YA: Padma Venkatraman, Climbing the Stairs and Justina Chin Headley, Girl Overboard

[rsadelle]

Padma Venkatraman, Climbing the Stairs

I don't have a lot to say about Climbing the Stairs. I did start reading it with the intention of reading for twenty minutes before bed and had to finally force myself to put it down and go to sleep an hour after my bedtime, so it was a pretty compelling read.

Justina Chin Headley, Girl Overboard

I owe a debt of gratitude to anitabuchan for reviewing Justina Chin Headley's Girl Overboard here because I would never have picked it up otherwise. I have, in fact, read the inside flap of another of Justina Chin Headley's books in the library and decided not to read it. Considering how great this book was and how much the back of the book doesn't match the contents, I'll definitely be reading more of her work.

Girl Overboard centers around Syrah Cheng. Her dad is billionaire and business book author Ethan Cheng, and her mother is his socialite second wife. When the story opens, Syrah is recovering from a knee injury that's keeping her from her one true love: snowboarding.

Over the course of the book, Syrah works her way through her friendship with the best friend she used to snowboard with, her injury, making a new friend, her relationship to food and her family, and learning to use her rich girl resources (including the Cheng drive to succeed along with the Cheng money) to help others.

I just loved this book. I read it in two short sittings and didn't want it to end.

My biggest quibble with the back of the book is that it says, "...her own so-called boyfriend is only after her for her father's name." ( Spoilers )

Don't bother with the back of the book blurb and skip straight to the book itself.