Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen (review by Anya W. '20)

Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mira doesn't know what she would call a major turning point in her life. Was it the walk when she decided that this year's yearbook theme would be New York City? Was it the day she found her father in bed with his TA? Was it the day when she found out about her parent's open marriage? Was it the day she found out that her family had no time left?

At some point though, Mira shut down, and she can't-isn't-won't ever be the same again.

Jensen's novel written in free prose is a heart wrenching expose on the beautiful, terrible mess we call family. She writes unflinchingly of parents' mistakes and the intolerance of youth, and manages to still infuse it all with a sense of understanding, and of the importance of acceptance and compromise. I love how dynamic her main character is, and how Jensen still allows the side character be multifaceted, with their own emotions and goals. While some plot points may seem trite, they are at least comparatively minor. This is a good, solid read that won't leave you feeling like you wasted your time. - Anya W. '20

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Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (review by Elizabeth S. '16)

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cat's Eye details the life of stream-of-consciousness narrator Elaine as she reflects as an aged artist on her years growing up in the time after World War II in Toronto. Elaine has recently returned to Toronto in order to manage a retrospective gallery of her own critically acclaimed work. She reconnects with specters from her past, like the phantom Cordelia who tormented her as a child, whom she now sees and hears everywhere she goes even though she is long gone. Atwood captures Elaine's apathetic, passerby-like thoughts and describes her world in the most visceral way, making her writing a true joy to behold as it brings the story to life. Atwood also uses Elaine as a lens through which she can explore her own judgments and thoughts about growing up as a girl through elementary, middle, high school, and university, finding love, hate, strength, and weakness in all of these events that seem so cataclysmic when undergone for the first time. Cat's Eye is a true masterpiece, recommended to anyone for a more adult spin on a coming of age story.

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Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson (review by Elisabeth S. '16)

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anne Carson's compelling language makes this book a masterpiece in verse. Autobiography of Red is a coming-of-age story loosely based on the story of Herakles' tenth labor (stealing the cattle of the monster Geryon). This version is set in the modern day--Geryon is still a red monster with wings, but he's also a photographer with his own familial troubles and thirst for adventure. He meets Herakles, and they fall in love, but Herakles departs from his life shortly after, not to be seen again until years later when Geryon is taking a trip through South America. Carson's use of unlikely yet apt description and Geryon's singular, confused voice makes this book utterly unforgettable. His trials with an abusive brother, a feeble mother, and lost love make it surprisingly easily to empathize with the red monster. Overall, this book is recommended to all fans of poetry and mythology. - Elisabeth S. '16

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I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (review by Elisabeth S. 17)

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I Am the Messenger is an idiosyncratic, heartwarming novel that is, in most stores, marketed wrongly in the young adult section--this is a novel that should be read and cherished by adolescents and adults alike for its brilliance and quiet, universal lessons. Ed Kennedy is a young cabdriver with no real aspirations and a muted existence in his apartment with his loyal, omnivorous dog The Doorman and his few friends he plays cards with every now and then. After managing to stall a bank robbery by chance, he is sent the first card in the mail, an ace of diamonds, from an unknown benefactor. The card contains three addresses, three messages that he has to send. And thus, he becomes "the messenger," and the reader is taken for a thrill ride through the Australian suburbs. Full of love, laughter, and ironic life lessons, I I Am the Messenger refuses to be put down after being picked up. Ed Kennedy's wry voice serves as an excellently readable narrator for the story, and the reader also gets to see Ed develop as he experiences each message that he delivers in his own way. This book is highly recommended for readers of all genres and all ages teen and up. – Elisabeth S. ‘16

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