Two More Books Down the Hatch

I finished up two other novels in the last couple days. The first was Total Constant Order by Crissa Jean Chappell. I chose to read this book because this author is available for a Skype video conference for free. How cool is that? So, I decided I would read the book to see if it would be worthwhile for the students. This novel deals with a girl named Fin. She has OCD that really spins out of control when her parents divorce. She cannot stop counting. The novel takes the reader along for the ride as she deals with doctors, medication, life of being a teenager, and dealing with divorce. She also meets a boy who causes her to think about herself. A great read IMHO. I don't really dig "romance" so that element of having a crush did not do much for me, but aside from that it was awesome.

The second book I read was titled Willow by Julia Hoban. This might be one of my favorite novels this year. It has definitely replaced my previous favorite books Cut and Speak that deal with similar issues. I never thought that I would say that out loud. Willow is a 17 year old girl who is trying to cope with the loss of her parents by cutting herself. The reason she is so upset by the death of her parents(who wouldn't no matter the reason) is that she blames herself because she was driving the car that killed them. This book really makes the reader stop and think about what would we do. She tackles a tough issue and delivers a very powerful story. I read a ton of positive reviews about this book and that sometimes keeps me away from reading a book. However, once I sat down and began reading this book I was not able to stop. Cutting is a serious topic so read only if you are comfortable with topic as well as your parents.