I Was Here by Gayle Forman

From Goodreads,

"When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss."

Goodreads - I Was Here

I had a conversation a while back with a friend about what types of books we like to read and the themes we tend to gravitate to.  I've come to realize that I tend to gravitate to books that have cancer or suicide themes.  I'm not sure why, but I do.  Death and dying absolutely terrifies me.  It's easily my number one fear.  Maybe I'm just trying to get over my fear of dying by reading about it.

In this book we are introduced to Cody who is coming to terms to the fact that Meg has committed suicide.  She is asked to travel to town where Meg was going to college and clean out her room.  Once she gets to the university she finds that there is a lot she didn't know about her best friend and she makes it her goal to figure out what happened.

I connected with Cody and Meg in this book because I saw some of my own friendships in these two characters.  Meg was obviously suffering from depression, but she always put on a good face.  She always made it seem like everything was okay and that life was great, while behind closed doors she was drowning.  I think that a lot of people my age will admit that they have felt like they were honestly drowning in life before.  I had a conversation with a friend one day and we talked about college and the struggles we had dealt with.  We both realized we had faced different battles, but yet we both had faced some things that put us in depressed states.  Neither of us ever had the courage or the will to reach out to the other and say "Hey.  I'm struggling with life right now and I need help."  But somehow we both were able to get through what was going on.  This same friend actually told me that she had considered taking her own life because she couldn't handle it all anymore.  I was devastated that she didn't feel comfortable coming to me for help or talking to me about what was going on.  I had no idea that she had had those thoughts.  Depression is a serious issue in today's society, but many people in their 20s don't seek the help they need.  There is so much pressure to maintain a social life and a job and get an education and get plenty of sleep and be healthy and so on.  Gayle Forman addressed depression and I love that she tied it back to one of the main reasons that Meg took her life.  Society needs to be exposed to the fact that depression can lead to suicide and that not everyone exhibits typical depression symptoms.

Something I absolutely hated in this book was the attempt at romance between Cody and Ben.  Ben happens to be a guy who knew and dated Meg.  After Meg dies and Cody goes to clean out the room, Ben turns his attention to her.  It was one of the most bothersome things I've ever encountered in a book with a best friend committing suicide.  Spoiler alert: Cody ends up with Ben.  All girls know that you don't hook up with your best friends ex.  I just felt like Cody wasn't respecting her dead best friend.  I somewhat understand that Forman wrote it in so that the reader would understand how Meg fell for Ben, but at the same time I feel like Forman could have given Cody the strength and ability to resist Ben.  There would have been a better storyline if Cody had insisted that she respect Meg and moved on.  I'm a HUGE fan of friendship in books.  I feel like thanks to this romance storyline, the friendship that Meg and Cody had was completely thrown out the window.

Overall, I have to give this book 4 stars.  It was better than I expected.  The only downfall was the romance storyline between Cody and Ben.  This is a topic sensitive book and I recommend this only to mature readers who can handle the content included.  I can see this book being on shelves in high schools and being read by twenty somethings.

Worthy by Donna Cooner

From Goodreads,

"Download the app. Be the judge.

Everyone at Linden's high school is obsessed with Worthy. It's this new app that posts pictures of couples, and asks: Is the girl worthy of the guy? 

Suddenly, relationships implode as the votes climb and the comments get real ugly real fast. 

At first, Linden is focused on other things. Like cute Alex Rivera. Prom committee. Her writing. But soon she's intrigued by Worthy. Who's posting the pictures? Who's voting? And what will happen when the spotlight turns... on Linden?"

Goodreads - Worthy

This book follows Linden, a student in high school who falls under the scrutiny of an app called Worthy.  Worthy is an app that lets the public decide if the girl is worthy of the guy she is dating.  But not only does it let the people vote, it allows them to make comments about the couple.  Couples in the school are critiqued on Worthy, but the true question is will the relationships and friendships be able to withstand the public judging them?

This book is very relevant in today's world.  We are a society that is centered and focused on our phones.  I think that in this aspect this book would be very popular with young adults.  I really enjoyed how the book was separated by what was being posted on the app.  As the couples were being judged there was information or comments that were included that separated the book up.  There were also things that were posted by the app moderator that helped create a more immersive experience that made it feel like I was experiencing the app.  I feel like that was a nice touch to help better incorporate the reader into the story.

