J. Minter

I have read a few books lately whose topic is that marriage is not what it seems. Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl shows us the remnants of a bad marriage through the unreliable eyes of both spouses. Chris Pavone's The Expats uses the spy game as a metaphor for how little we really know how our own spouse.

Ben Schrank's novel Love Is a Canoe has a different take. Peter Herman wrote a hugely successful self-help book titled Love Is a Canoe, filled with the wisdom his loving grandparents shared with show more him as a teen. They taught him the importance of being respectful, treating the person you love with kindness, and many other bromides.

Peter fell in love with a young girl one summer when he was with his grandparents, and following his grandparents' advice, he pursued this girl and eventually married her. They bought an inn and restaurant in upstate New York and lived a happy life.

His wife fell ill and died, and now Peter is dating someone. He hasn't written anything else, and his publishing company has reissued his book many times, still selling a few copies here and there.

Stella is a young editor at the publishing house trying to move up the ladder. She comes up with an idea for a contest where couples would write in asking for marital advice. The winner would spend the day with Peter, stay at his inn and get some helpful guidance from him.

There were a few problems: Peter has had little contact with his publisher over the years, and they had to find just the right couple. Only one couple fits the bill- Emily and Eli. They have been happily married, until Eli cheated on Emily with a work colleague. Will Peter be able to help them? Stella's career depends on it.

There is a lot of inside stuff about working at a publishing house. The woman who is running the company is feared by all, and she was the editor on Peter's book. Schrank works for Penguin publishing and he shows us the pitch meetings, the jockeying for position, and the day-to-day inner workings. It is great fun to read, and this was my favorite part of the book.

This book surprised me with where it was going, and I truly like that in a novel. Taking that ride and not knowing where we'd end up was exciting. People are not necessarily who we have been led to believe, and things are not as they always appear.

The characters are well-drawn, although I thought people were too hard on Stella, ascribing character flaws to her that I do not believe she had. Schrank juggled the various storylines- Peter, Stella at the publishing house and Emily and Eli's marriage- so well that each one of these stories could have made for an interesting book. He brings them together skillfully.

In the end, my general feelings about self-help books were vindicated, but I'm not going to tell you what they are for that would ruin the ending of this wonderful book. show less

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

Flan Flood is back with another adorable novel about her and her crazy friends. (Some more literally crazy then others.)

Two of her closest friends fall for the same guy. And Flan has to be his lab partner. And even though she has an amazing boyfriend who really cares about her, is Flan really the one with feelings for the freshman varsity football quarterback?

I absolutely adore Flan. She has a life that so many teens envy, but she still goes show more through real issues. She is a character that is so easy to relate to and can seem so real, minus the fact that she's filthy rich.

Take this book to the beach, sit back, and relax, because you're in for a fun ride! show less

This is a young adult novel, about a group of privileged male teenage friends who live in Manhattan.

As a rule, YA novels are written simply, without a lot of detail. This book takes that trend to a new level. It is so sketchily written that I often wondered what the fuss was about (it was explained in about two sentences and could be missed). Essentially, the issue in this novel is the visit of a cousin, Kelli, of the main narrator, Jonathan. She is beautiful and knows it, and inserts show more herself into the lives of most of the other characters, not necessarily in a good way. She's out for a good time and doesn't consider these friendships important.

Many episodes happen to each of the characters but these events are not meaningful to me because both the events and the characters are like transparent film. Hard to see.

Admittedly I am not a fan of YA novels. But this one is so bad it is hard for me to believe the comment on the back cover (by author Cecily von Ziegasar): "It's physically impossible not to fall madly, unreasonably in love with each one of the Insiders." Ridiculous. I hardly remember who they are. show less

Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

Flan Flood is back!

It's time for Thanksgiving break, and Flan's family has been invited to the island of Nevis in the Caribbean by the Zumberg's. Fran is told that she can bring one of her friends along. After careful consideration, Flan throws caution to the wind and invites BOTH Judith and Meredith along for the holiday. So the three girls get themselves packed and off they fly for their week-long holiday of fun in the sun.

But the holiday is nothing show more like Flan had dreamed. Within a day, Judith is miserable because the other two girls won't let her cram for the finals that they will return to after the holiday. And Meredith has met Kennedy, Flan's old nemesis from her days at Miss Mallard's. After a confrontation, Judith is packed and headed home. And Meredith starts to defend Kennedy to Flan.

Flan is miserable and Meredith is having the holiday that Flan thought they'd all share. After a desperate phone call to Sara-Beth Benny, Flan's BBF, a helicopter arrives on the stretch of beach that Flan was relaxing on, alone. Out pops SBB, along with a huge steamer trunk that the two of them bought together prior to Flan's holiday. SBB has discovered that the steamer trunk has become a great place to hide away in. So she shares it with Flan, and the whirlwind visit is enough to perk Flan back up.

But it's only after sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with her family that the vacation truly turns into the holiday Flan was expecting. Her old friend Camille (who had abandoned her for the flash of Kennedy) has shown up and literally apologizes to Flan. Flan realizes what she's been missing since attending school at Stuyvesant High. It makes Flan start to reevaluate the choices she's made for herself and decide if she's truly happy.

SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL is a deliciously fun continuation of the INSIDE GIRL novels. Flan and her group of friends live amazing lives that the reader gets caught up in and envious over. Living vicariously through them all makes for a guilty pleasure. You won't want to miss what Flan and her gang gets up to in the latest installment! And watch out for more when ALL THAT GLITTERS comes out in September. show less