Isabel lives her life through other people’s stories; old movies, old photographs and clothing she finds in thrift stores, and old books she repairs in the basement of the library. But when she finds an old postcard of Amsterdam in her favorite junk shop, she is surprised to find a message on the back. She imagines it is a message from one lover to another, and she begins to think about the way she lives her life.

She resolves to reveal something of herself to Spoke, a veteran of the war in Iraq who also works in the basement of the library. Spoke, too, is a solitary figure, liked by his co-workers, but extremely private. Isabel struggles to make a connection while she can.

Glaciers by Alexis M Smith on the surface seems disarmingly simple, but as the story quietly unfolds and Alexis reveals more about herself and her childhood near the Glaciers in Alaska, the portrait emerges of a twenty-something woman who values the things that others have discarded, while she struggles to find beauty and meaning in the present. Her hometown of Portland, Oregon plays a strong role in the story, as it allows her to be isolated even in the midst of an urban landscape that is on the surface much the same as Isabel.

Glaciers has a restless quality to it that will keep Isabel’s story in your mind long after you have turned the last page of this small but provocative novel.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Adrienne is sure her summer is going to be a disaster. Instead of spending it on a wilderness canoe trip in Canada with her best friend, she’s stuck at home in West New Hope, Delaware with a knee injury. And if that isn’t bad enough, her mother is forcing her to be in a mother-daughter book club with girls she would never hang out with. CeeCee is popular and a bit of a spoiled, rich girl, Jill works at the pool and her mother thinks she doesn’t socialize enough, and Wallis is a sort of recluse who for some reason actually wanted to be in the club. Her mother never attends meetings and no one has ever met her.

The girls choose to read five books from their AP English list for junior year, but it’s clear from the beginning that reading and books isn’t at all what this club is about.

Until reading The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher I had never considered the possibility that mother-daughter book clubs could actually be a bad influence on girls. Even though this reading group bears no resemblance to real-life groups that I know of, the issues brought up are important ones.

The story is told from Adrienne’s perspective. She loves to read, she’s comfortable around her best friend but not in broader social circles, and she’s not much of a risk taker. But CeeCee, who has a knack for creating trouble, starts to get under her skin.

As the two of them spend more time together Adrienne finds herself doing things she never would have otherwise, as though she’s trying on a different personality for the summer. She questions who she is and thinks about who she wants to be, but the questions create turmoil and the answers don’t come easy. The moms also have issues they are dealing with, and it’s clear that there are different levels of parental supervision and involvement in each of the girls’ lives.

As a side note, girls and their moms may also want to explore the titles in the summer reading list this book club takes on: The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Anna Perkins; Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley; The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula LeGuin; The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros; and The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Each book resonates in some way with the girls, and their discussions about them are interesting. Girls in mother-daughter book clubs with girls ages 14 and up will find a lot to talk about when reading The Unbearable Book Club.

The author provided me with a copy of this book to review.

Glow is a fascinating story that starts during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s and goes back in time to tell the story of a remote mountainous region in Georgia and the generations of whites, African Americans, and Native Americans who lived there. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and I have a copy to giveaway to one reader who leaves a comment before midnight (PDT) on Thursday, May 24. Also, tomorrow I am featuring a Q and A with the author, Jessica Maria Tuccelli. So read on to for my official review, leave a comment, then check back tomorrow for the author interview.

Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli

When Amelia McGee gets a threatening rock through her window on the eve of a picket by blacks in Washington, D.C. in 1941, the first things she thinks to do is send her daughter Ella back to the homestead in Georgia where she will be safe. But something goes wrong on the way. The bus breaks down and deposits Ella late. When she begins to walk to her uncle’s home, two men in a pickup attack her, but she’s rescued before she is seriously injured. So begins the tale in Glow, a novel by Jessica Maria Tuccelli that starts with these early stirrings of the Civil Rights Movement and goes back in time to slavery and the removal of Native Americans from their land.

In remote Hopewell County, Georgia, a mix of fiercely independent people worked a hardscrabble existence in the hills. When preacher Solomon Bounds brings in a hardy strain of tobacco and builds a home with his family and slaves, he lays the footwork for a dynamic that will exist for generations to come.

The storytellers are mostly women: Amelia, Ella and Willa Mae Cotton. Ella is still young and impressionable, not aware of the cruelties of the world for a mixed race child in the 1940s. Amelia suffered the taunts of children who called her a half-breed when she was young, and she remembers her Cherokee grandmother sharing with her the lore of her people. She couldn’t understand hating or loving someone because of the color of their skin, and it seemed natural to her to fall in love with Obadiah Bounds, a black man who is Ella’s father. Willa Mae was born into slavery, and she knew that both her happiness and grief depended on the character of the man who owned her.  She navigated the tricky waters of freedom and survived as a bridge from the old ways to the generations that came after her.

Throughout the saga, Glow paints a story of people for generations who want nothing more than the freedom to decide their own fate and care for their families. It’s a sweeping tale that reminds me Cold Mountain with it’s descriptions of life in the Georgia mountains, and of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman for its scope of American history. Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 15 and above will find a lot to talk about including the role of women in the times represented, slavery, Civil Rights and the relocation of Native Americans from their homeland.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review.

