Impulse by Ellen Hopkins -- review by Hope Austin

Impulse

***** stars

by Ellen Hopkins

Question: What could an army brat, former juvenile delinquent and a prep possibly have in common? Answer: a whole lot. Enter Aspen springs, a psychiatric hospital, and you'll find a group of friends made of three very different people. There's Tony, the street-smart guy who knows the ins and outs of the facility, Vanessa, a girl who wants to stop alternating between "up" and "down", and Conner, the guy who supposedly has it all: money, popularity and the attention of quite a few girls. At the beginning of the story, the only thing they have in common is that that they all attempted suicide. However, as the story progresses, we see that they have a lot more in common then one would suspect. Together, the trio grows and faces their demons.

I can't give away too much away without spoiling the entire book. It's 666 pages long, and filled with twists and turns. Don't be intimidated by the size though, it's written in free verse, so it moves very quickly. The book deals with a wide range of topics, from suicide and child molestation to drug use and sexuality. It seems like a lot to take in, but Hopkins writes it well. One thing I especially liked was the tone of the story. Hopkins isn't telling the reader about the evils of crystal meth or premarital sex or anything like that; there's no judgment, only the story of three people getting a second chance at life. A non-preachy tone like that sometimes is pretty hard to come by in YA fiction.

Review written by: Hope Austin

Mockingjay ???

I finished this book last night and would be interested in hearing from any of you who have also read it before I weigh in with a full review! Just comment to this post on this site!

Ms C.

New books in series!

Welcome back -- many new books in popular series are here and ready for check out in the library. Come by and find just what you're wanting for pleasure reading or SSR!

Some of the new titles:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (#3 in the Hunger Games series)
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (#3 in Vampire Academy series)
Wanted by Sara Shepard (#8 in Pretty Little Liars series)
The Kings of Clonmel (#8 in Ranger's Apprentice series)
Only the Good Spy Young (#4 in Gallagher Girls series)
The Atlantis Complex (#7 in Artemis Fowl series)
Gone (#3 in the Wake trilogy)
Lies (#3 in the Gone trilogy)
The Dead-Tossed Waves (Sequel to Forest of Hands and Teeth)
Burned (#7 in the House of Night series)
Linger (sequel to Shiver)

More new titles and series books coming soon! Stop by and check out or place your hold now!

Ms C.

Johanna Kelly's Book Review

My Mother’s Boyfriend and Me

Alice Jacoby

*star

Sixteen year old Laurie is an average teenage girl who has a close relationship to her widowed mother. Laurie never knew her father; he died when she was only a few months old. Laurie’s mother has dated men that were her age before, but none very seriously. Now her mother has invited a 26 year Blue to move into their apartment, a man that her mother has only known for a few weeks. Laurie is afraid that the one Blue is after is not her mother, but herself.

This book is no longer available in the O’Hara library, but I don’t think anyone is missing out. It hasn’t been checked out since the year 2000. Laurie is very whiny, she reminds me of Bella from Twilight, as it was unbearable to read. Laurie was more paranoid than threatened, Blue never made any advances towards her--he was not a nice person, but he wasn’t a sexual predator. He was financially attached to them, he didn’t have a real job, and he went to parties with his slacker friends a little too often. I would be upset if my mother brought home a man that she didn’t really know after we’d lived together alone for so long, but I wouldn’t accuse him of abuse. It seems as if the author didn’t want to use any disturbing detail, but the book made little sense. The only reason I finished it was because I wanted to see if anything more would happen to Laurie, I won’t spoil it, but I was disappointed.

Johanna Kelly's Book Review

Bonnie Jo, Go Home

Jeanette Eyerly

*****stars

One event can ruin someone’s life, one terrifying night destroyed Bonnie Jo. Now she is pregnant. The year is 1973, just after Roe V. Wade passed, the Supreme court case which made abortions legal in the United States. An abortion is what Bonnie Jo is after. This was still a time where young unwed mothers were very much looked down upon in society, especially in the little town in Iowa where Bonnie Jo lives. She does not want to go away and have her baby, and she wants to keep as much of her life together as she can, even though it will never be the same. She must go to New York for an abortion. Once she gets there, she realizes that everything is harder and more complicated than she thought. Will she go through with her plan?

Wonderful book. Especially since it was written in 1973, I read about teen issues back then, and I realize how similar they are to issues today. This book was written with a very open mind, it was neither pro choice or pro life, it simply told Bonnie Jo’s story. It was written in third person, so it wasn’t told by any character viewpoint, for this book it was perfect. I wish people on both sides of the abortion issue would read this book. Personally, I am pro life, but I had a greater understanding of why a girl would think that abortion was the only way out. This book also has details of how insensitive abortion providers can be. It made me think about the abortion issue more deeply than I ever have before. In no way is this book outdated--I enjoyed it thoroughly. Sadly, it is no longer in the O’Hara library due to the condition it was in as an old book which was checked out often. I encourage you to check it out from the Mid-Continent library--ask Mrs. Crawford to order it for you!