TGIF (1): Making a Difference

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads.  Each Friday Ginger poses a question for us to share our thoughts on.  If you'd like to participate, head on over to her awesome blog and link up!

This week's topic:

Making a Difference: Which book(s) would you put in the hands of today's teenagers in hopes of making a difference in their lives?

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, & Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins            In order to get the full effect of the series, I think teens should have to read all three.  There are so many great themes and room for discussion.  Dystopian world, politics, radical government, class system, family issues, morality, mortality, love, relationships, revolution...I could go on and on.  


Back when I was in high school, I had to suffer through reading 1984  by George Orwell.  Please don't get me wrong.  I respect that it is a classic and has been on required readings lists forever.  But it was hard for me to relate to as a sophomore in high school.  In my very humble opinion, I think The Hunger Games series could easily replace the idea of Big Brother watching and a corrupt, heavy handed government.  Not to mention, the story is written through the eyes of a teen-age girl, not some middle aged man.  It brings the story down to a teen's level and makes it more accessible. 

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
This story is about the touchy subject of teenage sex.  (I'm not here to preach against it or for it.  That is your own view and I'm not writing this to change it).  But teen age sex does happen.  Sex complicates lives and relationships.  As we grow older we realize this.  However, teens don't often think of the complications and consequences.  They do it because they think everyone else is doing it or for all the wrong reasons (Yes, I realize this is a generalization but more because it is a majority and not an exception).  


Not That Kind of Girl is a story that talks just about reputations and connotations that can come along with losing your virginity for both boys and girls.  The main character feels that she has to hide the fact that she is no longer a virgin to avoid being "that type of girl".  The journey she makes through the book is a pretty typical story with ordinary events but the end message is truly strong and meaningful.  Something I wish I would have realized for myself when I was growing up or that someone had explained to me.  I can see why it wouldn't necessarily be required reading but I think it is something every young woman should read on their own.  The boys could benefit as well.  Labels are a horrible thing and it effects both of the sexes.  

Between the Lines by Tammara Webber 
This book is rated for the mature teen reader based on the content of sexual situations, language, and drinking but I don't think it should stop someone from reading it.  Honestly, it's no worse than the reality crap on TV right now (that I avoid like the plague).  Teens in the public eye being idolized for things such as teen pregnancy, under-age drinking, etc.  But I digress...
  
Another book about complicated teen relationships, Between the Lines is really about growing up, making decisions, making mistakes, making good decisions, and how you handle the cause and effect of your actions molds your life (in my humble opinion again).  You can royally screw up BUT it's whether you take responsibility for that mistake or whether blow it off and let someone else handle it that makes you grow as a person.  I fell in love with this book and there are so many characters that anyone that reads it will be able to identify with one and really get into the story.  Life with all its highs, lows, and inbetweens.  (Read my review here).   


Which book(s) do you think could make a difference?

Waiting on Wednesday (3): Where You Are by Tammara Webber

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Where You Are (sequel to Between the Lines)
Tammara Webber
self-published
Release approximately scheduled for October 2011

*Slight Spoiler Summary from Goodreads- If you plan on reading the first book, Beware!* Highlight to read.

Graham Douglas doesn’t do romantic relationships, but he was knocked for a loop when he met Emma Pierce on the set of his last film. As they grew closer, he did everything in his power to keep from falling for the girl being pursued by superstar Reid Alexander. Back home in New York, his life is once again under control, until Emma appears and shows him how not over her he is.

Emma Pierce is forsaking an up-and-coming Hollywood career to embark on a life she’s only dreamed of—the life of a regular girl. After spending months burying her feelings for the two night-and-day guys who vied for her heart while filming her last movie, a twist of fate puts her in a coffee shop in the middle of Manhattan with the one she still misses.

Brooke Cameron was a fresh-faced Texas girl when she arrived in LA. Now she’s a beach sitcom star turned conceited heiress on the big screen. Having just survived three months on location with her ex—Hollywood’s reigning Golden Boy—she’s older and wiser and has set her sights on close friend Graham. The only thing standing in her way is the girl he can’t forget.

Reid Alexander can sum up his life in one word: boring. Between film projects, there’s little going on outside of a few upcoming interviews and the premiere for the film he finished last fall. The next-to-last thing he expects is to get a second chance with Emma, the girl who rejected him. The last thing he expects is for his still-bitter-ex to be the one to offer it to him on a platter.