Kara’s life in Manhattan roars at a dizzying pace. She feels she is always rushing to something—work, her children’s activities, or an event with her husband. There’s no time for her to think, just to do. Then, one day when she encounters paintings in a gallery from her former lover in college, she begins to question what she really feels is important as well as how she wants her future to unfold.

Henny on the Couch by Rebecca Land Soodak takes a look at how easy it is for us to go through every day in charge of the details and lose sight of the big picture we want to create with those details. Kara experiences what many moms do: she is generally happy with her life, yet she’s also restless for something more. She started a successful business, but the work there doesn’t make her happy. She always wonders if she’s spending enough time with her children, particularly when her daughter Henny starts to have trouble in school. And her husband seems sure of where he wants to go, which is to grow his business and move the family to the West Coast, but Kara’s not sure she wants to do that either. She wants to address the issue, but she doesn’t know how to do that and stay married.

Underlying it all is Kara’s own experience as a child, with a mother who was always disappointed that she wasn’t talented enough to pursue her dream of singing professionally and drank to numb her sense of failure. When Kara meets Oliver, her old lover, again, and when her best friend makes a life change Kara doesn’t approve of, she finally takes the time the think about what she really wants and how she wants her life to be going forward.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review.

Calli feels as though she’s the only one in her family who is not a super achiever. Her brother excels at basketball, her sister skates and her parents are busy getting them to practices and games and cheering them on. As the youngest, Calli often feels she gets no attention because she’s average and happy to be that way. But when her fifth grade class is paired with a group of second graders as part of a Peer Helper Program, she may just find something she is happy to excel at.

Calli Be Gold by Michele Weber Hurwitz is sure to strike a chord with both moms and daughters. Calli’s mom never has a spare moment, rushing from one event to another with post-it notes stuck to her steering wheel to help her remember where she’s going. Her dad pushes all the kids to be super achievers, and he asks them each to report on their accomplishments every night at dinner. The portrait is of a family so busy doing, they don’t have time to relax. That lifestyle is bound to be familiar to many readers.

Calli has to figure out how to let her family know that she doesn’t want to jump onto the merry-go-round of activities. The family dynamic is complicated by the fact that both of her parents didn’t get to achieve things they wanted when they were children, so they are determined that their own kids won’t have similar regrets.

Calli’s relationship with Noah, the second-grader she works with for the Peer Helper Program, helps her see what’s really important and find a way to let everyone else know how she feels. Noah faces challenges of his own, and as she gets to know him better, she realizes what her own strengths are.

Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 13 will have a lot to talk about after reading Calli Be Gold. They can talk about the things they like to do and what motivates them to do those things. They can talk about the difficulties and challenges family members sometimes face when communicating with each other. Also, there are issues with Calli and her friends at school, as well as with Noah, that should provide for interesting discussion. I highly recommend it.

The author provided me with a copy of this book to review.

Finley goes into his senior year in high school knowing three things: he loves his girlfriend Erin, he plans to have a stellar year as point guard of his basketball team, and then, somehow, he will get out of the rough Philadelphia neighborhood that has worn down his father and grandfather.

But when his basketball coach asks him to befriend a troubled boy whose parents have been murdered, Finley’s world is turned upside down. Russ, or Boy 21 as he wants to be called, is a basketball star who plays the same position as Finley. Also, Finley has never been friends with another boy; he’s not sure he will know how to help Russ.

As Finley discovers, senior year has even more surprises in store for him, and before it’s over he will revisit a troubling incident in his own childhood and question all the things he knows to be true.

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick is raw and gritty as it unflinchingly looks at life in inner-city Philadelphia, where competing mobs and drug dealers rule the streets and quiet boys need to be under someone’s protection to survive. Quick gets to the heart of Finley’s conflict: he is a part of the environment he grew up in, and while he longs to find a better life, he’s not sure how to make that happen. He’s been taught to respect authority, and he doesn’t question what his coach asks him to do. But is that truly in his best interest? Finley is a team player. The question is, can he stay one and still find a way to leave the street behind.

Great for both boys and girls, Boy 21 examines issues of family, resilience, survival, and tragedy. It will grip you right up until the unexpected conclusion.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review.

Here’s a review of a book I recommend for moms, and I have one copy to give away. Just leave a comment by midnight (PST), Tuesday, March 13 for a chance to win a copy of The Darlings by Cristina Alger. U.S. and Canadian addresses only please. (Please note: the giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Michelle on winning.) Here’s my review:

The Darling family of Manhattan seems to have everything: good looks, money, excellent taste in the things that matter, and a bright future. But when a close associate of Carter Darling commits suicide, the façade that was holding that future together starts to fall apart. Suddenly there’s talk of investor fraud, an SEC investigation and possible criminal charges. Everyone in the family—Carter and his wife, their two daughters and sons-in-law—stands to lose. Will their fierce loyalty to family help them through the crisis, or can they even trust each other now?

