Book Review: The Probability of Miracles

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

“People keep talking about this unfolding. I can't trust the unfolding, okay? If there is some higher power making origami out of the universe, it hates my guts. I was a fat kid whose parents got divorced, whose father died, and then who got cancer herself. So no. I don't trust how things are going to unfold.”-- Cam

This is a (mostly) realistic YA book. It is not a cancer book, at least not in the same way John Green's The Fault in Our Stars or any of Lurlene McDaniel's books are. This is a book about reclaiming one's life and figuring out who you are, and happens to have a protagonist with cancer.

Cam Cooper grew up in Disneyland, literally; her parents danced in the Polynesian review. She also happens to have late stage cancer, and is out of options. Her mother has forced her to try everything from hypnosis to voo doo to conventional/experimental treatments. As a last ditch effort, her mom uproots the Cam and her sister, taking them to Promise, Maine, a town known for its strange happenings and miracles. Cam is reluctant about this move, to say the least, but ends up becoming friends (and more?) with Asher, a boy from Promise. While her health improves, Cam doesn't see any 'miracles' happening, but decides to create some to make her mom and sister happy. Hijinks, drama, and apologies ensue, followed by a road trip back to her Disney roots.

There is an edge of magical realism in this book. Promise, Maine is somewhere between Stars Hollow and Weetzie Bat's Shangri-L.A., in that it's filled with quirky characters and strange happenings that can almost, but not quite, be explained away logically. Everything that I love about Joan Bauer's plucky and unusual young women protagonists, but with an extra helping of snark. I laughed during every single chapter, even the last one. Much like Cam learns that her life is more than cancer, I forgot that this was a "cancer book" by the end.

There was little in this book that I can honestly say I disliked. Cam had her selfish moments, but these were understandable. (Two stand out: when she tried to fake miracles for her mom and sister and when she realized she was getting sick again. If those aren't reasons to emotionally shut down a little, I don't know what is).


I'm honestly not sure if I would suggest this book to those who are dealing with cancer, or have dealt with it with their loved ones. It's not disrespectful or unrealistic in its portrayal, but not everyone one wants this level of sarcasm and wit when discussing heavy topics.

I would recommend this book to fans of Joan Bauer's work, especially Hope Was Here. If you liked The Fault in Our Stars but want a slightly more uplifting story, you'd like Wunder's book.

Book Review #2: Feed (Newflesh Trilogy #1) by Mira Grant

This is the truth: We are a nation accustomed to being afraid. If I'm being honest, not just with you but with myself, it's not just the nation, and it's not just something we've grown used to. It's the world, and it's an addiction. People crave fear. Fear justifies everything. --George Mason

Feed is technically a zombie novel. The opening page has a main character literally poking a zombie with a hockey stick; however, if you walk away from this book AFTER reading it and still think it's just a zombie story, then you weren't paying attention. The book lives in the YA section of the bookstore, but any fan of stories that include zombies, or stories that hate on ignorance and modern journalism, will love this book.

The setting: America, fourteen years after two innocent viruses combined and created Kellis-Amberlee, a disease that results in flesh-hungry, mindless beings. George and Shaun Mason, adopted siblings, are part of a top journalist blogging team in a world full of people afraid to leave their homes.  Journalism has gone online because print and TV media lied to the people at the time of the KA breakout, resulting in over a third of the world's population becoming zombies. When the team earns the coveted role of being the only blogging team to follow Democratic candidate Peter Ryman during his campaign, they're elated. As expected, the campaign is not not a boring collection of speeches, but rather a dangerous attempt to unravel the mystery of who would want Senator Ryman, and their team, dead.


“My mother once told me that no women is naked when she comes equipped with a bad mood and a steady glare.”

Let me start by saying this - I don't read zombie books. I fought a whole passel of my friends when they handed me Grant's book. I did not need, nor want to read a cheesy horror book about the flesh-eating undead. But, I fell into this book. I love the characters - George is a strong, intelligent, snarky woman and Shaun is brave, quick on his feet, and 100% ALIVE. All of the side characters are real, 3-dimensional people, and no one is all good or all evil. Feed shines a light on a lot of important issues: the fallibility of the news/media, the growing trend of relying on online sources, and the direction we are headed as a country, insofar as social structure and interaction.

I struggled to find things that I disliked about this book, aside from not being able to find the sequel the exact moment I finished reading. The ending threw me for a loop and made me angry, but it fit the storyline.

Once upon a time, science fiction was the setting for social commentary, as it was safe to discuss politics or gender discrimination, so long as it's far away or happening to another species. It seems like post-apocalyptic and good zombie books have taken up the social commentary torch, and are bringing the issues closer to home.

If you like reading about poking zombies with a stick or thoughtful commentary on society, politics, and the various types of news media, you will love Feed.

If you like Feed, consider trying Alden Bell's The Reapers Are the Angels. 

Jenn Matters' Book Review #1: Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green/David Leviathan

maybe tonight you're scared of falling...or how and when you're gonna land, and i gotta tell you friends that to stop thinking about the landing, because it's all about the falling.

Will Grayson Will Grayson technically falls into the YA genre of books, but anyone alive in the modern age should walk away from this book having laughed, learned something, and maybe even shed a tear or two.

"You're a pillar of fabulosity in the community".

This is what Will Grayson (the first we meet) tells his best friend, gayer than gay, and more alive than any teenager I've ever met, Tiny Cooper. And because I appreciate Tiny, I have to argue that this book is as much his story as it is the story of any Will Grayson.

The basic sitch: Two teenage boys named Will Grayson live in different Chicago suburbs. Will-1 is straight, best friends with Tiny, sort of in love with friend Jane, and living by 2 rules - Don't care too much about anything/one and 2. Shut up. Will-2 starts out emo-tastic and grows to become simply another person fighting depression, and falling in love with Tiny helps him realize the truth about a lot of things. Quite a bit of the story centers around the production of Tiny Dancer, a play about Tiny's life, and the truths that come out about our boys in the process of the play coming to life.

I was struck by the myriad of astute observations about life that Tiny and the two WGs made - truth and love are forever connected, love is way more than just sex or even romance, you don't chose your true friends, and its worth it to open the box (to see if the cat is alive/dead).

I searched for things to dislike about this book, but am still looking for them. If you are even vaguely bothered by the concept of homosexuality, or even scarier, the concept of wanting to be comfortable with who you are -- this book is not for you.

Everybody else, dive in!

If you like Will Grayson Will Grayson, you'd also like David Leviathan's Boy Meets Boy or possibly Joyce Carol Oate's Big Mouth and Ugly Girl.