Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Broke Your Heart A Little

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish:

1. Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin: A heartbreaking tale of a Haitian immigrant family living in New York told from sixth-grader Karina’s perspective. Karina’s father abuses Karina, her sisters and her mother. School Library Journals says, “The author writes with insight about the realities of immigrant life, Haitian American culture, and the double worlds inhabited by many first-generation Americans like Karina. Readers can see the compromises that family members make in the name of survival and the stresses that drive the stepfather’s rage, while still holding to the truth that these girls and their mother deserve a life without violence. Although the resolution is brutal, this story is a compelling read from an important and much-needed new voice.” Read my review of Touching Snow.
2. The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan: This book has not received much attention but it is in my top 100 YA books list (see the full list). Life on the Oregon Trail is difficult and character’s I cared about were injured, infected, or died along the way but one death (and I won’t spoil it) shook me to the core. I just didn’t see it coming. And yes, life (and the book) went on but my heart was a little broken. Read my review of The Devil’s Paintbox.
3. Grandpa Green by Lane Smith: I was in tears over this beautiful picture book. It won a well-deserved Caldecott honor this year!
4. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness: I sobbed and sobbed. Full on. Just one of the most poignant children’s books I’ve ever read.
5. Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin: A book about verbal abuse that was so so horrible. There is a scene in which the mother drives recklessly with her kids in the car… chills. Chills. My heart broke for those kids.
6. Everything is Fine by Ann Ellis: Read my review of Everything is Fine.
7. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochran: Themes of death and abandonment, grief and alienation, discrimination and friendship set against a baseball backdrop. Just lovely. Read my review of The Girl Who Threw Butterflies.
8. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I cried and cried and cried.
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling: The water works started when Hedwig was killed and I flooded the room when Fred died. Just thinking about this book brings tears to my eyes. I was in love with Fred. LOVE, people. And now he’s dead.
10. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson: I did not see the ending coming at all. The movie version of this film is one of the best book adaptations ever.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (2010)

Nailer clambered through a service duct, tugging at copper wire and yanking it free. Ancient asbestos fibers and mouse grit puffed up around hum as the wire tore loose. He scrambled deeper into the duct, jerking more wire from its aluminum staples. the staples pinged about the cramped metal passage like coins offered to the Scavenge God, and Nailer felt after them eagerly, hunting for their dull gleam and collecting them in a leather bag he kept at his waist. He yanked again at the wiring. A meter’s worth of precious copper tore loose in his hands and dust clouds enveloped him (p 1).

In the ship breaking yards along the Gulf Coast, crews work tirelessly to strip grounded oil tankers of copper wiring and other valuable materials. It’s a thankless, bleak, and dangerous task. Nailer is small enough for Light Crew, those assigned to dive into the tight spaces on a ship to plunder. Conditions are horrible and accidents are frequent. That’s why crews swear blood oaths. So you know someone has your back and you have someone else’s back.

Yet everyone’s looking for a Lucky Strike, a get-rich-quick scavenge that will free them of their drudge life. Nailer and his crew leader and friend, Pima, come across just such a Lucky Strike when a fancy clipper ship wrecks along the coast after a city killer storm rolls through. In their attempt to scavenge the light materials before Heavy Crew workers sliding on crystal arrive to take their find, Nailer and Pima find a beautiful young girl trapped in the wreckage. She obviously swank but she’s alive.

Nailer is faced with a life-changing decision. Does he save the girl and hope for a reward or leave her for dead (the smart thing to do)?

Paolo Bacigalupi has created a fascinating post-oil era dystopia where humanity has paid for their crimes against nature. Cities along the Gulf have been destroyed and buried by category 6 hurricanes called city killers. The few extremely wealthy have usurped power and administer through cruelty. Science has created genetically enhanced “half-men” whose DNA is a combination of animal and human, making them loyal and vicious.

It is in this jungle that Nailer has learned to survive. Though his father beats him and his crew mate betrays him, he begins to change. Instead of sinking in the quagmire of self-interest and brutality that surrounds him, he begins to see through them, to empathize and to detach.

This was not an easy read. It felt a bit like reading a Philip K. Dick book where you are discovering this complex world and how it came to be throughout the work. There is no convenient introduction and explanitory dialog. A fantastic read but it took me a while to plow through it. It’s intense.

