Aw, Brenna. Fair confession: she's my critique partner, so I saw this manuscript when it was just an infant. But it's lovely and creepy and you'll lik...moreAw, Brenna. Fair confession: she's my critique partner, so I saw this manuscript when it was just an infant. But it's lovely and creepy and you'll like it, too.
Serial killers (a little), ghosts (a little), and love (a little). (less)
I'm an unashamed lover of movies as well as books, and I have a special place reserved in my black heart for movies that feel like books and vice versa. Nick Hornby and John Green generally live in this zone for me, with characters and plots both walking a fine line between quirky and unbelievable. Jackson Pearce elbows her way into this realm with Purity. In it, Shelby promises her dying mother that she'll listen to her father, love as much as possible, and live without restraint. Innocent-enough promises in theory, but in practice, they lead to all sorts of capers and crises involving best friends, sex and church ladies. The combination of Pearce's humorous voice and the novel's bite-sized length make it easy to hand to most everyone. Like Hornby's and Green's books, I would pick it up for the light and breezy concept, and remember it for the surprisingly poignant character relationships.(less)
My relationship with high fantasy — fantasy set in another world — has always been tumultuous. Actually, I'd like to refer you to the first item on this list. Everything I said about historical fiction also applies here. Which is why, despite multiple recommendations, I let this debut novel about a half-dragon, half-human girl sit unread on my desk for five months. I'll admit I very much wanted to remain a curmudgeon, but the thorough world-building and specific characters won me over. This city of austere dragons and emotional humans felt complete, as if I could turn down any number of alleys and never find the seams showing. At 480 pages, the novel is satisfyingly plump with politics, religion and prejudice — and a restrained but edifying measure of love. It also has a healthy dose of music (I was unsurprised to discover Rachel Hartman was a fellow admirer of medieval polyphony), and I find I'm very interested to see what Hartman writes next. Teens and adults alike will love to creep down the magical streets of Seraphina's city. I certainly did.(less)
1. This is the first five star review I've given that is five stars for how I would've viewed this book as the target aud...moreFive Things about Endangered:
1. This is the first five star review I've given that is five stars for how I would've viewed this book as the target audience. This book is an upper YA, and although I enjoyed it, it would've made my eyes huge with wonder and shock as a fourteen year old unaware of the history of the Congo. I'm quite pleased to imagine it making its way into the hands of teens now, though. It's one of those books that makes you look at your own culture a little differently; makes your world a little stretchier.
2. This book is not for everyone. Bad Things happen. I mean, it is not Little Bee, which caused me much rocking and moaning in the corner. But it is not The House at Pooh Corner either (I first typed that as the House at Poo Corner, which would have been a very different sort of book. Possibly one that would make me rock and moan). I've previously recommended Lucy Christopher's Stolen and Ruta Sepatys' Between Shades of Gray, and I'd say it would definitely appeal to folks who liked both of those. Definitely it has that gritty sense of place and history that seems to evade Pooh Corner.
3. This book is about bonobos. They are apes. That means they have no tail. We also have no tail. Bonobos, as you can see, are quite like us.
4. Tigger is not in this book. Unless he is a bonobo. Man, I really enjoy saying that word out loud. Go ahead. Try it.
5. This book reminded me a little bit of those old-fashioned adventure stories I read growing up. There's something a bit timeless about the telling of it, about the girl-and-an-animal element, about the questing-for-safety. Something familiar. It's not a book that changed my life now. But it would've changed my life then, and for that, five stars.(less)
I’ll confess right up front that I’m not usually a big historical fiction fan. I realize this seems somewhat hypocritical of me, as I was a history ma...moreI’ll confess right up front that I’m not usually a big historical fiction fan. I realize this seems somewhat hypocritical of me, as I was a history major in college and adore history, but a lot of times, I find historical fiction more impenetrable than a primary source document. The characters either don’t feel like real people to me, or they feel like modern people to me. I get distracted by historical info-dumps and bored by epic scale machinations. Basically, I like my historical fiction very personal and very intimate. So when I got sent a copy of Code Name Verity, I thought, okay. I’ll read twenty pages and then I’ll give it to my sister.
But my sister has not yet gotten this book, because I don’t want to let it out of my house yet. I adored it.
1. First of all, I believe it. The people feel like real people to me, and the details feel like real details. ARE they real details? Possibly not. We all slip up on our research sometimes, but man, this stuff feels genuine. The main character’s best friend is a pilot, and that part I knew was real even before I read that Elizabeth Wein had a pilot's license. I could feel the real-life love and knowledge of flying seeping through the pages. It was grand.
