Saving Crazy by Karen Hood-Caddy

This book is set to be released by June 16, 2015 from Dundurn Publishing. It is a young adult environmental fiction story with themes including animal rehabilitation, global warming, whale conservation, and environmental advocacy. In the interests of full disclosure, it is important for me to note that despite this being the third book in a series about The Wild Place, I have not read books 1 and 2 in the series, titled Howl and The Truth About Brave. While I might do that in the future, this is the first book I have read in the series. Below is a product description provided on Netgalley. Below that is my review of the book, also available on Goodreads.

Can a high-seas, whale-saving adventure repair the hurt between two friends? How do you decide where your heart lies when it’s being tugged at from so many sides? When Robin and Zo-Zo discover that their beloved lake has become a toxic sludge — the result of an algae bloom — they know they have to do something to fix it. But trouble begins when the two friends develop a crush on the same boy during a community meeting to save the lake. To help repair things between the girls, Robin’s grandmother, Griff, suggests a high-seas adventure with a whale-saving old friend of hers. Out on the open water Robin must decide what’s more important: a relationship with a boy or saving the animals she loves.

Saving Crazy by Karen Hood-Caddy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this book as an advance copy provided by Netgalley. While I wouldn't say it's the kind of book I normally read, I read this all the way through and enjoyed it overall. The story is profoundly environmental in nature, but also a story of a teenage girl dealing with all the insecurity of her first real infatuation. A couple elements of the story came off a little bit heavy handed, one in particular being the constant harping upon global warming being to blame every time there was any environmental situation in the book. I'm no doubter of the science of global warming, but even I reached a point where I was saying, "Okay, I get it! Let's get on with the story now!"

The book did a good job of exploring the many different ways that an obsession with a boy could affect a girl's life, from her friendships, to her interests, to her goals all being compromised. Readers are sure to become attached to Griff as she helps Robin to see just what her feelings for McCoy are doing to her, and what she stands to loose from the experience.

The whale watching trip served as a nice opportunity to bring in another environmental cause, and it was a great climatic location. All in all, this would appeal to the same readers that enjoy Carl Hiassen or Jean Craighead George books, but it is also a good read for the fan of stories about teenage angst because there's plenty of that in there too. Certainly not a book for my elementary school library, but right at home in the YA crowd.

View all my reviews

Well Wishes for Lois Lowry

Recently, I've been following the blog posts of Lois Lowry more closely than usual as she has recounted something terribly difficult, the slow decline and death of a dear friend of hers, Martin Small. I have great respect for her work and though I haven't read every book she has ever published, I've read enough to know that she is an author of great and varied talent. I feel true sorrow at hearing about this hardship. As with many of the writers whose work I've read, I feel a strange connection to her despite our never having met, as though we're distant cousins or long separated friends. I want to send condolences though I'm not sure that such a gesture from a complete stranger would be at all meaningful or even helpful.

I experienced something similar when I read about Jane Yolen's struggle with the passing of her husband. I truly wish that I could reach out to them since I feel that by sharing their writing they've reached out to me in some way. It's difficult not to feel compassion for someone who shared something as personal as a piece of their own writing. I feel protective of them, because I know how hard sharing can be. There is a degree of exposure that comes from writing that can't be paralleled in almost any other profession.

So even though Lois Lowry is a stranger, I feel a sense of loss for her. I wish I could take away some of her suffering. I won't be offering commentary on any of her work here. I've read a lot of it, but this is hardly the time for it. Right now, I just want to wish her well. I want her to know that I am going to keep her in my thoughts. I won't claim to understand what she's going through. I know that's unrealistic. I just want to say I'm sorry for her loss, whether she ever reads this or not.

If you'd like to catch up on the blog posts I referenced in this post, here is the link:
http://loislowry.typepad.com/lowry_updates/