Read an interview with the author.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (2010)

Books are not like people. Books are safe.
The librarian won’t let you take the Physicians’ Desk Reference home even if you hide it in the middle of thirty-two books. She says you have to leave it in the reference section so others might enjoy it. I know I will enjoy it. But she says that is not the point. She never does tell me what the point is but Devon says sometimes you just have to do what a teacher or librarian says even if you think it’s stupid. Also, he says you shouldn’t tell them out loud that you think it’s stupid. That’s a secret that stays in your head only (p 34).

Of all the children’s and YA books I have read that feature or include children who are differently abled, this is the first that moved me to tears. Erskine has crafted a remarkable novel, so fine in it’s delivery that I forgot myself at times and suffered and struggled along with her characters.

Caitlin has Aspergers. Her older brother, Devon, had always explained the world to Caitlin in terms she could understand. But now Devon is dead, shot through the chest during a school shooting by a classmate.

Her mother died several years ago. Her father is lost in his grief. But when Caitlin read the definition of Closure, she believes she has found a way to fix things.

There are many things I love about this book: the consistency of its unique voice, the pacing, and the characters who are all perfectly portrayed whether the appear briefly or often.

Some books irk me when the writer relies heavily on a previously written work of fiction (When You Reach Me for example). While this book often refers to the movie adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, it doesn’t phase me in the least. I just feel the need to handle the book with more delicacy now that I’ve read and loved it.

The one aspect I do question is the perceived need to have differently-abled people adapt to ‘our’ world, to behave as society would like them to behave. It seems as though this only succeeds in making the person uncomfortable so ‘normal’ people don’t feel uncomfortable.

I’m not questioning the need to help people with disabilities perform to the best of their abilities (as Mrs. Brook is doing by helping Caitlin understand empathy) but rather the assumption that their natural and comforting impulses should be stifled so society doesn’t feel awkward. I have to think on this more…

Definitely a strong piece of literature that deserves a place on your mock Newbery lists.

Read Danielle’s Review. Mockingbird received a starred review in Kirkus.

Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman (2009)

On the voyage, Charles had been vigorous and brave. He withstood horrible seasickness, weathered harsh conditions, witnessed a battle in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, and experienced an earthquake in Valvivia, Chile. … But now, back in London in 1838, he truly was scared. the thought of marriage and of Emma terrified him and gave him serious headaches. He knew she was religious, and he was consumed by the fear that his secret idea would go against her beliefs (p 47).

Charles and Emma is a lovely narrative examining the famous English Naturalist, Charles Darwin, against the backdrop of his relationship with his wife and cousin (it was common practice to marry first cousins at the time), Emma Darwin. Very readable, flowing text really introduced me to Darwin, the person. Reference to Jane Austin and Dickens helped me picture the place and time.

Charles and Emma was a 2010 National Book Award Finalist and a Printz Honor Award winner.

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (2008)

Okay, yes, maybe I do drink a little bit more than a little bit too much, but don’t go getting the idea I’m an alcoholic. It’s not some big addiction. It’s just a hobby, a good, old-fashioned way to have fun. Once, I said that exact thing to this uptight church girl at school, Jennifer Jorgenson, and she goes, “I don’t have to drink alcohol to have fun.” So I’m like, “I don’t have to ride a roller coaster to have fun either, but I do” (p 18).

I thought I was going to hate this book. I wanted to hate its narrator, Sutter, but I ended up not hating him. His logic is alternately crazy/reckless (note the above quote) and insightful/reserved…

I walk over and have a closer look at the drawings. Actually, her horses look more like dogs, but there’s no need to mention that. I’m pretty sure, for her, drawing them is a lot more important than what they end up looking like (110).

He takes no shame in his behaviour. He knows what he can get away with and more importantly, he knows why; his parents don’t take the time to care…

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ll try to make it up to you.” And I am sorry about making her call my friends and the hospitals and all, but I know my mom. Trust in me isn’t real high on her list of priorities. A good trip to the beauty shop next week and she’ll forget all about it” (p 82).

Ricky is Sutter’s best friend and fellow pot head/lush. The two have lengthy discussions, partake in dangerous stunts and act as comic relief at school and during parties. Sutter always has a story to tell, a performance to give. You’ll find it easy to forget he is constantly buzzed or high. Or you might find it easy to forgive him for it. Sutter has that effect. But I cringed ever time he got in his car.

The relationships Sutter has with the women in his life, the boys at school… he has intuition and an understanding of human nature that belies his youth.

This story works on so many levels. Ultimately, I found it unsettling. There is so much truth and despair… like one of those Oscar-worthy films (Revolutionary Road or A Single Man) that you know you should watch but know you will walk away from it saddened… The Spectacular Now will make you question how you live and how you understand the world. Great stuff.