2. It doesn’t feel like anything I’ve read before — certainly not in YA. Not just in genre or in subject matter, but just . . . the characters are unique and specific people and the situations they’re in are unique and specific. It feels like I looked through a tiny window into a real life, and that’s just not something you can cut and paste.
3. As with all my favorite books, it rewards the careful reader. If an author can make me gasp once, it’s likely that novel is ending up on my favorites shelf. If an author can make me gasp THREE TIMES, either the author is making me read their novel underwater or it’s really cleverly done. This one’s really cleverly done. It was a three-gasper. When was the last time I read a three gasper? I don’t remember. Maybe when I read THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST underwater . . . Now, that said, CODE NAME VERITY is not a fast read. If you go into it expecting to whip through it in an evening or even two, you’re not doing it justice. Give the characters some time to infest your heart.
4. It’s hard, but not harrowing. This is worth pointing out, because the central premise is that the narrator has been shot down over occupied France and is now being tortured for her confession. It could be awful. Sort of like BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, which I also loved, but would never read again because of how hard it was. This book, on the other hand — not only does it have so many lovely and sweeping moments, but it’s also surprisingly funny. I laughed out loud several times. Thought when I tried to explain to Lover why I was laughing, I invariably failed. LOVER: I thought you said she was being tortured? ME: Yeah, but, the Hitler line, it . . . never mind.
5. It stuck with me. This, to me, is the Holy Grail of novels. I love some novels and forget them the moment they’re out of my sight. Other novels I love and then they become part of me for days or weeks or forever. I will be reminded of them at the strangest moments. CODE NAME VERITY does more than stick with me. It haunts me. I just can’t recommend it enough. I can’t even make this recommendation funny. I love it too much. (less)
1. So. This book takes place in Lily, Arkansas, but it could take place in Nowhere, Virginia, as well, a place...moreFive Things About WHERE THINGS COME BACK
1. So. This book takes place in Lily, Arkansas, but it could take place in Nowhere, Virginia, as well, a place I am well acquainted with. It takes place in a small town the same way that my life took place in a small town — not in a surface way, not in a Hollywood way, but in a way that touches every bit of your life. Not good or bad, really, just . . . grit and dust and gross gas stations and lots of church. I appreciate that it feels effortlessly real, not like Whaley is trying to convince me that it’s real. It just is what it is.
2. This book is about a guy sighting an extinct species of woodpecker in Lily, Arkansas. Actually, it’s not. That is there, but it’s subtext and it’s delightful. The reappearance of the Lazarus woodpecker stands for everything that Lily, Arkansas needs and everything that Lily, Arkansas wants. Well done, Book.
3. This book is actually about Cullen Witter and the day his brother Gabriel goes missing. I know what you’re thinking, because I was thinking it too. Whatever. I’m not normally a terrible person — okay, that’s a lie, I am a terrible, jaded person — but I really didn’t care about Gabriel’s fate when I opened this book. I was not really in the mood to read a quiet book about a boy coping with his brother’s disappearance. In fact, before picking it up, I informed one of my friends that all I wanted to do was read a book about helicopters, guns, and magic and I didn’t have a book that fit that description in my house, so I guessed I’d just read this one. This book had such an uphill climb in winning my affection. Even when it made me laugh in the first two chapters, I resented it. “How dare you make me laugh, quiet book? Do you have any helicopters? Any guns? Any magic? No? THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT. Shut up!” The book did not shut up. And it turned out, I didn’t need any helicopters or guns or even any magic.
4. There are weird chapters from other people’s points of view. Again, I began my dialogue with the book. “Book, why are you telling me these things? Aren’t we supposed to be in Arkansas right now? Shouldn’t we be going home now?” I am here to promise you that those chapters not only eventually make sense, but also dovetail so delightfully with the main text that I was left saying only “well played, Book. Well played.”
5. It doesn’t really matter what this book is about. It’s a good book about a good kid and it’s a good story told remarkably well. In the last third, I thought there was no way that Whaley could really finish this in some way that I’d both believe and like, and . . . he did. So. Well played, Book. Well played.(less)
Soooo this one is about a rather particular Monstrumologist and his apprentice chasing headless man-eating monsters across Victorian New England.
Here...moreSoooo this one is about a rather particular Monstrumologist and his apprentice chasing headless man-eating monsters across Victorian New England.
Here are five reasons why you should read it: 1. These are proper monsters. They don’t want to make out with you or play you songs on their guitar while you snuggle on the sofa. They just want to eat you, except for when they want to insert their babies in your corpse so they have something to snack on as they incubate. Okay, it’s a little gross sometimes. I ought to say that up front.
