Madison Book Blog

Marcelo Sandoval is a high-functioning, extremely self-aware teenager with Asperger’s syndrome. He has an empathetic mother and a father, Arturo, who appears to be less empathetic as he pushes Marcelo to live in the “real world.” The form the real world takes is a summer job in the mailroom at Arturo’s law office. The teen is forced to think on his feet, multitask, and deal with duplicitous people who try to take advantage of him. Over the course of a summer, Marcelo learns that he can function in society; he is especially surprised to find that he can learn to read people’s expressions, even to the point of knowing whom he can and cannot trust.

This novel is based entirely on IM messages between three high school girls. Each girl IMs in a different font and in her own unique verbal style. There are two more books in the series: L8R, G8R and TTFN. There a lot of fun and quick reads–talk all about the usual girl stuff: dates, school, etc. 

This is a haunting story about Afghanistan beginning in the 1970′s and up through the takeover by the Taliban. Amir, the son of a well-to-do Kabul merchant, is the first-person narrator, who marries, moves to California and becomes a successful novelist. But he remains haunted by a childhood incident in which he betrayed the trust of his best friend, a Hazara boy named Hassan, who receives a brutal beating from some local bullies. After establishing himself in America, Amir learns that the Taliban have murdered Hassan and his wife, raising questions about the fate of his son, Sohrab.  This is one of my favorite books ever!

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge. This book is by popular author, Jodi Picoult, and discusses the aftermath of a school shooting.

 Are you reading or have you read this addicting series? Let me know what you think!