don't fail me now. una lamarche.

as part of penguin's first to read program, i was able to read don't fail me now by una lamarche.  here is my review for the first to know website:

Having read LaMarche's "Like No Other", I decided to spend the points to guarantee my reading of "Don't Fail Me Now."

Again, LaMarche has taken teens with different backgrounds and thrown them together to learn that you can always find common ground regardless of your differences.  "Don't Fail Me Now" told the story of Michelle Devereaux and her struggle to keep her family together.  Michelle was 17 years old, but did not enjoy the carefree life that most teens do.  Her days were not filled with parties or hanging out with friends, instead Michelle worked part-time at Taco Bell and took care of her younger siblings, Cass and Denny.  Unfortunately, their mother was a drug user and in jail and their father had left years before, thus leaving Michelle as the responsible one in their home, making sure her siblings attended school and were fed.   When we first met Michelle, she was tying to keep her siblings out of foster care and living with an aunt that was more concern with money then helping take care of her family.

As Michelle struggled to keep it together, she was thrown a curveball.  Michelle's half sister, Leah showed up with the help of her stepbrother, Tim to inform her that their estranged father, Buck, was dying.  prior to this Michelle had never met Leah, and only knew of her because of her parents arguments, when she was younger.  Though Michelle had always dreamt of meeting her sister, once she did, she wished she hadn't.  Michelle's regret at meeting her half sister was due to the fact that Leah's life was not as complicated and Michelle and her siblings' lives.  Leah's mother remarried a wealthy man and Leah did not have to the same money issues as Michelle.  There was also a difference due to race, Buck their father was White, and so was Leah's mother, but Michelle's mother was Black.  Leah lived a very privileged life in contrast to the ones of her siblings.  As much as Michelle wanted to have a relationship with her half sister, she was upset that Leah was sheltered from the issues Michelle faced.

When Tim and Leah first met Michelle, they mentioned that Buck had something of value for her. Hoping that this gift would provide her money to get her mother out of jail and pay her aunt, Michelle decided to drive cross country to California to visit Buck on his deathbed.  In an act of goodwill, she invited Leah so that she could get closure as well.  Leah's stepbrother, Tim, joined the road trip to help Leah.

The trip got off to a rocky start.  Leah and Tim were used to traveling a certain way while Michelle was on a budget, caused a division between the siblings.  However, as they travel, they work together to survive their trip.  In addition to that they learn, that tough they may differ based on race and class, they have had to face similar struggles in life.  They learn more about each other and begin to relate not only as friends, but also as sisters.  There is even a romance that blossoms between Tim and Michelle.  I have to add I had a total book crush on Tim, he was so sweet and the boy could sing.

Without giving too much away, they do make it to california, and though they lost their father, they became a family.  "Don't Fail Me Now' was an enjoyable read, demonstrating that we can't always pick our relatives, but at the end of the day, they are the ones that care and love us the most.

when you reach me. rebecca stead. (190)

*sorry this picture is blurry.  i didn't realize how blurry it was until i return it.  but it makes it feel alittle otherwordly which is perfect for this novel, so it works.

i picked up when you reach me because it is a newbery medal winner.  i also enjoyed the cover art.  i had no idea what the book was about, but that made for a better read.  (so if you haven't read it, stop here, seriously everything will spoil this book for you!)

when you reach me is the story of a girl, miranda, and the letters about her life she had to write due to secret notes she has received.  the letters are from a stranger and are suppose to help save her friend.  a series of random things happen to her prior to the notes appearing. first, her best friend sal stopped talking to her.  this happened after an even stranger event, a boy just randomly walked up to sal, as he and miranda were walking home, and punched him in the stomach.  a crazy homeless man appeared on her street corner, talking to himself, and doing high kicks. the kids are kept in at lunchtime at school, because a naked man is seen running around down the street.  all of these things seemed really odd, but they all come together in the end.  (i have to admit i missed the foreshadowing of the naked man, i just assumed it was random little anecdote.)

in the end it is discovered that all of these weird events and the notes have to do with time travel!

