Mirkat Always Reading

This book is the November selection of my library's "Forever YA" book club. I had never heard of this book or Jeff Zentner, and I would probably not have stumbled across this book if it hadn't been a club selection. Now I'm an instant fan of Zentner's.

Lydia, Dill, and Travis are outcasts at their Forrestville, Tennessee high school. Fortunately, they have one another. Lydia writes a fashion blog that has gotten her attention from influential people and secured future roommates for if/when she goes to university in NYC. Dill's father is a disgraced, snake-handling Pentecostal minister who is serving a prison sentence. Dill is expected to work to pay off his father's debts. Travis works in a lumber yard and escapes his physically and emotionally abusive father by losing himself in a book series that sounds very much like George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series.

I love me some quirky, creative teenage characters, especially ones who enjoy "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. I of course had to go on YouTube and watch/listen to the video.

I don't want to give away this book's secrets. I will only say that this book has so much heart and humor. There are parts that made me cry. I was lying in bed, listening to the audiobook, tearing up, and thinking, "DAMN you, book!"

Thank you, Albany Public Library, for introducing me to this book and author. I will definitely be seeking out more books by Jeff Zentner.