Author Recommendation: Mature Young Adults (language, drinking, sexual situations) -Goodreads.com


What else can I say but that October cannot come fast enough for me so I can read this book!  Between the Lines surprised and enchanted me.  I am certain I can expect the same from Where You Are.  I fell in love with Emma & Graham's relationship.  Graham, in my opinion, was a good influence on Emma.  Cannot wait to see Emma develop even more and see where their relationship takes them.  I am also curious about the other relationships between the casts and am interested in knowing what happens in the lives of Reid and Brooke.  Now that the movie finished shooting and they have to go to the premier, I wonder what conflicts will arise now that we know all the history (good & bad) that went on Between the Lines.  (That was such a great title!)  Tammara just posted recently on her Facebook page  an update on where she is in the writing process.  Not sure if the book will make it out by October (Goodreads still has it listed for sometime that month) but I know it will be worth that wait so I'll just wait on pins and needles 'til then.

Review: Between the Lines by Tammara Webber

Between the Lines by Tammara Webber
self-published
April 29, 2011
Amazon Kindle edition


When Hollywood It Boy, Reid Alexander, arrives on location to shoot his next movie, his goals are the same as always—film another blockbuster hit and enjoy his celebrity status to the fullest while doing so. His costar is a virtual unknown with whom he had blazing hot chemistry during her auditions. The universe is lining up nicely to grant whatever he wants, as usual, until he’s confronted with unexpected obstacles on location like a bitter ex-girlfriend and a rival for the first girl to spark his genuine interest in years.

Emma Pierce just got her big break after more than a decade of filming commercials for grape juice, department stores and tampons, and more recently, bit parts in made-for-TV movies. Nailing the lead role in a wide-release film sent her agent, father and stepmother into raptures, and should have done the same for her. The Problem? Emma is experiencing a building desire to be normal, and starring in a silly, modernized adaptation of one of her favorite novels—opposite the very hot Reid Alexander—isn’t going to advance that aspiration.

Graham Douglas doesn’t fear playing the part of a nerdy dimwit; when it comes to choosing film roles, if it pays, he’ll do it. Besides, his friend Brooke Cameron snatched up the role of the bitchy hot girl and could use his help as a buffer, because her ex is the star. Graham has no problem keeping a handle on the situation, until he finds himself attracted to Reid’s costar, Emma, the girl Reid is pursuing full-throttle with his standard arsenal of charm, good looks and arrogance.

Author recommendation: Mature teens+ (language/drinking/sexual situations) -Goodreads.com


When I picked up Between the Lines for my Kindle my reasoning was that it was only $2.99 and the premise sounded interesting.  Cute guy, nice girl & both in show business working on a movie together.  Add in some teen-aged friends and voila! quick easy read.  I was not expecting to fall in love with this book and the characters.  When I got to the last page all I wanted to do was read more about Emma & the cast (especially a certain male).



I really identified with Emma and her adventures in making the right decisions.  Of course I haven't ever been in the position of being close to movie-stardom and having to navigate life in the public eye but Emma is still a regular teenage girl trying to decide on how she wants to live her life.  I think we've all been at that stage or still are in that stage, struggling to find ourselves.  We have all been at that point where we were almost an adult but not quite a little girl (or boy) any more.  Should I go to college or pursue a career in something else?       I'm about to be thirty and I still don't know "what I want to be when I grow up."  So when Emma is deciding on continuing with acting or going to college, I can sympathize with her.  


When the light bulb is turned on over her head and Emma graduates from the self-centered thinking she has been doing and starts thinking about how relationships are more than one-sided and how to be a good friend, I also identified with that notion.  Maybe that's a sign of growing into adulthood.  It's so easy to get lost in our day to day little dramas.  It's more difficult to step out of our shoes and see that other people have issues they need to work through as well.  


Tammara really gives us a wide variety of characters and shows that people deal with their lives and hardships in different ways, and not always for the better.  I'm sure that anyone that reads this book will find a character to identify with.  She touches on a lot of different issues, some that can even be uncomfortable but are inevitably a part of life.  Tammara's approach is honest and purely brilliant.       


OH! And one more important thing that I thought was a primary point of this book without being preachy:  Life may throw you curve balls and you might make mistakes, but it is how you handle them that can ultimately show the world how you are as a person.  After all, that's what growing up is all about. 


I highly recommend Between the Lines if you are looking for a contemporary read.  Here's hoping you fall in love with it like I did.