Jazz Owls by Margarita Engle

A novel told in verse, this story bounces between multiple Los Angeles civilians during World War II who deal with shortages, soldiers, and working for the war.

Two teen girls who have dropped out of school work at the cannery during the day and dance with the soldiers in the evenings. Their younger brother acts as "chaperone" as he continues in school and seaches for his own place in the world. Their parents worry about all four of their children - the three here, plus an older son enlisted and deployed. Through their eyes, we learn about the real-life race riots between soldiers and Mexican-Americans.

It's a quick read - I read it in an evening. I'd heard good things about the book, which is why I picked it up, and I didn't realize it was poetry until it arrived. Each chapter is a different voice, and each is just a page or two. The changing viewpoints offer an interesting perspective on a complex subject - a true historical event that I didn't know about before. 

It would be a good youth discussion title. The kids in the story are younger than you'd think, dealing with very adult problems and concerns, due to the escalating tensions of wartime. And the racism they encounter would be an interesting comparison for modern discrimination.

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Since his release from a mental institution, Pat's on the road to recovery: he's focused on bettering himself through exercise, and he's practicing being nice instead of right. He's sure that the happy ending to his life-movie is imminent, and that Apart Time will end and his wife Nikki will return. But life's not a movie, and the ending's not always happy. Is it?

I'd heard this book was good, and the film version was an Oscar-darling this year. Since even a good movie can ruin a book in record time, I wanted to read the novel (quick!) before I saw the movie.

And I enjoyed the book immensely. We get the story through Pat's perspective, so we know how skewed some of his vision can be. He actually is crazy, but in many ways he's more sane than the people around him: Dad's an angry guy who can only communicate through Philadelphia Eagles football; Mom - really, actually everybody - is lying and hiding things from Pat (you know, for his own protection!) and he's kind of happy just to let them do it; and then there's this chick from down the street who keeps following Pat on his runs.

It's a simple story with a pretty straight-forward plot. Except that things keep getting twisted around, and nothing's quite what it seems. And what's Pat's deal with Kenny G, anyway?

The audiobook narrator, Ray Porter, was awesome and did a great job with all the characters.

Although if I never hear another "E-A-G-L-E-S!" chant it'll be OK with me.