Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive me, Leonard Peacock is a gripping tale of a troubled teen's last day of life before he shoots his former best friend and then himself with his grandfather's P-38 pistol, a relic from WW II.  Leonard's recitation of the things he has to do before his final acts is fleshed out with footnotes that reveal the suffering that drives him to plan this murder/suicide.  ""34. You should read about all of those [other]  killers.  They all have a lot in common.  I bet they felt lonely in many ways, helpless, FORGOTTEN, ignored, alienated, irrelevant, cynical, and sad . . ."  This is Leonard in a nutshell.  No one remembers his eighteenth birthday; no one except maybe his Holocaust Studies teacher,  Herr Silverman, and his elderly neighbor Walt seems to care one way or another what happens to him.  Betrayed by his best friend, Asher, snubbed by the beautiful and uber-Christian Lauren, and basically abandoned by his mother, Linda,  Leonard moves through his day hoping against hope that someone will connect with him enough to deter him from his violent intentions.

At first the story just seems like  a creepy way to introduce us to the mind of deranged potential killer who takes a weapon to school to revenge himself against everyone who has bullied him.  But as  Leonard keeps writing,  his dark humor and anguish combine to make him much more sympathetic. He is a teen with serious issues struggling to find good in the world.  As much as Leonard wants to kill Asher, he has also prepared special gifts for the few people who have made his life bearable.  

There are some rather strange passages in the beginning that appear to be letters Leonard and his daughter have written to him from the future, but eventually these make sense as a strategy suggested by Herr Silverman to show Leonard that if he can imagine a world where things get better, this will help him to deal with his depression.

Leonard seems to me to be a character well worth knowing and trying to understand.  His internal dialogs ring true as do the efforts of other characters to reach him.  Recommended.

Scan by Walter Jury and Sarah Fine

Scan is all fast-paced action that pits a super smart and talented teen (think MacGyver with jui-jitsu skills) against a variety of ruthless agents that want what he has-- a super-secret piece of technology, developed by his father, that can tell the difference between humans and aliens.

Tate Archer finds the scanner while snooping in his father's lab and decides to take it to school, where it gets way too much attention.   He doesn't realize the import of what he's done until he, his father, and his girlfriend Christina are chased from the building by police who shoot to kill.  Someone in the school--probably an agent of the aliens, has turned them in.

Tate's father dies from a gunshot wound, and Tate and his immensely spirited and resourceful girlfriend run from the bad guys and struggle to stay ahead of pursuit while they figure out whom they can trust.   Tate's dad cautioned him about trusting any aliens (known as H2) or even the core group of pure humans--The Fifty--who stand against them.  Both sides want the scanner and are willing to destroy Tate and Christina to get it.

Suspense builds as inevitably the hunters close in.  Some of the strategies to escape imminent capture seem a bit far fetched to me, but I'm no chemist.  The non-stop action is tempered by talk of Tate's relationship with his girlfriend--yes, there is romance.  Overall, this is a fun summer read with, I suspect, a sequel in the works.

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

For her senior year, Amy decides to dump the adult peer partners she has required for her first eleven years of schooling in favor of hiring fellow students to accompany her during the school day and introduce her to other students so she can learn about how to make friends. Matthew signs up.  It is his observation in class one day that Amy only pretends to happy, well-adjusted and thankful for her many blessings that helps her better understand her isolation.  When she confronts him, Matthew is honest,  "It's not your fault that you don't have any friends.  You always have an aide with you.  No one is going to be themselves when there's a teacher standing right there."  Amy is surprised to learn that Matthew has watched her for years, that and his honesty makes her want him as one of her four helpers.

Amy isn't the only one in this relationship with problems, however.  Matthew has OCD, his way of managing a life beset with fears and anxiety.  He hopes that no one notices his habits of tapping lockers or compulsive hand washing.  Amy does, though, and isn't shy about asking him about his behavior, "WHAT'S THE WEIRDEST THING YOU DO?"  (Amy's dialog, which she writes on her computer,  is always presented in capital letters.)  She sees that he has a pretty serious case of compulsive disorder but that he seems so much more comfortable and relaxed with her.  The story revolves around the growing friendship between them, told through the conversations which reveal much about their secret hopes, fears, and problems.  Amy wants to help Matthew as much as he takes true pleasure in working with her.

McGovern does a great job writing from a "people-first" perspective, presenting her characters as individuals who have a disability but are not defined or stereotyped by that disability.  Amy and Matthew frequently use wit and sarcasm to hide their underlying feelings.  I found it easy to care about them and hope that they could finally be totally honest with each other.  If you liked The Fault in Our Stars, you should enjoy Say What You Will.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart is a a wild ride for a small group of insurgents fighting against the rule of cruel and violent Epics—humans who possess extraordinary powers such as flight, superhuman strength, and seeming invincibility.   Eighteen-year-old David watched as  Steelheart, an Epic who is immensely powerful, turns non-living things into steel and is impervious to guns, knives and fire, killed his father.  David has studied the Epics for 10 years and wants to join the Reckoners, who specialize in assassinating Epics, so together they can discover Steelheart’s weakness and destroy him.

Cover Art by Mike Bryan

The action takes place in a dystopian world, Newcago—formerly known as Chicago, shrouded in perpetual darkness thanks to the alliance between high Epics Steelheart and Nightwielder.  Some humans who are needed to run the basic functions of a government such as enforcement, providing power, and running the economy,  live above ground;  others less important or more of a threat survive in the tunnels underneath the city.  David comes from this underworld, having worked in a munitions factory throughout his childhood.  He carries with him his rifle, his knowledge of Epics and of Reckoners, and a deep desire for revenge.  When he becomes involved in an assassination attempt on the Epic Fortuity, the rebels take him prisoner.  He has to prove himself and sell the group on his plans to take on Steelheart.  Meanwhile, he also has to deal with a growing attraction to Megan, one of the members of the Reckoners.  (Note:  the dialog between these two is particularly clever.)

