Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 106

This Week at Book Riot

Over at Book Riot this week...


For 3 On A YA Theme, I talked about 3 books that feature plastic dolls on the cover. I also wrote about the way we talk about and treat successful women in a piece about Stephenie Meyer and her role in producing Lois Duncan's Down A Dark Hallway. 




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What I'm Reading Now

Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

Alternate worlds, matriarchal societies, and fantasy mixed with science fiction: this book seems like it was written just for me. This first installment in Angelini's new series is set in Salem, Massachusetts - both the Salem of our own world and the Salem of an alternate world governed by powerful female witches. The Lily Proctor of our world has always been plagued by terrible, life-threatening allergies, but no doctor has been able to determine their source. When she's transported to a parallel world, she meets her alternate, Lillian, and learns that her "allergies" are actually symptoms of her great magical power that has been left untapped. What makes the two Lillians' interactions especially interesting is that the Lillian of this other Salem is actually a villain - but this information is not overt or obvious at first. What is clear is that Lily/Lillian are actually quite similar to each other, not just in looks but in personality as well, effectively blurring the lines between good and bad, heroine and villain. I'm enjoying learning about the magic system in the book, which is unique and involves a pseudo-scientific explanation for its origin and use.



Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Every time Nolan closes his eyes - even when he simply blinks - he sees through the eyes of a girl from another world - a world with magic - named Amara. This concept seems so fresh, and Duyvis really explores it in depth, going into detail about how much trouble this causes for Nolan. He can't effectively sleep, ever, and sometimes he's so caught up by what he sees in each blink that he loses track of what's going on in his own world, where his body is. This debut from Duyvis features queer characters, disabled characters, and characters of color.



The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

I'm reading this one on audio. It started out engaging enough, with a big action scene set in the virtual reality that dominates most of the characters' lives. Since then, though, I've found that the story drags and it's not holding my attention. I fear this may become another DNF for me, just as Dashner's first series, Maze Runner, was. (I've read that there's a plot twist near the end which is why I'm still persevering, but we'll see how long that lasts.) It's not the fault of narrator Erik Davies, who speaks clearly and gives his character the appropriate emotion. I think the fault lies in Dashner's writing, which is apparently not to my taste.


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Guest Post: Patty Blount on Researching Rape Culture for SOME BOYS

Earlier this week, Kelly reviewed Some Boys by Patty Blount. Patty's here today with a guest post talking about the research process behind the book. How can you wrap your head around doing research for a topic as huge as rape culture? 

***



Research is a critical part of my job, both as a software technical writer and as an author. It not only informs me, as the creator of the book universe, it helps me develop characters who feel real. I interviewed firefighters and visited firehouses for a book that will be released next year. I read everything I could find on organophosphate poisoning for a medical suspense novel I wrote several years back. But perhaps the most difficult topic to research was rape and rape culture for my latest release, Some Boys. 

Why, you’re probably asking, when something is so often in the news like rape, would it be hard to research? Good question. I suspect it’s because Google searches tend to reflect the topics that are trending at the time. I found it almost impossible to find articles that weren’t about the latest news, like Steubenville and Maryville. I also found it hard to find trustworthy information (i.e., not editorials) about the underlying sense of entitlement those rape cases suggest. 

That’s when I turned to my local library for help. Google got me only so far, so I chatted with a librarian and told her exactly what I was looking for – things like surveys that describe why people rape – is it always about control and fear, or is it sometimes about the sex? The answers to that research shocked me. I learned a good portion of acquaintance rapes are about the sex – which suggested to me that way too many people do not understand the definition of rape. 

That conclusion led me to start researching rape culture. I’d never heard the term until I began working on this book, but the more research I did, the clearer it became that rape culture is not new. It’s something that’s always been lurking in the background – the reason why parents teach their daughters to always travel in groups, to never leave a drink unattended, to walk with keys between their fingers. 

But what do boys learn? They learn not to throw like a girl, cry like a girl. They learn from a very young age that being a girl is less than being a boy. When they arrive at dating age, peers ask if they scored or got lucky, teaching boys that sex is a sport. And if all that wasn’t enough to raise my blood pressure, I began reading what politicians think of sexuality and became ill. Slapping on words to qualify rape? Suggesting that women should simply close their legs to avoid pregnancy? UGHHHH! The more research I did, the more I came to understand that rape culture is the systemic and insidious movement that cultivates, at the very least, disrespect for the female gender and its worst, misogyny. 

