Brave Hearts

Note: This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk. Nyahahaha.

I recently finished reading three YA books, namely Invisible, Love and Muddy Puddles, and Charlie Franks is A-OK. All of them are written by Cecily Anne Paterson, a writer from Australia. I will say this outright: I totally love her books. Easy reads and unpretentious. Why? Easy reads as I could finish a book in one sitting, although that did not happen since I have work. But it is possible. Unpretentious because the circumstances the girls are in or get themselves into are very real, and these were transposed into three wonderful stories. Each girl faced their own challenges as bravely as they knew how.

It was difficult to put down the books since I wanted to see right away how each story progressed. It's as if Ms. Paterson gave the readers free tickets to explore the minds and lives of teenage girls. Remind those past their teenage years of their own lives as teens, even. Ms. Paterson perfectly captured the different personalities of the girls as thirteen-year-olds.

Having read these books transported me back to when I was thirteen myself. Quite unlike Jazmine (Invisible), Coco (Love and Muddy Puddles), and Charlie (Charlie Franks is A-OK). Although I imagine that if my thirteen-year-old self was in the same class as the three girls, I would be friends with Jazmine and Charlie, and stayed away from Coco. And if my present old self would be a parent to any of these girls, I would say that the easiest one to deal with would be Charlie, Jazmine would require a lot more love and careful attention, and I would definitely be exasperated by Coco.

OK, enough about the imaginings. I presume anyone who stumbles upon this review might already be confused as to what I'm rambling about in the above paragraph. So how about talking about the individual books now, yeah? Yeah!

Invisible

This book follows the story of Jazmine Crawford, a thirteen-year-old who preferred to be invisible since it's easier to be so than having to deal with the loss of her father and anything else that came her way. She has no real friends. The fact that Jazmine wears a hearing aid ans uses it to her (dis)advantage really hits the spot wherein this reader couldn't help but want to reach out into the pages to envelop her in a hug and tell her everything will be okay. It is after getting involved in an incident with some mean girls does Jazmine get a chance to turn things around and do things she never thought was possible.

Invisible touches on issues such as depression, suicide, and bullying. It should come off as a really depressing book, but no. Ms. Paterson was able to weave Jazmine's story in such a way that the reader will root for Jazmine and feel good for her in the end. Invisible is beautifully and poignantly written that it is not surprising that it was a semi-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel of the Year Award.

Might I add that this book was the hardest to put down whenever real life intervened. :)

There is a sequel entitled Invincible, and I just found out that there will be a third book called Being Jazmine which will be out in another couple of months. That's two more books now on my ever-growing wish list!


Love and Muddy Puddles

Love and Muddy Puddles introduces readers to twins Coco and Charlie Franks. Coco is the star in this book. And from the onset, she already annoyed this reader with her childish tantrums on her and Charlie's thirteenth birthday as their dad made a life-changing announcement. All that fuss because of her immense desire to be one of the popular girls in school once she started her seventh year. Add to that her obsession with fashion, make-up and boys. There's a word in Filipino for that: maarte. It can also mean other things, but with Coco, it is a perfect fit. Hahaha. I find that quality in people really annoying, honestly. And now the hapless reader who stumbled upon this review and somehow made it to this part now understands why I'd stay away from Coco in school and would be exasperated with her as a parent.

I am happy though that Coco redeemed herself towards the end of the story. She definitely learned her lesson about being too maarte with clothes, boys, and especially in trying so hard to be one of the popular girls. Another confession (and a spoiler alert. hapless reader, you've been warned. again.): I actually cheered when one of her so-called friends pushed Coco into the pool, pretty dress and all.

There is never a boring page in Love and Muddy Puddles. It is as romantic (and maarte) as a thirteen-year-old can get, with all googly eyes and squealy squeals *rolls eyes* and muddy enough to enjoy jumping in the puddles, the bigger the better. All good fun. There are a lot of funny stuff going on in this book that Coco has surprisingly endeared herself to this reader. This is definitely a light and enjoyable read.


Charlie Franks is A-OK

This book comes right after Love and Muddy Puddles and this time it is all about, eherm, Charlie Franks. Charlie is older than Coco by two minutes and her personality is way different from her twin. As opposed to Coco's girly-girl persona, Charlie is sporty, doesn't care what people say about her, and she never cares about her appearance, much to the frustration of little miss drama queen Coco.

Show jumping is Charlie's new sport of choice after she and Coco were given horses by their neighbours on their fourteenth birthday. Not long after she had won a ribbon on her first show jumping event, another life-changing situation befalls her family on their second year living in their new town. Add to that the fact that Charlie couldn't ride her own horse anymore, and she even has a sort-of rival in the show jumping even who happens to be her classmate as well in her new school. Charlie Franks is so not A-OK.

Charlie takes all of these in stride, though. She got to ride on Coco's overly suspicious horse instead and she dealt with Baylor's meanness towards her quite admirably (again, to the frustration of Coco who wants drama and confrontation). The only thing that Charlie has a particular snit with is the fact that she fears that once the baby is born, it will take away her mum's attention away from her. That's because he and her mum have a close bond.

If the reader has read Love and Muddy Puddles, he or she should not expect that its sequel is as messy and googly-eyed. No, ma'am-sir. Because just like the character Charlie Franks, the book is cool, calm, and collected. No fuss, no muss, just good old straightforwardness which I really like. Charlie Franks is A-OK also has its share of bloopers placed at just the right moments. Another fun read that young (and the young-at-heart) girls will enjoy.

additional note on these two books:
I love the fact that the characters are based on real-life Coco and Charlie Franks. But as far as Cecily Anne Paterson was concerned, the similarities between the real-life Franks family and the fictional Franks family go only as far as their names, livelihood, and their town of residence. The rest are all made up.

ps. brave hearts is what cecily anne paterson calls her dear readers. i think her heroines also are brave, so i'm borrowing her term for the title of this post.