Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM by debut author Anne Youngson is one of my favorite books of the year so far. That is mostly because of how beautifully written it is and how it surprised me that readers would be able to envision so much through the correspondence that is the heart of this novel. The first letter is from Tina Hopgood, now a farmer’s wife and grandmother in East Anglia, who refers to an archeological finding (the Tollund Man) which was an avid interest of her younger self.  She writes to Professor Glob, a scholar involved with the find.  He, however, is no longer alive and Anders Larsen, a widowed curator at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark, responds to her. 

From there, the letters gradually become less formal, more self-reflective and increasingly personal as each shares life events and musings. One of my most favorite passages is “Whenever I pick raspberries, I go as carefully as possible down the row, looking for every ripe fruit. But however careful I am, when I turn round to go back the other way, I find fruit I had not seen approaching the plants from the opposite direction. Another life, I thought, might be like a second pass down the row of raspberry canes; there would be good things I had not come across in my first life, but I suspect I would find much of the fruit was already in my basket.” 

There is an online reading group guide, but MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM is so unique you may want to savor it with just a few special friends. This title is an Amazon Best Book for August 2018, as well as being both a LibraryReads and Indie Next selection.

Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

There is so much emotional pain and growth in Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff. This novel, set in a contemporary high school, is simultaneously full of astute introspection and denial or avoidance. Places No One Knows is a powerful read by a talented author.

The story is told in alternating voices by Waverly Camdenmar and Marshall Holt. She is the seemingly perfect girl who excels at academics and cross-country running, but she cannot sleep and at times seems barely in touch with reality.  He is dealing with a dysfunctional family by self-medicating with alcohol and drugs, hoping to feel less sensitive while also gaining a reputation as a loser. 

Somehow, they find each other – sort of. Waverly's dreams lead them to meet at night; ignoring each other during the school day. Each shares secrets – places no one knows – as they deal with the angst of being an older teenager – concerns about self-identity ("the gap between myself and the facade of myself must be growing exponentially"), family, truth, manipulative friends, peer pressure – and more peer pressure ("if you can prove someone else is a disaster, you never have to let them see what's wrong with you."). Places No One Knows has been called “achingly real” and is a very moving story with well-developed characters beyond Waverly and Marshall.  On her website, Yovanoff says, "It's about boys and girls and ideas and feelings and the towering shower of sparks that happens when all those things collide."

We will certainly be booktalking this title next Fall, particularly for fans of All the Bright Places or We Were Liars. Places No One Knows received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.