I knew my book needed to address these topics from the perspectives of both the male and female lead characters. I want female readers to understand what boys are facing and I want male readers to understand the fear I believe all girls experience. And I want, more than anything, for both genders to end use of the S word, a word I believe was slapped on girls for daring to like sex. 

I have to send sincerest thanks to the librarians at Sachem Public Library for helping me write a story that’s relevant.

***

Some girls say no. Some boys don’t listen.

When Grace meets Ian, she’s afraid. Afraid he’ll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses Zac, the town golden boy, of rape, everyone turns against her. Ian wouldn't be the first to call her a slut and a liar.

Except Ian doesn’t reject her. He’s the one person who looks past the taunts and the names and the tough-girl act to see the real Grace. He’s the one who gives her the courage to fight back.

He’s also Zac’s best friend.



Patty Blount works as a software technical writer by day and novelist by night. Dared by her 13-year-old son to try fiction, Patty wrote her first manuscript in an ice rink. A short version of her debut novel, Send, finished in the top ten of the Writer's Digest 79th Annual Writing Competition.


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Doomed Cities of History and Legend

I had a bit of an obsession with doomed cities when I was teen. Real places like Pompeii and Roanoke, plus more legendary or mythical places like Troy and Atlantis, provided me with endless hours of reading material. They were also the fodder for many of my childhood experiments in fiction writing. There was something so romantic about the tragedy of it all, of knowing going into the story that things would end badly for almost everyone.



I don't know if this made me an especially morbid teenager, but I do know I wasn't alone. Books like these continue to fascinate readers today - perhaps the mystery of the things we can never know causes our enduring interest. In a way, books like these provide answers for us, telling the stories of the people who died or disappeared all those years ago.



This booklist collects stories from these four places of history or legend. I tried to keep the list focused on the past ten years, though there are a few from the early 2000s as well. There seems to be a renewed interest in Atlantis lately, and more broadly the idea of underwater cities. Re-tellings of the Iliad and Odyssey from teenage points of view are perennially popular, though I restricted this particular list to those that take place - at least in part - in the city of Troy itself (which is why I left out Esther Friesner's Nobody's Princess). As always, chime in with other titles I've missed!



Atlantis 



Teardrop by Lauren Kate (2013)

Since Eureka's mother drowned, she wishes she were dead too, but after discovering that an ancient book is more than a story Eureka begins to believe that Ander is right about her being involved in strange things--and in grave danger.



Atlantis Rising by T. A. Barron (2013)

The young thief Promi and the forest girl Atlanta battle evil and in the process bring about the creation of Atlantis. [This is more of an upper middle grade novel, similar in age range to Barron's Merlin books.]





Atlantia by Ally Condie (2014)

Rio has always dreamed of leaving the underwater city of Atlantia for life in the Above; however, when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, Rio is left stranded below where she must find a way to unlock the secrets of the siren voice she has long hidden and save Atlantia from destruction. [I'm actually unsure if this addresses Atlantis specifically or only alludes to it via the name of the city, but I'm putting it on here since I think it would definitely appeal to the same kind of readers.]



Pompeii 

Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter (2014)

Tagus is a medical slave who wants be a gladiator, Lucia is the daughter of Tag's owner and betrothed to an older man, and the two teenagers are in love with each other--but it is the year 79 and soon Vesuvius will alter their lives forever.



The Last Girls of Pompeii by Kathryn Lasky (2007)

Twelve-year-old Julia knows that her physical deformity will keep her from a normal life, but counts on the continuing friendship of her life-long slave, Mitka, until they learn that both of their futures in first-century Pompeii are about to change for the worse. [Like the Barron, this is more upper middle grade or lower YA.]

Troy



Troy by Adele Geras (2000)

Told from the point of view of the women of Troy, portrays the last weeks of the Trojan War, when women are sick of tending the wounded, men are tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses find ways to stir things up.



