Mini-Reviews: Memoirs and Biographies

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

Heaven is For Real is the story of a little boy who had a near-death experience and went to heaven, where he met Jesus Christ, his grandfather, and experienced many other things. I'm not going to get into the validity of the book -- religion is based on faith, and if you don't have faith, you're going to say this book was a lie, and if you do, you're going to say this book was amazing. For me, I enjoyed the story and thought Colton's experience was very interesting and left quite a bit to ponder. 

3.5 stars

Warnings: None

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with cancer as a young child and spent much of her life undergoing surgeries, chemo, and radiation. While she survived the cancer, it left her face transformed -- much of her lower jaw was removed and despite numerous surgeries, was never fully reconstructed again. Grealy explores the way the pain and fear of cancer affected her, as well as the way her face affected the way others treated her and the way she viewed herself.

I read this book after reading Ann Patchett's memoir of her close friendship with Grealy, Truth and Beauty (which I recommend reading first if you plan on reading both books). Thus, I already had an idea of what Grealy had been through and the way her life played out. However, hearing it in her own voice, so to speak, was incredibly powerful. I am a nurse for children with cancer, and reading this firsthand account of the oddness of her early life was so heartrending. For a while, she didn't even know she had cancer -- obviously she knew there was something wrong, but no one gave that appellation. Her family constantly pressured her to be strong and positive, which left her believing that her fear and pain was not legitimate or acceptable. Later, she always noticed people staring at her, and believed herself unworthy of love due to the fact that she believed she could never be considered beautiful. 

These explorations are dark at times, and the end of Grealy's story is not a happy one, but her thoughts do broach many questions that are important in this society -- a society that values physical appearance very highly and makes lightning judgments based on first impressions. I think Autobiography of a Face poses important questions. And it's a bonus that Grealy is a poet, and her writing is gorgeous. 

3.5 stars

Warnings: Some sensuality, language, thematic material

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

French Milk is a graphic novel of a twenty-something's six week trip to Paris with her mother. I love Paris, and I love the idea of graphic novels, but here's the thing -- this one didn't give me enough. I liked Lucy's random observations, her drawings of art and food, and her voice, but the book just didn't feel like enough. I wanted more details. I'm not sure if that is me not appreciating the art of the graphic novel or the graphic novel not doing a good enough job, but it left me wanting. Also, sometimes Knisley made me mad by doing stupid things, like starting to smoke so she would fit in in Paris. It's not just because I'm a parent that is closer to thirty than twenty that causes me to want to shake some sense into her, is it? Doesn't everyone know that smoking is the worst health decision you could possibly, possibly make? Okay, throwing yourself off a bridge is probably a worse health decision, but seriously, smoking cigarettes is the most preventable risk factor in just about EVERY chronic disease. Okay, taking deep breaths, end of rant. Other than that, I thought she was funny and witty, and I liked her honesty about her grumps and enjoyments.

3 stars

Warnings: Language, endorsement of cigarettes!!, some drawings of nude paintings, talking about non-graphic sex

MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews of MWF Seeking BFF, which disappointed me, because from what I'd heard about it, I thought I would love it, being a recently married twenty-something in a new city myself. Fortunately, for me, this book was everything I hoped it would be and more. I absolutely loved it. I understand the issues that some people had with the book -- at times Bertsche gets too focused on the letter of her quest, frenetically seeking her 52 friend-dates at the risk of her own sanity and at times even her marriage. She also at times bothered me with her desire to find "the" best friend instead of appreciating the great friendships she had (and she had many), and she had a laundry list of what she didn't want. However, first of all, I think she genuinely grows throughout her quest, learning new things about friendship, its importance to her, and the fact that she is able to be friends with people she never would have approached originally. Secondly, as someone trying to make new friends, I appreciated the insights she had on the best places to make friends as well as the research she performed on what causes people to stay friends and make friends. I thought the entire book was engaging and fascinating, and I adored it. Rachel, be my BFF? (Even though I don't meet your distance requirements?)

5 stars

Warnings: Can't think of any

Taylor Swift: An Unauthorized Biography by Liv Spencer

Okay, okay, laugh all you want. Yes, I requested a Taylor Swift biography on NetGalley. I saw it there and just couldn't resist. Don't tell me that you haven't wondered who all those songs were about. That was definitely my primary motive in reading the book.

It was mildly interesting. I liked reading about Swift's pathway to success, and especially her determination and goal-setting. I think she is a good role model for girls, which is refreshing because most teen/young twenties celebrities are making poor decisions. I also loved learning the details about each of her songs. There are chapters that go through information on who each song is about, how Swift came to write it, and other "fun facts." Because my main interest in reading the book was who all those songs were written about, those chapters (entitled "Swift Notes") were definitely interesting to me.

The writing of the book was pure cheese. The author took an almost worshipful stance at Taylor Swift, calling her "Swifty," "The Swift One," and "The Sparkly One." I might have thrown up in my mouth a few times. Also, when describing a line in the song "Picture to Burn," in which Taylor Swift sings, "That's fine, I'll tell mine you're gay," the author quickly explains that on the radio edit, the line has been changed, because "Taylor would never offend anyone." Okay... but she did write the line. I'm not defending or condemning her -- just thought the line was cheesy.

Basically, it did what I wanted it to. But it was cheesy. 

2.5 stars

Warnings: You might throw up in your mouth when you read about "The Sparkly One."

YA WEEK: Wintertown by Stephen Emonds

I am posting three YA reviews this week instead of just one because this summer I have loaded up on the YA a bit. Instead of backlogging all those reviews to far distant Fridays I thought I might as well dedicate one week to YA.

