Losers Take All by David Klass

Losers Take All  by David Klass is a quick read about some mistfit athletes with the potential to change their town and their school. Losers Take All will appeal most to students aged Sophomore year or younger who are not that into sports, but like the idea of standing up for what they believe.

Even though I found several details to be unrealistic, the story held my attention. Jack and his friends Dylan, Frank, Becca and others, are all seniors at Fremont High when the rules are changed so that every Senior must play on a sports team.  They form the Losers and so annoy the new principal that he delivers a huge tirade that then goes viral.  Frankly, it is hard to believe that he would keep his job, but sports are often important to local communities (look at Texas and high school football stadiums). The story continues, combining humorous scenes with plenty of father-son conflict and quite a bit of bullying, too. The climax is, of course, an exciting game as friends finally coalesce as a team.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places opens with two high school students, Finch and Violet, literally standing on the edge/ledge and contemplating their futures. From there, we learn about their relationships with family and peers and “wander” with them about the Midwest for a school project as they gradually build trust and move beyond friendship to an intimate romantic relationship. This book is beautifully written – one of the best I have read in the past year – and evokes many emotions. I so enjoyed “meeting” Finch and loved the tenderness with which he treats Violet. He is truly a memorable character. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is a book that teachers, counselors, and many parents should read. Why, then, am I not comfortable with promoting this excellent book to students (even 10th grade and older as suggested in School Library Journal’s starred review)?

The essence of depression, bipolar disorder and contemplation of suicide is handled deftly by Niven’s writing, but it includes many specific details and actions compared to other fiction books in our collection which deal with these sensitive topics.  In some ways, All the Bright Places makes me think of A Man Called Ove but that one deals with a much older person, not high school teens who are so much more relatable to our students. In the author’s notes, Niven herself notes, “For a long time, it was too painful to even think about, much less talk about, but it is important to talk about what happened.”  I plan instead to recommend and share All the Bright Places with adults on our social work staff and have already spoken with representatives of Erika’s Lighthouse – an organization formed to “get depression out of the dark.”  They will have more professional expertise to put this book into the right hands – adult or teen – where it can make a difference in understanding and coping.

I know that All the Bright Places, like Thirteen Reasons Why, will be very popular, especially if the promised movie is produced. I applaud Jennifer Niven for her bravery and honest portrayal in tackling the tough issues of bullying, labels, and mental health and will look for titles by this very talented author. I hope that she and publisher Random House will use the interest in All the Bright Places to actively share timely information like the November 2014 School Library Journal article “Books that Help” about bibliotherapy for teens, or the many excellent articles from Phi Delta Kappan’s December 2014 issue on Learning and Mental Health or the teen-friendly and doctor-reviewed materials posted at TeensHealth.org. The list could go on and All the Bright Places has already made a start by including a short appendix with other recommended sites and organizations. As Niven says,
.

“If you think something is wrong, speak up. 

You are not alone.

 It is not your fault. 

Help is out there.”

Relationships ... lost and found

In Landline by Rainbow Rowell Georgie McCool is out to save her 15 years of marriage.  Her husband Neal travels to Omaha with their 2 daughters to celebrate 2013’s Christmas while Georgie stays behind for work in Los Angeles….. magically (and due to some clever writing!) she makes the connection via a landline from 2013 to 1998 when she and Neal were dating and struggling to come to terms with what they each wanted from the relationship.  Remember those emotions? How everything seemed more vivid? And had more drama?  It’s easy to see (from the outside) that Georgie needs to take some deep breaths and think about what is really important to her – watching her go through that process can be painful at times.  Readers who have been in longer-term relationships will definitely appreciate this novel, but to me that means 20-somethings or older – NOT the high school students who loved Rowell’s Eleanor and Park and Fangirl.

Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy is a collection of short stories centered in a street in Dublin and many of them focus on marriages, too. Binchy explores the life choices we make – the advice that we often choose not to follow and the consequences of those decisions. This is a book about love and loss which I would ration – picking it up for a story now and again – in part to avoid the feeling of similar plots (although there are plenty of unexpected twists) and in part to savor the last published writing of a favorite author for 30 years beginning with reading Light a Penny Candle, and continuing through Circle of Friends, Scarlet Feather and many more.

Possible read-alikes for Binchy: Jeffrey Archer, Rosamunde Pilcher, Kate Morton, Lucinda Riley, Adriana Trigiani.  Check Novelist for others.