the library.

Girl Mans Up written by M-E Girard, published by HarperTeen, and imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Gender expansive Pen wants to be seen for who she is, not defined by her appearance. Her Portuguese parents want a traditional girl; her friend Colby treats her like one of the gamer guys. But it’s Blake who helps Pen learn to respect herself and “man up.”

Rani Patel In Full Effect written by Sonia Patel, published by Cinco Puntos Press.

After a devastating family blowup, Rani, aka MC Sutra, shaves her head, stops hiding her love of writing dope rhymes, and attracts attention with her new look and rapping skills. Despite finding a community where she can express herself through poetry and rap, the years of abuse take their toll.

The Serpent King written by Jeff Zentner, published by Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a Penguin Random House Comapny.

In a small southern town, senior year finds three misfit friends facing the prospect of their separate futures with both hope and dread. Dill fears he will never escape his snake-handling father’s poisonous legacy. However, Lydia, a fashion blogger, and Travis, a fantasy warrior, foresee hopeful futures.

The Smell of Other People’s Houses written by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, published by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a Penguin Random House Comapny.

Life in 1970s Alaska proves difficult for teens, native and non-native alike. In four distinct voices, Ruth, Alyce, Dora, and Hank express the heartbreak and tragedy altering their lives forever—poverty, unwanted pregnancy, death, and abuse. However, when their lives intertwine like invisible threads, each may receive a chance for redemption.

 

Tell Me Something Real written by Calla Devlin, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and imprint of Simon & Schuster.

The Babcock sisters—brash Adrienne, faithful Marie, and shy Vanessa—spend their summer waiting while their mother slowly wastes away from leukemia. When shocking and devastating information about their mother’s illness surfaces, the girls turn to each other for the love and support they don’t find at home.