before i go on, i have to share that what i loved most about this book was the inclusion of madeline l'engle 's a wrinkle in time.  a wrinkle in time is miranda's favorite book in the story.  she carried it around and is constantly rereading it.  it is due to this book that marcus and miranda first discuss time travel.  marcus pointed out that there was an error in the book.  if meg and charles wallace had returned 5 minutes before everything had occured wouldn't they have seen themselves land in the garden before they left?  this is true.  marcus was right.  and future marcus was right because he time-traveled back to safe sal!

i won't go into detail about what occurred but in short, future marcus saved sal.  and stead did an excellent job of tying everything together. as i mentioned before, i had no idea the naked man in the street was due to the time travelling.  i loved how everything came full circle, though i was sadden by future marcus' fate but he was an old man and ready for it.

when you reach me had additional storylines.  miranda's mom was picked to go on $20,000 pyramid and part of the novel was her preparation for the show.  since miranda and sal are no longer friends, she became friends with colin and annamarie.  the three of them get jobs at a sandwich shop.  and of course, like any adolescent story, there is always some kind of drama between friends, which occurs between miranda, annamaire and annamarie's ex-best friend, julia.  these additional stories not only added to the story but also distracted from the time travel plot as well.  well played, stead.

the thing that i found interesting, was the issue of race and class and the prejudices that a reader reads with.  i am not sure if this was stead's intent or if i am just super racist.  i mean the latter is true, so that is probably the case.  i was confronted with my racism when jimmy called julia swiss miss, in reference to the hot chocolate, though miranda meant it about her trips to switzerland.  up until then i had not realized that julia was black.  i had assumed since she was rich that she was white.  here is where class became an issue as well.  (class was addressed directly with miranda comparing her home and life to that of annamarie's who is wealthier).  i know how horrible of me, but i mean the girl talked about going to switzerland, isn't that where white people go on a vacay (okay, i am racist, sorry). i then realized i was being extremely racist as i read.  i believe miranda or her mom was described as white, though now i am second guessing everything.  since she was white, i assumed that sal was white.  i also assumed that the boys that caused trouble on the corner was black as was the crazy man on the corner.  also i assumed marcus was black too since he punched sal.  however, race was not mentioned for anyone else except julia, oh and richard (miranda's mom's boyfriend being german).  well explicitly anyway, i just read on a website that it was implied that jimmy was asian but that went over my head. i am embarrassed that i could be so horrible with stereotypes but i am.  again well played, stead for having the read confront the prejudices they have about race so directly though it was presented subtlety.  

overall, when you reach me was a great book and very worthy of it's newbery medal.  if you haven't read it you should.  it has also inspired me to reread a wrinkle in time, which is perfect because the graphic novel version has been sitting on my bookshelf since january.    

great expectations. charles dickens. (155)

a couple months ago i purchased a used kate spade great expectations book clutch.  they normally run $328 but lucky me i found it used and in good condition for $62 on poshmark!  and as much as i love it, it isn't worth the $300, i mean its laminated!  but $62, yes it is.  but here it is:  

anyway, i felt like a poser because i never    read all of great expectations yet here i was carrying it around as a purse.  it was an assigned reading my senior year but i totally cliffnoted it. (i had a really bad case of senioritis).  i knew pip and of course remembered miss havisham, but they were all i could recall.  well i did have an scene in my head of someone, running in and tearing down the curtains in miss havisham's room, but i think that was because of the movie because this scene, i would discovered on this reading did not occur in the book.  

this rereading or actual first reading of great expectations epitomizes why i started this lets-read-those-high-school-assigned-readings-now project!  because i regret not reading this the first time i was assigned it.  i will admit that 30

year old me is a better reader than 17 year old me (i remember being lost vocab wise.  those macbeth references definitely would

have been lost on me the first time!) which may be the reason for my enjoying great expectations on this round but i absolutely loved it.  there were so many twists and turns and sadly (or gratefully) i didn't pay any attention in class because i did not recall any of them so i was actually surprised!  i mean even the identity of pip's benefactor caught me off guard.  (in retrospect, i deserved that b+ in ap engish).  modern day soap operas have nothing on this dicken's classic, it was amazing how everyone's secret connections were revealed in the end. i really was not expecting any of it. 

i won't rehash the story since the story is so well known.  or give a deep analysis other than looks can be deceiving.  plus the most important lesson of just because a person is high class doesn't mean they are classy and the vice versa being in the low class doesn't mean you are trashy.