The Moon Riders by Theresa Tomlinson (2003)

When thirteen-year-old Myrina of the Mazagardi tribe joins the Moon Riders, a revered band of warrior women, she becomes caught up in the life of the Trojan princess Cassandra and the epic, ten-year Trojan War.





Beauty's Daughter: The Story of Hermione and Helen of Troy by Carolyn Meyer (2013)

When renowned beauty Helen runs off to Troy with Prince Paris, her enraged husband, King Menelaus, starts the Trojan War, leaving their plain daughter, Hermione, alone to witness the deaths of heroes on both sides and longing to find her own love and place in the world.



Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B. Cooney (2002)

Taken from her home on an Aegean island as a six-year-old girl, Anaxandra calls on the protection of her goddess while she poses as two different princesses over the next six years, before ending up as a servant in the company of Helen and Paris as they make their way to Troy.



Roanoke



Blackwood by Gwenda Bond (2012)

Teenagers Miranda and Phillips may be the only hope of discovering what happened to 114 people who went missing on Roanoke Island in a mysterious repeat of the disappearance of the islands lost colony hundreds of years before.



Cate of the Lost Colony by Lisa Klein (2010)

When her dalliance with Sir Walter Ralegh is discovered by Queen Elizabeth in 1587, lady-in-waiting Catherine Archer is banished to the struggling colony of Roanoke, where she and the other English settlers must rely on a Croatoan Indian for their survival.






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Some Boys by Patty Blount

Grace was raped by the town golden boy, Zac. He's a big shot lacrosse player and no one believes he'd ever do anything wrong. Everything Grace says is just an attempt to bring him down and the video that was posted on Facebook seems to show that Grace consented to what happened that night. Why would Zac be a rapist if it looks like she said yes?



Ian, Zac's best friend and teammate, has always had a thing for Grace. At least he did. He knows now that Zac's been with her, she's off limits.



But now, Grace and Ian are both being forced to clean the lockers at the school. Grace because she continues to lash out at those who berate her for what she's saying about Zac and Ian as a means of making amends for some of his own behavior that came out as a result of health issues he's been having (there's a plot line here about athletics and concussions). When the two of them are thrown together in this project, things change for both Grace and Ian. Both of them are tense guarded as a result of their relationships to one another and to Zac, but slowly, that begins to chip away as they talk to one another. And for the first time, perhaps Grace has an ally. Perhaps someone believes what happened to her.



Some Boys by Patty Blount is an exploration of rape culture. This book has a solid basis in reality, with shades of Steubenville echoing throughout. But what makes Blount's approach a bit different is that her story is told from dual points of view. It's an uneasy read, but it does a fair job of looking into the experience through the eyes of a girl who can't be heard and a boy who experiences the effects of rape culture in an entirely different manner -- as a boy and as a boy who happens to be extremely close to the guy who raped. Blount examines how a town can turn against a single girl who dares to say something happened to her and her body, especially when those allegations are against someone who happens to be held in high esteem. This is the other side of the "but those poor boys will have their futures ruined" story that the news loves to feed us, the one where we understand the implications of what it means to have your body violated and to have your story ignored completely because those poor boys and their futures.



There are very few books that look at rape culture in YA, and while this is a solid entry and one absolutely worth reading and discussing (and it should be read and discussed), it never quite cut as deeply as it could have. Sometimes when you read a book and you know it's important, you accept elements of plot or character that are imperfect because you know what the story is doing or saying is enough on its own. But even knowing that the issue of rape culture here was well-done and that it's a book that is more than worthwhile reading, I couldn't help but see these things and feel like they could have been tightened, reconsidered, or not included at all in order to make a much tighter, more well-written book as a whole.



Grace's mother really wants her to leave town and go abroad, to get away from the nightmare she keeps putting herself through by showing up at school and being ridiculed. While Grace chooses not to leave, which garners her mother's support, it felt like it was always an option. It didn't make her situation any easier, obviously, but it made me think about how privilege can be wrapped up in situations like this. That Grace chooses to stay in town and resisted leaving is huge and important -- and it empowers her because she knows she's right and she knows that she needs to continue having her life here -- I wish that the element of possibility had never existed. It seemed unnecessary to even offer that out because it said to me that there was an out. I never got the sense of claustrophobia here because that was always in the back of my mind. It's not blaming her for not leaving; it's instead a question of why that was even offered up as an option. Had it not been there at all, I'd never have put it in my mind. But it was, so I couldn't shake it.



