The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Measure by Nikki Erlick is one of those books that really makes you stop and think. The premise is wild but fascinating—everyone in the world over the age of 22 gets a box with a string inside, and the length of that string tells them how long they have left to live. What would you do if you knew how much time you had left? Would you want to know?

The story follows different characters as they deal with the impact of this mystery, and I loved how their lives were all connected in some way, even if they didn’t know it. Some people open the box, others don’t, and the way each person handles the knowledge (or lack of it) is so interesting. The book dives into big ideas about fate, choice, and how we define our lives, but it also has this really human, emotional core that keeps it grounded.

For me, this book really got me thinking. It feels so relevant to everything going on in the world today, and I appreciated how it tackled society’s issues and those inevitable life events from so many different perspectives. And that ending—it felt so real and touching. It made me reflect on the story in a whole new way, just like how we can look at life and what’s happening in the world around us and see things differently with time. Honestly, it mirrors a lot of what’s going on in the country right now.

Parallel Universes in Realistic Fiction

I first read The Other Life by Ellen Meister in 2011, shortly after it came out. I loved the concept and the writing, and loved Meister's other books when I read them later. But the overall concept of The Other Life stuck with me. Quinn finds a portal in her laundry room that allows her to travel between the life she used to live with an old boyfriend, and her current life with her husband and son. I've previously written about the book:

There is a supernatural element of the portals that take Quinn from her "real" life to her other life, but they are explained very well, and it was easy to picture the fissures and Quinn's travel without feeling like you'd been displaced into a sci-fi novel. The portals are logically discussed before the end of the book, and with the focus being more on people and relationships than the paranormal, I would say this book is literary fiction more so than being classified in any sub-genre.

I loved the concept because I always liked wondering what would happen if. I remember being a kid at my grandparents' house, spacing out and wondering what things would feel like if I didn't exist. I wouldn't even know what I was missing. Pretty strange thoughts for a seven-year-old, but I think that's where all my wondering started. Every time I've made a big decision relating to moves, jobs, schools, etc, I take a few minutes to imagine how each path might turn out. I know there's no way to really know how things will be until you're in the moment, but some of my decisions have been drastic enough (like being offered two jobs in dramatically different fields) that I can speculate.

Then the TV show Community rocked my world with "Remedial Chaos Theory", a remarkable episode of television, especially for a half-hour sitcom, that approaches the concept of parallel universes. Each time the dice are rolled, a different outcome plays, showing everyone all the things that could have possibly happened if one thing was changed. 

I recently got hooked by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and loved her book Maybe In Another Life. It was more like The Other Life than "Remedial Chaos Theory", but it was really well done. Hannah has been feeling adrift in her life, unsure of everything from what career she should pursue to what city she should live in. When a friend convinces her to come back to her hometown of LA, Hannah is willing to try, partially because her high school boyfriend still lives there. On her first night back, Hannah goes to a bar with her friend to have a "welcome home!" party. In one universe, she goes home with her high school boyfriend to rekindle their romance. In the other, she goes home with the friend she's staying with. The chapters alternate from that point on, and the story develops so beautifully.

By the end, I did have a few questions about some of the "meant to be" aspects in one universe that didn't seem to completely apply in the other, so I need someone else to read this and talk to me about it! The last couple of chapters also had some of the same paragraphs copied and pasted - I know it's to show how things can be the same in both universes and still be "right" in each separate one, but as a reader, I don't want to see the exact same verbiage twice. I skimmed those paragraphs, but that was my only minor "issue" with the book.

Last year I started writing down some of my bigger decisions that led to one thing and could have gone a totally different way. It was my goal to write poems about what might have happened if I made the opposite choice. I haven't been able to find a good starting point, but reflecting on these books and episodes might be giving me the creative kick I need.

Daisy Jones and the Six

I don't remember how I heard about this book - everyone's buzzing about it, so maybe I saw a friend was reading it via Goodreads, or saw it on #bookstagram. Either way, I put it on hold at the library and didn't have to wait too long to start it. I was so excited to crack open the cover, which felt amazing in itself, because I haven't been reading much lately.

Then I started the story. WOW. Not only do I love classic rock and band drama from the '70s, but it's so well-written, and presented in an interesting way of the author compiling a narrative from all parties involved.

Also, it's totally the book I've been trying to write for decades.

