Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Told in a sequence of emails and the narration of Bernadette's teenage daughter Bee, we meddle into the life of an eccentric, gutsy and excessively feisty woman that is Bernadette Fox.

Discover the reasons behind her sudden disappearance and find out if Bernadette is certainly gone for good.

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Where'd You Go Bernadette is undeniably, easily and absolutely one of my favorite books! This is my kind of book. Witty, humorous, satirical, sarcastic and 'bitchy'. Yes, bitchy! And not the bad kind that you hate, it's the kind that you inexplicably adore. Bernadette is truly a hell of a character.

 I conclude that Maria Semple is an enthusiastic storyteller. The novel screams of literary but it was so interactive and fun that it seems to be juvenile fiction to most. Although, I'll always be proud of saying that the best books are in the YA genre.

Abandon Changes by John M. Cusick

A free short story I happened upon in Kobo.

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A mysterious package is asked of Rei, a smart teenage messenger, to deliver to a mysterious girl.

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It was intriguing enough, especially her struggle with romance on the side, but Abandon Changes is not for everyone. Not for me, at least.

Butter by Erin Jade Lange

Butter is the nickname given to a 423-pound boy by the bullies who forced him to eat a stick of it (butter!). After the horrible incident, our overweight protagonist has never been called by his first name again.

In the midst of being coaxed into joining the school band by the music teacher and SaxMan (his chatroom anonymous identity) making a promise to the girl of his dreams to finally meet-up with in New Year's, Butter veered into his own suicidal plot.

He sets up a website (ButtersLastMeal.com) where he will dine his way to death.

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Favorite lines:

A good novel with a great character. It was a portal to a lonely boy's world and how it felt like to be unwanted or ridiculed. Butter's humorous demeanor made it light to the audience. Otherwise, it would have been a never-ending sob story. I would give it 4 stars if I were the kind of person who gives stars.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I never really thought I'd give this much interest to a middle grade fiction.

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August 'Auggie' Pullman has a rare condition which is Treacher-Collins Syndrome (a craniofacial deformality). All his life he's been home-schooled but one day Auggie's mother starts to consider enrolling him in Beecher Prep. Auggie and his daddy disliked the idea but were finally convinced later on.

The boy was invited for an interview by the Beecher Prep principal, Mr. Lawrence Tushman. He was also introduced to three incoming 5th graders who toured him around the school.

Wonder, narrated by the different characters in the book, is a warm story about a boy and his struggle with being completely different.

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I appreciated how sincere Wonder was. It touched sensitive elements that are difficult to touch. Of course, the target readers would be children so the portrayal is important. 

And you know, not only the children but teens and adults are reading this too.

My favorite parts are from Justin's narration.

miranda's words keep coming back: the universe was not kind to auggie pullman.

i'm thinking about that a lot and everything it means. she's right about that. the universe was not kind to auggie pullman. what did that little kid ever do to deserve his sentence? what did the parents do? or olivia? she once mentioned that some doctor told her parents that the odds of someone getting the same combination of syndromes that came together to make auggie's face were like one in four million. so doesn't that make the universe a giant lottery, then? you purchase a ticket when you're born. and it's all just random whether you get a good ticket or a bad ticket. it's all just luck.

my head swirls on this, but then softer thoughts soothe, like a flatted third on a major chord. no, no, it's not all random, if it really was all random, the universe would abandon us completely. and the universe doesn't. it takes care of its most fragile creations in ways we can't see. like with parents who adore you blindly. and a big sister who feels for being human over you. and a little gravelly-voiced kid whose friends have left him over you. and even a pink-haired girl who carries your picture in her wallet. maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end. the universe takes care of all its birds.