Since school started back up last week, I wasn’t feeling like working too hard when it came to my leisure reading. I had received “Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters” a while back and honestly, dismissed it because of the juvenile cover. I read the description, and while it sounded intriguing, I didn’t feel any urge to pick it up until now.

On Christmas Day, the Sullivan family is informed by their grandmother (known as “Almighty”) that someone in the family has offended her; and that until that person confesses their sin to her, she will remove the entire family from her will. This matter becomes a bit more pressing when she also reveals that she is dying from a brain tumor. She gives them until New Year’s Day to present her with their confessions. Each of the three sisters, Norrie, Jane and Saskia (aka Sassy) believe that the message is directed at them and the rest of the book is spit into three sections, one for each sister and her confession.

The first section belongs to Norrie, a 17-year -old who ends up involved with a college boy, Robbie, when she should be concerned with Cotillion and debuting on the arm of Brooks Overbeck, the most popular boy in school. Society means everything to Almighty, so Norrie believes that she is the culprit.

Jane is next, and she confesses that she began a website called My Evil Family where she spilled all the old family secrets and stories, for all the world to see. She ends up being featured in the Baltimore Sun and almost ruins the Sullivan’s reputation.

Lastly is Sassy. She believes that she caused Wallace, Almighty’s 5th husband, to die of a stroke. Throughout her section, she has strange near-death experiences, including being hit by multiple cars, and walking away each time with no more than a bruise. She believes that she is immortal.

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Anyone who reads the Saturday Read knows that I am a closet teen fiction reader. It’s so honest and spirited that I can’t help but devour teen fiction after teen fiction. And, as I have said before, a teen read is a nice way to take your mind off of your school textbooks. I have read books where I’ve needed a dictionary beside me the entire time just to comprehend what’s going on. Those books are experiences, but can also be work, and with a course overload right now, I can’t afford to be working in my relaxation time.

So, I’ll say it again – I turn to teen fiction.

John Green is definitely one of my favorite authors of teen fiction. He always creates smart, funny, likable “heroes” and “heroines.” (I put it in quotes because even though they don’t really contribute a ton as a result of the plot of the novel, they undergo heroic transformations!) The hero of “Paper Towns” is Quentin Jacobson. He is very normal, very smart and, as he says, very well-adjusted, thanks to his therapist parents. His neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman is pretty much the exact opposite: rebellious, popular, desired. Quentin and Margo were childhood friends, but clearly, their paths have since divided and Quentin has spent a good deal of time pining over Margo. One night, Margo appears at Quentin’s window and takes him on a life-changing ride, pranking everyone who has done her wrong. And then she disappears.

Quentin is the last one to see Margo and also seems to be the only one who wants to find her.

Of course, this is only in the first few pages. Margo leaves Quentin clues, including a worn copy of “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman (one of my favorite poets!) and paper towns, which are unfinished subdivisions and apparently, very popular in central Florida. Completing the book (and aiding Quentin on his journey) is Quentin’s sidekick and best friend, Radar, who runs an online encyclopedia and helps deduce the mystery that is Margo. Read More »

Working at a bookstore, I run into plenty of what I call “book snobs.” People who will only read a book if it’s received 5-star reviews from the most prestigious of literary critics, if it is on the Bestseller list or if it’s won the flipping Nobel Prize. Even though these people see themselves as the cream-of-the-crop of book readers, I think they are just shallow and narrow-minded. Plenty of books, even fluffy ones, can have great messages and really strike a chord within the reader.

That’s one of the reasons that I read teen fiction. It always has a great message and doesn’t try to be precocious. Teen fiction – written to inspire a love of reading in young peoples’ hearts – is written soulfully and simply. And I love it.

One of my favorite teen fiction reads is “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. This is Green’s debut novel and, in my opinion, his best to date (although “Paper Towns” and “An Abundance of Katherines” are great as well!). He writes from the perspective of a naive teenage boy, finding his first love. I find this book so beautiful and honest and, most importantly, quirky. Read More »