I'm not saying the author stole my work or my idea or anything like that! I'm just feeling validated that this idea I had as a thirteen year old Aerosmith fanatic might actually have literary merit! I thought the story I was writing was glorified fan fiction, but  Daisy Jones and the Six has me rethinking that, and revisiting my story.

There are so many quotes about how you can't be a writer without being a reader, and I've always been a reader. And I've always loved music. And falling in love with Aerosmith as a young teenager gave me a way to connect music and writing. I worked on my fan fiction novel off and on for several years. I'm not exaggerating when I say I think of it often, even as an adult. I think of the title (which I still think is pretty perfect), and the main character, and what really should happen in the end. Because of course I haven't finished it!

But now, on the cusp of finishing Daisy Jones and the Six and honestly having no clue what will happen, I'm intrigued about my own story again. I want to re-read what I wrote so long ago, and see how my age and wisdom (ha!) might influence how the story will pan out. It's so refreshing to find a book that has not only made me fall in love with reading again, but has also made me fall back in love with writing, imagining, and all that comes along with that type of creating.

Joshilyn Jackson

I read gods in Alabama in 2005 and it changed my life. Seriously. I have loved books and authors before, but the style of this writing and the story itself was so perfect… yet seemed like something I could write. Not in a way where I would scoff and say “Even I could write that!” But in a way that pushed me to write so I could love a book of my own as much as I loved that one.

I got to see Joshilyn Jackson speak at Square Books not long after her first book was published, and saw her a time or two after that as well. Her voice is amazing and her personality is so fun and charming. I used to read her blog obsessively, and her personality came out there too. This led me to feeling like I knew her, and that we were best friends… Which got super awkward when I saw her in 2017 at the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference in Atlanta. I greeted her like an old friend, but she is amazing and gracious and gave me the LAST ARC of her upcoming (at the time) book, which I dove into as soon as I got back to the hotel.

I have all of her books and love them and can’t wait to read more by her. As soon as I read her first book, she catapulted into my Top 5 Authors of all time, but as she writes more and more, she’s made it to that number one spot of Favorite Author by being consistently fantastic and innovative with her stories, while staying true to her writing self.

This Is Where It Ends

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp is a book about a school shooting. It seems like I've been reading a lot of school shooting books lately... I won't say it's a trend, the way vampires were and zombies are, but I've been reading about it frequently. I like it, though, because there are so many different ways to portray it: from the victim's point of view; from a bystander's point of view; from the shooter's point of view, or all of the above. Plus more.

Nijkamp tells the story from the points of view of four different students. They share flashbacks about how they know the shooter, what their relationships were like, how they changed, and why they think this event is occurring. There is the girl who used to date the shooter, the girl who was bullied by him, the bullied girl's twin brother, and the sister of the victim. The way they relate to the shooter, both in flashbacks and during the action, is very emotional.

The action takes place in about an hour, starting with a high school assembly. This tight time frame really builds the suspense, especially with four narrators in different areas of the school.

For how well the four narrators are developed, the shooter is a flat character. I would have loved to have him as a narrator, to find out why he flipped and decided to shoot up the school. The way he was portrayed was pretty stereotypical, so that aspect of the book was a little disappointing. It's still an interesting, emotional read, if you're in the mood for such realistic fiction.

Other books about school shootings I've read recently include: Violent Ends edited by Shaun David Hutchinson, Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Damage Done by Amanda Panitch, and The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs (reviewed for Cleaver Magazine).

Since You've Been Gone

Plot Summary
Emily was a nobody until Sloane came along and picked Emily to be her best friend. For two years, Emily was able to be included just by being at Sloane’s side, but when Sloane leaves without a trace, Emily is lost. Until a list arrives in the mail, a list like those Sloane would make before Emily went on a trip. A list of dares, of things to do in a new place. Emily is intimidated by a lot of the items on the list - kiss a stranger? Skinny dip? - but is determined to complete them all, because she’s sure they’ll lead her back to Sloane.

Critical Analysis
Though a lot of young adult books seem to have lists of dares involved, written by a friend who has left or died, this stands out as being very original. Matson has a great voice that makes the scenes seem realistic instead of hokey, and the ending is incredibly satisfying.

