#dyan sheldon

we're all about books and reading over here at galliproof so we're obviously also all for encouraging children to read!

seeing this movement has made us reflect on our own reading journeys and how the books we read growing up have influenced our individual literary preferences; so we thought it might be fun to share a few of the key books that made us the readers we are!

grace's journey:

what do you think of grace’s reading journey? are any of these titles nostalgic for you? how different was your journey?

Dyan Sheldon (2013). Çevreci Olmak Zorunda Mıyım? (Çev. Mine Kazmaoğlu). İstanbul: Günışığı Kitaplığı.

Zaman zaman çocuk romanları okumayı seviyorum bunu da elime gelmişken okuyayım dedim. Kitap 2000 yılında basılmış ilk olarak Undercover Angel ismiyle ilk olarak. Türkçeye ise 2002 yılında çevrilmiş ve ilk baskısı Gizli Melek Kuba ismiyle basılmış. Ama sonrasında kitabın isminin içeriğini çok fazla ele verdiğini düşünmüş olacaklar ki orijinal isminden saparak Çevreci Olmak Zorunda Mıyım? ismini vermişler.

Kitabı okuduğumda hissim “ya ne kadar güzel çocuk kitapları yazılıyor” oldu. Okurken vermek istediği mesajları o kadar beğeniyor ve öyle keyif alıyorsunuz ki…

Kitap Elmo Blue isimli on iki yaşındaki bir oğlan çocuğunu anlatıyor. Elmo ailesinden hiç memnun değildir. Babası kimsenin almadığı fıskiyeler yapmaktadır ve elmo ile çok ilgilenmemektedir. Ama Elmo’yu esas sinirlendiren annesidir. Çünkü annesi bir çevrecidir ve yaşadıkları ksabanın korunması için sürekli eylemlerde bulunmaktadır. Bu da elmo’yu okulda ve başka yerlerde utanç içerisinde bırakmaktadır. Elmo komşuları emlak zengini Bamberlerin çocuğu olmak istemektedir ama bu çok mümkün değil doğal olarak. Bu sırada Bamberlar Güney Amerika’dan bir çocuk evlat edinirler ve Elmo bu çocuğu kıskanır. Ama onunla tanışınca şok olur. Çünkü evlar edindikleri kız çocuğu Kuba aslında bir insan değil melektir ve David Bamber’ın bir ormanlık alanı yok etmesini engellemekle görevlidir. Aslında Elmo’nun anneside bu ormanlık alanı korumak için çalışmaktadır. Ve Kuba’nın esas görevi Elmo ile arkadaşlık kurup, onun annesine yardımcı molmasını sağlayarak, ormanlık alanın kurtulmasını sağlamak olur.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

I usually love Dyan Sheldon's books, but for some reason this one fell a bit short of what I'm used to reading from her. There was nothing really wrong with the story per se but I found the main character to be really annoying and completely unlikable. Granted she shares some of those annoying traits with some of Sheldon's other characters those characters are either side characters or are shown to grow and develop over the course of the book not just in the last three pages.

My rating: 3/5

CW:

I was lucky to be sent this book by Candlewick Press off of Netgalley! Thank you so much for sending me such a great book.

Book: Just Friends

Author: Dyan Sheldon

Book Summary:

Can chasing the wrong girl lead down the right path? Witty as ever, best-selling author Dyan Sheldon maps the agonizing distance between “like” and “love.” Josh has never really thought twice about girls before. He’s usually too busy watching old movies with his friends Sal and Carver, petitioning for more vegetarian options in the school cafeteria, or flailing in yoga class with his best friend Ramona. But when new girl Jena Capistrano walks into school, Josh loses his heart faster than he’s ever lost his balance on a double downward dog. Not that he has any real aspirations, of course: he knows Jena is completely out of his league. And then, against all odds — they become friends. The closer they get, the more infatuated Josh becomes, and the more he wonders if just maybe Jena might like him back. There’s only one way to find out. But it’s not exactly easy to put your heart on the line.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

My Opinion:

I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s never a wrong time for a quirky teen romance and Just Friends by Dyan Sheldon came to me at the perfect time.

Josh Shine, our main character, is immediately smitten with new girl, Jena Capistrano. Big problem: they’re complete opposites. She’s hanging out with the cool kids while Josh hangs out with the “Pod Squad” which is made of a music geek (Josh), science nerd (Carver) and film freak (Sal). (Their words, not mine!)

Because of this no-end-result crushing, Josh spends a lot of the beginning of the book freaking out. Have I mentioned how much I love male P.O.V.’s? Being able to peer into a teenage boys mind, in the midst of a unrequited crush is both interesting and hilarious. Josh has multiple existential crises’ coping with his crush on Jena. He was kind of a stereotype, not going to lie. He was the “outcast” artsy guy who is played off like the “loser” but is wanted to be seen as cool and “different.” 

But I LOVED Jena and Josh’s friendship. He “got the girl” quite fast, he gained a friend, which is exactly what their relationship was, FRIENDSHIP. The entire time Josh and Jena are getting close, Josh sees it as something more. But in my opinion, Jena NEVER insinuated it would anything but that. (SPOILER ALERT) I mean she would talk to him about how undateable she was and SHE HAD HIM UNCLOG HER TOILET. I dont think anyone would ask that of someone their crushing on. Josh was completely oblivious to being 100% in the friend zone, despite Sal and Carver being hesitant about his planned advances on Jena. BUT in all honesty, that made the situation better. It gave the story such a fun and quirky aspect, despite being another “just friends” story. 

Now insert Josh’s other friend, Ramona Minamoto. *insert dead look into the camera like characters from Rhe Office. Who in my opinion, we dont see much of. (SPOILER ALERT) The encounters between her and Josh felt brief with little angst (am I crazy for wanting more?) so their happy ending felt a little rushed. Despite being portrayed as a headstrong and outspoken girl, she was really passive when it came to admitting her feelings toward Josh. (SPOILER ALERT) And she didn’t even voice her affection. It’s just insinuated at the cliff-hanger ending when Josh hopes to take her on a date.

I dunno, I feel like I needed one of those explosive fights where Ramona yells “I’ve been in love with you this whole time idiot!” which results in Josh being a confused mess and come to the slow realization he loved her all along....But maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t get that?? The story didn’t follow the predictable and ended on a good note.

Just Friends by Dyan Sheldon is the perfect book if you’re looking for some laugh out loud, relateable situations that everyone has been through at some point in their life. I highly recommend it!