Someone, by Alice McDermott

I have been reading relatively light "popular fiction" recently (as my stress at work increases the "weight" of my reading selections decreases).  I listened to this audio book because I was between titles and decided it was time for a break (and it was available).

Now I am going to have to reread parts of it (and probably obtain a paper copy). 

This is a complex tale told in a non-linear style.  In ways it makes the story even more engrossing.  You aren't completely anxious about the well being of the characters and can really appreciate the nuances of character, plot and setting.  The time frame spans the early Twentieth Century.  The main character, Marie, and Irish Catholic girl living in Brooklyn in many ways resonates with my own families.  She is of an age with my mother.  I married into a large Irish Catholic family (with some Germans thrown in).  I have not ties to Brooklyn but I certainly appreciate the great changes that have come into women's lives in the 20th and 21st centuries. 

A well told tale! 

What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell

Set in post-WWII America this book combines coming of age, a "detective" story, and information about Nazis and the treatment of Jews in the early part of the 20th century.  Evie is not your typical 1940's teen.  Raised in New York city during the depression and through WWII, she hasn't had the easy life that we'd like to think adolescents had.  Her mother is on her second marriage and trying to contend with the results of years of lies and deceptions.

Evie and her parents leave for a "vacation" in Florida at the beginning of the school year.  This leaving is quite sudden and keeps Evie slightly off-kilter. At fifteen, removing Evie from her school and friends is, in itself, emotionally damaging. Things only become more confusing as she and her parents travel south.  In Florida Evie finds herself on the edge of very odd adult behavior.  Through this she has to develop her own set of ethics and find a way to make a way through a series of events that would perplex most of us. 

This book was awarded the 2008 National Book Award for Young Adult Literature.  I think it is deserving of the award and well worth adding to book sets created around the commonly read Diary of Anne Frank.  There are some references to adult sexual behavior that are quite mild and one teen-aged "lust" scene that may offend some readers.  However, the scenes are all important to the plot (not gratuitous) and worth the risk a teacher might incur in recommending the book.  I probably wouldn't choose it as a whole-class read because of some of this content, but I would read sections aloud to encourage students to read it independently.

Full Dark House, by Christopher Fowler 2003

This is the first in the Bryant/May detective series and introduces us to the two detectives on their first case, and what seems to be their last case. The book begins with an explosion at their police station and Bryant's death in the blast. Throughout the book we are watching two plots unfold--that increasingly appear to be linked.

The first story begins with a sort of Phantom of the Opera case set in the Palace Theater during World War two. The period details are masterful and add to the overall story. The second mystery is, of course, who blew up the police station and why.

I enjoy the cast of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and cast they are. All police officers, they create an ensemble cast that engages the reader. I look forward to the next book in the series (which is of course about a 2004 copyright, so it's hardly "next").

This is a book written for an adult audience. I don't see much in it that would prompt me to suggest it as a cross-over book for high school students. Although there is no explicit sex there is quite a bit of "violence" and not much I would connect it to in a secondary school curriculum.