What Happened to Lani Garver

Rating:
Summary: Do angels really walk the earth?
Review: Carol Plum-Ucci's novel, WHAT HAPPENED TO LANI GARVER, is so unbelievably remarkable that words cannot fully express its greatness. It takes place in locations I know and the story's protagonist, Claire, is nothing short of amazing. This novel is thought-provoking. It compelled me to ask questions I'd never asked myself. And, to my surprise, it even made me cry. Usually, books do not move me all that much - this book was an exception.

You will come to know and love Claire, a member of her high school elite on Hackett Island, close to Philadelphia. As I mentioned, this novel talks of many places I know, such as South Street, a whimsical place where, in real life, you can find "preps," people with countless piercings, tattoos, and hair hues, goths, rockers, etc. But WHAT HAPPENED TO... strays from labels.

Enter Lani Garver. Is Lani a he or a she? Well, although it never really is determined, we suspect Lani to be a boy. It's a difficult thing to confirm because he has the long lashes and red lips of a girl. He's tall and broad-shouldered like a boy. His hair is longer than the average boy's but his hands are a bit more on the masculine side. And he hates labels. Here, he refers to them as "boxes." "Gay" is a box. "Straight" and "bi" are boxes. As are "boy" and "girl." Upon first seeing him in the cafeteria, Claire is intrigued and says she'll be his friend, much to her best friend Macy's dismay.

Claire is a leukemia survivor who missed out on the junior high experience. Macy, kind and less judgemental than the other girls of her group, befriended Claire when she returned to school after being taught at home. Since their time spent together, they've collected many fond memories, many of them frozen in photographs. Macy deems Lani to be an odd character and is less drawn to him than Claire. Clearly, she gets jealous as a friendship quickly evolves between Lani and Claire.

Claire incessantly worries over relapsing back into her leukemia and is always looking for symptoms - bruises darker than average blemishes and orange-tinged blood. At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, (BEEN THERE!!!) Claire meets a doctor named Marcus, who explains to her the theory of floating angels. At first, she thinks he must be joking and laughs, despite the fact he's totally serious. Marcus explains how angels are sexless beings, that you cannot tell whether they are male or female. Immediately, Claire thinks of Lani. Oddly enough, Marcus knows him, as does the rest of the hospital staff.

As their friendship grows stronger, Lani teaches Claire things she could have never possibly learned from her regular crew of school friends. Lani judges no one. He labels no one and has acceptance for everyone. Besides that, he's mind-blowingly intelligent and introduces Claire to new friends, people she immediately clicks with. But everyone on Hackett assumes Lani is gay, a box he does not want to be in, and they taunt him to no end. Claire's friends are genuinely worried about her and once they see she enjoys Lani's company and won't leave him, they go to drastic measures to try and "knock sense" back into Claire.

Plum-Ucci's novel is a dazzling piece of work, what YM magazine has called, "Gripping." Yet that word barely covers it. As Claire battles personal demons and questions her own sanity, you can't help but feel her pain as she narrates her story. And as you read on, you will come to understand the sad truth of a hate crime and how those involved will always be forced to pay their dues, more or less.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I absolutley loved Carol Plum-Ucci's first book, The Body of Christopher Creed, and ordered Lani Gavrver right when it came out. For the first hundred pages, I was convinced that she had written another suspenseful, creepy masterpiece. But the story, about a misfit boy/girl and his relationship to a cheerelader in a close-minded town, dragged. I found the realtionship between the two characters engaging, but there were too many things thrown in that made the story muddled. The character growth was predictable, and I struggled to get to the ending. I'm not throwing Plum-Ucci out as a wonderful young adult author, I just hope that her next book will feel more satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: Anatomy of a Hate Crime
Review: I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is all that I have been talking about since the moment I finished it.

At first glance, one might think Claire has it all. This high school cheerleader has a devoted best friend, a sought-after boyfriend and a group of elite buddies. But if you look closer, you'll see not everything is as it seems. Claire's parents are divorced, her mother slowly turns to alcohol more and more, and Claire is in remission from leukemia, which took her out of school for a year.

Enter Lani Garver, the new kid at school. He is a few years older and quite a bit wiser than his small-town peers. At first, his long hair, slight build and tendency to giggle make his classmates think that he is a girl. He sets them straight but is still regarded as a freak by most.

Claire's path crosses with Lani's a few times in as many days. A whirlwind friendship begins that defies the teenage laws of who you hang out with. With Claire as the protagonist, it becomes not just Lani's story but hers as well: her eyes being to open, and she learns - at times, the hard way - how the world works, how cruel some people can be, how kind others are.

This book is an amazing piece of work. It is a realistic anatomy of a hate crime that will make you think and leave you wondering about the state of the world. It is an emotional experience. I would not doubt that "What Happened to Lani Garver" will catch the attention of critics and book awards alike. This is the very definition of a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: A book to read again
Review: I could not believe how this book captured me! The story seemed simple, but it is very different than other novels written for teens on hard issues such as cancer, eating disorders and death. The characters pull you to go under the facade of perfect small town life to see that every town and every family has its own problems to deal with. I personally wanted more explanation of the medical issues that one of the main characters, Claire, was facing, but she gave enough to make her problems relevant but not overcoming the story's plot. I loved how dispite all the bad things happening there was the constant pull of heaven and angels into the characters lives. It has a great character study of what can happen to people, how they change and can react to eachother. You get to know the characters enough to even relate them to people you might know.Even the end will leave you asking "What happened to lani garver?"