This book had the potential to have a big message about cyberbullying, but it didn't.  Cooner really missed the opportunity on this.  We live in a world where everyone is glued to their phones, and instead of students being mean face to face, most do it through a computer or phone screen.  I think that Cooner should have really tried harder to incorporate an anti-cyberbullying message into this book.  Most students have experienced some form of cyberbullying, and I think this book would have been more relatable if she had taken this route.  I'm a teacher and we all preach that bullying of any kind is not tolerated.  But then we have books like this where cyberbullying is happening, the app was published in the school newspaper, but yet nobody did anything to investigate or stop what was happening.  It's books like this that give teachers a bad reputation.  A parent or teacher could have and should have found out about the app and put a stop to it.  There should have also been a consequence for the student who created the app, or at least given us the satisfaction that someone punched him because he was causing drama in their relationship.  He gave students the perfect outlet to critique, judge, and comment on others and tell why they were or were not worthy of the person they were dating.  I just find it a very unbelievable situation that no adults knew about the app and that there wasn't any kind of consequence for the student who started all of this.  Cooner missed opportunities for this book to have a huge message and make a huge impact.

I give this book 2 stars.  This book was very much a teenage book with high school drama.  There were plenty of opportunities for this book to have an important message, but unfortunately it didn't.  I would recommend this to junior high or high school students.

This Life I Live: One Man's Extraordinary Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever by Rory Feek

From Goodreads,

"The Love Story that Captured a Nation’s Heart

Joey and Rory Feek were enjoying a steadily growing fan base in country music when Joey was diagnosed unexpectedly with a rapidly spreading cancer. This vibrant and beautiful young woman would soon be on a unique journey for which no one is ever fully prepared. Her husband, Rory, and children, Heidi, Hopie, and Indiana, were beside her each step of the way. Rory, a prolific songwriter, entrepreneur, farmer, and overall tender man, has seen God bless his life in countless unexpected ways and had started a blog, thislifeilive.com, not really knowing its purpose other than he needed to write. That purpose soon became clearer when Joey’s cancer battle hit.

By inviting so many into the final months of Joey’s life, this astounding couple captured the hearts of millions with their powerful love story, the manner in which they were handling the diagnosis, and the inspiring simple way they had chosen to live their lives.

In this vulnerable book, Rory takes us into his own challenging life story and shows what can happen when God brings both his presence and the right companion into our lives. He also gives never-before-revealed details on what he calls “the long goodbye,” the blessing of being able to know that life is going to end and taking advantage of it. Feek shows how we all are actually there already and how we can learn to live that way every day. He then goes into detail toward the end of the book on what it’s like to try to move on with your life once you’ve “had it all.”"

Goodreads - This Life I Live

This book is the story of Joey and Rory Feek's love and how they both got to where they are in life.  It tells of the struggles that Rory faced and how he found Joey which turned his life around and gave him a whole new purpose.  All of the happy moments, and the sad, are chronicled in this book, and it gives the reader a new perspective on love and how life should be lived.

I remember watching Joey and Rory on Can You Duet?.  My mom absolutely fell in love with them.  She followed their music and their story.  She was absolutely excited when they announced they would have their own TV show, and even more excited when they announced they were expecting a baby.  At that point I joined in the fun and started following their story and their journey.  My mom and I were devastated when we found out that Joey had cancer.  I would update my mom when Rory posted on his blog.  We were both heartbroken when we heard the news of Joey's passing.  I remember where I was when I read the news article.  There was a lot of information shared of Joey and Rory's journey, but this book really gave all the details, good and bad.  I love how raw and real this book was.  Rory shared all the bad things that had happened to him, and how he wasn't the best person when he was younger.  He shared all of the troubles he and Joey faced, as well as all the love they shared.  I always saw Joey and Rory as a couple who had a perfect life with no troubles or heartaches.  I now understand that just like everyone else, they had their own battles they were facing or had faced.  This book really has helped me in my own relationship to understand that neither of us are perfect, our relationship isn't perfect, life isn't perfect, and that is absolutely okay.  Joey and Rory loved unconditionally, even through the bad times.  They worked their problems out instead of throwing in the towel and calling it quits.  I took a lot away from Joey and Rory's relationship with each other, but I honestly wish there was a separate book that focused just on their relationship with each other instead of having all the back story of Rory's life.