My bigger issue with the book, though, was the fact this was set up as a romance. One of my biggest pet peeves in a big story like this is that a boy comes in and becomes the hero. It seems like an all-too-common response in stories about trauma, but it wasn't until Ian came forth and said he believed Grace that anyone else so much as wanted to listen to her and believe she never gave Zac consent. While I thought Ian's growth was great and while I thought he handled going against his best friend was believable, I so wish it hadn't been a boy -- one who had a crush on Grace, particularly -- who had to be the one to stand up for her. To be the reason her story and her voice was validated. It spoke too easily to how the male voice is the one that's believed and respected, not just in the story, but in our society on a larger level. Why is it girls can't have such powerful allies in other girls? Why does that validation need to come through a boy?



More, I did not care whether Ian and Grace would end up together. The romance felt like a distraction and a way to talk around the bigger issue without addressing it head on. It was uninteresting. I cared so much more about Grace making it through than I did about Ian getting his prize at the end. Because that's what it was: Grace had no romantic inclinations toward him for the bulk of the story. He, however, had plenty toward her. What's maybe most bothersome about the romance in this story, though, is less how it's written and more that it's the selling point of the book. The tagline even tells us that one boy may be able to mend what others have broken.



To me this says a lot about our comfort in listening to a girl's story for the sake of her story. Romance sells, even if it's not the point of the book. Even if it's the weakest and most unnecessary part of the book. I can't help but think that it goes back to what validates a girl's story. Here? It's a boy who can mend the broken girl. Weirder that it's a boy who went too far and broke her heart.



There's more than her heart at stake.



This paragraph is spoiler, so skip down if you don't want it. For me, the ending wasn't believable. The apologies came too quickly in the end. Even when the truth came to pass, the pacing was off. The community's decision to apologize and seek Grace's forgiveness never felt authentic nor real. It could have been stronger had the story ended when the truth emerged, rather than allow Grace's peers to even have the chance to redeem themselves. It would have been a bit more damning and a bit more realistic to how rape culture -- at least how we see it in media -- plays out. The ending here fell into the same trap that the ending in Tease by Amanda Maciel did: too easy, too much a neat bow on a package that deserved better.



Grace as a character worked for me. She's tough, but she's also not entirely silent. She's not willing to be degraded and she refuses to take anything from anyone. At this point, she realizes she has nothing left to lose because no one cares about her anyway. That hardened exterior makes sense, and much of it seems to delve into her interior, too. She was more compelling and engaging for me than Ian, though Ian's development was not lacking or problematic itself.



Although I have a fair share of criticisms for Some Boys, this is an important book for teens and for the adults who work with them. Addressing rape culture head-on is something we don't see enough of, and we certainly don't get the perspective of the girl who has been a victim enough. These voices and stories are important because they're precisely what the media and our broader culture chooses to ignore in light of the poor boys who have their futures ruined because of their crime. We don't hear about the girl who has been violated and who has to live every waking moment knowing that what she says isn't as important as the futures of those boys.



Pass this book along to readers who like realistic fiction and anyone who has read the likes of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson or similar stories about rape and sexual assault. Although it's not out yet and won't be until next spring, this book will be in excellent conversation with Courtney Summers's All the Rage, which also homes in on rape culture and the way our society protects boys but spits in the faces of girls who are made victims of sexual violence.







Some Boys is available now. Review copy received from the publisher. Patty will be stopping by on Wednesday to talk a bit more about the story's inspirations and how she did her research. 


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This Week in Reading: Volume 5

Do you ever feel like another person is really influencing your reading? Maybe you had a conversation or two and they told you that you had to read this book and that book and then this one, too? I like when that happens, especially when it's a person whose tastes I trust. I think it kind of influenced a bit of this week and last week's books but in a good way.



Here's what I got:



Excavation: A Memoir by Wendy C. Ortiz (purchased) -- I'm reading this one right now, and it's fascinating. It's a memoir of a girl who had a very physical relationship with her high school teacher and how she's gone to understand the experience now that she's an adult. A totally unique perspective on the teacher/student relationship story (and it's not a story, since it actually happened).



Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (purchased) -- Cannot wait to read this. I'm going to intersperse this one with my novel and the reading I'm doing out of the Dorothy Parker anthology.



Compulsion by Martina Boone (review copy) -- Not sure this one is for me, but I'm definitely intrigued by that cover.



Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (library) -- I've never read it, and I think it might be tackling something I need for a project I'm working on.



Tomboy by Liz Prince (review copy) -- This graphic memoir is fantastic. I'll review it soon, but it tackles gender expression and gender identity and does so in a really great way.



The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey (purchased) -- I don't think it's spoiler anymore to say this is a zombie novel. And while I liked it, I didn't love it as much as some did. Though Melanie and her teacher's relationship was a huge highlight. Definitely has great teen appeal for those who are looking for more zombie fiction (..as opposed to zombie non-fiction? I'm not sure why I included the word "fiction" there).



Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee (review copy) -- Diverse historical fiction set on the Oregon Trail, featuring girls who have to dress as boys. I can't express how excited I am by the premise, even though it's not my usual fare.



The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (purchased) -- I bought this novel about a teacher-student affair at the same time as the Ortiz memoir. One of my fellow Book Riot writers raved about this title, and I had to have it.



Horrorstore by Grady Hendrix (review copy) -- A horror novel set inside an IKEA-like store, and the format is in IKEA-catalog style. I'm in 500%.



Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson (review copy) -- I love realistic YA about mental health, and this one is about a girl with OCD.



The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond (review copy) -- Alternate history about what would have happened if Hitler won World War II.



I Work At A Public Library by Gina Sheridan (review copy) -- I'm looking forward to this, since I really like Gina's Tumblr of the same name.



Girls Like Us by Gail Giles (library) -- The newest Gail Giles looks interesting. It's set after high school and it features two special ed teens.



The Saskiad by Brian Hall (library) -- A teen girl in the wilderness with adventure and a best friendship with another girl. Sold.





I think I covered everything I read in this run-down, too.





Worthwhile reading from around the web. There's some book stuff and some non-book stuff:





Betsy over at Fuse #8 has a roundup of kid lit bloggers to know and read. Lots of these are new to me, and I'm so excited to dig in. So much talk about the Penguin Modern Classics edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and their cover choice (I like it a lot -- this is a book marketed for adults, not kids, and it makes me want to read the book since I think it'd tell a different story to me as an adult). Here's a look at the inspiration for the cover design, and here's Travis creating a series of new covers for other children's classics that are really creepy...and funny. Sarah Hollowell talks about a topic I'm passionate about: Write Fat Kids.Angie Manfredi's post about how we can be better and do better when it comes to the conversation on anti-racism. This post is excellent not just for librarians, but for any human. Carrie Brownstein is one of my favorite celebrities. She's bookish, she's funny, and she's super down-to-Earth in every interview I read of her. This piece in Bust is particularly good, as she gets into how she's managed to have two very different career paths and she talks about how she sees and reads the feminism in Portlandia. Also, I want her memoir right now. A history of fallen teen magazines, or, a graveyard of my teen years. While you're at it, here's a history of the diary novel, too. BuzzFeed really wants an end to the Twitter account @SavedYouAClick. I have no idea why because I'm too busy reading @SavedYouAClick. And let's wrap this up with a look at what it was like to be a contestant on Supermarket Sweep.

And here's something exciting that happened this month: I've got an article in VOYA. This piece is about girls and girls reading, and it talks about 10 YA novels published in the last year that feature dynamic, complex female characters. This is one of my favorite things I've written for a professional journal. It's not online (though if it goes online in the future, I'll share that), but if you get the print edition, it's in the August issue. 








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This Week at Book Riot

Quiet week this week over at Book Riot, but that's because I've been working on something that took quite a bit of my writing power and time. But here's what's up:


Continuing my 3 On A YA Theme series with three books that feature girls who run. I could have included 100 more books, probably, so feel free to hop into the comments and add more. 


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The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin

Addison Stone is legendary.



She's the girl who isn't just a budding talent, an artist on the rise. She is hot artist right now, no qualifiers necessary.



