Good Reads Library
YA Books
I discovered last week that I don't really NEED my Young Adult collection.
Silly me. I've wasted so much of the taxpayers' money buying books like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Princess Diaries and stuff by people like Sarah Dessen, Hope Bauer and Megan McCafferty.
Things that are about teenagers. Not even YOUNG teenagers-- 15-18 year olds mostly.
But last week I had a mom come in and put a reserve on the book her 13 year old and her circle of friends are reading and that book is--hold onto your hats-- True Believer by Nicholas Sparks of "The Notebook" fame.
Here's the plot, as described in the Publishers Weekly review:
Charming, divorced Jeremy Marsh is a rising star. As a dashing, successful 37-year-old Manhattan science journalist, his skeptical scrutiny of ineffective antidepressants, cults and television clairvoyants has caught the eye of North Carolina restaurant owner Doris McClellan, who invites Jeremy to bucolic Boone Creek to scoop the story of eerie mystery lights appearing in an ancient cemetery. A diviner who can predict the sex of unborn babies, Doris suspects the lights are a ghostly curse. Her beautiful librarian granddaughter, Lexie Darnell, makes a lovely, if guarded, tour guide as Jeremy revs up his electromagnetic equipment for the ghost hunt. After witnessing the ethereal graveside lights, both grow closer, much to the chagrin of local deputy Rodney Hopper, who wants Lexie for himself. Guided by sage Doris and manipulated by meddling mayor Tom Gherkin, big-city Jeremy and smalltown Lexie find that trepidation about their differences somehow manages to bloom into love. Jeremy eventually uncovers the hidden truth behind the glowing graveyard fog and departs the lush gothic environs for New York. Can love bridge the gap? Sparks (The Wedding) delivers another shrink-wrapped, reliably uncomplicated romantic confection that's light as air, smooth as silk and gloriously sweet.
Real relevant to the lives of 13 year old suburban princesses, nu? And such high literature, just the sort they should be reading because they're all so "Gifted and Talented" (rolls eyes).
I guess these chickies read the YA books when they were 10 year olds. Or perhaps their mothers read them to them before they could read to themselves. I mean, they're all so brilliant, who cares if the books are age appropriate or not?
Gee, I guess that means my daughter is terribly immature. She's reading things like Lemony Snicket and the Little House books. Obviously, CHILDISH reading for someone at the advanced age of 10!
<Sigh> You know, on days like this, I wonder why I do what I do at all...............
