On a recent week-long camping trip to the BWCA with my family, I was reading almost every moment I wasn’t canoeing, portaging, setting up camp, or swimming. Throughout that time, I managed to read three wonderful books (1152 pages total). As follows are short reviews of them. 

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

About The Author 

Patrick Ness has lived in multiple US States, and is settled down in the UK. He has written books and short stories for adults and young adults, as well as screenplays.  

Summary 

Mikey just wants to finish up the end of his final year of high school and go to prom with his best friends. Everything is disrupted by his and his family’s mental health issues, as well as vampires, ghosts, and aliens: the “indie kids”. At the beginning of each chapter, the indie kids’ whereabouts are summarized before the story dives into Mikey and his normal kid group’s story, providing a sci-fi/fantasy element to the novel. This book makes fun of the “chosen one” trope through almost silly fantasy happenings and more serious reality. 

Characters 

While Mikey isn’t the “chosen one”, he still has a lot on his plate. Mikey struggles with OCD, and his sister with an eating disorder. His dad is an alcoholic, and his mom is running for a government position. Between school, work, mental health, friends, and the future, each character is dealing with a lot. 

Themes

This is a coming-of-age story that examines normal teenagers getting ready to graduate high school in the midst of chaos. All of the prominent characters (Mikey’s siblings, friends, and parents) have something going on. This book delves into parent-child relationships, mental health in families, dating, queerness, and much more.

Takeaways

Fantasy is the one genre I really just don’t read (usually). This book was recommended to me, so I thought I’d give it a try. While the fantasy elements didn’t appeal very much to me, I did enjoy the novel. The way it was organized, with most of the fantasy storyline at the beginning of each chapter, made it easy to focus on all the other themes in play. The queer representation wasn’t very bold, but I appreciated its presence. I found the way the book played off of common cliches amusing and funny among the serious topics it explored as well. 

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Little Fires Everywhere 

About The Author 

Little Fires Everywhere is Celeste Ng’s second book. It was named a best book of the year by over 25 publications, and has been adapted into a Hulu series. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications. She partially grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where Little Fires Everywhere takes place. 

Summary 

Shaker Heights was the first planned community, where everything is prim and proper. Ms. and Mr. Richardson have respectable jobs and four kids in high school. The first few pages begin with their suburban house on fire; everything that follows are the 11 months leading up to it. Mia Warren and her high-school-age daughter Pearl have always moved around, but Mia promises they’ll stay this time, on Ms. Richardson’s rental property in Shaker Heights. Pearl meets the Richardsons, and is introduced to a new way of life. Soon, she’s at their house often, as is Mia, who cleans and cooks for the Richardsons. The Warrens and Richardons’ lives intertwine, histories are uncovered, and everything leads back to where the book started: the fire. 

Characters 

This novel was overflowing with amazing, thoughtful, intentional characters. Each character was well-written, and so were the character relationships. Everyone grew tangled, and lies created a complex, heart-breaking plot. 

Themes

This novel is full of themes that will challenge perspective and opinions. The many themes include: parenting in different situations, race, intimacy and responsibility, art and expression, identity, connection, trust, anger, and much much more. 

Takeaways

I need to read this book again and annotate. I grew to love all the characters, and there were so many themes and outstandingly written characters and events I couldn’t possibly grasp them all the first time through. This book challenged my critical thinking and I examined character traits and flaws thoroughly. 

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Anger Is a Gift 

About The Author 

Mark Oshiro has written young adult and middle grade books, as well as co-written with Rick Riordan. They live in Atlanta, love petting dogs, and have a series called Mark Does Stuff in which they review books and TV shows. 

Summary 

Moss is a high schooler who, while already struggling with anxiety and panic attacks, has to deal with the still on-going public recognition of his father who was murdered by the police six years ago. Moss wants to date a sweet guy, for his best friend to understand him, and to make it through high school. His school begins implementing things like random locker searches and metal detectors, criminalizing students. The students focus their energy into pushing back on these unjust commands, risking their safety. 

Characters 

Moss has a lot of support around him. He is close to his mom, and is able to talk to her about a lot of things in his life. His best friend is drifting away, distanced by her ignorance that stems from having white parents. He has a group of friends willing to show up for him, as well as teachers, and a cute guy from the subway. Moss’ relationship with the police brings up themes of safety, anxiety, and PTSD. 

Themes

This book is heavy. It is probably the most intense YA book I’ve read. The characters are complex, and the events are terrifyingly real. Anger Is A Gift tackles police violence, and how it shows up in schools. Teenagers feel unsafe in their own schools. This novel also examines mental health, anger, persistence, support, justice, protest, and safety. 

Takeaways

This book was long, and intense. It was scarier than any horror I’ve read; it was also important. I read to examine diverse perspectives and to feel things: uncomfortable, scared, empowered, educated. This novel was able to do all of that and more.