Here are this week’s reviews!
Beating Heart: A Ghost Story
By: A.M Jenkins
When 17-year-old Evan moves into the Victorian house his mother has remodeled, he gradually realizes that someone else still inhabits his room. He dismisses the thought, yet he continues to be haunted by dreams of a young woman with fine, pale hair who matches the picture he finds in a box hidden in his room. As days and weeks pass, his nightly dreams begins to take a toll on his real-life relationship with Carrie, his girlfriend of two years. Chapters alternate between the narrative of Evan’s life, feelings, and relationships, and free verse poetry depicting the ghostly girl’s thoughts about Evan, to whom she has transferred her love.
Goss Scale: 8/10
This was a very quick read, and I really liked how the text alternated between Evan and Cora. I do not usually read books with free verse poetry, but this book was highly enjoyable!
Memiors of a Teenage Amnesiac
By: Gabrielle Zevin
Naomi Porter wakes up in hospital after falling down the steps at school and hitting her head very badly. She learns that her parents have divorced and that she isn’t talking to her mother, or her father’s fiancée. She also learns that her boyfriend, a tennis ace, is not the boy who sat with her at the hospital, and that she hangs out with a bunch of snobs that the new Naomi doesn’t like very much.
So, who does she like? James, the boy who took her to hospital, but who has a disturbing past and his own problems? Will, her co-editor on the school’s yearbook, and best buddy, who makes CD mixes for her and who is passionate about the job and maybe about her? And how does she sort out the problems she doesn’t remember having? Or is this a chance to start again, with family and friends? Then again, what if she remembers it all?
Goss Scale: 8/10
If you liked Zevin’s other book Elsewhere, then you will love this book. Interesting, funny and fast paced, this is a great read for grades 9-12
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