Killer House Party (YA chiller)

     "In the kitchen, glass shattered. Then, there was a sound like wet laundry hitting the ground.  A pale white hand flopped over the threshold. It laid perfectly, eerily still.  

     The Drama Club was dead. Again. Or they weren't. They could get up, find another bottle, and start the cycle all over.  Or they could stay dead, surrounded by broken bottles and a nightmarish mix of crawling spiders."

    I imagine at this time of year there's a lot on high school graduations going on. Which means a whole lot of graduation parties going on--both the officially sanctioned ones and shall we say more covert ones. The gathering that is the setting for Lily Anderson's Killer House Party definitely is of the latter variety. 

     Arden, Anderson's narrator is furious with good reason. All through high school she's been the perfect student--sacrificing any vestiges of a social life and studying diligently with dreams of college and med school dancing through her head. So when her parents tell her that they have spent all her college fund on a house but it's no big deal because one semester of community college will net her the realtors license she will need to follow in their footsteps...

     ...she is not a happy camper. Determined to follow her own script, she looks for a way to earn the money she needs to attend the four year college she's been accepted at. How about holding a clandestine graduation party at the house Mommy and Daddy Dearest spent her college money on? The school's official lock in party is much too tame for many graduates' tastes. Why not provide a pay to enter alternative?...

     ...Even under the best of circumstances this would be such a not good idea. Think lack of supervision. Think illegal substances. Think property damage, injuries, legal liability...

     ...But these are far from the best of circumstances. The house has been abandoned for a century which bodes for all kinds of property damage. And then there's the reason it stayed vacant. Nobody knows exactly what happened to the family who lived there. But all kinds of sinister and gruesome theories are floating around. 

     The night of the party the venue transforms itself into a hideous hellscape from which the teens cannot escape. Only one thing is for sure...

    ...not all the guests will get out alive.

On a purrrsonal note, I know with me raving about the Orono Public Library Summer Reading Challenge some of you may feel let down that your library doesn't have one. My Amber, whose second horror novel, Hallowed Deadly Seeds, is dropping soon, has a great solution: create your own. It doesn't have to be fancy schmancy. She's planned a family one because her siblings live a distance away in South Maine. Each person sets their own reading goal. We buy or make prizes for each other. At the end there's a pizza party. Sounds like fun to me.

Amber has another great suggestion for summer fun. If you want to know what it is I guess you'll have to keep reading this blog. 

Jules Hathaway 

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More healthy Orono 💐

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Flowers in back of Orono Public Library

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Thrift shop haul

Check out the sneakers. The flowered 💐 ones are Vans! Aren't the Squishmallows darling? Just $1 each. A woman thought I shouldn't get a kid's dress. It fits. Most women's dresses don't. 

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Books

When I told them about the little free library that will be installed in the trailer coop they invited me to take some books. Our very first donation. I'm sure the kids will love these.

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Books

When Eugene and I went to Governors for breakfast this morning we saw this couple in the lobby. They go around to places giving kids free books to promote literacy. I'm gonna send a shout out to them for doing such important work and to Governors for being the kind of family friendly and community centered restaurant that would host them.

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Shards of Silence (YA fiction)

     I tend to get the books I review through Inter Library Loan. On line newsletters and other publications keep me supplied with more titles than I could ever read. But when I drop in on my home library, Orono Public, I find real gems. Brian Lee Young's Shards of Silence is one of them. 

     Derrick, Young's protagonist, is about to make an enormous life transition. He's starting his sophomore year far from home at an elite historically white (and wealthy) boarding school. It's quite a challenge. Between the intense academic workload, his sports commitments, and the rest of life he's struggling to do well enough to maintain his full ride scholarship. And a lot of his seriously privileged classmates ask him all these ignorant questions. Does he live in a teepee? Why doesn't he have long hair?

     Derrick's heart is torn between school and home. He's very worried about his beloved great grandmother's health. She's undergoing testing for quite alarming symptoms and forgetting to take her medicine. If he had stayed at the local high school, although he wouldn't have the many opportunities Sagefield Academy offers, he would be able to help and protect her. When he sees her he wonders if it's the last time. 

     His great grandmother fears for his safety when he's away at school. He understands that it's because of the terrible years she was forced to spend at a government boarding school with a kill the Indian to save the man (or woman) mandate. He knows she is still suffering from this experience. But whenever he tries to bring up the subject she tells him to drop it. 

     Perhaps if he writes his big history research paper on the experiences of Indigenous children in those schools he will find a way to help her bring her experiences into the light and break their hold on her.

