Book Review: Heather Wells Mystery Series

Series Info:

Book 1: Size 12 is Not Fat (2006)

Book 2: Size 14 is Not Fat Either (2006)

Book 3: Big Boned (2007)

Book 4: Size 12 and Ready to Rock (2012)

Book 5: The Bride Wore Size 12 (2013)

Author: Meg Cabot

ISBNs: 9780060525118, 9780060525125, 9780060525132, 978-0061734786, 978-0061734793

Plot Summary of Book 1 (From Goodreads)
Heather Wells Rocks!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two — and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen — not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives — even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

Author Meg Cabot

Brittany's review of the Heather Wells Mystery Series
My senior year of high school, I was on my school’s newspaper staff for a semester. I quit after the first semester because I got upset that the advisor seemed to dislike my “book reviews” section idea because the books I was recommending weren’t new.

Like, excuse me, I’m a senior with multiple AP courses, I do not have enough time to read and recommend 5 books that are NEW.

But now, Jeselyn’s letting me write a blog entry for her and I CAN REVIEW WHAT I WANT. SUCK IT, DALTON.

I mean...I’m not bitter about something that happened over ten years ago. Nuh-uh.

ANYWAY. I have been a longtime lover of Meg Cabot since I started reading the Princess Diaries some time in middle school. I’ve read the majority of her work (I think there’s one teen series I just wasn’t interested in, and that’s not her fault). Recently, I decided to revisit one of Cabot’s other series, the Heather Wells Mysteries. The main plot of each book is basically: “Twentysomething former pop sensation Heather Wells is now making her way in the world by working as assistant director at a residence hall and living anonymously with her ex-boyfriend’s private detective brother in New York City when *gasp* a murder happens in the dorm building!”

The rest basically goes the way you would expect a book in this vein to go: lots of accidental stumbling on clues, risky choices, and eventually solving the murder without the help of the police, much to their chagrin.

Unlike most other mystery series (in my opinion), the Heather Wells Mysteries are *FUN.* Like, obviously the murdery bits are fairly gristly, but Heather, like most of Meg Cabot’s heroines, is funny, smart, and snarky. Because the books are written in the first person, we get so much of her internal life, where she worries about the things you’d expect a regular twentysomething to worry about: boyfriends, ex boyfriends, the fleeting fame, your hot roommate, vanity sizing, donuts, beautiful sugary coffee concoctions...you get the picture. Additionally, The supporting cast of characters are diverse, hilarious, and genuine. My favorite (besides aforementioned hot roommate--Meg Cabot is just real good at making sexy love interests) is Magda, the sassy Dominican cafeteria attendant with amazing airbrushed nails. She adores the students that live in the residence hall, and provides a lot of the funniest lines in the books.

Also, even though I’ve read these books multiple times (well, ok...I think I’ve only read the fourth one once), the murderers were complete surprises until pretty close to the end. So that’s pretty cool.

The one criticism I have about the books after this reread is that, because Meg Cabot is a really heavy pop-culture referencer, it’s easy to tell that the books were written several years apart, even though they only cover the span of about a year. They also might end up seeming kind of dated because of that, even though they were written between 2006 and 2012. Hey, you young kids can get an education about late augts-early teens pop culture the same way i got my eighties and nineties pop culture education: reading books with lots of references.

But, look. These aren’t books you’re going to read for learning or anything (although if you’re a writer, you could totally learn from her character building). They definitely fall in the “Brain Candy” category of literature. If you’re looking for a book to laugh your ass off too, then “aw” over, and feel like you’re helping to solve a murder, I 100 percent recommend this series.

All the Books I Read in 2018

This year was not as productive reading-wise as 2017. Work caught up with me big time, and I had some pretty serious health issues for the better part of 2018, so I didn't get to read nearly as much as I had hoped. Even so, I read 22 books of various genres and age levels, so here they are. Perhaps I'll write reviews on some of them in the new year.

