Let It Snow -- I'm Swooning like I'm in an 80's movie

I needed this book. I needed it in a 'light some candles and relax in a hot bath' kind of way. As I write this review, I will try my hardest not to shower you with my overwhelming love for John Green. I will try not to explain to you guys in several different ways how he is a fantastic young adult author and that I love him for not having rippling biceps anywhere in his books. I will try to contain myself over the fact that he writes teens, especially teen nerds, in such a way that makes you swoon. Let's face it though. I probably just lied to you.

Let It Snow is a series of three short stories, all taking place over Christmas. It originally appealed to me because John Green writes one of these said stories. Also, I have a soft spot for Christmas. There is something about the mass amounts of twinkle lights, the idea and in my case, hope for snow, and the smell of a ginormous tree that takes up your entire dining room in your tiny one bedroom apartment, that just makes the holiday magical. No? No one else has trees like that?

Let it be known that I have a certain prejudiced against young adult novels. I think a majority of them shouldn't have been published and when I walk into the young adult section at Barnes and Noble, the one I used to spend hours in as a child, I am overwhelmed with pictures of shirtless, hairless, man-boys and girls with doe eyes and glossy lips. Soft. Core. Porn. This is not to say that I think we should shy away from sexuality in teen novels nor do I think it is something we should be making taboo. But, when I see almost every book jacket gooped up with these images, all I can think is that Fabio and Edward Cullen have done the impossible and have somehow made a baby. This said vampire sexed up child is now gracing the covers of poorly written novels. Or at least what I assume to be poorly written novels. I might never know either because I don't tend to crack open those books which is probably a flaw on my part since they could be hiding a literary gem. I highly doubt it but I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt here.  

But seriously.  What is that?

My point is, I don't like young adult novels. The teens in them annoy the shit out of me and most of the main characters are whining females concerned only with vapid tendencies that are important to them and only them. I know. I know. There really are people like that in the world and we tend to notice it the most in teenage girls. This isn't exactly an inaccurate portrayal. But, are teen girls this way because we are shaping them to be these self centered, dramatic, 'I can't believe she is wearing the same dress as me' type of person? Or are they this way because its what they truly want to be? Better people and much smarter people can probably answer that question. I simply can't believe that a majority of teens are that shallow and one dimensional as a human being. More on that later.

Now I won't go over plot details with you so as not to spoil the stories but I have to say that two out of three of these stories made me feel like I was sixteen again and falling head over heals for the boy in first period. I was smitten while reading these and that has been one of the things that I think sets John Green (and I'm going to include Maureen Johnson in here too) aside from other authors. Both Green and Johnson created characters and a corresponding romance that was genuine, unique, funny, and filled with all the first time cringe worthy moments that make us feel alive.

Maureen Johnson is not an author I have read before but I will be seeking out her other work soon. She had the first story in the Christmas trilogy and had me hooked with her writing style from the first page. The fact that most of the story centers around a Christmas house collection called Flobie Village and the insanity of people who are collecting them, endeared me to her in ways that I don't think is healthy. I will admit I was looking for something wrong with her section of the story, my teen novel prejudice coming out to play. But, the moment that I thought I had found it in her portrayal of cheerleaders, another character came along and called the main character out on this generalization. Not that the generalization didn't have some truth, but the author did acknowledge that this is not the case all the time.

The love story of this tale was by far my favorite and by the end, I was cheering on the nerd boy, wanting him to win over the nerd girl. I want to see future stories of these two characters and see what their nerd babies turn out to be. I want a conclusion to the Flobie Village catastrophe!

Next was John Green. I love John Green. A lot.

Again, the romance and the characterization in this story were believable in the awkward 'hey we're real people' way. What I liked best about this switch of authors and characters was that while it still mentioned the characters introduced to us in the fist story, a whole new set was given to us, each with their own distinguished personality. Green captures different voices in a way that I am continuously envious of. Furthermore, the way he writes females makes me so happy. And that's kind of where my love for the first two stories comes down to. I feel like Johnson and Green give voice to a female character that I embodied growing up, and didn't feel was represented in media.

In an epic battle to get to a Waffle House, in the middle of a snowstorm, Green tells another love story and the quest for hash browns. It is perfect in every way and during those brief moments when the characters stop acting as old friends and have to navigate the new waters of a potential relationship, I was hiding under the covers, my heart beating fast, agonizing over whether they would be together or not in the end.

