Fixing Delilah, by Sarah Ockler; Little, Brown and Company: New York, 2010; $16.99 Sarah Ockler’s Fixing Delilah follows Delilah Hannaford (a sixteen-year-old girl) as she discovers her family’s secrets and learns the true importance of family. The novel starts with Delilah and her boyfriend, Finn, who do not like each other but are dating. Delilah, a slightly arrogant girl, is going back to Vermont to bury her grandmother. She hasn’t seen her since she was eight (because of a fight between Delilah’s mother, Claire, and her grandmother). While in Vermont, Delilah starts digging up secrets that Aunt Rachel, her grandmother, and her mother, buried deep. She learns the cause of the fight that split the family apart, the true story about why she didn’t have a dad, and the mystery behind Aunt Stephanie’s death at eighteen. She also meets her old friend Patrick, and Sarah Ockler surprises us with some pleasant romance. The book deals with three main themes that are relevant to most teenagers: secrets, love, and the true meaning of family. I think most readers of Fixing Delilah can relate to Delilah growing up without a father. Unfortunately, I know a lot of kids whose parents are divorced, and I can’t help wondering about how hard it must be for them to adapt to their lives. Also, I’m sure there are those who experienced a similar situation to the Hannaford Family Fight because, as it says on the cover of the book: “Family. It’s not always a perfect fit.” Sometimes family members just don’t get along. My only problem with the fight was its length (eight years is half of Delilah’s life!), and even that was clarified when I learned more about the grandmother. I could relate to Aunt Rachel because she reminded me of the bystander. She knew about the secrets and wanted to tell Delilah because it was the right thing to do, but Claire had told her not to. I was like Aunt Rachel once when a boy in my class was being bullied. I knew that the right thing to do was to speak up for him, but I was silent. In addition to seeing myself in Aunt Rachel, I saw myself in Delilah sometimes because I can be selfish and uncompassionate. It made me realize how unlikable I must be during some occasions. I didn’t always like Delilah, so I imagine my parents don’t always like the way I act. As for the love theme, Sarah Ockler was clever to include Finn, in order to contrast Delilah’s relationship with him with her later relationship with Patrick, an eighteen-year-old boy and a childhood friend of Delilah’s. At some times during Fixing Delilah I was almost crying because of the beauty of their romance and the sweet innocence of it. I didn’t think their romance was cheesy. I found the author’s descriptions unique and touching, and I felt like this was the time her writing truly stood out and shone. I went through many emotions while reading Fixing Delilah. At times I wanted to cry because it was sad, at times because it was beautiful, and at times because I was laughing my head off. The themes were very easy to relate to. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Fixing Delilah, which proves the author’s remarkable humor. “‘I’ll go,’ Rachel says. ‘Need anything specific? Milk? Toilet paper? Compassion, maybe? I’ll get a bunch. I probably have a coupon.’” Anna Vinitsky, 12Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Book-Reviews
Sean Griswold’s Head
Sean Griswold’s Head, by Lindsey Leavitt; Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers: New York, 2011; $16.99 Her parents lie about her father’s multiple sclerosis (MS), a potentially deadly disease of the central nervous system. Her best friend flirts with her older brother. A school counselor wants to meet with her. A boy’s head becomes the focus of her life. Payton Gritas, a high school freshman and the protagonist of Lindsey Leavitt’s Sean Griswold’s Head, is experiencing an emotionally difficult time. Payton, an organized girl who uses different colored highlighters—“yellow for literary devices, pink for plot points, orange for conflict”—finds her life in conflict. Although her parents lie to protect her from the reality of her father’s MS, Payton obsesses with her father and his serious disease. To get back on track, she starts a focus journal and chooses the head of Sean Griswold as her focus. After the death of Ripley, my puppy, I looked at Ripley’s pictures and remembered our past times together, but I never once considered concentrating on a classmate’s head. However, the more Payton studies Sean’s head, the more curious she becomes about him. When Jac, her best girl friend, encourages her to stalk Sean, Payton ignores her family for Sean. As the story evolves, Payton learns the source of Sean’s scar, undergoes changes in her relationship with Jac, and starts a bike-riding hobby. Instead of only