Several of these were re-reads, either of books I read several years ago as a younger adult, or as a child. Some people feel like re-reading is a waste of time when there are so many books in the world, but I love it. Every time I re-read something I loved, I notice something different and get a new emotion or life lesson out of it. I try to read my favorite books at least once every five years. It's especially interesting to revisit your past thoughts and see how much you've grown since last time if you're one of those people who underlines passages and makes margin notes (like yours truly). Reading an old favorite book is also comforting, like a visit from an old friend. When I'm not feeling great physically or mentally, I like to revisit books I loved when I was younger.

Middle Grade/Tween Fiction

• Stef Soto, Taco Queen by Jennifer Torres
• George by Alex Gino
• Kristy's Great Idea by Ann M. Martin (Babysitter's Club #1)
• Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Young Adult/Teen Fiction

• You Don't Know Me but I Know You by Rebecca Barrow
• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
• Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Playing for the Commandant by Suzy Zail
• Blubber by Judy Blume
• Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
• Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters
• Boys Don't Knit (In Public) by T.S. Easton
• You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner
• Glass by Ellen Hopkins
• The You I've Never Known by Ellen Hopkins
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• Paperweight by Meg Haston

Adult Fiction and Nonfiction

• The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (fiction)
• Fiend by Peter Stenson (fiction)
• Alice and Freda Forever by Alexis Coe (nonfiction)
• Prophet's Prey by Sam Bower (nonfiction)
• The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (ethereal mix of fiction and memoir)

2018 Middle Grade/Tween Fiction:

  
  

2018 Young Adult/Teen Fiction:

                
  

2018 Adult Fiction and Nonfiction:

    

  

My Toddler Time Hello and Goodbye 2018

We're only a third of the way through 2018... I might as well share what I've been doing differently in our Toddler Time hello and goodbye since roughly January.

First of all, I have made an amazing discovery about the 16-36 month age group. They are not smaller preschoolers; they are bigger babies! Toddlers are basically infants with the ability to run away from you. For this reason, I have decided to disconnect my Toddler Time and Preschool Storytime activities, and instead more closely link Toddler Time and Baby Lapsit.

In Toddler Time, we now begin with an a cappella greeting song instead of one with recorded music. I changed it because I feel the toddler age group benefits the most from chanting and singing without musical accompaniment. It makes it easier to sing the songs with their grownups at home, and they'll remember the songs more if their voices are the only thing making the music.

Here is our *shiny and new* good morning song:

Hello: "This Is the Way We Wave Hello"

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

(Clap hands to the beat)
This is the way we clap hello,
Clap hello, clap hello.
This is the way we clap hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

(Stamp feet to the beat)
This is the way we stamp hello,
Stamp hello, stamp hello.
This is the way we stamp hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

This video shows the melody we sing to, but it uses different lyrics.

The other two hello songs are the same as 2017. They are good for both toddler and preschool audiences, and "Open, Shut Them" comes with a built-in parent tip.

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"

On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

My parent tip: It's great to do a motor skill-strengthening exercise like this once a day with your toddler. You can make it fun with a game or a song, and it will help strengthen their muscles and help with coordination as their bodies and minds develop.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"

This is a short, easy stretch the preschoolers get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Click here to listen to the version I use

This is where the rest of the storytime comes in. And then...

Goodbye: "This Is the Way We Wave Goodbye"

Know what's great for tiny, developing brains? Repetition. 

Know what's great for tiny, developing brains? Repetition.

(Typed it twice to make a point.)

Our goodbye song for Toddler Time is now also a cappella, and a repeat of our new hello song. We just substitute "hello" for "goodbye." Doing this song twice per storytime gets the melody and movements in the kids' heads that much quicker. If they're not scream-singing "This is the way we blankety-blank" about everything they do for the rest of the week, I haven't done my job.

