Chasing Brooklyn (YA)

Chasing Brooklyn. Lisa Schroeder. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 412 pages.

One year ago today I lost my boyfriend, Lucca.

Chasing Brooklyn is a verse novel, a companion to I Heart You, You Haunt Me. Both are set in the same town, the same high school. Both novels are about the (extended) grieving process. When the novel opens, a year has passed since Lucca's death.

The novel is told in two voices. Readers meet Lucca's girlfriend, Brooklyn, and his brother, Nico. Both are about to be haunted.

Gabe, Lucca's friend, has recently overdosed. His death proves just how emotionally raw and vulnerable this community still is. Since his death, Brooklyn has been haunted. Her dreams are nightmares. The dream-Gabe that haunts her is chasing her, taunting her, almost threatening her.

Nico is having troubling dreams as well--though not of Gabe. No, his brother is telling him night after night after night to help Brooklyn, to protect Brooklyn, to be there for her. So even though Nico and Brooklyn haven't had much to do with one another since Lucca's death, there's nothing he wouldn't do for his brother. So he takes the first steps and a friendship (of sorts) begins.

Is Nico what Brooklyn needs to heal? Is Brooklyn what Nico needs to heal? Is Lucca drawing them together for a reason?

The more I read of Lisa Schroeder, the more I like her work. I'd also recommend Far From You.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Posted in 2010 , Death and Dying , ghosts , grief , review copy , Simon and Schuster , suicide , verse novel , YA Fiction , YA Romance

Dark Sons (YA)

Dark Sons. Nikki Grimes. 2005. Hyperion. 218 pages.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Nikki Grimes' A Girl Named Mister, a verse novel about how a Christian teen handles her pregnancy by taking comfort from Mary's story.

Dark Sons, like A Girl Named Mister, is a verse novel. It stars a young man, Sam, who is struggling to accept his new reality. His father has left his mom. His dad has fallen in love with a white woman--a young woman--and he is starting a new life, a new family.

Dark Sons is about his struggling to make peace between his past and present. How the father he loved and respected and admired goes missing. How he feels about his father marrying again. How he feels about having a half-brother, David. Where does Sam belong? Has this divorce displaced him forever? Or will he find a place to belong in this new home?

Sam may be confused, but he never falters in his faith. He holds onto his belief in God. He sees God as his Father. The one Father who will never fail him. He identifies with Ishmael's story.

Dark Sons is a verse novel. The book alternates between a modern story (Sam) and an ancient story (Ishmael).

Child of Promise

Long awaited.
Twice promised.
Heir of Canaan.
Born of Sarah.
Son of miracles.
The one intended.
The son
who is
not me. (75)

Newly available in paperback from Zondervan. I really liked this one. I liked both narrators. I liked seeing the bible story through fresh eyes. I liked the poetry.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Posted in 2005 , brothers and/or sisters , divorce , verse novel , YA Fiction , YA realistic fiction