Rhythm & Muse, by India Hill Brown

     My human met Ms. Hill at a conference two weeks ago, and from the sounds of it, she is very much like this book of hers - very nice, approachable, smart and funny. Rhythm & Muse is not her first book, but she is still a new-ish author and I have not yet read any of her other stories. I don't know why if they are anything like this one, which I found really engaging and easy to read!

    Rhythm & Muse is a romance story about two teens, Delia and Darren, who attend the same high school and who know each other, but only casually. Delia has a weekly podcast that seemingly everyone listens to and loves, and she is popular, beautiful, and has no trouble attracting romantic attention. Darren is a quiet kid, with a singing voice like non other, but he would rather live inside his own head than put himself out there for the world to critique and judge. So he keeps his talent mostly to himself, and doesn't allow Delia to know she really has his attention. That's where Darren's friends come in, and the book unfolds with a wonderful blend of romance, honesty, humor, reality, and of course, music!

    I liked the book until I was about half way through it, then I found myself not wanting to stop reading! I couldn't wait to find out if or how Darren was going to finally let Delia know how much he likes her...or if he was ever going to! As a total package, I wouldn't say this book is "amazing" and it may not win a lot of awards...but as a romance book goes, it's wonderful! Usually when I want a good teen romance I go straight to Sarah Dessen - she has been writing  romance novels for a very long time, and definitely knows what she's doing! Even Jaquelyn Woodson has some very real and honest feeling relationships in all of her books. India Brown holds her own in the romance department, and I would recommend this book to anyone open to a nice, fun, real romantic book! 5 paws!

When We Flew Away, by Alice Hoffman

     The Diary of a Young Girl is the real life journal of a Jewish girl named Anne Frank. The book is famous for her simple, beautiful and terrifying account of her two years spent in hiding with her family while the Nazi's of Germany systematically searched for and moved Jewish people to labor - or concentration - camps, where 6 million of them would eventually die during the course of World War 2.

    Veteran author Alice Hoffman's latest release, When We Flew Away, is the fictionalized account of Anne Frank in the few years leading up to her capture by the Nazis during World War 2. Hoffman tries to create Anne's world in the years they go into hiding in Amsterdam. The Frank family fled Germany when Anne was four years old to live in the Netherlands in an attempt to evade the growing Nazi threat to Jews and others deemed "less than". When We Flew Away attempts to create the setting of Anne and her family in the two or three years leading up to their hiding in an attic to survive the growing Nazi hatred.

    Hoffman shares in the author notes at the end of the story how she is a member of a Russian Jewish family who had successfully fled Nazi persecution to land in New York City, and how reading The Diary of a Young Girl at the age of twelve had changed her life. She recommends that every person read that book, and I second that feeling - if you have never read Anne Frank's diary, you should read it at some point. It is life changing. But for all of Hoffman's good intentions, and for the importance of this story being told and retold and remembered by all of humanity so that it never happens again, When We Flew Away misses the mark. Not in the sense of the urgency and horror  - and the hope - of the overall story, and the fact that this really happened, not all that long ago, and that we need to be vigilant, all of us, so that it never happens again. Even though all of this is imbedded in the story, Hoffman really seems to stumble over what to write and how to bring Anne's pre-story to life.

    Before Anne Frank received the infamous journal for her 13th birthday and began writing what would become The Diary of a Young Girl, not a lot is known of the details of her everyday life. She wasn't famous or anything, so there would be no reason to know the in's and out's of her every day living. In trying to create that world, Hoffman repeats a lot of thoughts and sentiments, to the degree that I wondered while I was reading if anyone edited her book before publishing it. It's like she knew what she wanted to do with Anne's story but had little idea how to do it. Which was surprising as Hoffman has authored many books.

    When We Flew Away is a good story, but more so because Anne's story is so important. I recommend reading Diary of a Young Girl. If you are moved by it - and you will be - read Hoffman's book if you want to explore Anne's life further. But don't be disappointed if you come away just wanting to the read her diary again. I give this book 4 paws, because the subject matter is so critical to all of us and a story every person (and dog!) should know. However, with different subject matter, the best I could offer this surprisingly clunky book would be 2 or 3 paws. A great idea for a book, but disappointing in its completion.