Sherri L. Smith

4.5 stars

Pasadena by Sherri L. Smith is a poignant young adult mystery.

Jude is out of town when she finds out her best friend, Maggie Kim, is dead. Immediately flying back to Pasadena, she does not believe Maggie committed suicide; instead she is convinced her friend was murdered. Enlisting the aid of Joey, Jude immediately alienates a few of their mutual friends with her cutting remarks but she remains undeterred in her search for the truth. Battling a slew of demons of her own, Jude's show more investigation uncovers some surprising revelations about her friend but most importantly, she discovers a few startling truths about herself.

Jude is devastated by Maggie's death and although her friend made a few suicidal threats in the past, she is convinced that Maggie would never actually take her own life. Instead of focusing on her loss, she instead concentrates on piecing together the last few days of Maggie's life. Beginning with their circle of eclectic friends, Jude's caustic comments set everyone on edge but she really does not care overly much about their hurt feelings or the damage wrought in the aftermath. She is a little bothered by the realization that while Maggie is her best friend, she might not have been Maggie's best friend.

Through flashbacks, Jude reminisces about their friendship and Maggie springs vividly to life. Vivacious, popular and a bit enigmatic, Maggie is larger than life and she embraces life wholeheartedly. She is an astute observer whose friends found it very easy to confide in her but in retrospect, she gave up very little information about herself. Her family is wealthy but money does not necessarily exempt them from experiencing problems or heartache. Jude uncovers unexpected information about both Maggie and her family but she still harbors doubts Maggie committed suicide. It is not until after Maggie's funeral that Jude learns what happened to Maggie, but as she discovers, learning the truth does not lessen the pain of her friend's death.

Pasadena is a gritty, raw and realistic young adult novel that deals with some pretty tough subject matter. Sherri L. Smith handles these difficult topics in a forthright and sensitive manner and these issues add a considerable amount of depth to the plot and the characters. Jude is initially a little too abrasive but as more details about her life emerge, she becomes much more sympathetic and easier to like. While the mystery surrounding Maggie's death is completely satisfying, the novel concludes on a rather bittersweet note for Jude. show less

this is basically a slightly better version of the first movie with stunningly gorgeous art. like, some of the best art i’ve ever seen in a comic. and i get that the movie probably had to be what it was to be the colossal blockbuster it was, but heck i like this so much better.

it even has a much, much better version of jake becoming the leader of the omatikaya. i mean, i still think it’s a bad idea, and jake is still toruk makto which is still pretty infuriating. like, why does this show more dumbass who was one of the sky people literally yesterday have to be the Best Na’vi Ever?

but i’m going to have to get past that eventually, right? i’m really just complaining about avatar (2009) at this point. and just, again, this comic is a huge improvement on that specific aspect. given that it’s a retelling of the events of the film from a different perspective, it can’t escape that big, obvious glaring problem with the movie, but it does at least mitigate it somewhat.

i was hoping for more of the same in the movies, and frankly the way of water largely let me down on that score, but here’s hoping. granted i don’t really see them pivoting away from jake being the main character. maybe they’ll at least do more comics like this from various na’vi people’s povs. that would be nice. show less

I love this book and enjoyed Ms Smith's writing style. This is a young adult, historical fiction novel set in the final months of World War II. Although the premise is based on a real-life group of schoolgirls caring for and sending off tokkō pilots, it is about the spaces between sacrifice and duty, grief and hope.

The only thing I knew about tokkō (also known as Kamikaze) pilots is that they deliberately crashed specially made planes directly into enemy warships, which resulted in show more suicide. It was a desperate policy, obviously.

This book tells us about the lives and feelings of these tokkō pilots, as well as the school girls who cared for them. Ms Smith did her research well. I couldn't put the book down. I felt that I was learning about this particular history in a memorable, personal way.

It's a story about how someone could believe in giving their life for a cause and remain so human. show less

This book is not for the faint of heart. This brutal journey with a tough as nails teen heroine and the her "infant" charges will leave you a little heartbroken but also a little hopeful.

My favorite premise in the book is the conjecture of what will happen to racism under the greater threat of possible extinction. The background characters of this story are by turns startlingly and grotesquely human.

I think I'll have to go back and read FLYGIRL now. And I'll be waiting for the next book by show more Sherri Smith. show less