These first two stories made me nostalgic for high school again. They made me want to be that awkward teen that didn't know what the hell she was doing or where she was going or if she was smart/pretty/funny/etc. Both Green and Johnson portray the jumbled mess that is the teenage years in a stomach twisting, butterflies swarming and heart skipping kind of way. I love them and want to wax poetics about them forever.

Then we got to the third story. Now, off the bat, I was against Lauren Myracle's section of the story. Her main character was the embodiment of what I hated about young adult novels. The girl was shallow and spent the first five chapters dramatically relaying to her friends in that attention fishing way (Go look on Facebook. You'll find an example of this kind of person, I'm sure) about how her and her boyfriend were no more and it was all her fault and she was so sad and the world was ending and bla bla bla. I hate characters like that. We see them frequently and I often feel like adults view all teens as this mass of superficial, dramatic, things. They don't tend to realize the complexities of the person before them or how the cheerleader might go home at night and be the oldest of several siblings that she is trying to help take care of. They see the artificial part and that's about it. That's what this characterization felt like. Again, I know there are girls like that in the world. I know there are guys in the world that are exactly like the character of Charlie in this book and think they are Gods gift. I'm not saying that this is inaccurate. I just hate that voice to a dramatic extent because there is so much more of a story to tell. I want to know what's behind those personalities. I don’t care about the shade of nail polish they are wearing.

Now, I'm going to be a bit spoilery so if you don't want to have slight plot points given away, scroll down until I yell at you in unnecessary caps lock and bold type face.

I soothed my soul by saying that Myracle was simply giving voice to another aspect of teen life. No, it's not an aspect I like, but it is an aspect I have to accept. Then, a nice thing happened. The author acknowledged the self absorption of the character. Seeing that was like someone turning a sweet smile at me. I was very pleased.

While Lauren Myracle's was my least favorite of the three stories, I was happy to see the turn around that happened there. I still didn't like the character in her story much, but that is a matter of personal preference. The best part of the third and final story in this novel, however, is the fact that at the end, every character you've met along the way, merges together in the middle of a Starbucks coffee shop while oohing and awing over a baby pig. It brought the story full circle and allowed us to see interactions between characters that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten to see. It was the kind of music swelling ending that you want to see at the end of a feel good movie where you may have binged on ice cream.

OKAY YOU CAN READ AGAIN!

The baby pigs made you read that paragraph. Admit it.

Let It Snow is sigh worthy. Is it for everyone? No. Absolutely not. I know a lot of my feminist friends that would turn their nose up at this story with a kind of disdain because it is a teen love story and 'how could that possibly be interesting compared to stories written by Joyce or insert other classic author here'? I know others that are going to go 'that sounds too sickeningly sweet for my taste'. I know I thought that before

reading it. If it wasn't for John Green and the subject of Christmas, I never would have read it. But, it touched every little piece of my hopeless romantic heart that I often lock away in the closet because it leaves me swooning like a Disney Princess.

If you have no problems with swooning like a Disney Princess, though? Get this book. Do it. Also, go buy everything by John Green because he is the voice of nerd teens everywhere and is giving representation to a previously hidden away group of individuals who are exceedingly interesting.

And now I leave you with Sharpie Face.  Bestselling authors need to be more like him.

To see what else I'm reading this month click here: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-book-reads.html

Also, like me on the Facebooks and Twitters and all those soul sucking sites.

July Book Reads

Not all the reviews for my June books are up yet. I'm still working on the Annotated Peter Pan and on Screwtape Letters. Both should be done pretty soon but I like taking my time with Pan. There's a lot to dive into with that story and I want to make sure I'm soaking it all in. So, continue to look for those but in the meanwhile, I figured I'd start on my July list as well.

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Knights, damsels in distress, wars fought across generations and quests that seem dismal during the dark of night. Also, mice. Rats, birds, mice, frogs and toads. That is our cast of characters.

I see the cover of this book and I immediately think of my brother. He read them when he was a kid and when I got to be a bit older, he gave me some of them to read as well. Being the Harry Potter kid I was, though, I think I struggled to get into this story for whatever reason. Too many creatures talking, not enough of wizards casting. Although, I remember that I did read this book and the proceeding one Mossflower, then balled like a baby when a certain character died. Close to twenty years later, that's all I remember about the story. That being said, it's the same reason I picked up the book again.

I've always had trouble remembering details about stories. Books that I read as a child, I'm lucky to now even remember the main characters name. I'd like to think that it's because I've learned so much in life that little things like names and events have to get pushed aside in order to learn something new. Most likely, however, I just don't pay close attention to things because my brain likes to frolic off in fields of daisy’s or break into some horrible Disney movie song.