I only had two complaints about this book.  The first was that the chapters were very, very short.  The chapters were so short it was hard to keep me hooked.  I would read a couple chapters, feel like I hadn't read very much, get discouraged, and not pick up the book for a couple weeks.  It took me three months to read this book.  My other complaint, as I mentioned above, was that in this book was there was a LOT of back story on Rory, as in I felt like there was more back story than there was story of Joey and Rory.  I understand that Rory had to set the scene for how he was with relationships in his past.  This was very crucial because it showed how Joey had changed and transformed him into something amazing.  But at the same time, I was wanting more stories of Joey and Rory.  I was wanting to read the funny stories of them together or the sad moments they shared.  I felt like it was very quick at the end.  They got married, they disagreed on babies, they had a baby, she got cancer, the end.  I really wanted more on their relationship and their story.  What was shared in this book really spoke to me about my relationships with my boyfriend, friends, and family.  I would love to see another book that is really focused on their relationship together and how they relied on each other and helped each other grow.  I just need more than what was given to me in this book.

Overall, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.  I think if I had sat down and read the book straight through I would have given it 5 stars, but I really lost interest while reading it.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has followed Joey and Rory, and to anyone who is looking for a good book that is based on relationships and faith.

Columbine by Dave Cullen

From Goodreads,

"The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . . " So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year.

What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

Goodreads - Columbine

Awards:

• Audie Award Nominee for Best Nonfiction (2009)
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Current Interest (2009)
• Goodreads Choice Award for Nonfiction (2009)
• Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime (2010)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2012)

Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on the scene of the Columbine shooting.  He spent 10 years researching, studying, and examining the events, evidence, and people from Columbine High School.  This book is a work of nonfiction that gives an analysis of what happened before, during, and after the Columbine shooting.

It took me exactly two weeks to read this book.  This book had so much information about Columbine and there were times when I had to stop reading because the content was very heavy.  I loved that this book broke down the shooting from before, during, and the weeks, months, and years after.  There was a lot that happened in the walls of Columbine that was reported incorrectly.  Dave Cullen found the truth in what happened and the stories that were reported.  One of the things that I definitely recall being cleared up was the story of a girl saying yes she believed in God.  It was reported that Cassie Bernall was asked if she believed in God by one of the shooters.  Her response was yes, and then she was shot and killed.  However, the truth in this was that Valeen Schnurr received shrapnel from a shot and started praying.  One of the shooters turned around and asked her if she believed in God.  She said yes and he reloaded his gun, but he got distracted and walked away.  Another boy in the library, Craig Bernall heard this exchange and thought it was his sister.  From there the story was told by Craig that Cassie had said yes when asked if she believed in God.  Her mother wrote a book and the world was captivated by the story of the martyr.  Dave Cullen was sure to check all evidence, get the facts, and set the story straight.  Cullen also took the time to study the shooters to give the public a better understanding of what types of people they were.  He studied their journals and videos to try to find some kind of understanding as to why they did what they did.

The one thing that I didn't like about this book was there were absolutely no pictures in it.  I understand that Cullen didn't include pictures because he wanted people to read the facts and information instead of this being a book where you gawk at the pictures.  It did allow me to really process the information, but there were times when I needed to see photo evidence of what they were talking about.  I would then stop and go search for the photo so that I understood what Cullen was referencing or to understand the events better.  He did include some journal scans and diagrams, which was nice to have, but there were definitely times when photos were desired. 

As a teacher this book was interesting to read because this was a real shooting, and one of the first of its kind, and it allowed me to see what was done correctly and incorrectly, and even things to watch for in students.  I recommended this book to our school resource officer and he said it was a book he had been wanting to read for a while.  While this book didn't have pictures, it was still wonderfully written and was full of evidence, information, and the truth.  I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Ms.Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson

From Goodreads,

"Everyone knows there are different kinds of teachers. The good ones. The not-so-good ones. The boring ones, the mean ones, the ones who try too hard. The ones you’ll never remember, and the ones you want to forget. But Ms. Bixby is none of these. She’s the sort of teacher who makes you feel like the indignity of school is worthwhile. Who makes the idea of growing up less terrifying. Who you never want to disappoint. What Ms. Bixby is, is one of a kind.

Topher, Brand, and Steve know this better than anyone. And so when Ms. Bixby unexpectedly announces that she is very sick and won’t be able to finish the school year, they come up with a plan. Through the three very different stories they tell, we begin to understand just what Ms. Bixby means to Topher, Brand, and Steve—and what they are willing to go to such great lengths to tell her.