Except, Addison Stone is dead, and she died under some mysterious circumstances. No one knows for sure what happened, and what comes together in Adele Griffin's The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone is the testimony of people who knew her as they attempt to put together the pieces of just what happened. How could such a young talent be gone?



The construction of this book is brilliant. Never do we get Addison's voice because she's dead; instead, we're only allowed to get to know Addison through the voices of people who knew and associated with her, for better or for worse. Some of the people who get the chance to speak up loved Addison and wanted to see her get better and better with her art. Others, though, weren't fans of Addison nor her life. Some, maybe, were downright envious. Bit by bit, Addison's life comes together through these narratives, which are interspersed with both Addison's art and photographs of her life.



Without getting Addison's voice directly, it might feel like this book is a bit gimmicky. But Griffin manages to do something smart: she not only works with the set up to tell a huge story, but she simultaneously uses the format to comment upon the idea of art and artifice. Because who are these people to tell us who Addison is? What do their concepts of her as a person -- and her as an artist -- do to render a full person? Can they? What of their biases and connections with and to her do to getting at the heart of who she was?



Addison wasn't without problems. Being talented came at a price, and much of it had to do with pressure. Internally, externally, and from the entire world around her. Being young and female didn't help the situation. There's much here about gender and about the unique struggles and situations that talented girls find themselves in and how that sort of lifestyle is destructive not because of the individual living it, but because of the way the world operates and puts expectations and demands upon girls. Further complicating the situation and tying right into that is the struggle Addison had with her own romantic life. She was (and was not) interested in more than one boy. The revelations those boys have about Addison and their personal relationships with her, because they're so biased, tell us a lot about Addison and her interest in them.



We get the opportunity to see Addison's growth through her adolescence, and we learn exactly how she came to hone her talents and find herself living the big city artist dream. But as much as it seems like it was a dream, bits and pieces come together to tell us as readers perhaps it wasn't a dream after all. That perhaps there was something bigger warring within Addison.



The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone has a plot twist in it that comes through the bits and pieces we learn about Addison's younger years. It's spoiler to reveal what that twist is, but it might be fair to note that there's a tiny bit of a supernatural element to the mystery of the story. That tiny bit of supernatural, though, may not be precisely what it seems to be. It might indicate a far bigger challenge to Addison and her struggles with creativity and the bigger questions that surround artists and creative inspiration. More, this delves into what might be the most provocative element of the story (and, as noted above, the bigger idea behind the book's construction): the idea of performance. What is performance? Is it art? Is it life? Is it both? Who are the performers within one's own life? At what point do you get to separate yourself from the work you do? Are you granted permission to do so, and if that's the case, how do you protect that inner self from the bigger world taking in what it is you do and create?



Also, who owns a story once it's out there? Is it the artist or is it those who enjoy the art?



The voices and perspectives in this book are unique and easy to navigate. Though we hear from a lot of people, it's never confusing. Much of what emerges from the cast of characters is in itself the story: we get to see and experience what envy and love look, feel, and taste like without those things being described straightly to us. The immersive setup makes it easy to forget that this isn't an actual story of a person who lived; this is a fictional account of a fictional character's death.



Griffin's novel is experimental but exceptionally successful at being so. This is the kind of book mystery lovers will want to get their hands on, as well any readers who are themselves creative and artistic and struggle with the internal and external manifestations of themselves and their art. It's a complex, layered book, but it's a lot of fun because of that. There are serious themes, but the way they come together and the way it's put together and examined by the reader is the most enjoyable part. This is a book of pieces and characters, but it's ultimately the reader who gets to put them together. Addison is an older character, so readers seeking stories at the upper end of YA or about teens who choose not to pursue traditional college/career paths will want to pick this up, as well. The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone asks more questions than it answers -- and it begs to be discussed because of that.



If the book piques your interest, check out this great piece at School Library Journal between Liz Burns and Adele Griffin. Learning about how the book came together -- and the girl who inspired the way Addison looks -- is really fascinating.



For those who like a little story to your book covers, too, the cover of this book is not only fitting, but representative of an Addison habit you'll come to discover. It's a small detail, but it made the experience of the book that much more enjoyable.







The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone will be available August 12 -- next Tuesday -- from Soho Teen. Review copy received from the publisher. 


