Review: 'Going Vintage' by Lindsey Leavitt

I’m a little bothered that my hypothesis wasn’t entirely right.

I thought The List was going to take me back to a simpler time, 

but in some ways it’s just made my life more complicated. 

“It’s not that different now, is it? Being sixteen?”

“Adolescence is the same tragedy being performed again and again. 

The only things that change are the stage props.”

After Mallory discovers that her boyfriend has been cheating on her with a girl he met online, her perfect world comes crashing down in a messy social networking confrontation. But when Mallory discovers a list of goals her Grandmother wrote for her senior year, she is inspired by the simplicity of teenage life back then. Now, Mallory is swearing off boys and modern conveniences and, with her sister’s help, checking off each item on her Grandma’s to-do list, circa 1962. Along the way, Mallory will uncover family secrets, discover her purpose, and, just maybe, find a new steady.

A lovely blend of Sarah Dessen and Stephanie Perkins, Going Vintage is the perfect contemporary romance: light and breezy on the surface, surprisingly thoughtful at its core. I was initially attracted to this novel because of the brightly colored cover with its vintage feel (even as a librarian, I still judge books by the cover!), but the plot pulled me in almost immediately. Leavitt has an easy, clean writing style that fits the light, funny feel of the book. Quirky characters, retro goals (Find a steady! Become secretary of the pep club!) and relevant themes of connectivity and unplugging make this a charming, relatable YA novel.

What really makes Going Vintage shine, however, are the characters. Mallory is a brilliant, realistic narrator. She’s quirky and funny and obsessed with lists, but she’s also confused and uncertain. For the first time, she actually wants to follow through on a plan, but she still has to move past her usual ambivalence. As it turns out, living like its 1962 while everyone around you moves in the 21^st century is difficult. I’m not adventurous enough (or crazy enough, perhaps?) to try one of these social experiments myself, so I appreciated Mallory’s uncertainty and her few setbacks more than the actual plan. It felt more true to life than if she had wholeheartedly thrown herself into it without any hesitation.

Leavitt also did a nice job writing most of the secondary characters. The boyfriend was appropriately awful, and the new boy was sweet and quirky, the perfect friend and possible love interest. The rest of Mallory’s friends were fairly one-dimensional, but their single-minded focus on social networking and texting worked for the purposes of the story. I thought Leavitt did a wonderful job with Mallory’s family members, particularly her younger sister, Ginnie, who is smart, focused and wise beyond her years. I loved seeing Mallory and Ginnie’s interactions in such a positive and supportive light. Mallory’s Grandma was the other stand-out. Her changing relationship with Mallory and her reconnection with her past added a nice dimension to the overall novel.

Going Vintage is a delightful contemporary romance perfect for a lazy day on the beach or a night in on the couch. It’s as bright, quirky and colorful as the retro cover would suggest!

Book Source: From the publisher, via NetGalley (Thank you Bloomsbury!)

Reviewer: Kimberly

Recommended Ages: 12+

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Review: "Bunheads" by Sophie Flack

When I was in third grade, my teacher, pretty, willowy Mrs. Eaton, would say,

'Dance each step as if it were your last.' ... It was another ten years before I

understood what Mrs. Eaton had been saying. What she meant was:

 Time is precious.  And it speeds up.

Nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward is a dancer with the prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company. Her world consists solely of hours of intense rehearsals, soaring performances in front of crowds both critical and awe-struck, and backstage friendships that are by turns fiercely protective and fiercely competitive. But when Hannah meets Jacob, an endearing college student and aspiring musician, she begins to realize that there are new and exciting possibilities outside of ballet. As Hannah struggles to build a relationship with Jacob and advance out of the corps, she must reevaluate what she wants most out of life.

I am not a dancer, but I have a deep and abiding adoration for movies and books that revolve around the world of dance. This book was no exception. I loved Bunheads. I loved how real Hannah and her world felt. Flack's obvious knowledge of the ballet community shines through beautifully and gives Bunheads that extra oomph other dance books lack. Flack isn’t afraid to move past the glitzy, perfect exterior and expose the gritty, harsh reality of ballet. I was afraid the use of the technical terms would detract from my ability, as a non-dancer, to enjoy the book but, fortunately, the opposite was true. The ballet jargon felt real and natural, and didn’t hamper my understanding in the slightest. I may not have known what specific move Hannah was doing, but the novel would have felt unrealistic if everything was written in layman’s terms.

What I most appreciated in this novel was how Hannah's struggle to decide her future is universal. Everyone goes through this struggle at least once in life, sometimes revisiting decisions later on. It doesn't matter if you are a dancer or not, because the emotions and the upheaval and the stress are the same in every situation. Hannah's struggle was familiar to me and the turmoil she experienced resonated with thoughts and feeling I have had. As a consequence, I empathized with her, could relate to her life, and appreciated the book more for its universal themes.

More than just a simple dance book, Bunheads is a multi-layered story about loving something so much, devoting your entire life to that one thing, and then realizing that there might be something even better waiting in the wings.

Book Source: My local library
Reviewer: Kimberly

Recommended Ages: 14+ for mild language, underage drinking, mild discussion of eating disorders

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