Wanna Get Away?

You might think you want a change - even a drastic change - in your life, but after reading this book, you might be happy with the usual humdrum. The author, an Afghani married to an Indian woman and living in England, really misses the sun, remembers his childhood family vacations wandering in northwest Africa, and decides to capture that geography and less-hectic lifestyle for his own children. He buys a long-unoccupied palace in the middle of a shantytown in Casablanca and embarks upon the overwhelming task of renovating the palace. He inherits a group of employees and soon is forced to hire many more -- and let's just say that this man was not born to be a boss. He is soon pushed around by all the carpenters, tile-layers, "guardians," as well as the cook, the nanny, and his professional assistant, Kamal. This assistant somehow cuts through red tape, gets things done, and navigates Tahir through many back alley deals -- but he, too, exhibits his own Moroccan way of working -- he doesn't show up for days, and then appears seemingly out of nowhere with a long-missing but absolutely essential document or permit. Besides the employee problem, Tahir also faces the obstacle of superstition about evil spirits -- especially the evil Jinn (i.e. genie) which inhabits his palace. Tahir adjusts to the fact that the uneducated workers are obsessed by the need to placate the Jinns, but as he meets other people whom he respects, he discovers that this superstitious belief is universal throughout Morocco.

This book is a series of funny anecdotes interspersed with history, culture, geography, and travel. If you enjoy reading to spread your awareness and to travel to new places, you will love this book. I did -- and I've heard that his newer book, In Arabian Nights, is even better. I give this 4 out of 4 stars.

A Boy and his Dad at War

Liam has grown up with the critical voice of his dad always harping on his multiple failures, to the point that Liam knows what a screwup he is. He can't do anything right. He makes poor choices. He isn't smart, and his chances for future success at anything are pretty much nil. And the sad thing is, Liam absolutely believes this, and the first words out of his mouth whenever he interacts with his dad are an apology and a promise to try harder. Liam admires his dad, who is a CEO of an important company, a well-recognized success story. Who wouldn't admire such a man?



Liam has gone too far this time. Caught drunk and in the midst of having sex in his dad's office with a girl he doesn't even like, Liam is sent off to live "for a while" with his dad's brother -- whom he hasn't seen since he was about 7 years old. That was when "Aunt Pete" showed up in drag, dressed in a gorgeous red ball gown, at Liam's mother's retirement party (when she gave up her successful international modeling career). Liam's dad and his ultra-strict grandparents were horrified, threw Pete out, and haven't spoken to him nor seen him ever since. So as Liam starts a new life at a new school, he is hoping to do whatever it takes to get back home, which would mean earning his dad's respect. So instead of continuing as "Mr. Popularity," he figures, he should become the least popular kid at school. Focus on academics. Join an unpopular club. Avoid the "cool kids." And if he can only get Darleen, the dorky neighbor girl whom everybody has predicted will earn the label of "Class B*tch" in the yearbook, to like him, his dad will surely see how hard he's trying to be a serious student.

I loved the message of this book. Liam learns some important life lessons, and so do we. But I can honestly say I've never met such a one-dimensionally hateful father in any of the books I've read. Even though the author was trying to make a point, it's hard to believe that there were never any redeeming qualities or some reasons that he was as mean as he was. Otherwise, why would Liam's mother have stayed with him? That was never explored, and that gap was a flaw in the book.

But Aunt Pete and his gay friends were well-drawn, without stereotypical limits, and Liam's changes, though extreme, were believable.
I give "King of the Screwups" 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Like "24" for teens

The Long Way Home, by Andrew Klavan. A Homelanders book.
A thrill a minute, this book reads like a pitch for an action movie. I can see it now -- all the narrow escapes, high speed chases, and the scene where our hero just HAS to go into that dangerous place to get the clue he needs to clear his name. It's all in here. If you like that type of movie, you'll enjoy this book about Charlie, who is on the run, trying to avoid both the police, who want him for murdering his best friend, and the Homelanders, a group of terrorists out to destroy America. They seem to think he was a member of their group who has betrayed them, and now they want him dead. But Charlie can't remember whether he was or wasn't. And he can't remember murdering his friend. In fact, the entire last year has been erased from his memory. To find out what really happened, he must return to his hometown, where he connects with some good friends who believe in him. Including Beth, whom he remembers liking a lot. But he can't remember that they had actually been an "item," which apparently they were. Before his life got so complicated. And dangerous.

One interesting element of this book was that the language was suspenseful but 'clean' -- and there were many references to the values that Charlie holds. He remembers many debates/discussions with his American History teacher, who seemed to constantly challenge Charlie's faith in God, his belief in his country, and his willingness to express his admiration of a good way to live. so, though I wouldn't call this overt Christian fiction, it doesn't try to hide positive values or role models from the reader.

This is the second in a series, which began with The Last Thing I Remember. The 3rd book, The Truth of the Matter, is due out this November.

I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Girl Gone Bad - - - ?

Devon is the perfect high school girl: straight A's, varsity and club soccer player with Olympic aspirations, more responsible even than her mother, a sought-after babysitter. But then she is arrested and charged with disposing of her newborn infant in a dumpster behind the apartment building where she lives. And she denies that she was even pregnant. During the following days in the juvenile detention center, as she meets with her attorney, a psychologist, and other adults sent to get to the bottom of the "incident," she flashes back to significant scenes in her life over the past few months. And to all the years with her mother, the flirty and flighty Jennifer, who'd had Devon when she was 16 and has spent most of the years since going from one man to another. Devon remembers when she was 5 and her mom left her alone for the weekend, because she "needed some time to herself" - (though she had really gone away with a man). Devon has lived her life according to some very strict rules, trying to be excellent and to be -- at any cost -- NOTHING like her mother.

I liked After for its look into the mind of a teen portrayed as a monster by the media, whom we see in all her complexities. I liked it for the sympathetic look at the many "types" of girls who are incarcerated, and at the people who choose to work with them. In some ways this book took on an almost nonfiction tone, though Devon's character and story were fictional. I give it 3 out of 4 stars.