Janice Erlbaum

Literary merit: Great
Characterization: Great
Recommend: Yes
Level: Middle School or High School

Lucky Little Things by Janice Erlbaum

I loved this book! It was a charming story with some valuable life lessons tossed in.

Emma is grieving the loss of her aunt, Jenny. Jenny was Emma’s mom's best friend. When Emma’s dad left her mom, Jenny stepped up and helped. Unfortunately, Jenny died of cancer. Emma and her mom were devastated by the loss. Shortly after Jenny’s death Emma got a strange letter under her door. The letter said that her luck was about to change. The letter told her to write down 10 little things that she wanted to happen. Sure enough, all the things she wrote down came true. Some of them happened in an unorthodox way, but they happened. At the end of the story, you find that Jenny wrote the letters to teach Emma that luck is something you create. The story was a beautiful lesson in grief and the power of positive thinking.

In addition, the novel addresses peer pressure, the consequences of sending nudes, and parents dating.… (más)

The description of Girlbomb is a memoir of Janice Erlbaum as a 15 year old who in the 1980′s left home and went to a shelter. The book is so much more than that. It reads like story and held me captive throughout the book, the author did a great job at capturing her life. Janice leaves home because her mom keeps taking back her abusive husband, Janice’s stepfather, and she’s had enough. She goes through hell at a shelter and group home, acknowledges her white privilege and how it benefits her in the situation, but it is still hard on her. That was all I was expecting from the book but it continued on past that, it goes into Janice’s need for attention and love, how she is an outcast within her group of friends and tries to feel a void with drugs and men. The detail written describing the scenes and how Janice felt is heartbreaking and uncomfortable at times. There are times when I felt annoyed with Janice for making stuff harder for herself but she is just trying to cope with her messed up life and it is clear she sees a pattern. Her mom was the same way and she is becoming what she hates. The book ended well, not making it seem like she learned her lesson and was turning over a new leaf, just that she realizes what she is doing and wants to change but it takes time and baby steps and will see what happens.

I would of liked if the author gave an update on her life instead of ending it where she did. The book was written in 2007 and the time described is in the 1980s so it’s not like she doesn’t know how she turned out, if she kept on the same path or managed to change. Oh well. Great book.… (más)