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave goodbye,
Wave goodbye, wave goodbye.
This is the way we wave goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

(Clap hands to the beat)
This is the way we clap goodbye,
Clap goodbye, clap goodbye.
This is the way we clap goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

(Stamp feet to the beat)
This is the way we stamp goodbye,
Stamp goodbye, stamp goodbye.
This is the way we stamp goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave goodbye,
Wave goodbye, wave goodbye.
This is the way we wave hello,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

Bubbles! "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles" and the Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next week. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

March 2018 Bulletin Board: Spring Into the Library!

As we get into the Spring season, I thought our main bulletin board in the Children's Room needed a little spruce. Using a friendly laminated butterfly I found in a cabinet and Mr. Frog from our recent Valentine's Day Party, I created our interactive "Spring Into the Library!" board.

The board is interactive because I painstakingly die-cut about 100 flowers out of construction paper, and have this invitation up for patrons:

If you click the first image of the whole bulletin board and zoom in, you can see all the things our smallest patrons love about their library. 

Also, at the end of the month we can count each flower as a participant in a passive program and add it to our stats! 

Baby Lapsit 2-9-18

Even considering last week's success in a themed Baby Lapsit, I went back to no theme this week. After saying hello to all our friends, our first book was Why Cry by Yusuke Yonezu. This book is a good one for babies and toddlers, because it teaches about emotions and normalizes sadness. As children are developing, it's important that they learn it's okay to cry and be sad sometimes, and that these feelings don't last forever. The book also has a cut-out half circle in each page, that turns to a rainbow by the last page.

Next it was time for our lap bounce journey and it began, as always, with "Bumpy Road." I have a few regulars who have come to Baby Lapsit continuously since their babies were only a couple months old, and they know this chant by heart now. Grownups are instructed to seat their baby facing forward on their laps and bounce along with me as I demonstrate with a roughly baby-sized teddy bear. Here is the chant:

Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Hole! (Hold baby under armpits and let them fall between your legs)

Our musical lap bounces today were "Noble Duke of York" and "Humpty Dumpty." Since my version of "Humpty Dumpty" repeats the nursery rhyme three times, I suggested to the grownups that their baby's "great fall" be in a different direction each time.

Our second book today was Rainy Day by Dan Yaccarino, from the Happyland series. This book was interesting to read to a room full of babies (and one two-year-old big sister) because it only has words on every other page. The others show Glub Glub performing an action: putting on his rain boots, dancing in the rain, etc. I realized that while babies might not be the ideal audience for a book like this, toddlers or preschoolers might. It leaves lots of room for discussion: "What is Glub Glub doing? How do you think he feels?"

We did two movement songs before saying goodbye today. First, we practiced "Hush Little Baby" with the sign language.

Here is the version of the song that I use, and here is a video showing the correct signs to go with the song.

We also sang "One, Two Hands" by Laurie Berkner today, because she's a storytime goddess and her songs are fantastic. When we sing this song, I like to remind parents that an important part of a baby's development is learning who they are, and where they exist in space. Naming their body parts is an important part of this, and this song helps begin that conversation.

Baby Lapsit 2-2-18: Transportation 2.0

 I did something that I haven't done in a while; a theme in Baby Lapsit!

Themes in the baby storytime don't always go over great, because the kids are too young to understand what a theme is and the parents just want enriching activities for their babies. However, if you can manage to find worthwhile, enriching activities on a solid theme, good for you! I feel like I was able to hit that balance today, with my second shot at a transportation-theme Baby Lapsit.

After saying hello, I introduced the theme of transportation (you can also call it "Things That Go" Storytime), and we learned the signs for "bicycle" and "fire truck." While there are a lot of vehicle signs to choose from, I didn't want to overwhelm the grownups with a million signs. I chose these two because I knew they would come up later in stories and songs, giving us an opportunity to practice them.

