Nerds Heart YA! : In Mike we Trust vs Say the Word Decision Post

August 16, 2010 in Blog, Nerds ♥ YA!

Nerds Heart YA! : In Mike we Trust vs Say the Word Decision Post

I’m judging in the first bracket in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament and the two books I read were In Mike we Trust by P.E. Ryan and Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee. (Click on the links to see the individual reviews I posted earlier today.)

Nerds Heart YA! : In Mike we Trust vs Say the Word Decision Post Nerds Heart YA! : In Mike we Trust vs Say the Word Decision Post

In Mike we Trust: is about Garth a young man trying to find is place in the world, and the lies we tell each other and ourselves and the fall out they can cause.

Say the Word: follows Shawna, as events from the past and the present collide, to knock her life right out of balance.

Before I talk about and announce my decision on which one goes though, a quick recap of what had to say about both books.

In my review of In Mike we Trust I said:

I can see, why this one has made it though to the semi-finals. Garth is a likable main character and one who is really easy to sympathise with…

And Mike, well he is quite clearly a hustler and a drifter, with little desire to settle down and live a responsible life, but despite this, he clearly wants to do his best for his brother’s family, at least for now. There’s always going to be a question about just how trustworthy he can be.

In my review of Say the Word I said:

Shawna is a really easy character to sympathise with, she is nothing but an honest narrator, even when she is doing and saying this she knows are wrong. To see her deal with all the crap and fight her way though her own prejudices, is a wonderful experience…

It’s not really others in her life… ….that effect the slow change in her, but her reaction to those events. She, both unconsciously and consciously makes the changes necessary…

So, which one is going through to the final?

Well I can honestly say I really enjoyed both books equally, they both had different strengths and weaknesses, and both had likeable main characters. Either of whom you’d be happy to know in real life. But nothing that clearly put one book ahead of the other, and I’ve been back and forth on which book should be put though.

As I can easily put forth a case for both of them, I’m going to with my initial instinct which that I felt one of them had slightly more ‘depth’ to it. This is in no way a criticism of the one that didn’t make it though, they both tell the story in the way that’s right for that book. But a decision has to be made, so the first book going through to the final of Nerds Heart YA 2010 is…

Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee!!!

Don’t forget to visit I’m Booking It on the 20th to find out whether Rowan the Strange or Last Night I Sang to the Monster makes it though to become the other finalist on the 3rd September when Lenore will have the difficult task of picking the winner!

Buy: Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee from The Book Depository.
Buy: In Mike we Trust by P.E. Ryan from The Book Depository.

    Nerds Heart YA! : In Mike we Trust vs Say the Word Decision Post

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