Rating:
Summary: Fell in Love
Review: I fell in love with Lani Garver, even though there was no clear answer of what he is. I'll miss Lani so much even though he is only a charactor. This isn't just a book that you read and enjoy the thoughts you get while reading it, this is a book that will stay with you and will drive you nuts wondering. I felt empty and full of questions when it was finished. I would have given it 5 stars but it kind of left me crying and depressed wondering what happened to Lani Garver. By the way, Loni isn't the typical wonderer who's helping a stranger out. He's...special, I shouldn't give it away though.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I just finished reading 'What Happened to Lani Garver?' and I throughly enjoyed it. Although, if I could give it 4 1/2 stars I would.

When the book opens up we meet Claire. Claire is a cheerleader recovering from Leukemia and looking for friends in all the wrong places. Actually, she isn't really looking for friends, she's already had them, but they aren't exactly trophy winners. Her best friend Macy is a blabbermouth and overall just an obnoxious person. Her boyfriend, Scott, has nothing in common with her, and Claire doesn't even really know why they are going out. The rest of her friends are just a bunch of 'fish frats'. All of this takes place in a small town on a little island off the coast of Philadelphia, called Hackett.
Then, Lani Garver shows up. Nobody knows if he is a boy or a girl, and nobody wants to really befriend him because people like this just don't live on Hackett. Claire is the only one on the island that notices Lani for the person he is, and not what he looks like. What she finds is amazing. Lani...is just amazing. He's smart and intelligent, wise beyond his years, funny, generous and over all just an incredible person. Anyone would be so lucky to have a friend like Lani. Claire even questions the existance of Angels on earth.

Unfortunately everyone else in town doesn't seem to think the same way as Claire. This is what leads them into trouble, and after that there was no turning back.

This story was brilliant. It's also very sad, to experience such raw human emotions through the actions of some of the characters. But the reason that I would have only given this book 4 1/2 stars is because I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending. I didn't feel as though it wrapped everything up. Also, there were some parts in the book that I felt weren't nessesary and I really would have liked to see more Lani and not as much just Claire.

Despite it's little shortcomings, this book is well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing and Insightful; A Must Read
Review: I picked this book off the shelf from the library not expecting much; the summary written in the inside jacket cover didn't seem promising. It looked like some "Touched by an Angel" type book, and I must admit that that's really not my thing. While reading, I was, at first, convinced that my initial reaction was correct- that this book was a genuine waste of time. I don't think I really appreciated the depth of the masterpiece until the last page.

This book is amazing! Don't be fooled- this isn't your typical dealing-with-teenage-life novel. It accurately and thruthfully portrays teenage behavior and prejudice like no other book that I've read. The characters in this book are also very real and beautifully rendered, particularly Claire who fears a Leukemia relapse, suffers from an eating disorder, and is forced to deal with her dysfunctional family and friends. Some compare it to Speak (another book that I love), however, this novel has a more gripping and powerful message and greater literary merit. Once you finish this book, you cannot help but question and think about your own life. Not many books written for teenagers have made me think, and I therefore commend the author. I recommend this book to anyone seeking a compelling, interesting, smart, and thought provoking work. Truly, this is a book like none other.

Rating:
Summary: Wowza! This is a helluva book!
Review: I picked up What Happened to Lani Garver because a friend had told me "Don't have any expectations from the back cover... just read it and form your own opinions." That intrigued me, so I read it, and omigod I just read the greatest book of my life! What Happened to Lani Garver left me in shock.
Ok, so it dealt with your typical "hard issues" found in teen books these days: eating disorders, death, homosexuality, high school social pressures etc. (I say hard issues in parentheses not because these topics are to be taken lightly, but because these books are so loosely written that it seems as though every teenage girl has an eating disorder or has a boyfriend who commits suicide. not true. It also seems as though "teen books" are now being geared towards - and rightly so, judging by their content - to 11-13 year olds.) The great thing about that was that it didn't make them the central focus of the story. Claire, the main girl character, had an eating disorder, and Lani Garver, the main other character, had to help her with dealing with it - but that was merely a side story. Carol Plum-Ucci is very talented, and this is the perfect example of her capabilities.
This book was so refreshing, and just such a pleasure to read. I don't only mean that it was a good story, but it was almost like talking to a friend that you don't see very often- a real pleasure! I highly reccomend this book to everyone who wants a serious read.

Rating:
Summary: =)
Review: If you did not like Lani Garver, I do not understand you. How could you not like it?? The writing is beautiful, poetic and accessible. Claire's narration is deeply ironic, as anyone looking back on herself and her experiences would be. Like, I can't believe I was like that, but I was. And this is what happened. Plum-Ucci's voice is amazing. You feel like you know her. You feel like she would understand you because Claire is made to understand so much.

And besides that the book is cool. Lani Garver is the very definition of cool. Unusual, strong, understanding, wacky, beautiful, sarcastic, and utterly able to act in any situation. He's a great friend...that's the whole point. And Claire's development and anger is so realistic, it gives you hope.

I recommend this book to:
people who are depressed
adolescent girls
adolescent boys
the recently adolescent
poets
people who like to think but haven't thought that much yet

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read
Review: It only took me a matter of days to finish "What Happened To Lani Garver," from the moment I picked it up until the moment I put it down, I was hooked. The plot is flawless, the mood is awesome, and by the time I had finished reading, I was crying. A definite must-read for anyone who is in search of the "one" book.