     Young based Shards of Silence on his last three years of high school at an elite boarding school. Like Derrick, he experienced culture shock in his new environment and had a lot of stereotype breaking to do. 

     When his grandmother came from the reservation to see him she saw the bruises he acquired playing football she asked if the teachers were hitting him. She had suffered through the government boarding schools. As an adult he started the manuscript when her health was failing and he didn't know how long she had left. It became his "goodbye love letter to her. 

     Shards of Silence is such a good read for its target demographic and well beyond. It's highly engaging with a beautifully nuanced and complex plot and relatable protagonist. It covers one of those inconvenient chapters in America's history that the MAGA crowd would dearly love to erase. 

     But in my mind the best thing it does is it tackles something I don't think any of us have an easy time with no matter how old we are when it happens--the impending death of a loved one. Young perfectly captures the intensity and bittersweet nature of the knowing. Many teens who have not lost a friend or relative have experienced the death of a beloved animal companion.

On a purrrsonal note, mostly I learned about deaths after the fact. But in 2019 I walked that path with Joseph Jacob Hathaway, my beloved feline companion of 16 years. We were especially close because of a birth defect that required special care on my part and close partnership with his vet. But unless he was acutely sick no cat loved his family, his life, and his home as robustly as he did. And he was an affectionate and loving lap cat. I had almost finished my first year of grad school. I'd just returned from an international conference when I noticed troubling symptoms. It turned out to be lung cancer. With medicine to restore his appetite I could give him a last good summer. He left the world hearing my voice, feeling my touch. I was hesitant to adopt another cat because I was afraid I couldn't love him/her enough. But a little girl cat insisted on claiming me for her own and thawed my heart. Years later I was able to cope with my stroke by channeling the courage and determination I saw in precious Joey.

A great big shout out to Young for creating this beautiful literary labor of love and Joey and Tobago for being their catly selves.

Jules Hathaway 

     

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I Don't Wish You Well (YA chiller)

     Fans of true crime podcasts, fans of narratives in which the protagonist gets in a world of danger while unearthing and trying to expose the truth about a cold case for a podcast, and folks who like a dark, engaging, fast paced chiller with multiple twists and turns will really love Jumata Emil's I Don't Wish You Well. It's got everything: a gruesome crime, new evidence that the wrong person might have been convicted, a small town that strongly desires that the case that brought them lots of notoriety not be reopened, lots of dark and dangerous secrets, football stars who must be protected from consequences of their misdeeds, inept or worse police officers...truly something for everyone. 

     Five years ago four stars of the Moss Point (Louisiana) Football Team were killed one by one. The killer wore a Trojan mask. When the police were tipped off as to his identity they found him dead, supposedly by suicide. Evidence in his home seemed to confirm his guilt. That's it, folks. Case closed...

     ...or is it?...

     ...Pryce, a journalism major, is returning to Moss Pointe for summer vacation. When he sees evidence that the wrong person was convicted he senses opportunity. If he spends the summer investigating he could have the material for a fall semester podcast that would help his academic and professional career. His advisor lends him a professional camera and recording equipment. 

     Back home people aren't happy about his project. The police chief tries to talk him out of it. His father thinks he should instead do a podcast on the football team rebounding after the murders. Bryce's little brother is on the team and his dad is a hard core fan.

     But early on he uncovers incriminating evidence against Bertrand Gatson, president of the booster club, a man considered to be a pillar of the community. He sees Gatson burning a bunch of photos and is able to save some. 

     "The photos all featured little boys. The one with orange-red curls Pryce recognized first. As he shifted through the rest of the disturbing images, the other innocent faces became instantly familiar. Immortalized in acts no boys their age should be doing."

     He confronts Gaston with the Polaroids, thinking it will enable him to glean more information. Gaston agrees to meet him...

     ...but he and his wife are found dead in their home--an apparent murder/suicide. 

     But the boys aren't, it turns out, all that innocent. They learned from their molester the joys of nonconsensual sex. As football stars in a football obsessed town they got away with it. 

     It turns out there are plenty of people who had motive and opportunity to commit the murders. 

     I don't wish you dead is a beautifully scripted impossible to put down chiller and so much more. It covers topics too often swept under the rug in YA literature considered appropriate by the censors and banners but highly relevant. Homophobia, sexism, and the lengths schools and police will go to shield athletes from the consequences of their actions are some of them.

     In my opinion it is an important acquisition for high school and public libraries. In fact it could be a worthy replacement for the work of a long dead white guy in the curriculum. 