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Audio Review: Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Eureka's mother Diana died in a freak weather event a few months ago when a wave crashed over the bridge they were driving along. While Diana didn't make it, Eureka was rescued by someone, but her memories of the incident are murky. Afterward, she goes to live with her father, who has been divorced from her mother for several years and has remarried to a woman named Rhoda. Tensions between Eureka and her stepmother are high, especially since Rhoda is a main force behind Eureka's mandated visits to see a therapist to deal with her grief and her recent suicide attempt.



While driving to a school event one day, Eureka is rear-ended by a car driven by another teenager, a boy named Ander. He acts oddly, though Eureka is strangely drawn to him. He begins popping up in the same places where Eureka goes. Her best girl friend, Cat, encourages Eureka to avoid him at all costs, but Eureka isn't convinced he's dangerous. It soon becomes clear that he has something to do with the strange items Diana left for Eureka in her will: a book written in an archaic language, a locket, and a strange stone that can't get wet. When Eureka manages to translate the book, she learns that everything - Ander, the items, Diana's accident - leads back to the legend of Atlantis.



Goodreads reviewers are particularly vicious about Lauren Kate's previous series, Fallen . I expect a lot of that has to do with how popular they are: the more people who read them, the more people will find they dislike them, and many of them will be very vocal about it. (The flip side is true as well, of course - it's certainly found a lot of fans.) I haven't read them - angel fiction isn't my thing - so I can't say how they compare to this new Teardrop series. What I can tell you is that I don't foresee Teardrop winning over any new fans.



The primary problem with the book is pacing. It's 11 discs long and it seems like half of them are solely exposition. Most of the book is concerned with mysterious goings-on in Eureka's town, some of which are repeated (for example, we see Eureka's best guy friend Brooks acting hot-and-cold toward her at least half a dozen times before it's revealed why). When things really do get going, it's near the end of the book, and it involves a huge info-dump that coincides with the climax of the story. Not the most interesting or engaging way to reveal information. I have a feeling many readers will grow bored before getting to the payoff.



As for the payoff itself, it's a little disappointing. I gave this one a whirl because I've long been obsessed with stories about Atlantis, but the twist Kate gives the legend is not terribly exciting. Without spoiling things too much, I'll say that it involves Eureka's inability to cry - her tears would cause something terrible to happen, something that has to do with the lost city. I think there might be a metaphor hidden in here about teenage girls' emotions and how they inspire fear in people, but if it's there, it's muddled. Mostly I just thought it was a little ridiculous; it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief.



Erin Spencer's narration is good; it neither enhances nor detracts from the book. I had a hard time determining if Eureka's best girl friend was named Cat or Pat - it sounded like one or the other on different occasions (it's Cat). She voices Eureka in a slow, deliberate way, which is normal for audiobooks (don't want the listener to miss something!) but also works well for Eureka's character, who is grief-stricken and depressed. The other characters are only partially voiced.



This would be a good pick for fans of light fantasy who don't mind a slow-moving story. It's the kind of book that focuses a lot on its non-fantasy elements: high school friendships and romances, parties, grief over a dead parent, tensions within blended families. The fantasy portions seem almost an afterthought at times. Waterfall , the sequel, publishes this October, and hopefully it includes a little extra meat to the re-imagined Atlantis legend and less plodding to the story, but I'm not sure I'll read it to find out.



Audiobook received from the publisher. Teardrop is available now.


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Matriarchal Societies

I've always been fascinated by depictions of matriarchal societies in books. They're extremely rare in our own world (if they exist at all - please let me know if you know of any), meaning they're most often explored in science fiction and fantasy, realms where the unusual, the unique, and the impossible are common occurrences.



By matriarchy, I mean a society ruled or governed by women in a simple sense, but also a society where women's ideas, interests, and desires are valued above those of men. It's different from a matrilineal society, where descent follows the female line (think of how cultural Judaism is inherited from the mother). It's quite easy for one's family name or identity to be derived from one's mother while still existing in a culture that values men more. A matriarchy is more complex and more comprehensive.