Title: Wintertown
Author and Illustrator: Stephen Emond
Genre: YA, graphic novel (kind of), contemporary fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011
Source: Library
Read for: Fun

Ed and Lucy have been best friends for years. And even when Lucy's dysfunctional family life results in her leaving their hometown except for brief visits in the winter, even when Lucy doesn't talk to Ed for months at a time, somehow their friendship never falters. However, Lucy has some secrets about the life she is living away from their hometown, and Ed isn't sure how to deal with the more intense version of the girl he has known all his life.

Wintertown is a quirky book. It's mostly told in novel form with a few illustrations interspersed, as well as a comic between chapters that Ed is working on. First of all, I loved the art. I haven't read many graphic novels (I think the grand total before Wintertown was... one) and I am not entirely comfortable with that medium, I guess. However, the art in Wintertown added to the story. I especially loved the drawing of Ed -- he was exactly how I would have pictured him, and the second I saw his picture I wanted to hug him. Wintertown is told in third person limited, and the first part of the book is from Ed's perspective while the second part is from Lucy's perspective. I thought this was also very effective -- in the first part I came to really be endeared to Ed while feeling some frustration with Lucy's character, but by the end I understood more of Lucy's actions and motivations while also realizing that Ed wasn't quite perfect (yet).

I also loved the general theme of Wintertown. I've always been enthralled by good girl-boy friendships, and I'm not of the school that think those friendships are ruined if they mature into romance (although it is sad when those romances prematurely end the friendship). I have been lucky enough in my own life to have a friendship slowly turn into love, so I'm a big advocate of those close friendships. I think it is something about connecting on a level other than just attraction. Ed and Lucy have this strong relationship of supporting each other, of having fun together, and of understanding each other, so when the romance finally creeps in, while it rocks them off balance for a while, it seems natural and inevitable.

In addition to the theme of close boy-girl friendships Wintertown plays with two other themes I found intriguing. One was that of needing to suffer in order to really experience life. I think this is absolutely true, although it sucks to admit it. You can definitely more fully experience the beautiful parts of life when you've been exposed to the ugly. The other theme I loved was that of things not always happening at the right time, and being patient enough to let them unfold. I think in our culture specifically we have this desire for instant gratification. If you want to know something, google it and the answer will be there. If you want a new book, press a button on your Kindle and it's in your hands. However, the best things have to mull and mature. Just because something isn't right at the present moment doesn't mean it never will be.

I loved the way Emonds explored those themes and the way Lucy and Ed discussed and thought about these deep questions. I remember in high school having hours-long conversations about why things were the way they were, what life and love were all about. Reading Winter Town made me so nostalgic for those days. Honestly, while none of my high school experiences were really like those of Ed and Lucy, the feel of the book reminded me of high school. I remember going through those torrential emotions and trying to make sense of life -- reading about these two characters really brought me back to that.

I don't know how other people will respond to Wintertown, to be honest, because I responded to it on such a personal level. However, I think it tells a different story than many YA novels, and it uses some unique devices to tell that story. Wintertown is definitely worth checking out.

4 stars

Warnings: Mature themes, brief strong language, spoken references to sexuality

YA Friday: Tina's Mouth by Keshni Kashyap

Title: Tina's Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary
Author: Keshni Kashyap
Illustrator: Mari Araki
Genre: YA, graphic novel
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Read for: South Asian Challenge (2011), review

Tina is learning about existentialism in her English class elective (all I can say is, I wish my school had awesome electives like that), and she is required to write a diary to chronicle her experience. Meanwhile, high school sucks. Tina analyzes her experiences through an existentialist lens and in the process, discovers new opportunities and insights into herself.

First of all, this is my first graphic novel ever, and I am happy to announce it was an awesome experience. I have always shied away from graphic novels -- I never read comic books as a kid, and as an adult they have just never appealed to me in particular. However, this one was a winner for me. I seriously struggled with putting this down, and I think it is because a) it is in diary form, and I am a huge sucker for that, and b) it is so absolutely relatable. Sure, I'm not in high school anymore, but memories of friend break-ups and romantic disappointments were brought to the surface in a realistic way, with both sadness and humor.

I think part of the reason this book was successful for me was because of Tina's perspective. She deals with normal teenage angst like losing friends and vaguely interested boys, but wrapped up in this as well is her feelings of cultural detachment between her Indian family and heritage and her American lifestyle. Instead of being mopey and downcast about her situation, however, she gets creative. She uses the existentialist principles she is learning to make the most of the situations, and she genuinely grows from them. Many of her predicaments lead to what my Pysch 111 teacher called "long, drawn-out theories about the meaning of the universe" -- she made some friends based on their enjoyment about discussing the philosophy and the meaning of life. I still enjoy a good philosophical discussion, but I remember that when I was in high school, those conversations were as essential as air for me to be happy. While Tina's conversations are not really drawn out due to the comic book style of Tina's Mouth, just seeing the situations brought back strong memories of the situations in my own life.

While this is a book of self-discovery, there is a sense of direction in the outer plot as well. Nearly every situation finds some sort of resolution, although it isn't always in Tina's favor. I appreciated this; I like closure, whether or not it is always present in real life. I appreciated that the issues Tina faced were discussed instead of left hanging while leaving us with the knowledge that, although the diary ended, Tina's journey to understanding herself and fully enjoying her life was not.

While I had no problems with the illustration aspect of the story, for me, the story itself was the star while the illustrations were just background. There was nothing especially poignant about them for me; nothing that made me sit back and just appreciate them. I was always eager to get more of the story itself. However, as a newbie to the graphic novel world, I have no other experience for comparison, so I am not sure if in other novels the illustrations play more of a role.

Overall, I thought Tina's Mouth was a blast. I enjoyed her quirky perspective and the growth she experienced. For any YA fan hoping to try out graphic novels, this is a good place to start.

4 stars

Warnings: Strong language in a few parts, allusions to hooking up