I’ve read a number of books, written from the Korean perspective, about the Japanese occupation of Korea (Lost Names by Richard E Kim; Whem My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park; Home Was the Land of Morning Calm by K. Connie Kang; Year of Impossible Good-byes and sequels by Sook Nyul Choi). This is the first book I’ve read that tells of the hardships suffered by the Japanese citizens who lived in Korea at the end of World War II.

Yoko Kawashima and her family lived in northern Korea. When World War II ended, they were trapped between communists moving down from Russia, angry Koreans who wanted their homeland back, and the Japanese military who weren’t ready to give up. Yoko, her mother and sister make the dangerous journey south to Seoul and then on to Japan. But once they get to Japan, their struggles aren’t over. Homeless and separated from family, they must struggle to survive. This was an amazing story of strength in the face of adversity, and honor in spite of a world gone mad.

Leigh and Gary live in a small town in Kansas with their two children, Kara and Justin. While Leigh has always had a good relationship with her son, she just doesn’t understand Kara. Leigh has tried to give Kara everything that Leigh didn’t have as a girl growing up, but it just isn’t enough. When Kara is involved in a tragic accident, Leigh must figure out how to reach her daughter, or risk losing her altogether.

This was a great family fiction book. It’s reminiscent of Jodi Picoult, but I think Moriarty does a better job writing about the family dynamics. Piccoult tends to over dramatize the parent-child relationship, while Moriarty portrays a more realistic view of family life. This is Moriarty’s second book, and I’m looking forward to reading more by her in the future.

In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, we are introduced to four friends: Lena, Carmen, Bridget and Tibby.  The girls have been friends since birth, and are drawn even closer together with the discovery of a magical pair of jeans.  The jeans fit anyone who wears them, and seem to also bring good luck to the wearer.  The girls use the pants as a link when they can’t be together to support each other in person.

In Brashares’ fourth (and final?) book about the four friends, the girls have just finished their freshman year at college,and are off on another summer of adventure.  Bridget is on archaeology dig in Turkey, Tibby is spending the summer writing her screenplay, Carmen stumbles into acting, and Lena is chasing her dream of becoming an artist.

I’ve always loved series about groups of best friends (The Babysitters’ Club anyone?).  Brashares’ series started out fabulously.  She is a talented writer, and she managed to write about four best girlfriends in a way that made it seem possible and even fun!  (If you are a girl and have ever tried to be friends equally with three other girls in high school, you know this is no easy feat!)

But I really struggled with her last book.  It wasn’t the writing so much, although she did get a little too sentimental.  My big problem was the amount of sex three of the four girls were having, with no negative consequences to speak of.  This series is meant to appeal to middle school girls and up.  The first two books (in my memory) are fairly clean, and will easily draw young girls in.  But in this last book, sex is just flashed around as something to: do when you’re drunk, do when you’re lonely, do in spite of your parents’ wishes, do in your parent’s house, do without thinking about it, and do with one person when you really want to do it with someone else.  And (with the exception of one pregnancy scare) there are no consequences.  No babies, no ruined relationships, no diseases, no lasting heartaches, and no regrets.  Brashares has created four strong female characters in Lena, Carmen, Bridget and Tibby.  Instead of sending them off into the world as independent, moral, decisive women, she has cheapened them into girls who have sex for all the wrong reasons, and then don’t even realize that anything is wrong.  I think she’s sending a terrible message to the many girls who are reading her books and identifying with her characters.

I know this comment is going to make me sound old and cranky (“Oh, the good old days. . .”) but I’m going to say it anyway. Authors just don’t write books for young adults like this one anymore. Paterson’s book is an award winning classic for so many reasons:

• The setting (island in the Chesapeake Bay) is both realistic and spectacular .
• Louise’s struggles (jealousy of her sister; fighting for her parent’s love; longing to belong) are very real.
• The island characters are unique without being quirky, and they have depth without being pretentious.
• The plot is simple, but you are immediately engaged in Louise’s life.

However, the most satisfying part of the book for me is the ending. Louise’s problems don’t magically disappear. But through hard work and time, Louise learns to understand her own family, come to peace with her own life, and can even use her own experiences to help others.

I have loved some of Lasky’s earlier books (Beyond the Burning Time, Night Journey, Beyond the Divide). The Last Girls of Pompeii is an interesting read, but isn’t one her best. In spite of that, it was a good story, full of historical details about Pompeii that add a sense of reality to her fictional tale. The book takes place in the days before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Julia is the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder. Sara is the family’s slave, and Julia’s personal attendant and best friend. When Julia’s parents make a decision that will change both Julia’s and Sara’s futures, the girls must decide how to take their future into their own hands.

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