In fiction, a matriarchal society is a deliberate choice. Sometimes the author intends to simply explore the idea, but usually it's used as a way to critique our own patriarchal culture. Rather than presenting the matriarchy as a utopian ideal, though, most authors choose to present it as replete with its own problems and injustices. It's not an antidote to patriarchies, but it is a response. And within the fantasy genre, where it seems like most authors like to write not just patriarchies, but patriarchies that strip women of most of the basic rights they now have in the 20th century western world, a book with a matriarchy stands out. It's different, it's interesting, and it's always discussable.



On a pure story level, though, it's a way for female characters to have the kind of power and influence that would be nearly impossible in a realistic novel, much the same way giving a girl magical abilities does. As a teen, that's what drove me to these kinds of stories, and I wish there were more out there geared toward the 13-18 age range. I didn't read many YA books in this vein as a teenager. Instead, I read adult books like Melanie Rawn's Exiles series, which features a world where women hold power due to their ability to birth children, and Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series, where powerful magical women rule over men in often terrible ways. Bishop's series is particularly interesting to me, since it takes the commonly-accepted ideas about the differences between men and women and subverts them completely. (I like Rawn's series, but I'm weary of books where people revere women because they can get pregnant. It's too often used as method in our own world to reinforce the patriarchy.) Her characters exist in a necessarily violent world, as such power structures are only established and maintained through violence.



I've collected a few YA books featuring matriarchies below. In some of the books, the matriarchy exists as a smaller society within a larger patriarchal culture, though some of them do feature entirely matriarchal cultures. Are there any others you can think of? Even older titles are fine here, since there are so few of them. Descriptions are from Worldcat, and I've also provided a bit of my own commentary on some of the titles in italics.





Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

In her hometown of Salem, Lily Proctor endures not only life-threatening allergies but humiliation at her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But in a different Salem -- one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles, she is Lillian, the strongest and cruelest Crucible ... Lily's other self in an alternate universe where Lily suddenly finds herself. There she is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected. [This will be published September 2, and it should be on your radar. I'm currently reading it. It's got a really intriguing hybrid science/magic system the likes of which I haven't read before, and the matriarchy in the parallel world is equally unique.]



Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow

Otter is a girl of the Shadowed People, a tribe of women, and she is born to be a binder, a woman whose power it is to tie the knots that bind the dead--but she is also destined to remake her world.





The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

In a Brazil of the distant future, June Costa falls in love with Enki, a fellow artist and rebel against the strict limits of the legendary pyramid city of Palmares Três' matriarchal government, knowing that, like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die. [The matriarchy here is so detailed and so believable. Like the power dynamic in our own patriarchy, it's simply taken for granted that the women rule and the boys die to make it so. I read this one for the Cybils (it was our winner) and it's probably the best example I've read of a matriarchy where the purpose isn't the matriarchy itself - the story still reigns. Bitch Magazine has a really interesting entry in their "Girls of Color in Dystopia" series about this book that explores the society and whether or not it can be considered dystopian.] 



Night Flying by Rita Murphy

As the time for her solo flight on the sixteenth birthday approaches, Georgia begins to question the course of her life and her relationships with the other women in her unusual family. [This addition is courtesy of Liz Burns, @LizB.]





Prized by Caragh O'Brien

Sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone is in the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her when she is captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where she must follow a strict social code or never see her sister again. [I only have vague memories of reading this, but I do remember that Sylum is very matriarchal, not the world at large.]



Epitaph Road by David Patneaude

In 2097, men are a small and controlled minority in a utopian world ruled by women, and fourteen-year-old Kellen must fight to save his father from an outbreak of the virus that killed ninety-seven percent of the male population thirty years earlier. [I haven't read this one, but I'd be really interested to know just how utopian the world really is. I'm super wary of this kind of setup - has anyone read it who can weigh in?]







Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen

Tells of the coming of the White Queen --of deception, and war, and the changing face of history. [This is clearly quite vague. I got this title from kind Twitter respondent Stephanie Appell, @noseinabookgirl. I haven't read it, so I don't know the specifics of the culture represented.]



I've also read that the House of Night series by P. C. and Kristin Cast feature matriarchal societies, but I'm not sure how. If you've read them, perhaps you can weigh in. I also feel like there might be some historical fantasy - or perhaps simply historical fiction - out there that's Pagan-centric and features matriarchal societies, even if they're small ones. No YA titles come to mind, though.


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