LitBit Speaks

Ryan, Harley and Miles are very different people--the swimmer, the rebel and the nerd. All they've ever had in common is Isaac, their shared best friend. When Isaac dies unexpectedly, the three boys must come to terms with their grief and the impact Isaac had on each of their lives. In his absence, Ryan, Harley and Miles discover things about one another they never saw before, and realize there may be more tying them together than just Isaac. This is a novel about loss and about finding human connection in the wake of tragedy. The Sidekicks  is a novel told through three points of view: Ryan, Harley, and Miles. All three boys had Isaac in common, but as they move through the loss of their friend, they realize they might actually have more in common than they previously thought. Ryan's narrative was probably my favourite of the three, mostly because I could relate to him the most, particularly in the sexuality department. I liked that Ryan wasn't entirely a fan of I...

At Zeppelin Bend, an outdoor education program designed to teach troubled youth the value of hard work, cooperation, and compassion, ten teens are left alone in the wild. The teens are a diverse group who come from all walks of life, and they were all sent to Zeppelin Bend as a last chance to get them to turn their lives around. They’ve just spent nearly two weeks learning to survive in the wilderness, and now their instructors have dropped them off eighteen miles from camp with no food, no water, and only their packs, and they’ll have to struggle to overcome their vast differences if they hope to survive. Inspired by The Canterbury Tales, Feral Youth features characters, each complex and damaged in their own ways, who are enticed to tell a story (or two) with the promise of a cash prize.  Contributors: Shaun David Hutchinson - The main narrative Suzanne Young - A Violation of Rule 16 Marieke Nijkamp -  The Butterfly Effect ;  The Chaos Effect Robin Talle...

Hi, my name is Shane Dawson, and I'm here to tell you that it gets worse. It really does. The problems you have as a kid will seem ridiculous when you get older because bigger and worse problems will come along. But you will learn to deal with them easier as you grow up, or like me, you'll just stop giving a shit. So yes, it gets worse, but you know what gets better? Your tolerance for bullshit. I can't say I hate the It Gets Better  project, but I definitely find it to be more problematic than helpful. Yes, it's true, things can change, but the project often leads to a sense of expectation that things will change on their own, while also giving young people the idea that being young is inevitably horrible and they should simply expect to be bombarded by homophobia, transphobia, physical violence, and feelings of inferiority. Now, this book isn't specifically a response to It Gets Better , but it certainly speaks to the need for a change in how we think about be...

Whoever wrote the uniform policy decided (whyyy?) that girls had to wear skirts, while boys were allowed to wear pants. Sexist. Dumb. Unfair. “Girls must wear a black, pleated, knee-length skirt.” I bet I read those words a hundred times during summer vacation. The problem wasn’t the last word in that sentence. Skirt wasn’t really the issue, not for me. The issue was the first word. Girls. Here’s the thing: I may seem like a girl, but on the inside, I’m a boy. So, from the sounds of the excerpt on the jacket copy, this sounds like it's going to be a book about a trans boy, but I have to say if that's what you're hoping for, you may be disappointed. Other than a smattering of descriptive moments (which sound more like authorial interruptions than inner monologue), the overall story is much more focused on overthrowing the school's dress code rather than Liv exploring what it means to be a trans boy. The narrative voice sounds much more butch grade-six-girl than ...

After Mama Lacy's death, Fella was forced to move in with her grandmother, Mrs. Madison. The move brought Fella all sorts of comforts she wasn't used to at home, but it also meant saying goodbye to her sister Zoey (a.k.a. Zany) and her other mother, Mama Shannon. Though Mama Shannon fought hard to keep Fella, it was no use. Already heartbroken, Fella soon finds herself alone in Mrs. Madison's house, grieving both the death of her mother and the loss of her entire family. Then one night, Zany shows up at Mrs. Madison's house determined to fulfill Mama Lacy's dying wish: to have her ashes spread over the lawn of the last place they were all happy as a family. Of course, this means stealing Mama Lacy's ashes and driving hundreds of miles in the middle of night to Asheville, North Carolina. Their adventure takes one disastrous turn after another, but their impulsive journey helps them rediscover the bonds that truly make them sisters. This short but deep story...

For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens. The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family. Lyrical, rich in detail, and full of magic, Wild Beauty  is a feast for the senses. McLemore is a talented writer, and one who understands how to quietly and slowly develop characters and connections. Her previous work, When the Moon Was Ours  and The Weight of Fe...

Set in 1980s Newfoundland, The Agony of Bun O’Keefe is the story of a 14-year-old girl who runs away to the city and is taken in by a street musician who lives with an eclectic cast of characters: a pot smoking dishwasher with culinary dreams; a drag queen with a tragic past; a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. This is a short book, but a book with a lot of heart and a lot of depth. Bun O'Keefe is fourteen, but her social education has been terribly stunted due to living along with her mother. Her mother is a hoarder who is hiding Bun from everyone and who is slowly eating herself to death. Eventually, in a heated moment, Bun's mother tells her to leave, and so she does, heading into the city to find a way of living on her own. After she meets the kind and helpful Busker Boy, who takes her to his place and lets her live with him and his roommates. Each of them help Bun develop socially and allow he...