Fun adventure, if maybe a bit too tidy

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver is part fairy tale and part Harry Potter.  It is filed with horrible adults, resourceful children, and some help from The Other Side.  It was a compelling read that kept me interested all through.

Poor Liesl has been kept locked in the attic by her evil step-mother ever since her father took ill and died.  She has no contact with anyone until she is visited by young Po, a spirit from The Other Side, accompanied by Bundle, an animal spirit that may be a cat, or perhaps a dog.  She has also been watched by Will, a young orphan who sees her at the attic window as he is running errands for n abusive alchemist for whom he slaves away.  Their lives unexpectedly converge as Will makes a terrible mistake with the greatest magic ever created.  Magic that, in its creation has stolen the sun from the sky.  Will must run far away to escape the wrath of the alchemist, at the same time that Liesl escapes with the help of Po, and Bundle, and begins a quest of their own to bury the ashes of her father.

My only complaint is that it was a bit too coincidental; things came together too easily.  I while I enjoyed reading it, that made it a little too simple to rise above a story for young people.  Because of the implications of what happens to us when we die, I wonder if it may be a bit too much for the young?

Quotable, inspiring

I almost gave up on Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.  It starts with a jolt, then backtracks, and I almost couldn't continue.  I was prepared for depressing, quirky, schlock.  I am so glad I hung in just a little longer.  It was moving, quirky, and engaging.  At the same time, it really made me think.  

In it, Willow Chance begins a new Junior High School.  Willow is not a traditional teenager.  Obsessed with plants, reading, and calmed by counting by 7's, she is a genius who has not learned to connect with people her age.  She is accused of cheating on her first standardized test because she finishes in record time and gets the only recorded 100%.  This sends her to Dell, a counselor for students he has labeled the FOUR GROUPS OF THE STRANGE: Misfits, Oddballs, Lone Wolves and Weirdos.  He is an adult who barely copes with the world himself.  Willow defies his system.  Leading him to this moment: "Dell found himself wondering if all kinds of assumptions were questionable."  Willow makes her first age-appropriate connection while waiting to see Dell, a Vietnamese girl waiting for her brother's session to finish.  Willow even learns to speak Vietnamese to further connect with her new friend, Mai.

A terrible tragedy strikes Willow, and sends her whole life into chaos.  She must overcome her own despair and just survive, making connections that not only change her life, but also the lives of those who come to her rescue: Dell, Mai's family, a Hispanic cab driver, and a cat named Cheddar.  During the worst of her days, she comes to realize that, "All reality.....is a blender where hopes an dreams are mixed with fear and despair.  Only in cartoons and fairy tails and greeting cards do endings have glitter."

The sadness is balenced with the right amount of hope to raise this to a level of inspiring.

The fault in this book

OK....I seem to be the only person in the world that isn't raving about the The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  It is a typical angst-riddled teen romance...oh, and there's the cancer thing.  Our lovely "Juliet" is terribly sick, struggling to breath, while our brave "Romeo" has beat bone cancer, only losing part of one leg.  What could be more romantic?  You have to know that, when our heroes meet in a group session for sufferers/survivors of cancer, someone isn't going to make it.  The book was saved from being completely schlocky by the snarky sense of humor throughout.  It also has very real moments of speculation about life, the universe, and everything.  I can also say that as a teen, I would have LOVED it.  The dark, mopey tone would have been exactly what sucked me in.  Not anymore, sorry.