Bicycle

Fire

Truck

Our first story was Everything Goes by Brian Biggs. This board book works great for babies, because it counts to ten and introduces many different types of vehicles. It also allowed for us to practice the signs for "bicycle," "fire truck," "food truck," and the numbers 1-10.

Next it was time for our lap bounce journey and it began, as always, with "Bumpy Road." I have a few regulars who have come to Baby Lapsit continuously since their babies were only a couple months old, and they know this chant by heart now. Grownups are instructed to seat their baby facing forward on their laps and bounce along with me as I demonstrate with a roughly baby-sized teddy bear. Here is the chant:

Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Hole! (Hold baby under armpits and let them fall between your legs)

Our musical lap bounces today were "Little Red Wagon" and "Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck." 

Our second book was Fire Engine No. 9 by Mike Austin. I love this book because it has very few words, but not no words at all. It's helpful for explaining the steps to putting out a fire, and a great companion to the fire truck song. 

Instead of adding another movement song before saying goodbye, we transitioned straight into "Peek-a-Boo" and "Skidamarink," before bubbles and toy time. 

I'm A Little Bit Famous Again

Tonight our library hosted Harry Potter Book Night, part of a nationwide night of celebration of the series. The program was originally thought up by my youth services partner Sara, and worked on by several members of our staff. We set it up as stations throughout the library, mostly in out collaboration space called THINKspot and the Children's Room.

Stations included "potion" making (tasty juice and soda with food coloring), wand painting, "howler" paper crafts, sorting kids into their houses, and a costume contest. I had limited involvement with a lot of the planning, so I'll let my coworkers report on the specifics on their blogs if they wish. However, I was free and able to travel downtown to the Arizona Midday studio to appear on a segment promoting Harry Potter Book Night to the whole valley. So, I am famous again!

I am not able to embed the video, but it is immortalized forever on the Arizona Midday website.

Watch my segment of Arizona Midday here!

Visiting the TV studio was a surreal experience. The closest thing I've experienced in the past is a recording studio as a kid. Everything was on platforms, which were themselves on wheels, and nothing was as sturdy as it looked.

The studio from my perch in the waiting area

My shooting location with my props on the table

Teleprompter

Me and the host after shooting the segment

This is a video showing how to make the Howler craft. It isn't nearly as complicated as it looks.

This is an example of the wands. Basically, you make a design with hot glue on the fat end of a chopstick and let it dry, then paint over it. 

Also, our local newspaper Nearby News stopped by for the event and ran this short feature on it.

The program itself went great with over 100 people in attendance. Harry Potter is always a slam dunk!

Preschool Storytime 1-9-18: Dogs

It's the first storytime of 2018!

I had some extra time last week because the trains were in our program room, so I used it to plan a full month of Preschool Storytime themes with books, songs, and crafts all having to do with those themes. I am so excited to share them with the kids, and report on them in this blog!

First up was the theme of dogs. I got the idea for this theme from Jbrary's list of favorite 2017 storytime picture books. The book I Got a New Friend was on the list, and I found out we have it in our catalogue! So after making sure I could physically lay my hands on it, I planned a whole storytime around this book.

After saying hello (my introduction did not change with the new year because, why fix what isn't broken?), we learned the American Sign Language sign(s) and Baby Sign for "dog." I explained that the baby sign is for those who might not have very developed motor skills yet. Actually, the three signs can be broken down as baby, toddler, and preschool and up. The most beginning is just panting to imitate a dog, the intermediate is slapping your thigh as if you are calling a dog, and the advanced version is slapping your thigh and snapping. There are a lot of accepted signs for "dog."

Our first book today was Found Dogs by Erica Sirotich. This book was just published in 2017, and has a lot of very pleasing illustrations. It's fun and cartoonish to look at, which I think kept the attention of our especially wiggly group today. I also encouraged the kids to count with me as we saw one, two, three, etc. dogs of different colors and ages, all the way up to ten, and then count down again from ten to one. At the end (spoiler alert), all the dogs find their forever homes and get adopted! This book was an unexpected preschool storytime goldmine. I'm so glad I found it.

