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The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)

Thursday, Sep 12, 2019 at 8:34pm

$24.99

The surface breaks by Louise O’Neill is a reimagining of the little mermaid. Readers are swept into the life of the Muirgen, Gaia, daughter of the sea king and the decidedly most beautiful. At 14 years old she is promised to Zale who is 40 years old. But like her late mother, Gaia is curious about the unknown world around her, the world she lost her mother too. So when her 15th birthday comes Gaia travels to the surface where she sets sight on a human named Oliver and it's love at first sight. Without thinking, Gaia saves Oliver’s life but must rush back home to save her own. As the year passes and Gaia thinks only of Oliver, she sets out to see the sea witch Ceto, who grants her legs for a month so that Gaia can live among Oliver. Giving up her voice and her life In the sea, Gaia travels to the surface once more, but as a human who’s every step is cursed to feel horrible internal pain. As the month comes and goes Gaia and Oliver gain a relationship, but not the one Gaia gave up her life for. Without any way of sure communication Gaia had no way of telling Oliver how she felt, which paid the price.

The Surface Breaks is a unique perspective of a young girl interested in more than the life cut out for her, and curious about the world around her. This book leaves you on the edge, feeling hopeful for Gaia’s future but more nervous with each passing day. It also leaves you with that feeling of “so close” as Gaia unravels the life of her late mother and her connection to this forbidden land. It makes you want to scream at Oliver and the people of the surface.

Although this is not your classic happily ever after, this book leaves you shocked from its unpredictable ending and just wanting more.

-Sophia, a Two Thumbs Up reviewer

Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up

Anything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)

Thursday, Sep 05, 2019 at 7:49pm

Stella lives in a military family. When her brother Rob comes back from the US Marines in Afghanistan, he is not the Rob that Stella once knew. He’s constantly angry and moody. Stella really wants to help Rob get things back to normal. However, one day at the mall Rob got really angry and punched one of Stella’s classmates in the nose. Stella on one hand, does not want to tell her best friend Farida of all this chaos worried that she’ll get sucked into all of it. Stella on the other hand, wants to share her situation with her friend. While the aftermath of the fight continues trending, she will choose to make a difference by running for class president and hiding from her emotions.Read the book to learn more.

I really liked Anything But Okay. Every chapter started off strong and I gained interest from it having a springy start!

-Rebecca, a Two Thumbs Up reviewer

Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)

Saturday, Aug 31, 2019 at 3:57pm

Ziggy, Stardust and Me hurts and it is not gentle with its punches. Reading Ziggy, Stardust & Me was like having my head jammed under pit black currents, with nothing but the feeling of suffocation and helplessness for company. It was unpleasant and I don’t want to experience any of it again, but also I do because nothing is more blinding than drowning in the dark. I’ll be brief for this one, Jonathan’s, our narrator, voice is so fervent, brilliant, and weightless. He led me through such a wild range of emotions, you name them, I experienced them. At some point the words on the page sizzled and morphed into an actual human-shaped being.

Brandon is a master at characterization, for him, my hat is off and my wig is somewhere on the moon. I don’t think I’ve fully stumbled across a Native American character on the page before (I have my finger-crossed that the foreseeable future will be very different). I found myself once again in debt to Brandon for Web. What to say to a boy who claws and fights and tears his way out in life? What to do when life doesn’t spit on you like it does him and is actually some kind of nightmare that you can wake up from while he is stuck in a broken record that loops and loops? For Web, I want to shower him with love. I want to glue him on a cloud and feed him nothing but cotton candy. But who am I kidding, Web probably choose to escape to space instead, where he’ll wait until the Earth exploded to come back and laugh at us all. Jonathan and Web is an electric current that builds and builds, I was utterly breathless every time these two are shoved together, perhaps even died a little; I couldn’t ask for a better pairing dynamic myself. To quote E. M. Forster regarding his novel, Maurice: “I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense, Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.” In Jonathan and Web’s case then, they too will be in love and happy together forever and ever under these pages. I shall have nothing less of it.

I highly recommend this beautiful piece of Art for anyone, though make sure that you are in the right headspace for it and noted that even if you do, it will still hurt. Major content warnings for homophobia, homophobic and racial slurs, domestic/physical violence, off-page parental death(s), mild depiction of systematic violence against Native Americans, pedophilia, non-graphic depiction of child sexual abuse. To make myself, and the rest of you (thank you for not being turned off by my sudden poetic explosion) feel better, I’ll leave this beautiful quote here. It’s not from the book but I’m sure the book and James Brandon himself would heartily approve and want you to know this, too.
“We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.

We rise and fall, and light from dying embers

Remembrances that hope and love last longer.

And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;

Cannot be killed or swept aside.

...

Now fill the world with music, love, and pride.”

— An excerpt from Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tony 2016 Acceptance Speech.

-Ella, a Two Thumbs Up reviewer

Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up

That Night by Cyn Balog (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)

Monday, Aug 19, 2019 at 9:30am

$19.99


Hailey is still not okay after losing her boyfriend Declan, she has lost most of her friends, her grades are going downhill and she will not eat in front of people. She eats under her blankets on her bed. Hailey is trying to let go and move on, but it’s not that easy. Kane, Declan’s brother, has moved on and so has everyone else, but Hailey is really struggling. It only gets worse when Declan’s mom gives her a box of his stuff. Hailey doesn’t understand how everyone else moves on so fast.

That Night was an amazing book, and I would read it over and over again. I would recommend this book to an older age just because of the course language and other mature things. The book had me laughing at times, and crying at times too.

Lexi, from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer

Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up

Every Moment After by Joseph Moldover (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)

Friday, Aug 16, 2019 at 5:17pm

$25.99

Every Moment After is a little heart wrenching. It is about two elementary school shooting survivors - Matt Simpson and Cole Hewitt. They were the only two out of their first grade class of 20 kids to survive. The story begins on the day of high school graduation where they gather around 18 chairs draped in black. Each one representing a life lost on the day of the shooting.

Every Moment After was a little confusing, and be prepared for water works, because the book is full of tragedy. I think Joseph Moldover did a wonderful job writing the book, but it does bounce around quite a bit.

Kaydee, a Two Thumbs Up reviewer

Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up
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