(Image from Indiebound)

Ordinary is working a summer job - without spending every second wondering if your mother will be okay in your absence. Ordinary is going to school - without agonizing over whether or not she'll show up in your classroom wearing only her pajamas. Ordinary is mother/daughter bonding time at home - without the interference of your dead grandaddy. Life for 14-year-old Lacey Mills is so out of whack, it's miles and miles and miles from ordinary.

Lacey has only one hope for this summer: to find a friend. Just one single, solitary friend. Thanks to her mother's illness, everyone at school already thinks Lacey's a freak. And no one will come near the Mills' house after what happened the night Laurel slept over. But, maybe, maybe, Lacey's new job at the Peace City Library will produce the kind of bosom buddy she longs to have in her life. And maybe her mother's first day as a cashier at Winn-Dixie will turn into weeks and months and years of a normal adult going to a normal job acting like a normal parent. Maybe.

As Lacey watches her mother get off the bus at Winn-Dixie, she's filled with trepidation and a cautious hope. The day holds such possibility for both of them. With gorgeous Aaron Ririe flirting with her on the bus, it seems like all Lacey's dreams are about to come true. Then it takes a terrifying turn for the worse and, once again, Lacey's wishes take a backseat to her mother's paranoia. This time, though, the stakes are much, much higher. This time, there's no one for Lacey to turn to. This time, she may not be able to save her mother. Or herself.

If you've read either of Carol Lynch Williams' previous books, you're familiar with the raw, provocative tone that marks her YA fiction. True to form, the author's newest - Miles From Ordinary - gives readers an honest, albeit disturbing, look at the realities of dealing with a parent's mental illness. It's impossible not to feel for vulnerable, abandoned Lacey, who's so trapped by responsibility and guilt that doing one simple thing for herself seems horrifyingly selfish. Her story's so gut-wrenching, so real, so haunting, that it stays with you long after you've closed this taut, thought-provoking novel. Williams doesn't write light, airy stories, so be prepared. Miles From Ordinary is a heavy-hitter. One you won't soon forget.

(Readalikes: Reminded me of A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler and Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu and a little of Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for intense scenes/subject matter

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find

Although I have a couple of book reviews scheduled to post in my absence, mostly it's going to be pretty quiet around here. I'll still be reading (just in HAWAII) and I'll get back to regular posting when I return. Have a fabulous week, everybody. Happy reading!

Oh, and if you've been to Oahu (Waikiki and the North Shore, specifically), what are the not-to-be-missed attractions, restaurants, activities? We'd love more suggestons.

(Image from Indiebound)

"Charming" isn't an adjective oft associated with salty sea sailors, but in the case of "Bloody" Jack Faber, it's pretty much an understatement. No leading lad (er, lass) in recent memory has enchanted me quite like this one. If ye aren't familiar with young Jacky of the high seas, get thee to a library. Quick-like. Ye won't be disappointed, me hearties, 'cause Bloody Jack is a treasure indeed.

Bloody Jack, the first in a series of swashbuckling YA novels by L.A. Meyer, begins in 1797 in the grimy back alleys of London, where the newly-orphaned Mary Faber has just been tossed. Picked up by a street gang, Mary survives the way all guttersnipes do: "We begs mostly, please Mum please Mum please Mum, over and over and we steals a bit and we gets by, just" (7). But when Mary's best mate is murdered one night, she realizes she can't handle life on the streets any longer. She takes the dead boy's clothes, stuffs his shiv down her shirt, and makes for the docks. Since she's small for her age (which she estimates to be around 12), with no obvious womanly traits to distinguish her from all the scruffy young boys hanging around the shipyard, she figures finding a job can't be too hard. She figures right. And wrong.

Posing as "Jacky" Faber, Mary becomes a ship's boy on the HMS Dolphin, a man-of-war headed for North Africa to chase pirates. The finding part's easy enough, it's the keeping of the job that's tough. Mary takes her licks, sure does, but works hard and learns to handle life at sea. The one thing on which she can't get a handle, though, is her changing body - the more she grows, the harder it becomes to keep her secret, well, secret. It doesn't help that she's getting right moony over fellow ship's boy, Jaimy Fletcher.

As Mary comes of age on the high seas, she finds trouble, triumph, adventure and, ultimately, her own salty, sea lovin' self. With a voice so authentic, so thoroughly charming that it pours off the page, she's not just memorable, she's completely unforgettable. I loved every second of my time with her, so much so that before I even got to Bloody Jack's third chapter, I already had the rest of the books in the series on reserve at my library. That's how enamored I am with Ms. "Bloody" Jack Faber. So enchanted am I by this book that I can't even come up with a criticism. I just loved it. Totally. Completely. Every last page, every last sentence, every last word. Ye will, too, scurvy dog, or it'll be the plank for yer sorry self ...

(Readalikes: Reminded me of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi)

Grade: A

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), violence, and sexual content/innuendo

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find