Because I wanted to provide a dynamic, educational storytime while simultaneously sticking with the theme, I decided to play the song "I Wanna Be a Dog" by Charlotte Diamond while we shook egg shakers. I figured it's music education, practicing shaking on the beat, and developing gross motor skills, while listening to a cute song about being a dog.

(On the CD recording, she does not include the introduction.)

After collecting the egg shakers, we were still pretty full of wiggles. Luckily, I expected this and planned a calm-down chant that we could say as many times as necessary. I wrote the words out on a white board so the kids and grownups could follow along. We also had a gesture to go with each line. 

Call the puppy (Hands by your mouth like you are calling someone)

Give him some milk (Hold out cupped hands)

Brush his fur 'til he shines like silk (Pretend to hold and brush a small dog)

Call the puppy (Hands by your mouth like you are calling someone)

Give him a bone (Hold out cupped hands)

Then scoop him up and take him home! (Pretend to pick up and hug a small dog)

We ended up doing this rhyme four times through. I found that having the words written out where everyone can see them is really helpful. I will definitely be using this technique again. 

After we got all calmed down and found our comfy story-listening spot once again, it was time for our second story. I Got a New Friend by Karl Newsom Edwards is also a 2017 book, with adorable illustrations and very few words per page, which makes it a storytime slam dunk. Before we started reading, I asked the kids to listen to the words, and then tell me at the end if they thought it was the little girl, or the puppy, telling the story. Two pages from the end I took a vote, and almost everyone raised their hand when I asked if it was the little girl. I won't spoil this one for you, because I want you to be delighted and surprised when you read I Got a New Friend and find out that it was the puppy speaking all along! (Oops.)

We did two short movement songs before saying goodbye: "Do the Dog" from Sesame Street, and the classic "Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone." 

"Do the Dog" is from 1994, aka MY era of Sesame Street. I encouraged the kids to follow along with the lyrics and act like dogs, with varried success. They were willing to put up their "paws," bark, howl, scratch, and turn around 3 times, but not so enthusiastic about the idea of getting on all fours and crawling around. I'm thinking that's more of a Toddler Time activity. On the CD recording, the "This Old Man" intro is not played. 

The movements for "Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone" are pretty straightforward as well. Pretend to look for your dog, then mime ears and a tale when the lyrics talk about them. The kids had fun with this one. 

Since I had the time to plan a craft, we made out very own dog masks today! It was a very fun and easy craft with minimal prep. I simply printed the mask templates, pre-punched holes in the sides to make the parents' lives easier, then provided crayons, scissors, and time to create!

Here is the template I used. If you print it on a regular 8.5x11 piece of paper it's about the right size for a face.

And I wasn't able to get pictures of our littles in their masks because I was too busy having fun, but here is mine:

Here is a list of books about dogs that I displayed:

• I Got a New Friend—Edwards 
• Found Dogs—Sirotich 
• Shoe Dog—McDonald 
• Black Dog—Pinfold 
• Shark Dog!—Adamson 
• Dog Day—Hayes 
• Doggy Dog—Raschka 
• Dog Parade—Joosse 
• Dog Loves Drawing—Yates 
• My Dog Spot—Levin 
• Hello Goodbye Dog—Gianferrari 
• The Dog Book—Clerci

A final note about the book Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari. I love, love, love this book about a girl in a wheelchair whose dog hates saying goodbye to her. Over the course of the book, the girl gets her dog certified as a service animal so he can stay with her all day at school, and they never have to say goodbye again. Not only is it the most adorable thing in the world, it's a great introduction for preschool age kids to service animals and wheelchair-related disabilities. Yay, diversity in children's literature!

Book Review: Turtles All the Way Down

Another book review, already??

Yes. But, this one was not written by me. It is brought to you by my smart, funny, thoughtful buddy Brittany.