Resources
Read more by Morgan Matson!
+     Matson, Morgan. Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young
          Readers, 2011. Print.
After her father dies, Amy is moving across the country with her mother. She decides to drive from California to Connecticut, but there’s a hitch - her mother’s friend’s son is coming along. Amy was looking forward to taking a trip by herself - will she be able to drive across the country with a guy she doesn’t even know?
+     Matson, Morgan. Second Chance Summer. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young
          Readers, 2013. Print.
Taylor has always run from her problems, but when her family goes back for a summer at the lake house their haven’t visited for years, she has to face her former best friend and first crush.

Related Activities
Sloane makes Emily lists of things to try when she’s traveling. It’s an attempt to pull Emily out of her shell, to push her beyond her comfort zone. What tasks on the list intimidate your teens the most? What would your teens include on lists for their best friends? Have them write up a list, or take suggestions for a list all the teens who visit the library can do! If you know your teens really well, write personalized lists for them and slip them into a book they check out! Use Sloane’s list for Emily as a jumping-off point, but if you make the tasks more school and library related, you can keep tabs on the teens and they’ll have fun sharing what they’ve accomplished.

Read it for yourself!
Matson, Morgan. Since You’ve Been Gone. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2015. Print.

Rain Is Not My Indian Name

Plot Summary
Rain is a photographer who fell in love with her best friend, Galen. When Galen dies in a car accident, Rain loses herself and her creative passion. She skips Galen’s funeral and sinks into a 6-month-long depression. The only thing that makes her come up for air is the chance to photograph an Indian camp for the local paper. Rain is one of the few Indians in her small town, but doesn’t feel connected to the culture since her father is white. After photographing the camp and learning that even her former friend, an African-American, is proud of the Indian blood in her lineage, will Rain find a passion for her people?

Critical Analysis
The themes of the book are photography and Native Americans, but neither topic is explored to its full potential. The storyline of Galen’s death is the only one that is satisfactorily resolved; the others fade out before they’re completed. Rain is a flat character; teens would more than likely find it hard to relate to her. She’s interested in photography, but doesn’t seem passionate about it, and nothing else about her personality sticks out. Rain’s grandfather, who is only present via postcards sent from Vegas, is more interesting than the main character herself. This book is more appropriate for younger readers, probably topping out at age 12, though Rain herself is 14. The book is also only 14 years old, but comes across as extremely dated; the story isn’t strong enough to be classified as timeless. Some of the sentences were awkward and wordy, making it hard to comprehend what was being said, and making the reader very aware that they’re reading a story. Overall, the book wasn’t too engaging, so I wouldn’t recommend it even for younger readers.

Related Activities
Rain is a photographer, using a 35mm camera and developing her own film. If your library has the financial resources, it’d be fun to host a pinhole camera makerspace— find instructions here, from:
          343GUILTYSPARK. How To Make A Pinhole Camera. Instructables, n.d. Web. 5 July 2015.

For those who don’t have the resources, you can still have fun “developing” photos. Have teens use their camera phones and the library’s iPads to take journalistic photos of each other in the stacks and around the building. Print them off and send home copies, hang them up, and post them on social media to show what’s going on at the library. You can even make the photos look like they came from a pinhole camera by using a needle to poke a hole in a small square of cardboard and tape it over the camera lens to let less light in. Teens will have to be more conscious of how they frame photos with these limitations!

Resources
Edward Curtis was an early 1900’s photographer who wanted to document American-Indian tribes before they disappeared. See his work here:
          Native Americans: Epic Photojournalism. NetFoxNews.com, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 5 July
               2015.
In 2005 Aaron Huey, a modern photojournalist, documented people living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. See his photos here:
          Teicher, Jordan G. A Photographer’s Moving Tribute to the Pine Ridge Reservation.
               Slate.com, 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 July 2015.
Aaron Huey created a space for people of the Pine Ridge community to upload their own photos and stories as an interactive storytelling project. View it here:
          Huey, Aaron. Pine Ridge Community Storytelling Project. Cowbird.com, 20 Mar.
               2012. Web. 5 July 2015.
Aaron Huey also gave a 15 minute TED talk, found here:
          Huey, Aaron. America’s native prisoners of war. Ted.com, Sept. 2010. Web. 5 July 2015.

Professional Review
Edwards, Carol A. "Rain Is Not My Indian Name." School Library Journal 47.6 (2001): 156. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 5 July 2015.

Read it for yourself!
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Rain Is Not My Indian Name. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Print.