i do want to discuss my love for certain characters.  who doesn't adore joe with his heart of gold and love for pip? society would not have labelled him a man of good manners and pedigree but there was no denying that he was a loyal and reliable friend.  i thought it was amazing that though "poor" he had the means to settle pip's debt in the end.  i was also happy he got a happy ending with biddy and kids of his own!!

i also enjoyed wemmick and his two personas, not mixing business with pleasure.  his home self was the best, how he took care of his aged parent.  and the surprise wedding could not have been more adorable! i had a total book crush on him!

and though she was batty, you can not deny that miss havisham was great.  i mean she would make an excellent halloween costume!  one would need a wedding dress, once white now yellow, one shoe on also once white now yellow, and a watch stopped at twenty to nine.  she was scary but such an excellent villain that you can't help but love her.  and in the end,  like the grinch her heart does turn three times in size and she regretted what she did to estrella.

i love/hated pip.  i hated how he treated joe when he came into his great expectations.  i hated how he was in love with estrella though she was proud, their first day together was a red flag that she would make him miserable.  but he redeemed himself when he accepted and helped his benefactor.  also i loved how he secretly helped herbert and made sure miss havisham did too.  

but i must add that my disapproval of his love for estrella caused me to dislike the ending and i wish the original ending was the standard ending.  the ending i read was all hollywood where pip and estrella randomly meet up at miss havisham.  she recently discovered, he in town for a visit.  they meet and it's hinted that they end up together.  boo!!! because he was not worthy of her love!

in the original ending, estella discovered the spider and fell in love with a poor doctor.  she and pip run into each other on the street.  pip has joe's son with him and she assume it is his and that his life is better without her (which it is) and he sees that she has actually has a heart and is capable of love!  

i like that ending because they both become better people which i doubt would have occurred if they ended up together.  

though i will add if they originally ended up together out of actual true love i could have dealt with it.  how happy would pip's benefactor be to discover that his the wife of his gentleman was his daughter!  so for his sale i would have been okay with it.

i am glad i ended up enjoying great expectations as much as i did because i would have felt lame carrying that clutch around if i didn't.

also if you were in mr. brice's class with me and didn't read this, you really should!

amendment:  so after posting this on fb i thought to myself, maybe we didn't read this in brice, so i consulted my classmates.  we didn't, it was assigned our freshman year!  freshman year!! there was definitely no way 14 year old me could have got this!  but i will add, i did get an a in that class.  lol

tar beach. faith ringgold. (131)

i learned of faith ringgold's "tar beach" from the flavorpill post on multicultural children's books.

"tar beach", as i learned from the afterword, is a story quilt and is in the collection at the guggenheim in new york.  (seeing this is now on my nyc to-do list). 

(as you can seen in the picture, the story is written on the fabric.)

"tar beach" is based on ringgold's childhood.  her family and neighbors would spend summer nights on their rooftop, picnicking, playing cards and simply enjoying summer.  i also learned that mr. and mrs. honey were named so in reference to people always saying "'honey' this and 'honey' that", which i thought was cute.

"tar beach" is the story of a young girl who spends her summers flying via her imagination over the george washington bridge and around the city.  she was born on the day the bridge opened and so it is her "most prized possession".  my favorite image is of her wearing the bridge "like a diamond necklace."

her flying not only allows her to appreciate new york but it is also the inspiration for her dreams of a better future.  her father takes her to see the union building he is working on but due to his race he sadly can not join the union.  however, the little girl does not allow racism to stop her dream of a better life.  she plans on buying her father a building which will result in steady work and a happier life for her entire family.  it's seems like childish naïveté but every childhood should be filled with such home.

at first, i considered reading about a child from a lower social-economic class might seem new. however, if you think of all the grimm's fairytales, most of the children and families were initially poor and their good merit resulted in their riches.  in addition to that, i think its only my viewpoint as an adult that would classify her as poor.  i don't know of kids would be able to read between the lines about the hardships her family faced.  however for those kids that are aware because it is very much their life, it must be nice to be able to identify with the protagonist of a story.

though regardless of class, "tar beach" is a wonderful read because it teaches kids to dream big!