On a purrrsonal note, here in Maine we're most definitely having summer weather: hot and humid. Yesterday I volunteered in both gardens. I took pictures in the children's garden. There was a lot to do in the community garden because there were only two of us to do it. Today was the weekly vigil. There was a really good turnout and we got lots of honks. I got another windfall at Orono Thrift Shop: a really cute dress, two good sized Squishmallows, a pair of Barbie high top sneakers, and a pair of Vans decorated with flowers and leaves. And don't worry. I took a picture. 

A great big shout out goes out to the dedicated vigil crew and the all volunteer staff of Orono Thrift Shop who raise money for important causes by selling merch at rock bottom prices. 

Jules Hathaway 

      

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Reading challenge

And I've read 2 books. I'll have this part of the challenge completed by July. 

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Reading challenge

I've already completed two of the challenges. 

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Hattie Mae Begins Again (juvenile historical fiction in verse)

     Speaking of important writers I haven't seen anything by lately making a grand return, how about Sharon G. Flake? I cut my blogging teeth on her earlier books. Her Hattie Mae Begins Again combines a relatable character in an engaging plot with rich insights into life in Philadelphia in the 1930s, a time when the Great Migration and the worst depression in this country's history were going on.

"Miss Abigail's School 

     for Exceptional Young Ladies

is for well-to-do girls whose fathers are

lawyers, architects, 

     and engineers

politicians, surgeons, 

painters and doctors of note.

Ma is a plain old schoolteacher. 

Daddy works on a factory floor. 

     I do not belong here with these girls."

     Hattie Mae experiences quite a bit of culture shock when she leaves her rural home to attend a boarding school in Philadelphia. Everything is new and different down to clothing, daily routines and indoor plumbing. And as for her soon to be classmates--

"Everything about them was different. 

Their hair was curled in ringlets

Down to their shoulders. 

     They'd probably die before using rag ties

at night like me."

     The girls are the very privileged daughters of high society Black families, the "talented tenth". They have impeccable backgrounds, cultural experiences, beautifully styled clothes, and familiarity with the boarding school lifestyle. Unfortunately some of them look down their privileged noses at Hattie and delight in making life hard for her, hoping she will give up and drop out...

     ...and there are times she feels like doing just that...

     ...but they've badly underestimated her spunk and determination. Her family has gone all out to equip and prepare her for her new experience. She is desperate to not let them down. One way or another she is going to fit in and make their aspirations for her and her dreams for herself come true. 

     Flake is a proud Philadelphia native with long roots in the city and a lively interest in its rich history. The woman knows how to do research. She brings a quite turbulent time in her hometown's history vividly alive for young readers. I consider Hattie Mae Begins Again to be a most excellent acquisition for public and school libraries. 

On a purrrsonal note, I have some really exciting news. Orono Public Library has issued a summer reading challenge. Being a true book geek, I live for reading challenges. I got to choose a free book to keep from a really good selection. In it was an attractive bookmark. When filled out it will be my entry into a September grand prize drawing. All I have to do is read eight books and complete eight out of eleven challenges. I'll post pictures of the  bookmark tomorrow. This will be so much fun! I sure hope lots of people join me in taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity. 

A great big shout out goes out to the librarians who provide Orono Public Library patrons with a wealth of diverse and engaging programming. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Camp

Eugene does the cooking on this grill.  The solar panels provide electricity for lights and Eugene's TV which we sometimes watch a movie on. 

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Camp

Eugene and Adam built this camp. It's stood up to many years of Maine winters which is no small feat. Unlike many people who shut their camps after summer ends Eugene goes even during the winter. I stay home in the winter. I'm too much a fan of indoor plumbing when night temps are below 🥶 freezing. The porch is where I do a lot of reading. 

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Change of Plans (YA romance)

     It's been a minute since I've seen any new books by Sarah Dessen, one of the consistent bright lights of YA fiction. So I was over the moon when I discovered her Change of Plans. It most definitely lives up to the complexity and emotional depth of her earlier works.

     Right after her high school graduation narrator Finley gets some devastating news: Colin, her adoring and attentive boyfriend of two years drops her long distance (He's on a cruise) with no warning. Needless to say, she's devastated. And she has to deal with the heart break in a quite unfamiliar environment. 

     Finley and her mother have a rather unusual relationship. She lives with her father, stepmother, and half siblings. Her mother had taken off when she was only four. The occasional visits--"a week at Christmas, two in the summer, plus a handful of weekends she always claimed in January"--seem awkward for both of them. Finley doesn't really know the woman who gave birth to her.

      Catherine has requested Finley for the week after graduation. The plan is to spend a celebratory week in New York City. But when Catherine picks her up there's been a change of plans. They're headed out to the old family home to help get it ready to sell.

     Finley is not the only one to be to be shocked. 

