Six-Word Memoirs by Teens

I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure (edited by Smith Magazine) is a collection of memoirs from 800 teens (ages 13 to 18), and each story is exactly six words long. This is a quick read that provides honest, emotional and sometimes funny insights into the lives of its authors.

Some entries express frustration ("ADD, OCD. Sucks to be me.") while others convey happiness ("I have curves! I love mirrors."). Some authors share secrets ("Called to ministry. Can't tell anyone.") and reveal painful events ("You made me stronger. Thanks, rapist.")

Many entries are funny ("Contemplated joining circus. Foolishly chose college." and "Smoke detectors taught me to cook.") and self-deprecating ("We're the family you gossip about."). Some are thought-provoking ("They say Oreo. I say raceless." and "Being scared has saved my life.") and others simply express what the author is feeling at the moment ("I seriously love school bean burritos.").

Readers will relate to many of these short memoirs -- they cover relevant topics and evoke powerful emotions. In our era of Twitter and text-messaging, this book of short snippets is worth reading, and will appeal to a broad audience of teens and adults alike.

Lisa U.
Chester County Library

Book to Movie: Fat Kid Rules the World

For all of you K.L. Going fans.....good news! Fat Kid Rules the World is being made into an independent film. Shooting began in Seattle in July, but there is no release date yet. Actor Jacob Wysocki stars as Troy Billings, the 296-pound 17-year-old who almost commits suicide by jumping off a subway platform. Actor Matt O'Leary plays Curt MacCrae, the punk rock guitarist who "saved his life" and asks Troy to be the drummer in his band. [For reasons I don't understand, Curt is named Marcus in this film. What????]

Author Going didn't have any input on the screenplay or casting, but the film's producers are keeping her in the loop about its progress. The movie is being produced by Whitewater Films and directed by Matthew Lillard, who narrated the audiobook version of Fat Kid (he was excellent!) and was the first person to option the film rights. Looking forward to this one!

Lisa U.
Chester County Library

2011 Teen Summer Reading Club

Summer 2011 is finally here, and this year's theme for Teen Summer Reading is You Are Here. You can sign up for the Summer Reading Club at your local library from now until August. You can win great prizes, attend cool events and check out good books all summer long! For more information, call or visit your local library.

Book Recommendation: Five Flavors of Dumb

Take a self-absorbed lead singer and guitarist, his twin moody bassist brother and an angry girl rocker. Mix in a geeky drummer, a talentless pretty face, and a deaf band manager, and what you get is Antony John's Five Flavors of Dumb, set in the Seattle suburbs.

Angry over trying to drag freshman brother Finn away from schmoozing with the high school band Dumb, 18-year-old Piper snaps, rapidly signing--and Finn dutifully translating--that Dumb is a bunch of amateurs. (Their impromptu and fiery performance on the school's front steps the day before proves it.) So, narcissistic Josh challenges her: Get the band a paying gig in a month, and they'll split the money four ways. Since Piper's parents raided her college fund to buy cochlear implants for her baby sister, it's a deal. Piper gets to work pushing the band to write their own material, make the most of their prized sessions with legendary producer Baz Firkin, and get them in front of the media.

But what she's also trying to prove is that just because she's deaf, that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Anyone who has been in a band, knows someone in a band or obsesses over the details of their favorite rock group will understand the hope and frustration as Dumb struggles to find its place in the Seattle rock scene. You'll laugh, you'll gasp, you'll do a few face-palms. I highly recommend this book.

Debra B., CC Library

Book Recommendation- Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

At the beginning of Mary Hooper’s Fallen Grace, 15-year old Grace Parkes is on the Necropolis Railway to Brookwood Cemetery, with a task just as sad as everyone else’s: to bury her stillborn child. But, being an orphan on the streets of Victorian London with barely a penny to her name, she has been advised by the midwife to find a coffin on the train, lift the lid, and lay the poor bundle inside before the lid is nailed shut. At the Cemetery, she meets two important people that could change her future: Mrs. Unwin, rich proprietress of a funeral establishment, offering employment; and Mr. James Solent, a young legal clerk, and brother to the dead woman whose coffin now holds a secret.

When Grace and her older mentally disabled sister Lily are evicted from their pathetic little room at Mrs. Macready’s boarding house (the property has been condemned), the girls have no other choice: rather than return to the training school they fled from in fear, they go to the Unwins. While it’s nice to now have a warm bed and food in their bellies, the comfort comes at a price. And unbeknownst to the Parkes sisters, something secret waits for them, something anyone would lie and scheme to possess—including the Unwins…

I tried to put myself in Grace and Lily’s worn-out shoes; tried to imagine living in a constant state of survival, every hour of every day, struggling among the ruthless and the poor, wondering if today was the day I would wind up sleeping on the streets, starving to death, with no chance of climbing back up. I was scared out of my mind. Life in Victorian England was ghastly, and Hooper depicts it in great detail.

Needless to say, you will cheer for Grace and Lily, and admire Grace’s intelligence and persistence. You will demand vengeance on those who abuse and demean them. I found it a satisfying read, and I hope you will find it the same. Enjoy!

-Reviewed by Debra B.