Gunfights, racing motorcycles, bolts of destructive forces from the hands of Epics make up the frequent action.  State of the art munitions are employed, along with an ongoing debate on the merits of rifles versus handguns.  Secondary characters are given enough personality and special talents to make them interesting.  The leader, Prof, is particularly mysterious.  How much power does he have and why is he reluctant to use it?  Personally, I liked the internal debate on whether the devil one knows (Steelheart) is actually preferable to whatever or whoever would replace him if the Reckoners succeed.  There are worse places to live than Newcago.  

Steelheart is a great combination of action, suspense, plot twists and a touch of romance. Great fun.

The Grace of Silence: a memoir by Michele Norris

Michele Norris is a journalist best known for her work on NPR's All Things Considered.  She initially planned to write a book about the various conversations on racism taking place nationwide following President Obama's election.  However, she soon realized that much of the circumvention and avoidance of truly open discussion about race and racism that she had observed as part of her work were equally present in her own family.  There were stories that had directly affected her own parents and grandparents which were hushed up or sidestepped.  Norris decided to explore her family's experience to better understand how and why they dealt so calmly with the disrespect and violence visited upon them.

Since her father never spoke of the incident, Norris struggled to uncover the story of his being shot by a white Birmingham policeman. She describes the difficult process of locating any public records--from newspapers or the police, particularly since crimes against blacks weren't considered noteworthy.   She frames the event with a description of how black soldiers in WW II were initially limited to noncombatant, frequently menial roles in segregated units. Having sacrificed to obtain freedom for others, many veterans came home to Jim Crow laws and high unemployment, and denied the right to vote.  Those who challenged such treatment risked physical harm or death, even when in uniform. In the case of her father,  injustice was met with  flight to the Midwest.

Indignities existed on her mother's side as well.  The second great family secret that Norris discovered was that her maternal grandmother worked for Quaker Oats portraying Aunt Jemima, with all the accompanying and humiliating stereotypes.  Clearly there were  moments of great discomfort within her family when considering events such as these in the past.

The author takes a look at her own upbringing to appreciate how her parents protected her and encouraged her to excel.  Norris's stories of her family are moving and instructional--providing a necessary reminder of both the overt and insidious forms of racism.

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

I have a bad habit of peeking at the ending of suspenseful books somewhere around halfway through to see who makes it and who doesn't. By the end of Chapter 4 (page 41) of Those Who Wish Me Dead I was ready to see if 13-year-old Jace Wilson survives.  He is being pursued by some seriously evil bad guys--two brothers who epitomize the meaning of psychopath.  Brothers Jack and Patrick Blackwell are soulless killers who leave a trail of dead--and frequently tortured--victims who either witnessed their previous crimes or can identify them as they proceed to commit their next one.   Only three characters stand between them and their prey:  an instructor in wilderness survival skills, his wife, and a fire spotter. Outgunned and outthought at every turn,  Ethan Serbin struggles to keep his promise to protect the boy, but first he must find him.  Knowing his pursuers are getting closer, Jace, or Connor as he is now called, has run away from the group of troubled teens that he was placed in as part of a witness protection program.  He enlists fire spotter Hannah Faber to help him--and they flee deeper into the Montana mountains--and into the teeth of a growing forest fire.  How much more hopeless can a boy's chances of survival be?

Admittedly the book requires the reader to suspend belief in a number of plot twists--i.e., how Ethan's wife Allison can leave the hospital where she is recuperating from severe burns and a beating to guide a detective on horseback into the woods towards the fire.  Still,  this a great book for a day or two at the beach or a camping trip.  Come to think of it, students preparing for Outdoor Ed can pick up lots of useful wilderness skills before heading out. Recommended.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

With the school garden starting to take off-- pea and squash plants, beets, carrots all looking healthier each day--I have started to think about predators, namely the rabbits that have been hopping around behind the performing arts building.   I have a feeling they are just waiting for our vegetables to be worth harvesting.  What to do?   Get drawn into an all-out war against the furry raiders?  Nope--it's a reminder that it's time to re-read Watership Down, the timeless classic about a small group of homeless rabbits striving to create a safe place for themselves in a challenging and dangerous world.

Adams has built a complete society in the rabbits of Watership Down,  including a language and an oral tradition with supreme beings and mythic heroes to inform and inspire them.  Hazel is their leader, a determined and wise rabbit who believes that somewhere there can be a peaceful and secure future for those who have joined him.  With his size and martial training, Bigwig provides bravery when it is needed the most.   Other supporting characters include the fierce and powerful Woundwort, who seeks to destroy the band and enslave the survivors; Fiver and Blackberry, who support Hazel with their abilities as seer and problem-solver, respectively; and the does who risk their lives to escape from captivity.  Dangers abound in this quest for a safe home.  Besides Woundwort and his troops, there are the men who plow up the land and patrol their gardens with dogs and guns  and  the non-human hunters--the foxes, cats, and weasels who are an inevitable part of their world.  The rabbits find help in unlikely places, a seagull and a mouse, and throughout their adventures display incredible fortitude, trust, loyalty and courage.

We will still try to discourage the CWA rabbits from excessively raiding our garden, but with Hazel and crew in mind, I think it's possible to look a little more kindly on them.  Who knows what stories they have to tell?