Side note: Is it just me or does that stupid Beauty and the Beast, Belle walking down the street song, get stuck in anyone else's head?

The fact that I remembered the character who dies and that I remember the main mouse to be Martin, speaks highly of this story in my mind. Little me wasn't big on details. Little me loved to read but tended to get lost very easily in other things. The fact that I deemed these details important enough to still remember, and to stick with me the way it did, is interesting. I'm curious to see how I feel about this book now that I'm reading it with the cynical and often times, critical, eyes of a mid twenty something.

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/redwall-and-tangent.html

John Dies at the End by David Wong

I know nothing about this book. Nothing. I was in Portland, Oregon over the weekend and attended a lecture done by Mark Oshiro and by lecture I mean the man read bad fan fiction to us. :P. When this book was brought up, he pretty much expressed in a sobbing voice that this book both broke him and blew his mind simultaneously. How can I not want to read it after that endorsement?

Like I said though, I know nothing about this book. I briefly skimmed the back cover but that is the extent of my knowledge.

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

This is a sequel to a book that I have previously read called the Lies of Locke Lamora. If you have not read it, go do it now. The first hundred pages or so are a bit hard to get through, I will admit, but after that, the book turns into a whirlwind of swashbuckling scoundrels who have no choice but to take on the likes of a one man mafia. If you're curious, here's the link to my Goodreads review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/256659186 ) but I'd honestly suggest to just go pick up the book and read it. Months later, this book is still ruining me for all other novels.

(

Because of that, I of course had to pick up the second in the Gentleman Bastard series. Come on. That's the title of the entire series. It's a name that is such an oxymoron that it makes me giddy and plays right into the fangirling part that loves her pirates and scoundrels.

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/09/red-seas-under-red-skies.html

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

John Green may be the only young adult author out there that I have immense respect for.  I have no experience with the other two authors so we'll see what I think after I read this.  However, Green's writing deals with teen issues without it being melodramatic. That's always been my complaint with teen fiction. The characters come off as whiny and self absorbed. That's not to say teenagers aren't. They completely are. But here's the thing. Teens also have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Everything is new. They don't know how to handle certain situations until they've experienced them and experiencing them can often be terrifying. Maybe I'm not so far removed from the teen generation that I remember how scary it was to be that age and how much I hated it at times. Nothing would set me off more than someone telling me that “high school is going to be the best years of your life” because all I could think at the time was “You got to be kidding me? This is as good as it gets?”. John Green, I feel, understands that there is a lot more to a teenage head space than the whiny and prepubescent/hormonal driven thoughts that most teen novels portray. And bonus? None of his book jackets look like the covers for a soft core porn novel. That right there should make you like him.

Furthermore, take a moment and examine the below picture then try to tell me he's not an amazing man.

Green also runs a YouTube series called VlogBrothers and is a out and loud and proud nerd. Watch his videos. Read his books. Watch his brothers videos and if you are a young teen, listen to both of their advice on what its like to be a budding Nerdfighter. Also, understand that when someone says that things do get better, what they actually mean is that the current situation does get better but new ones are always around the bend so hold onto what you love in this world and understand that fiction can go a long way with helping you cope.

Let it Snow is most likely going to be one of those books that I hug at night and love with a little sigh of whimsy. I don't think that it would have been anything I would have liked growing up but in hindsight, I really wish I had read him close to a decade ago (WHY DIDN'T YOU PUBLISH SOONER GOOD SIR?!?).

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/let-it-snow-im-swooning-like-im-in-80s.html

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Again, I know nothing. The only thing I do know about this book? It was a bitch to track down.

This is another young adult novel and since John Green's name is not plastered on it, I am nervous. As said above, teen novels rarely seem to be done right. I often cringe when I see people reading things like City of Bones or any of the other numerous books out there with pale pretty boys on the cover and some doe eyed girl in a nighty. I'm pretty sure this is not literature. I'm pretty sure this is some device used to brainwash the youth of the nation and make them into Barbies that have a vampire fetish.

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/08/jellicoe-road-by-melina-marchetta.html

Hopefully, Jellicoe Road is none of the above. The cover seems promising so at least there's that going for it.

:/

Okay, now I'm really nervous. Why, teen fiction? Why is there so much of your suck in the world?

Remember to like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or the various other time sucking social media sights out there.  

Also, if you have an good teen novels to suggest me, PLEASE DO!  I'm putting this in bold because I am going to force your eyes to read this and then use the force to get you to suggest books to me.  

I may love books a little bit.