2. The voice! The voice! Apart from the first and last chapters, which are introduced in modern times (and which I don’t care for), the entire novel is told from the point of view of Will Henry, the Monstrumologist’s pint sized apprentice. He is resolute but afraid, put upon but never whiny. I love the historical aspect. It’s all very gaslight and cobblestones and black cloaks and gasping behind hands.
3. The Monstromologist! He is so high-maintenance and flawed and persnickety. Basically, he is Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, if Howl never met Sophie. Oh, my love is undying. “WILL HENRY, SNAP TO!”
4. I wish I could just make you read this book now.
5. The beginning. Also, the middle. Also, the end. There is a character twist two thirds of the way through the book that I just did not see and I literally gasped on a plane. Then I was so delighted that a book had made me gasp on a plane that I punched Lover in the shoulder and made wild hand gestures. This book is put together like a puzzle box, and I will be taking it apart again sometime soon.
Even though I found this novel exceptionally well-written, it was not a pleasure to read. It’s about Lithuanians displaced t...moreThis is not a pretty book.
Even though I found this novel exceptionally well-written, it was not a pleasure to read. It’s about Lithuanians displaced to Siberian work camps during World War II. It was pretty unflinchingly brutal, but here’s why I think you ought to read it:
1. It is a side of World War II that you might not have seen before. I certainly hadn’t heard these stories of displaced Europeans, and I have to say, having been to Lithuania on tour last year, it made so much of what they said have deeper meaning. I found their fierce national pride lovely and charming when I was there; after this novel, it seems incredibly brave and honorable.
2. Mom. The mother is really the heroine of this story (and that is my one nitpick about this novel: the narrator has no arc and no agency — all of the action is carried by her mother and her sort-of-boyfriend). She has such an incredible flame and kindness in her. One of my favorite book moms.
3. Shades of gray. The title promises and the novel delivers. Characters we think are horrid actually do incredibly kind things, and character we regard as friends do awful ones.
4. If you combine 2 and 3, you get my favorite part, which is that it makes you look at people an entirely new way. I love books that stretch my brain, and this one sat with me for hours and hours.
5. Wonderful sense of place, even when the place isn’t so wonderful. Like Lucy Christopher, I trust the author to take me someplace different, and I’ll be picking up whatever she writes next. (less)
1. The packaging is fantastic. I know this is shallow of me, but the rusty, oily cover effects on the hardcover? Com...moreTen Reasons to Read SHIP BREAKER.
1. The packaging is fantastic. I know this is shallow of me, but the rusty, oily cover effects on the hardcover? Completely won me over. And after reading the book? Loved it even more. The only way it could’ve matched the mood of the book any better was if there had been some gross water damage on the pages. Also, I thought I understood the title when I began, and then I thought it stopped being relevant, and then suddenly it was much more relevant than it was to start.
2. It has effortless world-building. How effortless? In 326 pages, I felt like I knew exactly how this incredibly different future America worked and what it looked like, and it felt horrifyingly plausible. That sort of world building should’ve taken twice as long. Somehow this book has done the literary equivalent of getting your husband to bring the groceries in from the car for you, and I’m not entirely sure how. But I like it.
3. Boys who act like boys who aren’t dicks.
4. Girls everywhere. Doing everything. Being a girl gets you no favors in this world, but that’s just the way it is. Equal opportunity crap.
5. A plot tighter than Richard Simmon’s abs. When our dear Paolo places a smoking gun in chapter one, you can be darn sure that he’s going to use that gun in a surprising and satisfying place later. And I’m not just talking one smoking gun. I’m talking five or six smoking plot points that “I went, huh, that is Interesting, I wonder if he’ll . . . “ at, and guess what. He did.
6. Invisible prose. With the exception of “blossoms of pain” which seemed everywhere in the last few chapters, the prose is fantastic in the way that Hunger Games’ is. It gets in and gets out and nobody even knew it was there. Just what this sort of story neded.
7. This world is subtle and scary. It looks plausible -- and the attitudes are recognizable even from this side of the printed page. I’m going to go recycle everything in my house right now.
8. Hope. I love reading dystopic fiction, but I hate hopelessness. This is a subtle, scary world where people are trying and there’s hope for the characters. My mom might read it. She’d give me squinty eyes afterward, but she might read it.
9. Tool. Just read it and find out.
10. Just a neat and satisfying package, all in one. Incredibly well written. Do yourself a favor and read it . . . slowly. This isn’t a book to be eaten in a night, though it could be done.