John David Anderson, the acclaimed author of Sidekicked, returns with a story of three kids, a very special teacher, and one day that none of them will ever forget."

Goodreads - Ms.Bixby's Last Day

This book is about three students who find out that their favorite teacher, Ms.Bixby, has cancer.  They decide to give her the best day ever and skip school to make it happen.  The book is told through the eyes of each boy and it tells of the people and obstacles the boys encounter while trying to make Ms.Bixby's best day happen.

As a teacher, this is the kind of book that moves me.  I hope that I have impacted students' lives the way that Ms.Bixby has impacted students.  I loved that the three boys each had some special connection with Ms.Bixby.  I also liked that John David Anderson took his time giving the information about the connection each boy had with Ms.Bixby.  I felt that having each of the boys have a little bit of a different story and connection made the book more relatable.  There were definitely teachers that I had that believed in me, and I remember those teachers.  I remember the teacher that bought me an ornament at Christmas because my dad was deployed.  That small gesture meant to much to me, and now every Christmas I think of her when I put the ornament on the tree.  It's the smallest things that can make an impact on a student.  I'm a teacher and sometimes I forget that even the smallest gesture can change a child's life.  I personally connected with this book on that level because it really reminded me what a difference I'm making. 

I absolutely adored this book, but I had some serious mixed feelings about the alcohol references in the book.  One of the things that the boys were determined to get was a bottle of wine for Ms.Bixby.  They ended up having to ask a guy for help buying the alcohol because obviously the kids were underage.  The guy seemed to be a real criminal and was drinking alcohol on the bus.  This book was far more mature than it had to be.  I felt like to an extent it was promoting underage purchasing of alcohol, drinking, and illegal activity.  However, it also reminded me that teachers do have lives outside of school and sometimes their perfect day includes having a glass of wine.

I loved this book and would recommend it for all teachers.  It's good to remember why you are teaching and what a difference you are making.  The chapters tended to be a little length, but I still give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Bubble World by Carol Snow

From Goodreads,

"Freesia's life is perfect. She lives on the beautiful tropical island of Agalinas, surrounded by idyllic weather, fancy dress shops, and peacocks who sing her favorite song to wake her up in the morning. She has so many outfits she could wear a different one every day for a year and not run out.

Lately things on the island may have been a bit flippy: sudden blackouts, students disappearing, even Freesia's reflection looking slightly . . . off. But in Freesia's experience, it's better not to think about things like that too much.

Unfortunately for her, these signs are more than random blips in the universe. In Bubble World by Carol Snow, Freesia's perfect bubble is about to pop."

Goodreads - Bubble World

Freesia lives in a world where everything is perfect.  She looks perfect, her friends are perfect, the island she lives on has perfect weather.  Freesia lives in Bubble World, a place where she goes to cultural immersion class and goes to her make up classes.  Everything is exactly as it should be until blackouts start happening and she suddenly wakes up.  She soon realizes she has been living in a virtual reality world and she is nowhere near being perfect.  Slowly Freesia realizes the truth behind everything and she is left with the decision to choose between the two worlds.

When I started this book I was sure it was going to be awful.  Bubble World had a language of its own and it made all the characters seem annoying, immature, and shallow.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through the book.  After a few chapters I really started to getting into the book and continued to wonder where it was headed.  I really enjoyed the utopian setting with this book.  It seems that a lot of books written these days are more dystopian themed.  This book was set in a perfect world where everything was exactly as it should be.  The weather, the water, the food and drinks, the clothes, and even the people were... perfect.  While perfect gets old, it was interesting to read a book that wasn't about the world ending or about how the government has destroyed us.

Even though I enjoyed the utopian setting, this book had lots of downfalls.  There was a lot of potential for this book to address some big issues, but all the messages kind of fizzled out.  First on my list of problems is Freesia and her parents.  I just want to know what kind of parents are okay with signing their child up to participate in a virtual reality school.  Freesia sounded like she was a difficult kid who was awkward and found it hard to make friends.  (We later find out that her best friend betrayed her to be friends with another girl.)  I felt like Freesia's parents enrolled her in Bubble World so they wouldn't have to put up with her emotional, friendless state.  In the book they stated that they enrolled her because they thought it was best for her, but I feel like they enrolled her because they were tired of dealing with her.  I feel like it would have been easier to homeschool her than sign her up for an education program where you really didn't know what your child was seeing, doing, or learning.  I just felt like the whole, "signing my kid up for a virtual reality world" was kind of far fetched.

