“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, by Stephen Chbosky

Fifteen year old Charlie writes letters to an unidentified recipient, in his unmistakably naïve style, and describes what it’s like to be him. Charlie is an observer in his own life, learning through guidance from his English teacher, best friend, and therapist, to participate in his life. We follow his thoughts as he describes his first kiss, his family, and the sexual molestation he experienced with his uncle. Charlie’s naiveté becomes kind of a character in the book, and we often wonder if he’s autistic, depressed, or where his attitude comes from. The tone of the book is very reminiscent of The Catcher in the Rye, yet is somewhat updated and more contemporary. This book was part of interesting marketing campaign, which put it on shelves in record stores and clothing stores, and advertised it on MTV.

I’m not sure what put this book ahead of others, according to MTV, but it does have a different feel than many of the other teen novels we have read this semester. For one thing, the main character is male, and his sounding board is not given a gender, giving the book a more universal appeal. I have to admit, I’m still deciding if I like it or not. The action moved fast, and I didn’t put it down like most books I don’t like, but in many ways, I found Charlie insufferable. I understand the point the author is trying to make about everything in a teenager’s life being melodramatic, but I kind of wanted Charlie to just stop whining already. He seemed to give the same amount of importance to finding a date to the dance as he does to the sexual molestation he experienced as a child, and I just didn’t buy all the whining. His naiveté didn’t quite ring true for me either – I often felt like either he was autistic, or living under a rock. If high school students are assigned to read Catcher, that’s probably enough passive whining for them.

Book talk hook: I don’t think I would bother book talking this one. I was ultimately bored by Charlie’s incessant introspection and whining.

Chbosky, Stephen (1999). The Perks of Being a Wallflower. NY: Pocket Books. 224 pages.

“How to Ruin a Summer Vacation”, by Simone Elkeles

While working my shift at the public library, and browsing the YA fiction shelf for books to read for this reading journal, I randomly pulled “How to Ruin a Summer Vacation” off the shelf. I’d been trying to read ansgty, coming of age novels (“The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Seventeenth Summer”, et al), and was looking for something a little more fun. Perhaps one of the Traveling Pants knockoffs, even. So you can imagine that the title of this one appealed to me, as I was looking for something slightly more comedic than what I had been reading.

In “How to Ruin a Summer Vacation,” seventeen year old Amy is sent by her mother to Israel with her biological father, whom she only knows as “Sperm Donor.” Ron mysteriously shows up in her life again, despite being an absentee father all her life, and whisks her away from her previous plans of tennis camp and boyfriend, to Israel to visit her dying grandmother whom she’s never met. And oh yeah, Safta lives on a moshav – a sheep farm. Lots of life lessons and learning about other people’s cultures, as well as questioning her own spiritual identity, ensue.

Though the premise sounds tough to take, I have to admit, I was able to get past it and enjoy the rest of the novel. Elkeles writes in a colloquial tone, and I got a kick out of her sense of humor. I laughed out loud every time Amy used one of her Anglocized nicknames for her new Israeli friends (Her cousin, Osnat, quickly becomes known as “Snotty,” and a member of the group is often referred to as “Moron”), and even chuckled right along with the Israelis at her ignorance of their culture. The story moves fast, as Amy learns to put aside the chip on her shoulder, and really question all she’s ever known about love, religion, and day to day life. Her new gang of friends are funny, have much to say about “stupid Americans,” and complement each other well. Her spiritual struggle almost reminded me of an older version of Blume’s Margaret, as Amy observes the nuances of Judaism and wonders whether she should embrace it or not. The romantic comedy aspect got me too – she and Avi meet cute while doing something disgusting with sheep, and the insults fly between them until one day, they make out. In a kayak on the Jordan River, no less.

While some of the writing did get trite at times, with lines like “Life in Israel is hard compared to the teenage life in America,” I have to admit, I kind of bought it. I visited Israel as a teenager, as did many of my friends and relatives, all of us skeptical Jews at best, and thoughts like that really did cross our minds, as simplistic as they sound. I had many friends who came back with a new understanding of what life is like there – most of us didn’t come back and start keeping kosher kitchens, but whether our visits inspired more fear or more understanding, they certainly did have an impact on us, similar to what Amy experiences in the book. Despite the on the nose descriptions of the lessons Amy was learning, I could totally buy her transformation. That is, until the last page or two wraps everything up in an unnecessarily neat and rushed ending.

If I were to booktalk this book, I would probably read aloud one of the passages where Amy first gets to Israel, and has lots of comical mishaps involving sheep farming and stepping on dead snakes.

Elkeles, Simone (2006). How to Ruin a Summer Vacation. MN: Flux. 240 pages.

Another wan GLBT romance: “Gravel Queen,” by Tea Benduhn

Perhaps Emily Gilmore was right, when she said on my beloved television show Gilmore Girls, “There’s nothing funny about being a lesbian.”

Yes, I attempted to read yet another YA GLBTQ romance, and once again my efforts failed miserably. Unfortunately, I think I have already exhausted this genre, having blasted through all of the Julie Anne Peters and David Levithan oeuvres already. I was hoping to try out a new author, in the hopes that I would find some variety and a refreshing perspective. So far, aside from Sara Ryan, most of the other GLBTQ romances I have read were by ‘one hit wonder’ authors who wrote boring books and were never to be heard from again. It looks like “Gravel Queen” is not much different.

In “Gravel Queen,” Aurin lives in sleepy Greensboro, North Carolina, and is spending her summer vacation at the park with her ‘kooky’ friends – attention whore Kenney, queeny Fred, and new additions football star Grant, and Neila – the object of Aurin’s affection. Neila happens upon them during a game of ultimate Frisbee in the park, and the budding romance between Aurin and Neila throws off the balance of their group. As Aurin and Neila spend more and more time together in dance class, parking lots, neighborhood parks, and each other’s living rooms, Kenney feels left out, and Fred laments even more over his crush on Grant. While the premise is a fairly realistic imagination of the drama between teenage groups of friends, the problem with it is that NOTHING HAPPENS. Aurin and Neila meet cute, exchange a whole lot of longing glances, kiss once or twice, and live happily ever after.

Similar to the endless descriptions of nature and flowers in “Seventeenth Summer,” “Gravel Queen” spends much of its time describing the butterflies, bubbles and other random items Aurin feels in her gut whenever she looks at Neila. I found myself saying, “Enough already, kids, just make out!” Yes, it’s adorable and refreshing that these kids are happy to be young and gay, but there was no conflict whatsoever in this novel, rendering it dreadfully boring. I understand what Benduhn was going for here – no coming out drama, no angst over questioning one’s sexuality, no kids beating each other up or being beaten by their parents because they’re gay. But when you’re fifteen, everything is dramatic, no matter how small the problem seems – at least her characters could act their age and put some umph into falling in love. And if they’re not going to be dramatic about it, they could at least have a sense of humor.

Despite all of my efforts to find a GLBTQ novel for teens that really speaks to the culture of contemporary teenagers, this one isn’t it, and it just fuels my misunderstanding of why GLBTQ authors are having such a hard time finding voices. How about a lesbian version of Jessica Darling? Or “The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants” – set in Provincetown? There are so many opportunities for a sense of fun and humor, and yes, even sex, in the GLBTQ world, and I’m looking forward to finding some more writers who will truly take advantage of it.

Book Talk Hook: I would not bother book talking this book, because it’s so boring, I don’t think I could muster up enough enthusiasm about it.

Benduhn, Tea (2003). Gravel Queen. NY: Simon and Schuster. 160 pages.