****yes, all my reviews on Goodreads are 5 stars -- I only put books on here that I highly recommend*****(less)
I am having one of those lucky runs of book reading where I keep pulling very Maggie books off the shelves. Of course, this book had come highly recom...moreI am having one of those lucky runs of book reading where I keep pulling very Maggie books off the shelves. Of course, this book had come highly recommended to me as a Maggie-book, but . . . well, it's just not the sort of summary that begs you to pull it off the shelf. It's the historical, aspect, I think -- I invariably end up enjoying a lot of historicals over the course of the year, but I always think, before I start them, that they'll be more work.
Well.
The plot of this slender novel is simple: Keturah follows a stag into the forest, grows lost, and eventually meets her death. Death, in this case, is a tall, dark, handsome AngstPuppy. Because Keturah has been wandering in the woods for three days, he's come for her because please, man cannot live by roots and twigs alone. Keturah begins to tell Death a story, however, and withholds the ending -- telling Death that she'll conclude it the next day, if he lets her live. Well, Death, despite being dreadfully emo and easily pissed cannot resist. So it goes for three days, in a tightly constructed fable.
So I pretty much love this book incoherently (I kept making noises out loud and annoying Lover), but I'll try to break it down.
1. Writing. It's very tight. Also, full of little presents to the careful reader like repeated instances of three, barely stated character development, and clever plot twists.
2. Strong girl characters! Without being anachronistic. Keturah is brave, loyal, and independent. She's also afraid, idealistic, and longing for true love, a house to put him in, and a baby. I have to say that after reading a ton of novels where feminist strength is portrayed as not wanting to get married, not wanting kids, not wanting true love -- it was refreshing. I think it's too easy to default to Katniss as a "strong female character." I love Katniss, don't get me wrong, but she is not strong -- she's broken and incapable of love. Her rejection of love is not strength. I love a strong character where the girl is operating perfectly fine without a man, but she's also willing to be open to love. And there's a lot of love of many different sorts in this book. Friendly, familial, romantic.
3. The end. My friend who recommended this book to me said that she almost afraid that the ending would ruin it, but that it came around. As I wasn't exactly sure what ending my friend would like, I didn't have any clue what that meant, even as I was reading it. But then I got there and I thought OH NO IT'S GOING TO END THIS WAY. And then, it didn't. It was perfect.
I'm not sure this book is for everyone; those raised on fairy tales like myself will love it. I'd recommend it for people who loved YEAR OF WONDERS and Jane Yolen and Lloyd Alexander and all of those movies with Disney princesses and princes named Eric. (less)
I just finished reading Francisco X. Stork’s latest, THE LAST SUMMER OF THE DEATH WARRIORS, and I think I’m going to have a hard time reviewing it. I...moreI just finished reading Francisco X. Stork’s latest, THE LAST SUMMER OF THE DEATH WARRIORS, and I think I’m going to have a hard time reviewing it. I know why I liked it so well, and it’s the same reason why I liked his last novel (MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD). I’m just not certain it’s the most convincing-sounding reason for me to love a novel. It makes for a review consisting of mostly emotion and precious little fact. But I think I’m going to say it anyway.
Basically, it’s this: both of Stork’s novels leave me feeling convinced of the human race’s decency.
I could tell you what DEATH WARRIORS was about, but it’s one of those books that isn’t really about its plot summary (sulky boy intent on avenging his sister’s death meets a boy with cancer who changes his life). At best, it sounds maudlin. At worst, it sounds bleedingly depressing. The actual novel is neither of those things. Instead, it’s a novel about anger and identity -- the identity others give us, the identities we wear, and our actual identities that we might never find. It’s also about big abstract words like love and faith and grief. All things that are very unhelpful to throw around in a review, but Stork’s books seem to encourage that sort of thinking. It’s hard to feel unchanged after you close the cover.
Which is another reason why I love his books. They make you bigger inside after reading them. These people, these teens from all walks of life (and even without reading Stork’s bio, I believe in them) -- they feel real. Every bit of kindness in this novel is fought for, every spiritual (and I mean spiritual in the very broadest sense) milestone is bled for (sometimes literally), and for every moment where you sigh with the perfection of it, there are ten where you wince at the awkwardness and the painfulness and the realness of it.
As with all novels, I had some issues with it, but they didn’t end up being enough to take away from my ultimate cheerfulness about this book. The big one seems silly: I missed dialog tags. There were a lot of conversations where the speakers were not delineated and I got lost several times. Also, Pancho, the prickly narrator, takes some getting used to, but that’s the point. Neither were enough of a speed bump to stop me, however.