     "You realize how incredibly selfish this is, don't you? To ignore us for ages and then decide oh, hey, I do want to sell the house, at the worst possible time?"

     It seems that Finley isn't the only one Catherine has ditched. She's abandoned her whole large family. 

     Now Finley has to adjust to her heartbreak in a strange place where her mother and her kin  are having to adjust to each other while carrying out the emotionally charged task of cleaning out the memory laden family home.

     But wait. There's more drama. 

     Anne, Catherine's niece, is so resentful of her future mother-in-law making all the decisions about her upcoming wedding that she just might call the whole thing off...

     ...and the rotten cherry on top of the shitstorm sundae? Finley discovers a devastating diagnosis her mother has been hiding from them all.

      But Finley is quite resourceful. She's working at the family diner and making friends. She just might be falling for Ben, an unabashedly awkward coworker and gifted musician. 

     Readers who enjoy fabulous but flawed characters in complex relationships and challenging situations will find a lot to like about Change of Plans, a beach read extraordinaire. 

     Hopefully Dessen is working on more simply irresistible narratives.

On a purrrsonal note, my mother-in-law has been in the hospital with pneumonia since Thursday. I frantically searched for a crafts project I could carry in when visiting her because I have basically no tolerance for sitting doing nothing. I can't start a scarf because I can't cast on and I don't remember how to crochet. Finally I picked a relatively easy cross stitch kit which now takes a great deal of concentration but is doable. That's fine motor progress. 

A great big shout out goes out to my mother-in-law, Arlene Hathaway, with best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Pictures from camp

A nearby lake 

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Pictures from camp

I wonder if these stones were part of a wall. 

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Pictures from camp

The road that goes by our camp.

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I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (YA romance)

     December is the seasonal setting for many a Hallmark romance movie. In an ambiance of softly falling (not Maine blizzard driven) snow, beautifully decorated trees, candles at windows--the whole Noel nine yards--a couple of unlikely people fall in or back in love in a magical Christmasy grand finale...

     ...It's gonna take a whole lot of magic to get Juniper and Lyric, narrators of Mariama J. Lockington's I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, to basically understand each other--never mind fall in love. They're as different as you can get down to their feelings about the season. 

     Juniper is a total fan, especially of the music. Except for the year her moms temporarily separated her memories are merry and bright. But a couple of worries are tempering her joy. Her moms are once again fighting. And she has a plan for a desperately needed gap year neither of them will approve of. 

     For Lyric Christmas is just another let down in a life full of distress. Her flashbacks are truly heartbreaking. She started life with a mentally ill mother who couldn't even provide her with the basics. When the authorities intervened she spent time in foster care until she was rescued by her grandmother who was able to provide a real home and stability. 

     Now the caregiving role has changed. Her grandmother has had a stroke and knee replacement. In addition to school and a job, Lyric has a household to run and complex caregiving responsibilities. She's the one who has to deal with the doctors, monitor the meds, etc...

     ...She's also a fashion influencer, earning money through sponsored posts. That's how she gets involved with Juniper. She asks her to pose for pictures with her. Unexpectedly that post blows up with seriously lucrative offers...

     ...Both girls can use the money. They agree to fake a romance. It's strictly a business transaction...

     ...Or is it?

     One thing I especially love about I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm is the distinctively different voices of the narrators, facilitated by Lyric speaking in prose and Juniper in free verse. Both come across as complex, highly relatable individuals whom it's easy to care about. 

     No matter how you feel about the Christmas season--love, hate, or somewhere in between--if romance is your genre of choice you'll find I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm to be a real treat. 

On a purrrsonal note, this week, with Clean Sweep wrapped up, I was able to settle into my routine summer commitments. Tuesday was the first day of this year's children's garden, a beloved program of Orono Public Library. I get to be paparazzi, a very fun role appreciated by the librarians and the proud parents of the little gardeners. The kids are so bright and curious. After that I volunteered at the Orono Community Garden where we're harvesting some early crops like asparagus. We've almost finished planting the beds. And there's always weeding and watering. Wednesday I participated in the weekly vigil along Route 2 in downtown Orono. It went well. We got 112 cars honking in solidarity. 

With the exception of the weekly vigils which started in 2025, these are long term commitments. I've volunteered with the library almost 17 years, with the garden even longer. I'm big on commitments. Eugene and I will celebrate our 37th anniversary next month, God willing. And this blog will turn 15 in August. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Lady T

Tobago finally has a scratching object courtesy of Clean Sweep. She's seemed to figure out what it's for. Hopefully it will deter her from clawing the new sofa. 

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Amber's latest event

The moderator did a most excellent job.

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