TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green and LIBBA: THE MAGNIFICENT LIFE OF ELIZABETH COTTON by Laura Veirs

We all had some good things to say about our novel, Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. We all liked the spotlight it put on mental illness, specifically OCD, and the way it described Aza's continual struggles with trying to lead a normal teenager's life, while feeling like her body was contaminated and coping with the constant negative thoughts that wouldn't leave her alone. We noted that the author has suffered with the same condition for years, and we felt this was his way of alerting readers to what it felt like. We liked the way her friendship with Daisy was developed, but some readers were not so happy with the way that Aza and Davis, her young male friend, communicated. A couple of readers who were John Green fans were disappointed, and felt that this story did not live up to the standards of some of his earlier books. We all agreed that the whole story of the mystery of Davis' missing father was so convoluted that it took away from the main story of Aza, her life, and her friendships, and that the final solving of the mystery was just weird and unnecessary.

We all loved the illustrations by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh in our picture book, Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten by Laura Veirs. We were happy that the story of Libba, a self-taught musician and song-writer, was brought to the fore, but we found some 'nits' in the reading. We liked the lyrical quality of the text, but we felt there were gaps in the story: the way it jumped from her childhood to her adulthood; the way that, even though music was a huge part of her existence, she didn't play her guitar or sing for years. We also found the transition from her work as a store clerk to becoming the maid for the Seeger family uncomfortable. We saw a huge discrepancy in the story itself compared to the 'Back Matter' provided by the author which provided many more details, including the fact that growing up as an African-American in Mississippi in the early 1900s was quite difficult. We thought this and other facts would have created a better understanding on the part of young readers as to what Libba's life was really like.