It took me a year to read this book, even after I’d gotten an advanced review copy and also bought myself a hardcover while recalling the warm-fuzzy of reading MARCELO. I just was so afraid to read his next offering, thinking that the same, nameless magic that caught me in MARCELO couldn’t possibly be duplicated. But DEATH WARRIORS captures that same sense: that genuine kindness that you wish was real. It’s an incredibly spiritual book, a spirituality that defies labels. Highly recommended. (less)
I just had a copy of STOLEN by Lucy Christopher put into my hands at ALA, and I am definitely, definitely sending a quote for them to use for the pape...moreI just had a copy of STOLEN by Lucy Christopher put into my hands at ALA, and I am definitely, definitely sending a quote for them to use for the paperback edition. It’s a YA novel about a girl who is kidnapped from an airport by a crazy guy and taken to a shack in the Australian outback. The novel features
1) crazy guy 2) camels 3) strong heroine 4) poisonous snakes! (did you know that Australia is the only continent where species of poisonous snakes outnumbers non-poisonous ones?) 5) hallucinating 6) kangaroos 7) psychological terror and thrillingness! 8) vehicular chases 9) did I mention crazy guy? 10) a supporting cast of chickens
It’s got a great sense of place and the character development is just fantastic (I love me some trauma), but the thing I liked best was that as Gemma, the main character, spends more time in the presence of her kidnapper, the author very, very, very skillfully messes with our brains just like Gemma’s brain is getting messed with. It makes for a very complex read with no easy answers, just like I like ‘em. I loved how all of the motivations were thoroughly grounded in past history; we get a profile of the kidnapper as a human, not just as a stick figure. As a teen, I would have adored this book even more. My only complaint? It reads a little long in places, but I think that may have been my deadlines speaking more than the book’s shortfall. I know there will be many that say that this isn't how most kidnappings go down and tell you to go read LIVING DEAD GIRL instead, but I don't believe that books need to tell the most common story -- just the one most interesting to the author. Highly recommended!(less)
I have just this moment closed the cover of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, after loitering rather longingly over the acknowledgments and possibly the back jacket...moreI have just this moment closed the cover of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, after loitering rather longingly over the acknowledgments and possibly the back jacket flap as well.
I don't think I can manage a proper synopsis or review of this book -- about an orphaned boy who is raised by a graveyard of ghosts -- so I think I will just have to say that I love it very, very deeply. For so long I refused to pick it up because I thought it sounded quaint and possibly twee, but it was neither. It pushed all the buttons that Maggies love to have pushed: archetypes, humor, high stakes, personal stakes, and a deep ingrained sense of folklore that only comes from the author having grown up with rather than researched it.
Add to all that and I have to say it was, for me, the most well-written of all of Gaiman's books that I've read. I kept seeing things that I associated as Gaimanisms, but they felt absolutely right here. Weapons wielded by someone for so long that they've become part of their arms.
Just ahhh. Loved it. If there are Susan Cooper fans out there longing for that sense of other from the Dark is Rising books, pick this book up. (less)
So, because I want people to *believe* me when they see a quote from me on the front of a book, I'm very picky about what I choose to blurb. To this p...moreSo, because I want people to *believe* me when they see a quote from me on the front of a book, I'm very picky about what I choose to blurb. To this point, it's only been three YA novels: STOLEN, by Lucy Christopher, BLOOD MAGIC, by Tessa Gratton (comes out spring of 2011), and this book: THE REPLACEMENT, by Brenna Yovanoff. My quote on this one (the finest quote ever you must agree)(by the most modest author ever you must agree), is: "I loved this eerie and beautiful story of ugly things. It should be read aloud after dark, at a whisper."
Genius, right!?
(fine, YES, it took me hours to write that sentence)
The hook itself is pretty tantalizing: in the town of Gentry, everyone ignores the source of their prosperity: sacrifices of human children made to the other world that lives alongside Gentry. Replacements are left in the cribs of the babies. Replacements that usually sicken and die before they get too old. No one says the 'f' word: faerie, but any faerie lore junkie will recognize their brand of creepy.
Mackie, our narrator, is one of the Replacements. He's is battling the iron aversion that the Replacements have but he's made it to his teen years . . . well, barely. He's hanging on. He's now just trying to navigate high school life and staying alive. But when one of his classmate's sisters is taken, Mackie can't just let it go. Cue eerie characters, a hot kiss or two, and trips to the terrifying slag heap.
So. There are lots of things for faerie geeks to love in this book, even if they creatures are never called faeries. Dangerous bargains, taboos, iron aversions, musicality, a certain flexible morality. And I suppose I would be lured by those things regardless. But that's not what made me blurb this book. What made be blurb the book is that Mackie has a great voice and the book has a mood that hangs off the pages and creeps around your feet while you read it. Somewhere on the book jacket it mentions Tim Burton, I think, and I completely see why -- there is a darkness and whimsy both to Brenna's books (I've had a chance to read her next one too and YE GODS!).
