July 15, 2016
Carrie's life fell apart when her sister died, and she isn't sure how to put it back together again.For the last couple of years, Carrie's life has been tortuous to navigate. After her sister's death, the family slowly dissolved into grief, and Carrie's intense fits of rage didn't help. Then her mother left on a retreat and didn't come back. Now, Carrie, her younger sister, Rosie, and her father, all white, must face the repercussions of trauma on their own, and they're not doing very well. Carrie finds solace in her sister's older, primarily white friends, who help her deaden feelings of guilt with drugs and alcohol during parties in the basement of Korean-American Soo. When the floppy-haired white boy next door proves to be not only good-looking, but also a nice guy with great taste in music, things start looking up. But it will take Carrie's sentence to a rehabilitative work program and confronting the truth of the night her sister died for her to really return from a place of devastating grief. Davis makes the 1980s shine through this dark book with multiple references to popular bands and song lyrics. However, the sheer number of tragic situations makes the whole thing feel overwrought. The writing makes interesting connections between science and teen angst, but the lyrical aspects of the book sometimes feel forced. A not entirely successful trip back in time to when teenagers thought problems could be solved with a really great mix tape. (Historical fiction. 14-18)
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September 1, 2016
Gr 9 Up-Carrie is struggling after the death of her cool older sister, Ginny. Before, Carrie loved astrophysics, but Ginny's loss propelled the protagonist into the orbit of her sister's older friends, and now her life consists of partying, drinking, and staying out too late. In a last-ditch attempt to bring Carrie back to earth, her father forces her to join a summer work program. She spends her days wearing nerdy work boots, clearing walking paths, and generally being a teen delinquent. As the summer wears on, Carrie fights more battles with her father, younger sister, and boss; she also meets Dean, the new guy next door who might be able to see past her behavior to the girl underneath. Davis creates a complex character in Carrie, whose mental health suffers considerably when she loses her beloved older sister. The family members all deal with the grief of Ginny's passing in differing, and often conflicting, ways. Like the slow rising of the sun after a long, stormy night, Carrie comes out of the darkness and embraces life in this moving real-life problem novel. This story is set in the 1980s, so some teens might have trouble connecting with the references to period bands and other pop culture phenomena, but this would be a great novel to use for mix-CD inspiration. VERDICT Fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park and Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower will dig this book.-Ashley Fetterolf, Indian Creek Upper School, Crownsville, MD
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