worrying about MS, Payton now decides to ride 75 miles on her bike to raise money for MS research. Payton’s efforts remind me of what I did last May: I jogged five kilometers in the Race for the Cure to help those women I know who suffer from breast cancer. Although I wish the author had also included titles for each numbered chapter, I do like the way she uses words to paint a picture. For example, to describe the anger of Payton’s mother, the author writes, “She’s like a pop bottle that has rolled around in a car for a few days.” These words enabled me to imagine the mother’s rage exploding like a geyser of soda. When exercising, Yessica, the trainer, tells Payton and the other students to imagine a jungle in which they are thirsty and biking away from a jaguar; Yessica’s details about the African wilderness reminded me of my trip to Tanzania where I saw the “water and fat antelope” that Payton can only pretend to see. This book reminds me of the importance of focusing—on my homework, tennis lessons, horseback riding, jogging, and learning to relax. By focusing on her father and his disease, Sean’s head, and then Sean as a person, biking, avoiding a best friend, and not communicating with her family, Payton eventually learns to focus on herself and what will make her happy. Marcella R. Gerszten, 12Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Eye of the Storm
Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner; Walker Books: New York, 2012; $16.99 Have you ever thought about what the future will hold? My first thoughts have been drastically altered after reading Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner. It’s the year 2050, and twelve-year-old Jaden Meggs is going to spend her summer at her dad’s house in Placid Meadows, Oklahoma. It’s no coincidence that Stephen Meggs, her dad and famous meteorologist, lives in Placid Meadows, and he created it as the first StormSafe community ever. Because in the future, the weather is extremely different than today. Huge twisters have been causing chaos all over the planet, even making the tornado scale change. But these deadly storms seem to pass right by Placid Meadows every time, making it a huge bargaining point for Jaden to persuade her mother to let her go to Oklahoma to attend the exclusive science camp called Eye on Tomorrow. With the help of newfound camp friends Alex and Risha, Jaden realizes that something very wrong is going on in Placid Meadows. Suspicions are formed when the data used for the Sim Dome, a simulation system that uses actual wind and buildings to predict how the data will react when faced with the real elements of a storm, fails three times. It was Alex who initially asked Jaden to sneak into her father’s office at the StormSafe compound to get the correct data for their experiment. When Jaden finally carries out the “mission,” they discover a number of things that both shock and scare them. One, Stephen can actually control the tornadoes, and whatever keeps them out of Placid Meadows is a dangerous thing. Two, Jaden’s long-lost grandmother, scientist Athena Meggs, is actually alive after countless years of faking her death. And three, it’s all up to Jaden, Alex, and Risha to stop the biggest storm yet from destroying everything. Although I have never faced down a tornado or gone to an elite science summer camp, last summer my family and I went on a vacation to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where we perched as high as the birds in our cabin. Multiple thunder and lightning storms occurred during our stay, and they were always a treat to watch from the safety and comfort of the living room couches—and always with a fire flickering in the fireplace. While witnessing the sheer beauty of crackles of lightning and thunderous, earthshaking booms of thunder from less than a mile away, I was struck with the same feeling that Jaden and her family must have had: while within the gates of Placid Meadows, you were completely safe. But somewhere out there, a tornado was raging, destroying farms, homes, and countryside mercilessly. I also thought about climate change while reading this book. I am concerned that if we do not do something to protect our planet from the potentially disastrous effects of climate change, Jaden’s story might become our reality. I learned from Jaden and her experiences that not only is it necessary to act when something is very wrong, but also that one of the most valuable tools a person can possess is their friends. I would recommend Eye of the Storm to anybody who likes action, a sprinkling of science and technology, and, most importantly, a good read. This is a book of discoveries, friendship, and loyalty. Reading it showed me that, with determination, anything can be accomplished. Sarah Bosworth, 13Snoqualmie, Washington