Then there is the prose. I get frustrated when I open a book and it could be any other book on the shelf -- I want to see an author's particular filter, a character's particular voice, something that makes that reading experience different from another on a sentence-by-sentence level instead of a chapter by chapter level. And THE REPLACEMENT has that. It's spare and deceptively simple, but as an author, I can see every sentence working hard on at least two levels. It's a book to take apart and analyze. It's a book to read twice.
The audience didn’t understand a word we sang. They came to see our legs. As the posters said TROUSER GIRLS FROM THE LAND OF TASSIM! We were billed ju...moreThe audience didn’t understand a word we sang. They came to see our legs. As the posters said TROUSER GIRLS FROM THE LAND OF TASSIM! We were billed just underneath the acrobats and the trained dogs.
So begins Magic Under Glass, a debut novel by Jaclyn Dolamore (Bloomsbury, Dec ‘09). It follows Nimira, a music hall girl, a dark-skinned oddity in light-skinned Lorinar, as she leaves the security of the music hall for employment with the mysterious and dashing Hollins Parry. Mr. Parry wishes to retain her services to sing with a handsome automaton — a man-shaped clockwork machine that plays the piano when wound (sexy, right?). Apparently Mr. Parry has had some problems with retaining girls in the past as they insist the automaton is haunted. They claim it mumbles to them, which is admittedly terrifying, and then they run away.
Nimira, however, is no wimp. So when the clockwork man does his mumbling thing for her, she doesn’t go running to Mr. Parry. Instead, in a completely refreshing sequence where she doesn’t spend pages agonizing over what she really saw (a pet peeve of mine in fantasy), she gets over her shock and disbelief and settles down to business: finding out what . . . or who . . . the automaton is. And what he is a angst-puppy trapped in cogs and springs. In other words, my brand of fun.
The result is a whimsical, smart novel that is sort of like a cross between Howl’s Moving Castle and Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell. The details are lovely, the voice consistent, the characters complex. And Nimira is refreshingly clever throughout. The ending is a bit muddled and weirdly paced, but it wasn’t enough to put me off my game. My biggest complaint was how short the book was — I could’ve been happily entertained for twice as long.
My verdict? I really enjoyed this novel now, but I have to tell you that, as a teen, I would’ve married this thing and had little clockwork babies. Highly recommended.(less)
I don’t normally post a 9/11 related blog post on my blog, just because there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. And even if I could s...moreI don’t normally post a 9/11 related blog post on my blog, just because there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. And even if I could say it differently, there’s nothing I can say that would change the events of that day.
But I read a book this year that changed my mind. It’s called LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW, by David Levithan. In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I both know and like David -- he’s editor Mixtape and we work together on SHIVER. I should also mention, however, that I know and like a lot of authors -- and yet I don’t blog about a lot of books. I’m really picky and though I like a lot of books, I only blog about the books that I really love.
I really love this book. And here’s why.
It’s about three teens’ experiences on the day of the attack, and how it changes them as people. I have to admit I was really leery about reading a book about 9/11 -- I didn’t want anything that was a) maudlin, b) manipulative, or c) intensely depressing. And I just didn’t see how a 9/11 book could avoid all of those things. But I thought, if anyone can pull it off, it’s David -- his novels all have this very innocent, open quality to them.
So I began to read. And on page seven, my eyes teared up, and I thought: here we go.
But here we didn’t.
That was the first and last time my eyes watered in this book, because LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW is not about reliving the horrors of 9/11. What can I say about it? It’s this incredibly inspiring, moving, and honest look at how something good can come out of something terrible. David’s love of New York City permeates the novel, and as a non-New Yorker, it was wonderful to have a window into that world.
And it was not a sad book. Incredibly, it was everything that 9/11 was not. Though as a writer I saw a ton of things that I would’ve changed about the book (remember this post about loving books that we had issues with? yeah, this was one of them), all I could think after I closed the pages was what a buoyant mood I was in. I was filled with faith in the ultimate good of people in the face of horror, and I, like the main characters, felt like I wanted to talk about where I was that day, how I felt, what changed.
I did. That night, I curled up with my husband in bed, lights off, and together we whispered back and forth what we remembered about 9/11. I still remember the exact place I was when I first heard the news on my car radio, not just the street I was on, not just the block I was driving through, but the distance from the curb and the quality of the light. I remember the payphone that I called my now-husband on as the ambulance he drove raced towards the Pentagon.