The Spectacular Now was a 2008 National Book Award finalist.

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor (2009)

It took me far to long too pick this book up. Three separate stories tied together with a common theme: a kiss. Each fantastical, each better than then its predecessor. Each story opens with several pages of illustrations, beautifully done by Jim De Bartolo, giving us a glimpse of what will be unfolded in the ensuing pages, whether they be goblins, demons, or immortals. The writing is captivating. The stories are captivating. Definitely a book for ages 12 and up.

I recommend this book to those who have enjoyed the Twilight series, the House of Night series, Mortal Instruments series, and the writing of Kristen Cashore and Cinda Williams Chima.

Lips Touch was a 2009 National Book Award finalist.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Witty, smart, mischievous, highly addictive and well written. Lockhart employs all the right narrative techniques, hooking the reader immediately and then taking her time in introducing Frankie. Things really pick up as Frankie is driven to further scheming and mayhem to prove… what? That she can be one of the good Old Boys. That she is better. And yet, when she finds it impossible, she must accept it.

There is an element of fight club in here and I believe this will also appeal to fans of John Green’s Looking for Alaska. Definitely a read of the high school and up audience. This has been one of the most enjoyable reads of the year. I’m only sorry it took me so long to get to it! A National Book Award Finalist and a 2009 Printz Honor Book.

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (March 25, 2008)

Locomotion and Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Lonnie C. Motion, aka Locomotion, became an orphan when his parents perished in a house fire. Lonnie and his younger sister survived but were separated into different homes afterward. Told through a series of Lonnie’s poems assigned by his teacher, we learn all about the tender-hearted Lonnie and his sweet sister in Locomotion.

Through Lonnie’s optimistic and honest perspective, we glimpse the heart of an honest child making his way through a world that seems set against him, not in obvious or purposeful ways, but in all the subtle ways that can tear a child apart. And Lonnie knows what he’s up against, “…alotta those people are white. Maybe it’s that if you’re white you can’t see all the whiteness around you” (p13).  But Lonnie is strong. He affects those who would wish him absent (his sister’s new ‘mother’) or silent (his ‘mother,’ Miss Edna), changing them for the better, and sees straight through those with evil intent (the drug store guards who are suspicious of him because he is black, p 7). He clings to those who build him up: his sister and his teacher. Locomotion was a National Book Award Finalist and a Coretta Scott King Honor winner.

In Peace, Locomotion, Lonnie writes to his sister. He doesn’t send the letters, but writes them “because I love writing and I love you and when me and you are together again, I’m gonna want us to remember everything that happened when we were living apart” (p 8). Just wonderful writing. Genuine, insightful, and beautifully optimistic even when dealing with the horrors of war, loss, and separation. A Printz Award nominee that could go the distance.

Read more at: BCCLS

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

I know, I’m so late in reading this but I finally got around to it (historical fiction isn’t my favorite genre). I won’t summarize because there are plenty of blogs out there who already have (Librarilly Blonde and The Reading Zone are two).

I will say that I enjoyed the book enormously. Great writing, riveting perspective, heart-wrenching scenes. I am pretty surprised that it wasn’t a Newberry Honor. I wish I knew what qualified an honor book… This book is so superior to Savvy that I cannot believe a group of educated Librarians actually choose Savvy over Chains. Perhaps their undergraduate degrees were in some esoteric and irrelevant field. That is the only reason I can fathom for their misstep (although it has been know to happen –  ahem **Charlotte’s Web** ahem). Perhaps it was a case of kidlit bloggers gone amok! (If anyone can explain, please do!) That being said, The Graveyard Book was an excellent winner.

Chains was a 2008 National Book Award finalist.

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

Do not be deceived by this cute cover. You see Ranger, the old hunting hound, a calico cat, and one of her two kittens. The are in hiding. In the Underneath, where it is safe. Ranger is tied to the porch by a rusty old chain. No food in his bowl. The calico cat has been abandoned. A man with a rifle walks along the wooden planks above them. They stay in the Underneath.

Stories of the past are told. The old trees tell them. An ancient and magical snake, Grandmother Moccasin, tells them. Stories of the present are told. Ranger sings them. The calico cat warns. Until the past and the present collide.

This is a unique book, beautifully written. It is a difficult book, simply because there is such cruelty. Man and Nature can be such violent things. But two little kittens struggle to survive because there is always hope, and love.

My only detraction is that sometimes, the author misused repetition. Her words went from a gentle lapping to a pounding of tidal waves.

The Underneath is a 2009 Newbery Honor Award winner. It was a 2008 National Book Award finalist.