Turtles All The Way Down

Spoilers

I love John Green and I loved Turtles All The Way Down.

When you first get the book, read chapter one while listening to John Green read chapter one...

From GoodReads:

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.
Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. 

There is so much to be said about Turtles All The Way Down, and so many have already done so. My favorite thing about John Green's novels is the care he puts into his opening sentence. Check out the opening of TAtWD...

At the time I first realized I might be fictional, my weekdays were spent at a publicly funded institution on the north side of Indianapolis called White River High School, where I was required to eat lunch at a particular time - between 12:37pm and 1:14pm - by forces so much larger than myself that I couldn't even begin to identify them.

Here are some of the wonderful things I've found with regards to TAtWD:

144 Thoughts I Had While Reading Turtles All The Way Down posted by TeamEpicReads

John Green on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Jennifer Senior's thoughtful review of TAtWD in The New York Times.

Watch Let's Talk About Books on vlogbrothers to learn about the book, The Man Who Couldn't Stop: OCD and the true story of a life lost in thought by David Adam.

Spoilers abound with John Green's AMA on reddit.

Laura Miller's review of TAtWD on Slate.

Constance Grady's review of TAtWD on Vox.com

A tuatara

 A Pettibon spiral

Pogue's Run (jogger's mouth)

Be sure to get this book for all the John Green fans you know. Get this book for all the YA readers you know who have experience with mental illness (either their own or someone they love).

Enjoy reading Turtles AllThe Way Down!

a walking, talking miracle

This weekend I read Release by Patrick Ness.

Ness writes, “How do we ever, ever survive our teenage years? Every young person you meet is a walking, talking miracle.”

From GoodReads:

Inspired by Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn, 17. It's a big day. Things go wrong. It's intense, and all the while, weirdness approaches... 

Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything. It's a day of confrontation, running, sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won't come out of it unchanged. And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, something extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course.

The story takes place during one monumental day in Adam Thorn's life. But it's also written as two different stories: one is Adam's day, the other is a supernatural tale of murder. Both stories come together to define identity and the power of love and loyalty.


Adam and his bestfriend Angela have an amazing farewell:

"When is it that you've got my back again, Adam?" Angela asked in their usual farewell. 

He grinned, "Always. Until the end of the world." 

"Oh, yeah. That's right." She hung up.

If you've read any other books by Patrick Ness, then you know his books are recommended for a more mature YA audience. 

Get this book for the young people you know who are struggling with letting go:

"How do I let go?"... 

"That's the question, isn't it?" says the boy. "For everyone." 

"Everyone," the spirit agrees. 

The boy takes a breath. "Today was a day I had to let go of a lot of stuff. Like everything that was tying me down suddenly got untied."

I wish I was brave enough

This week I read They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera. I follow @adamsilvera on twitter and he posted this picture:

I thought it was amazing to see that an idea, started in a small pocket notebook, could become a published book.

From GoodReads:

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.

I loved this book and I think teens will really love this book! 

Despite the title, They Both Die At The End is much more about life than it is about death. Surprisingly, even though the novel sets both boys up to die at the end, the story is hopeful and its ideas will stay with you long after you are done reading.

Some of my favorite parts:

And one day she'll find herself on the terrible end of a Death-Cast call and it sucks how we're all being raised to die. Yes, we live, or we're given a chance to, at least, but sometimes living is hard and complicated because of fear.

I wish I was brave enough to have traveled. Now that I don't have time to gp anywhere, I want to go everywhere: I want to get lost in the deserts of Saudi Arabia; find myself running from the bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas; stay overnight on Hashima Island, this abandoned coal-mining facility in Japan sometimes known as Ghost Island; travel the Death Railway in Thailand, because even with a name like that, there's a chance I can survive the sheer cliffs and rickety wooden bridges; and everywhere else.

I loved the game called Traveler and have been unknowingly playing it since college. I loved the idea of Last Message and am now considering what my Last Message would be.

And, in the acknowledgments:

And, lastly, to every stranger who didn't call the cops on me when I asked them, "What would you do if you found out you were about to die?" None of your answers inspired anything in this book, but wasn't it absolutely fun having a stranger make you observe your mortality?

Get this book for the teens you know... especially those frustrated by life. There can't be life without death. There can't be love without loss. The book's message will stay with you long after the last page and you'll find yourself with a new appreciation for life and being brave enough to live every moment... because you never know when Death-Cast may call.

unbound

I just picked up Solo by Kwame Alexander and finished reading it in three days. You will probably read it faster. It is a poem packed, can't-put-it-down novel in verse, texts and lyrics.

It is the story of family, identity, addiction, redemption and love.

This book is pure poetry:

THE PEAK 

Ever been
at the peak
of a grand mountain
where you can touch
the clouds
feel them moving
through you
bending sprightly
toward
the horizon
and you are overcome
unbound
and nearly
engulfed?
That is how I feel
When I see...

Some of the songs in Solo are:

I Was Young When I Left Home by Bob Dylan
Sunny by Bobby Hebb
Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N' Roses
Enter Sandman by Metallica
With Or Without You by U2
Right Now by Van Halen
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin 

Get this book for all Kwame Alexander fans (The Crossover and Booked). Get this book for any reluctant YA readers. Get this book for anyone who loves rock and roll.

come with me

I have never related to a picture book more...

"All over the world,
the news told
and told
and retold
of anger and hatred - 

People against people. 

And the little girl was frightened
by everything she heard
and saw
and felt."

A little girl asks what she can do to make the world a better place. And, as small as her part may seem, it matters to the world. 

Come With Me by Holly M. McGhee is a timely story of kindness, empathy, collaboration and bravery in the face of intolerance, bigotry and uncertainty.

Add this book to your classroom. Read it aloud to anyone who will listen.

Break Hearts not Promises

"Man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills" - Arthur Schopenhauer

Ahhhh ... the illusory nature of free will. 

John Green reads the first chapter of Turtles All The Way Down on vlog brothers:

Preorder a probably signed copy of Turtles All the Way Down, which comes out October 10th: http://probablysignedturtles.com. Or order a definitely unsigned copy wherever books are sold!

• Break Hearts not Promises.
• Human Microbiota
• Imagine that candle... 
• Stained shirts are huge in Paris right now.

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Turtles All The Way Down by John Green.

artistic and empathetic

The must read book of the upcoming school year is Refugee by Alan Gratz. Three refugee stories are woven together across time and through location in an artistic and empathetic tale: Nazi Germany in 1936, Castro's Cuba in 1994, and Assad's Syria in 2015. 

Refugee is an important book, and should be read as soon as possible. It is haunting and hopeful, grave and inspiring. After reading this book, you will see those displaced by war through the eyes of empathy. 

Give this book to every young adult reader you know. Gift it to a classroom or Little Free Library. Use it as your next read aloud.

"They had to keep moving forward. Always forward. Even if it killed them."

Be sure to read the Author's Note at the end. Alan Gratz does an excellent job of providing the historical footnotes to each story, and gives suggestions on "what you can do".

“I wanted to make individual refugees visible and turn statistics into names and faces that kids could relate to,” Mr. Gratz said.