The Darlings by Cristina Alger is a fascinating look at the financial crisis of 2008 as seen through the eyes of wealthy investment bankers and lawyers as well as the secretaries who work for them and the journalists who write about them. As the story unfolds, readers get a behind-the-scenes look at the relationships and actions that could lead smart people to do things that were not so smart just to hold onto their lifestyles.

The lifestyle of the very wealthy is on display—lavish purchases, vacation homes, and charity fundraisers that are more about the women organizing them than the cause are all part of the story. That alone is fun to read about, but it’s also interesting to get a peek into the lifestyles of the working class Manhattanites and the reasons they keep living in the city.

Author Cristina Alger knows what she’s writing about. As a native New Yorker, she graduated from Harvard and NYU Law School, then worked as an analyst and attorney before becoming an author. In her novel, she shows she is also skilled at telling a good story. And while keeping track of all the players in the action was sometimes a challenge, it was worth it when it all came together at the end with nearly every character playing a critical role in the outcome.

Check back tomorrow when I feature an essay by Cristina Alger about her mother’s influence on her reading and writing.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review.

As she heads into high school, Kelsey is determined to change the way people see her. It’s not that she doesn’t already have a lot going for her already—including great friends and pretty good looks—but she wants to kick things up a notch. But right away, things don’t turn out quite like she planned.

She makes an enemy of her soccer captain, gets into a conflict with one of her best friends, botches her first kiss and fights often with her mom. And someone on the photography staff of the school newspaper seems to have it out for her, because photos of her in embarrassing positions keep showing up in print.

Through every setback, Kelsey is even more determined to make things better. You’ll admire her spunk, her sense of humor and her tenacity, even when she’s being what her mom calls a Typical Adolescent.

Issues to talk about in mother-daughter book clubs include handling conflicts with friends, first dates and kisses, mother-daughter relationships, and underage drinking and drug use. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

Click here to watch the book trailer. Also, you may want to check back tomorrow when I’m featuring a great interview with author Meredith Zeitlin. In it she talks about why she likes to write fiction for young adults, issues you can discuss in a book club and lots more.

You may also want to visit Read These Books and Use Them on Monday for a review and giveaway.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review.

Ricki Jo is determined to move from a plain old country girl into popular, sophisticated Ericka when she starts 9^th grade at her local public high school. She figures there will be lots more opportunities at the larger school than the small, Catholic school she attended through 8^th grade.

Right away she makes friends with a few popular girls and she feels she has to start changing to keep up with her new group, particularly since good-looking David Wolfenbaker (Wolf) hangs out with them too. As she morphs into “Ericka 2.0,” she begins to wonder if she can keep what she likes most about her old self while also becoming someone different.

The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker will resonate with anyone who has ever felt the desire to change her circumstances. Ricki Jo is a down-to-earth girl who is best friends with her neighbor Lucas and who spends time working to help out around her farm, even if she doesn’t feel like it. Ericka wears more stylish clothes, studies hairstyles and advice columns in Seventeen magazine, and will do things she’s uncomfortable with if it means going along with the crowd.

It’s not easy for her to keep up: her new friends are wealthier than she is, which means they spend money more freely on clothes and entertainment. Ericka goes back and forth between feeling like she’s making friends and feeling like they’re making fun of her. Plus, she finds herself ignoring all the crass remarks Wolf makes just because she’s dazzled by his good looks.

As she navigates the halls of her high school, Ricki Jo makes some mistakes, but she also gets a better feeling for what’s important to her. I liked that each of the characters was nuanced, and didn’t fall into a stereotype. Wolf has a lot of bad points, but Ricki Jo can also see some of the good points and vulnerabilities he tries to hide. Some of her new girlfriends seem shallow much of the time, but they also show they’re capable of being there for her when times are rough.

While the outcome at the end of The Queen of Kentucky may not be a mystery, the journey to get there goes down as easy as a glass of ice tea on a hot day. Ricki Jo is a protagonist you can root for, identify with and ultimately cheer on. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 13 and up.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Claudette has heard the legend of how the baby-toe-eating giant was banished to the far-away mountain by the marquis of her town so he could never terrorize them again. Longing for adventure, she believes the giant should have been killed, and she thinks she’s the one to do it. Together with her brother, an aspiring chef and swordmaker, and princess-in-the-making Marie, she sets off to slay the giant and make her village secure.

Giants Beware, a new graphic novel written by Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre, melds the dynamics of a medieval village with the sensibilities of people today to create a new kind of fairy tale that’s funny, irreverent and wholly enjoyable. As the children go about their adventure they have to face challenges from human-eating trees, a hag who wants to cook children so she can break the spell that’s been put on her to ruin her looks, and a river king made of water who’s searching for a princess to marry his fishy son. Each of them finds strengths they didn’t know they had to come to the aid of their friends.

When they reach their destination these pint-sized heroes find something surprising that will change their view of their perceived enemy. Adults as well as children aged 8 and up will have fun reading Giants Beware. The story is cleverly told and the illustrations, particularly the facial expressions of each character, are fun to look at.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review.