Ultimately, what I loved about LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW was the message -- that 9/11 was not for nothing if we let it change us for the better. If we remain better versions of ourselves, the versions that reached out to strangers and felt part of something bigger, then it wasn’t such a senseless, vicious tragedy, and it’s something worth remembering.The title says it all -- if it's not true, it's what ought to be true. (less)
The best favor I can do to everyone considering reading this book is to tell them that it's not a YA romance. Once you get that out of the way, you ca...moreThe best favor I can do to everyone considering reading this book is to tell them that it's not a YA romance. Once you get that out of the way, you can enjoy this book for what it is: a quirky, intelligent YA novel about two lost teens finding their way back to normalcy -- or not.
While the two main characters -- nicknamed "Ghost Boy" and "Robot Girl" -- in this book are earnestly 3D, the real star of this novel is the late night radio program that both of them listen to. The quirky and sincere and bizarre and fascinating callers enchant both the narrator and the reader, and ultimately, this book ended up on my five star list because the show and the ending remained in my head for longer than it took me to read the book.
I think this one also goes on my top five YAs that ought to be movies list -- I can see it perfectly in my head.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.***(less)
Though I read this book two weeks ago and have been meaning to write a review ever since, I haven't managed to really rally my thoughts about it until...moreThough I read this book two weeks ago and have been meaning to write a review ever since, I haven't managed to really rally my thoughts about it until now. BONES OF FAERIE is a fascinating and welcome addition to the YA faerie world by virtue of combining faerie lore with a post-apocalyptic world for a haunting and eerie effect.
I should preface this entire review by saying that this book is for young adults. I know that will sound weird as most of the books on my Goodreads page are for YA, but most of my five-star YAs tend to have a lot of crossover appeal. If I were rating BONES OF FAERIE purely from my adult eyes, I would have given it four stars. My adult eyes loved the world and would've loved to see deeper consequences explored -- but this book didn't need it for the intended audience. Because let me tell you, 16 year old faerie-crazy Maggie would've died of happiness reading this book. I think Jannie Lee Simmer absolutely nailed her readership with this YA, and it's been a long time since I've read a YA and felt that.
The details of this book really shine: the dangerous plants, the loss of black-and-white, good-and-evil that comes with growing up, and the subtle differences that resulted from the war with Faerie. I was frustrated by some of the plot choices -- a particular pet peeve of mine is when conflict is created by a character NOT acting, rather than by a character acting -- but all in all, this was a wholly satisfying read that took me four happy hours to cruise through.
Highly recommended for teens who love paranormals, especially those who are a fan of beautiful writing and subtle twists in lore.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.***(less)
In the spirit of honesty, I have to admit that I was already biased to like this book because of my intense love for Shaun Tan's The Arrival. I was ho...moreIn the spirit of honesty, I have to admit that I was already biased to like this book because of my intense love for Shaun Tan's The Arrival. I was hoping this book, which unlike the wordless THE ARRIVAL pairs words and art, would live up to his previous work.
The answer is an unabashed yes. Inside TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA is a collection of related short stories that explore the absurdity, sadness, and joy of suburban life (in this case, Australian suburban life). As always, Tan's art is filled with a kind of bizarre wonder punctuated with extraordinary subtle oddities to reward the careful reader.
From a short story which remarks on the taciturn, wise water buffalo who lives down the street (who is really a water buffalo) to a story about beautiful ancient worlds hidden inside suburban homes, the collection explores the idea of what we give up in a modern world. My favorite story, the bittersweet "Stick Figures," embodies the entire book: stick figures with tumbleweed heads stand in for the bits of wildness that still manage to creep into our sterile suburbs.
As a writer, I love finding books that humble me, and Shaun Tan's books always seem to manage that. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.***(less)
I will preface this review by saying that I love this book. But not every will love this book.
I will also preface this review by saying that you shou...moreI will preface this review by saying that I love this book. But not every will love this book.
I will also preface this review by saying that you shouldn't decide whether you belong in group A or group B before you get to page 125 or so. The first 125 pages are a confusing, emotional slog that seems to be about territorial "wars" between rival teen sects in Australia. But it's really brilliantly done -- because that is exactly what the main character, Taylor Markham, thinks of things. It's busy and there are plot threads everywhere and all I knew was that I loved SAVING FRANCESCA and Melina Marchetta was doing all of this for a reason.
And she was. It ties up beautifully in the end, and there's a scene which even made me shed a tear -- me, who has not cried since THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (three tears) and while writing my second novel SHIVER (one tear from each eye) -- and I'm left feeling just about cheerful about everything in the book though it was not a Hollywood happy ending by any stretch.
