Life’s intangible things

I think it was John Green who said something about road trips being the best way to show adolescence. A road trip is a journey to find something, a way to better understand oneself, things that are important to teenagers.

In “The Museum of Intangible Things,” Hannah and Zoe hit the road in search of the intangible things in life: joy, knowing what you want, and insouciance.

Though the book started off slow (it took me two weeks to read), it picked up when Zoe, bi-polar best friend of Hannah, decides to run away from home before her mother can send her to an institution. Hannah, who’s alcoholic father has just stolen all her money, agrees to go along for the ride, hoping to both help her best friend and also to get away from her family and past.

The wild adventure that follows includes sleeping in an Ikea, wreaking havoc on the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, line-dancing, storm-chasing, and a wild night in Las Vegas.

Beware, though, all does not end well. I picked up the book hoping for a happy story about a road trip shared between friends, which is accurate. But Zoe’s disorder causes her to believe that aliens are trying to take her away.

There is a moment when Hannah and Zoe are watching a tornado that Hannah pins Zoe down to the ground so she isn’t blown away. When the storm clears, Zoe says “You need to let me go. When you are ready, you will let me go.”

Zoe hints often that she will not be around much longer. The book is a fight for Hannah to keep her friend, and fight to hold on.

The book was beautiful and tragic and difficult to describe. It is a must-read for those who want to know more about love, life, and the intangible things that come with it.

Seek ‘Asylum’ in these page turners

Here is something I love: a book that raises the hair on your arms and makes your heart race. Creepy books are the best, because nothing gets me more excited than wrenching through the pages trying to figure out why creepy stuff is happening.

I was drawn to Madeleine Roux’s “Asylum” books by the dreary covers, and the grim photos within.

The books feature Dan Crawford, a regular 16-year-old nerd. Interested in history and psychology, he arrives at a six-week prep course looking to meet friends and do a lot of homework. You know, fun summer activities.

There, Dan meets Jordan, a math prodigy whose parents think he is spending the summer at a Pray-the-Gay-Away summer camp, and Abby, a talented artist with no fear.

While staying in Brookline, the three begin exploring the building and digging up it’s dark past. Brookline was used as an Asylum, where the Warden, used experimental methods on it’s residents, including lobotomies.

Upon  finding out the Warden’s name, Daniel Crawford, Dan becomes obsessed with finding out more about the asylum, and whether or not he had a relation the old Warden. The past comes back to haunt him even worse when students start dying.

Though they make it through their summer alive (barely), Dan, Jordan, and Abby feel compelled to return to the campus after receiving the creepy message “You’re not finished” on the back of a photo of a carnival. In “Sanctum,” the three follow the advice of their would-be murderer, and return to Camford to discover Warden Daniel Crawford’s secrets.

With a secret society of masked people on their trail, the three dig up information on hypnosis and drug tests done long before the Warden was in charge of Brookline. The book becomes a race to take back control of their own minds before someone else can.

Both “Asylum” and “Sanctum” are rapid page turners. I ripped through “Sanctum” in less than three days, eager to discover the mystery along with the trio of characters. Each chapter ends with a cliff-hanger compelling the reader on.

The pictures in both books add to Roux’s storytelling. She is able to set the foreboding scene with the grim photos.

Not only are the books appealing because of the fantastic storytelling, but also for the pop culture references. The characters reference their own favorite YA literature, such as “Harry Potter,” and at one point, Dan flirtatiously calls Abby “Khaleesi.” Pop culture references come up frequently, reminding the reader that Roux’s trio of characters exist in our world.

I loved every heart-stopping second of Roux’s “Asylum” books, and only hope that I might be treated with more. A good creepy novel is hard to find, and it was a pleasure that I happened to come by these.