Brittany reviewed Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, because we have differing opinions on the king of YA fiction. She loves him, I loved Looking for Alaska and tolerated the rest of his body of work. Apparently, though, this book is his big comeback from the land of two-dimensional male characters and manic pixie dream girl love interests. Also, this review miraculously contains NO SPOILERS so feel free to read whether you've read the book or not! She wrote it in the form of a letter to me so convince me to read the book. And it worked. So you might see a companion review in the not-too-far future. 

Book info:

Title: Turtles All the Way Down
Author: John Green
Year Published: 2017
ISBN: 9780525555360

Plot Summary (from Goodreads):
Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

 

Author John Green

Without further ado, here is Brittany's review of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green: 

‘Sup, Jeselyn,

As you know, it’s been literal years since I’ve written more than a sentence of anything, let alone a review of something fictional. So this is scatterbrained and quick, but I want to tell you about Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. Look, I know you have *OPINIONS* about his stuff, and you don’t love him as much as I do, but how about this for a spoiler: this is a John Green novel where no one dies at the end! It puts him above 50/50! Hooray!

As is my usual MO with YA novels, I read this book in about 3 hours. Probably a little quick for something that’s going to be reviewed, but I didn’t know I was going to want to review it before I started.

Ok, that’s a lie, because I texted you about 5 pages in telling you how I was sure this was going to be a good one. And it was. Like, it’s been awhile since I read The Fault In Our Stars, but it was better than that.

The thing that made this one special for me is that I could identify with a teen protagonist more than I have since I was an actual teenager. A lot of that had to do with the insular nature of the novel, how much of it is in the main character, Aza’s, head. The prose follows the thought spirals that anyone with anxiety or OCD will recognize and relate to. Aza’s particular obsession involves a lot of body horror, and thoughts about the billions of microbes that live in your body. It’s made clear very early on that Aza has something going on in her head. “By cell count, humans are approximately 50 percent microbial, meaning that about half of the cells that make you up are not yours at all. There are something like a thousand times more microbes living in my particular biome than there are human beings on earth, and it often seems like I can feel them living and breeding and dying in and on me.” (pg 3).

Being a follower of John Green’s internet presence, particularly his projects with his brother, the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel and their podcast, “Dear Hank & John,” I was expecting this. He’s talked a lot about how this book has come out of his struggle with his own mental illness, and you can tell that this book comes from a very deep place, one of those places where the thoughts stay stuck for a long time. In a scene fairly early on in the book, Aza’s therapist says: “One of the challenges with pain--Physical or psychic--is that we can really only approach it through metaphor. It can’t be represented the way a table or a body can . In some ways, pain is the opposite of language.” (pg 89). In a way, John Green has managed to put some of the psychological pain that being mentally ill causes into words, in a way that only living with it and thinking about it A LOT can do.

There are a lot of the tropes that you expect for a teen novel: the high school that everyone hates, the quirky best friend, the love interest. But this, like John Green’s other books, is where it stops being standard YA for me. Aza is a fully formed protagonist. Her best friend Daisy reminded me in some ways so much of you, Jeselyn, that she stopped being just the quirky best friend. There is tragedy and the thought spirals, and love, too. There’s the things we hold on to as we grow, and the things we have to let go even though we don’t want to. There’s being so trapped inside yourself that you forget that other people exist. There’s mental illness, and the reminder that it is something you live with every day, that you are never “cured” of, but something that can be managed.

I really want you to read this book, Jeselyn. Not just because Daisy reminded me of you, but because I know in your work as a librarian, you might be able to put this in the hands of a kid (or adult!) that might need to know that their anxieties, obsessions, and traumas are not something that they have to struggle with alone. Like, it’s not the savior of mental illness for anyone, but it’s a book I would have loved to have read when I was dealing the most with my own anxiety and depression.

Basically, this is a 4.5/5 from me.

Please read it and let me know what you think!

Love,
Brit