Joan Bauer

What a season! January and February winter winds whipped the air. One NE Pennsylvania snowstorm brought 17" of icy cold accumulation. What at first provided a beautiful white wonderland, became ugly, gray piles that stubbornly refused to abandon their steadfast mountain.

Finally after unrelenting days of heavy, pelting rain, the tangible reminder of cold, bitter days melted into the wet earth.

Today's sunshine brought a harbinger of spring. And, the delightful book I finished tonight was a show more breath of fresh, clean, cottony air!

My winter reads included Never Let Me Go and Unwind, both of which dealt with the heavy topic of futuristic dystopian worlds of cloning and recycled bodies. The Death of Sweet Mister, while excellently written, was indeed dark and grim in subject matter. The Measure of Our Days was read during a time when my beloved friend struggled valiantly during her final battle with ovarian cancer.

Thus, when reading Stand Tall I welcomed the cool, fresh breezy of a gentle story which included a delightful cast of characters who overcame difficulties, planted their roots and reached through the branches of the tree to see a clear blue, bright sky.

"Tree" is an awkwardly tall 6' 3" twelve-year old boy whose family is facing divorce. Newly transplanted, unsophisticated Sophie is the butt of jokes from the oh so pretty snobs. Tree's grandfather is a Viet Nam veteran who recently experienced a leg amputation, and Bradley is Tree's aged dog who is tired and weary.

In the hands of Joan Bauer each learn to call upon inner strength they need to walk forward and stand tall.

The book contains flag waving, flute playing, drum banging and good ole spirit that warms the heart.

Many thanks to allthesedarnbooks (Marcia) for telling me about his wonderful book.

Highly recommended. show less

Don't let the cover full you! There is nothing over the top fluffy about the tale of a spunky, spirited, scared twelve year old whose father is a jerk and whose mother needs the jerk in her life more than needing to provide stability for her daughter.

There is nothing soft and fuzzy about a mother who is emotionally, mentally unstable and whose actions lead to homelessness for herself and her daughter.

Highly recommended. This is a poignant, honest look at how very strong young children can be show more under incredible adversity.

I also love the fact that the author provided a strong role model in a sixth grade teacher who cared deeply. There is a great message here about the power of teachers to shape lives.

The writing is wonderful and emotion laden. show less

Joan Bauer has won multiple awards for her young adult fiction. The heroine in this book, Jenna Boller, is a down-to-earth, self-consciously tall 16-year-old teenager who is more mature than her years. She has had to help raise her younger sister since her now-single mother works the night shift as a nurse to support the three of them. Her father is an alcoholic. Her grandmother, who was always her best friend when Jenna was growing up, has developed Alzheimer’s.

Jenna has a job selling show more shoes at Gladstone’s, a purveyor of quality shoes that is about to be sold to a big company more interested in sales than soles, as Jenna would say. Her aged and wealthy boss, Mrs. Madeline Gladstone, hires Jenna to drive her from Chicago down to Dallas to attend the stockholders meeting at which Mrs. Gladstone will try to stop the takeover, even though it is spearheaded by her own son, Elden. The trip takes six weeks, since Mrs. Gladstone wants to stop and inspect stores along the way. Jenna helps out by pretending to be a customer so she can make “stealth” evaluations for Mrs. Gladstone.

When they reach Dallas, Jenna gets to meet the top shoe salesman in the country, Harry Bender. Bender, who is a recovered alcoholic, takes her under his wing and teaches her about caring, not just for others, but also for herself. By the time Jenna has arrived home, she has changed quite a bit, but so has her family: “We’d all been on journeys this summer.”

Discussion: Bauer, herself the daughter of an alcoholic, provides an excellent portrait of the family dynamics that ensue from living with an alcoholic. She shows us the pain, the coping mechanisms, the hopes and the dashed hopes, and yet manages not to paint too maudlin a picture. Moreover, she also gives a sympathetic and loving description of what happens with Alzheimer’s disease. Jenna, like the character Hope in Bauer’s later book Hope Was Here, is constantly trying to find the bright side, and yet not cloyingly so. Her problems don’t go away, but the way she deals with them undergoes a big change as she matures and gains confidence.

Evaluation: This is a warm book that will inspire other young teens dealing with problems to be survivors. Jenna’s motto is to focus, both on what really matters in life, and on solutions to problems rather than on dwelling on the negatives. Bauer is an optimist, but her optimism is grounded in real hardships. Her message, that these trials can make you stronger instead of knocking you down, is a great one for teens. show less

“I’m going to make the world a better place, one cupcake at a time,” is Foster McFee’s motto. Her goal is to have her own children’s cooking show on The Food Network, just like her idol Sonny Kroll. But first she’s got to overcome a few obstacles.

She and her mother, Rayka, flee Memphis because of Rayka’s abusive boyfriend, Huck, the Elvis impersonator. At a result, Foster has a fear of all Elvis’. She left her Las Vegas pillowcase behind, the one with all of her mementoes of show more her father who died in the Iraq war. So, she’s got to learn that it’s what’s inside that counts, the memories, the feelings. There are a few other obstacles she must overcome, but I’ll leave you to discover those by yourself.

Rayka and Foster settle in Culpepper, West Virginia, a small town populated with big hearted people, among them Kitty and Lester who give them a place to stay, Perseverance Wilson who is trying to save a church from being sold and Miss Charleena, a movie star who moved back home to avoid the paparazzi.

It’s been over two years since the last Joan Bauer book and that’s too long to wait. She is a marvelous author. On her webpage she states, “I need to find hope in the world. I need to laugh. That’s why I write.” Her books are full of hope and full of laughter and just downright fun to read. Foster is a spunky twelve-year-old with big ambitions. Macon, her very short twelve-year-old friend wants to be a documentary film maker. Her mother wants to be a singer. Everyone in Culpepper seems to be working towards a goal. They all have hardships to overcome. But they also have spunk.

Bauer’s writing is descriptive, sometimes flowery, sometimes down to earth. Her plot is fun and moves quickly. But it’s her characters that take the cake (no pun intended). They are interesting, funny, quirky, and endearing. You’ll take to them immediately and want to know what happens to them.

So, if you’re looking for a fun to read, hopeful, funny book, Close to Famous is definitely for you. Then start at the beginning and read some of her earlier books, Hope Was Here, Rules of the Road, and Peeled. The only thing that could make Close to Famous more delicious would be to have some of the recipes in the back of the book, especially the Triple Chocolate Cupcakes. show less