I think quite possibly my absolute favorite thing that Marchetta does is the character reversal. She introduces a character which we view in a terrible light because the main character views them in a terrible light, and then she completely changes our mind about them in a subtle and realistic way throughout the book until finally we and the main character are in love. She did this in SAVING FRANCESCA and she pulled it off again in JELLICOE ROAD even though I was watching for it. By the time we get the first kiss in the novel, I was sort of clapping embarrassingly like a seal.
This is one of those books that I know will be wonderful on the reread, because I'll get to look past the busy beginning to see the groundwork Marchetta was laying.
Happy sigh. I'm very happy this one won the Printz this year.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.****(less)
As a YA author, I'd heard the name "John Green" whispered in the YA wind for months, but I'd never picked up one of his books until I read a synopsis...moreAs a YA author, I'd heard the name "John Green" whispered in the YA wind for months, but I'd never picked up one of his books until I read a synopsis for AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES online. My husband, a pretty reluctant reader, snitched it from me and devoured it, so I was expecting great things.
I wasn't disappointed. This story of a boy struggling to come up with a theory that describes the arc of his 19 relationships with girls named Katherine was, in many places, laugh out loud funny. Even with flashbacks, the pacing never flagged, and though it wasn't the world's most unpredictable plot, I was never bored.
The real charm in this book is both the characters -- larger than life, quirky people who don't quite fit into society -- and the dialog. In John Green's hands, dialog is a weapon . . . and he slayed me.
I'm thrilled that he has a two other novels and a recent anthology for me to work through next.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.***(less)
This book came highly recommended and I have to admit I put off getting it from my library for quite awhile because I prefer stories where there are a...moreThis book came highly recommended and I have to admit I put off getting it from my library for quite awhile because I prefer stories where there are a) supernatural creatures ravaging a town, b) dead bodies and angst, or c) any combination of a & b. SAVING FRANCESCA, of course, has neither. But it turned out that it didn't matter. The winning characters in this novel, the story of Francesca, one of a handful of girls at a previously all-boys school, carry the novel all on their own, no dead bodies or fairies needed. At the start of the book, Francesca is an underachiever and a nonparticipant in school friendships. In sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant moments, Francesca makes new friends in unexpected places, finds old ones, and falls in love -- and we do too, because Melina Marchetta has so skillfully drawn every character that we see everything perfectly through Francesca's eyes.
I had to go and immediately buy two copies for Christmas gifts. Highly, highly recommended.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.****(less)
I can't say much about this book without being spoilery. I do have to say that because the plot relies so much on secrecy, I would've never picked it...moreI can't say much about this book without being spoilery. I do have to say that because the plot relies so much on secrecy, I would've never picked it up based on the cryptic jacket flap -- I didn't touch it until I had heard so many recommendations I couldn't take it.
I can say this: The characterization is wonderful and consistent, the characters are likable, and the plot was surprising. Even as I guessed at the "twists" might be through the book, I was never quite right and even when I was close, the author's telling was so fresh and honest that it read as true surprise.
Highly recommend.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.**** (less)
I debated for a long time whether I wanted to put this one in my five star section, because I didn't think the ending was as strong as I thought it co...moreI debated for a long time whether I wanted to put this one in my five star section, because I didn't think the ending was as strong as I thought it could have been. But ultimately, the insanely true voice (by turns very funny and very touching) and nice working of common themes through the book (saying this is a realistic YA novel about cows and football is at once the truest and least true thing you could every say) makes me give this five stars.
Definitely just -- great voice.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.**** (less)
My editor recommended this novel to me and I'm so glad he did.
Peter Cameron does an absolutely stunning job of portraying James' struggles as a too-c...moreMy editor recommended this novel to me and I'm so glad he did.
Peter Cameron does an absolutely stunning job of portraying James' struggles as a too-clever-for-his-own-good teen, disillusioned, cynical, and socially paralyzed. While the plot occasionally wandered and the ending was . . . just where the book stopped, I can still give this book five stars with a clear conscious, for sheer lucidity of voice. I missed James after I was done reading - I felt like I'd met him.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.**** (less)
I didn't like this weird little book until about halfway through. The narrator sounded too much like a teen (I know, I know) and I didn't know what wa...moreI didn't like this weird little book until about halfway through. The narrator sounded too much like a teen (I know, I know) and I didn't know what was going on . . . but then I somehow got lost in the voice. Suddenly I was seeing things through the narrator's eyes and no one else's. This slim volume is like a textbook on how to write limited first person. Absolutely excellent.
***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.****(less)
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