Perfectly Parvin by Olivia Abtahi and Tithe by Holly Black

 

Last week, I finished reading Perfectly Parvin by Olivia Abtahi. This romantic comedy is about Parvin Mohammadi, a half-Iranian American girl who wants to find a date to Homecoming her freshman year of high school. During summer break, Parvin befriended Wesley, a boy who would be going to her high school, on vacation at the beach and kissed him before they went home, but at freshman orientation, he suddenly breaks up with her. Heartbroken and humiliated, Parvin comes up with a plan to get her freshman orientation tour guide, Matty Fumero, to date her and ask her to Homecoming. Despite the objections of her best friends, Ruth Song and Fabián Castor, Parvin decides to act more like the girls in the rom-coms she has seen and less like her usual loud, cackling self. Complicating matters is Farsi lessons for which she is tutored on Wednesdays after school by Amir Shirazi. Although she comes to value their friendship, she feels confused when he starts to show that he wants to be more than friends because she thinks he shouldn't like her because she's not full Iranian like he is. As Homecoming approaches, Parvin discovers the importance of being herself.

Although I enjoyed this book for the most part because it was hilarious, I was a little disappointed and unsatisfied by the ending. Parvin was definitely really relatable, though, because I was boy crazy at that age, too. I just thought it was a terrible idea that she wanted to change everything about herself for Matty and felt bad for her friends because she was so focused on getting a date to Homecoming that she was forgetting about their plans for after school. It was definitely a journey over the weeks for Parvin as she realized what was truly important to her. I definitely loved her friendship with Ruth and Fabián when she did remember to hang out with them. Out of Parvin's love interests, I was rooting for Amir because she was always able to be herself around him. There was a heartbreaking moment towards the end of the book relating to the challenges that Iranians, and Muslims in general, face when coming to this country, even just to visit family. It definitely made me mad at the injustice. While it didn't have my favorite ending on the romantic front, I do recommend Perfectly Parvin to those who like humor, with a dash of drama.

I also just read Tithe, the first book of the Modern Faerie Tales series by Holly Black, over the weekend. This fantasy novel is about Kaye Fierch, a sixteen-year-old girl who travels with her mom Ellen's rock band. When Ellen's boyfriend, Lloyd, suddenly attacks her, they return to Kaye's childhood home in New Jersey to live with her grandmother. A week into staying at her grandmother's, Kaye and her friend, Janet, go to an old, semi-abandoned merry-go-round building to hang out with Janet's other friends. After Janet's boyfriend, Kenny, sees her magically make a carousel horse with shattered legs stand and then touches her, she runs away and finds an injured faerie knight named Roiben by the side of the road. Upon saving his life, she learns that she isn't who she thought she was her entire life and that she is to be sacrificed for the Tithe of a nearby faerie kingdom called the Unseelie Court. Caught between the Unseelie Court and their rival kingdom, the Seelie Court, Kaye has to determine who to trust for her own survival.

This fantasy novel was excellent and I loved it so much that I already started reading the second book in the series. I enjoyed the sense of adventure, despite the fact that it all took place in just one New Jersey town, and there was suspense from beginning to end. What drew me in the most, though, was the romance between Kaye and Roiben. I wanted them to be together from the moment that they met, even if there were some reservations on both their parts because they didn't know if they could trust each other. I also liked the friendship that Kaye built with Janet's brother, Corny, because he was the first human Kaye trusted with her secret and helped her infiltrate the Unseelie Court. My favorite of Kaye's "imaginary" childhood faerie friends was Lutie-loo because her personality was such a joy and she was loyal to Kaye. As the first book Holly Black wrote taking place in Faerie, Tithe is the perfect introduction to the world she created and any fantasy fan should read it.

Ambushed!: The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield by Gail Jarrow

 

Last week, I read Ambushed!: The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield by Gail Jarrow. This nonfiction book is about the assassination and death of President James Garfield. The book begins by summarizing the lives of and relationship between James Abram Garfield and Charles Guiteau, the man who would assassinate him. Just months after Garfield was elected president, Guiteau began stalking him, and on July 2, 1881, Guiteau shot Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station. Garfield didn't die until eighty days later, though. The doctors made mistakes in diagnosing where the bullet was in Garfield's body and used treatments that were becoming outdated, including probing for the bullet with their unwashed fingers. Because of these mistakes, Garfield suffered a slow and painful death. Afterwards, Guiteau was tried in court, found guilty, and hung almost a year later.

I lived in Mentor, Ohio, for four years of my life, so I've long been interested in President Garfield because it was also his home. I knew he was assassinated, but I didn't realize how early it was in his presidency, although I was aware that he didn't die right away. I was also definitely interested in learning if he really could have survived. I thought this book was fascinating because it went into the details of the issues in Garfield's treatment by his doctors. I never realized how slow American doctors were in adopting sanitation methods even though there had been research by European doctors at the time. It was devastating how much Garfield suffered from when he was shot to the moment he passed away. It seems like he really would have had a better chance of survival if his doctors had simply washed their hands and used tools that were sanitized. I truly found that heartbreaking as I read the book. I was also disturbed by Guiteau throughout the book, how he was deluded into thinking that he was deserving of a job in Garfield's administration and that assassinating Garfield would actually unite the Republican party, which was divided at the time. I was almost actually glad that justice was served in his case. All and all, this book was riveting and anyone interested in medical mysteries should read it.

Blood and Germs: The Civil War Battle Against Wounds and Disease by Gail Jarrow.

Yesterday, I finished reading Blood and Germs: The Civil War Battle Against Wounds and Disease by Gail Jarrow. This nonfiction book is about medicine and medical care during the Civil War. Over the course of the war, many were killed not just by injuries during battle but also by disease that ravaged through military camps from viruses and bacteria due to poor sanitation. Some of those who survived never fully recovered and were left with chronic illness or devastating injuries. Despite the challenges, though, doctors, nurses, and volunteers in both the North and the South worked to improve the conditions of hospitals and enhance medical care through innovations in surgical techniques, medicine, and battlefield rescues.

Lately, I've been interested in learning more about the Civil War, and I started reading Blood and Germs while reading a book about women spies during the Civil War for adult readers (Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott). What I found most interesting while reading is how more people actually died from disease than wounds suffered during battle, but I also enjoyed the features on doctors, nurses, volunteers, survivors, and victims. I especially appreciated learning more about the women and Black people who helped during the Civil War. While I thought some of injuries were gruesome, I was more concerned if anything could have be done to save a person back then. In some cases, the answer was "yes"; in other cases, the person would continue to suffer and death didn't always come quickly. The back matter of the book includes a timeline, a glossary, online resources, an author's notes, source notes, a general bibliography, a bibliography of personal accounts, and an index. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War, war history in general, or the history of medicine should read this book.