This leads to my next point concerning the message that big corporations are corrupt.  Part of the reason Freesia's parents agreed to Bubble World was because Freesia's mother would get a job out of the whole deal by posting vlogs about Freesia in Bubble World.  Todd, the creator of Bubble World, convinced Freesia's parents to support Bubble World.  As the book progressed we find out that Todd wasn't really in the business to create geniuses, but to really just make money (shocking).  I definitely felt like there was a message about corporations being corrupt and that we should stop buying into them.  But the message never really progressed or turned into a big turning point in the book.  Freesia's parents still allowed her to go back to Bubble World even though the corporation was obviously corrupt.

This book was definitely different than any other book I've read.  I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book that has the virtual reality technology theme.  I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

From Goodreads,

"Kate Weston can piece together most of the bash at John Doone’s house: shots with Stacey Stallard, Ben Cody taking her keys and getting her home early—the feeling that maybe he’s becoming more than just the guy she’s known since they were kids.

But when a picture of Stacey passed out over Deacon Mills’s shoulder appears online the next morning, Kate suspects she doesn’t have all the details. When Stacey levels charges against four of Kate’s classmates, the whole town erupts into controversy. Facts that can’t be ignored begin to surface, and every answer Kate finds leads back to the same question: Where was Ben when a terrible crime was committed?

This story—inspired by real events—from debut novelist Aaron Hartzler takes an unflinching look at silence as a form of complicity. It’s a book about the high stakes of speaking up, and the razor thin line between guilt and innocence that so often gets blurred, one hundred and forty characters at a time."

Goodreads - What We Saw

This book starts off with a flashback to when Kate Weston was just a kid playing soccer.  We soon realie her love for soccer and her best friend Ben Cody.  Then we quickly return to the present and find out that Kate is now in her bedroom with a killer hangover.  She starts to piece the night back together and finds that she didn't drive her truck home (thankfully), but that her great man friend Ben took care of her and brought her home.  As the day progresses so do things between Kate and Ben (more on that later).  At school on Monday the cops show up and arrest some of the star basketball players because they have been accused of raping a girl at the party.  Kate starts to piece things together and realizes that things aren't what they seem.

While I was reading this book I had to continually remind myself that this was based on true events from the Steubenville, Ohio case.  We live in a world where we hear about cases of rape, but we are only exposed to what the media shares with us.  This book really shares the real details and not just the media's take on things.  I like how this was from the perspective of a girl who was at the party and was also intoxicated.  She really struggled to put the pieces together and do the right thing by reporting what she knew.  It was definitely a struggle of doing what was right and doing what everyone wanted her to do.  Kate also states multiple times that she was drunk too and it could have been her in that situation instead of Stacey.  I think this is an important message because anyone can end up in a similar situation.  This book also addressed consent.  It stated that just because she was drunk and unconscious doesn't mean she gave consent.  Consent is where it seems all rape cases lead back to.  This book really addressed the big issues of making the right decision, consent, and blaming the victim.

I really hated Kate and her relationship with Ben throughout this book.  The book starts out with us finding out that Kate and Ben were once best friends who played soccer together.  Kate accidentally injured Ben and left a long scar behind his ear.  They ended up falling out of touch.  They reconnected a year before the book takes place because they were in the same geology class.  At this point they seem to be just civil friends who say hi in the hall... nothing more.  The next thing we know Kate is leaving the party drunk and wakes up the next morning absolutely swooning over Ben.  Their friendship went from zero to 100 overnight all because he took care of her when she was drunk.  As the book progresses we see Kate doing whatever Ben wants because she is "in love" with him.  I just feel like Kate and Ben's relationship was very unrealistic.  Their relationship just progressed very quickly and I hated that.  I felt like Kate and Ben's cheesy high school relationship started to overshadow the bigger topic here of consent and victim blaming.  I just wish that the book hadn't incorporated the relationship as much as it did as a part of the storyline.

This book does have a trigger warning for rape, however I think more women need to read this, especially teenagers.  This book is based on a real event that happened.  This isn't a work of fiction.  It isn't something that someone made up to make some money.  This really happened.  I think that young girls need to be aware of rape culture and what consent means.  I would recommend this to high school students or young adults.  This was a tough book to read because of the content of the book.  I give this 4 out of 5 stars.