Stacked

Double Take (Actually a Triple-Take)

2012-01-27T01:00:00.000-06:00

While looking up the US cover for 172 Hours on the Moon for my Midwinter post earlier this week, I came across the UK cover and immediately knew I had seen it before.

If you're a long-time reader of STACKED (and I hope you are!), you've seen it before too...not once, but twice.

After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Weyr and The Sky Isn't Visible From Here by Felicia C. Sullivan, which Kelly wrote about back in 2009.

That's certainly a popular image.

When we fail to do our part

2012-01-26T00:00:00.002-06:00

I mentioned in yesterday's wrap-up that I was feeling tremendous guilt post-awards ceremony, but it was something that crept up far before the ceremony began and far before listening in on the Best Fiction for Young Adults session. I should be fair and say that actually, my initial feelings on the subject were of frustration and anger and disappointment. But those are ultimately unfair emotions for what amounts to guilt.

See, one of my favorite books of 2011 -- and one of the most well-written, engaging, exciting, and fresh books of the year for young adults -- was one I had hopes could earn a little Printz sticker. I thought early on it had good potential, as so many of the reviews were positive, and there was a lot of excitement about how daring the book was. The book earned 4 starred reviews, and it showed up on numerous Mock Printz contender lists. Without doubt, this book had something to it that made it stand out.

But this isn't a post about why Imaginary Girls didn't garner a Printz nod.

Every year, the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) selects books not only for prestigious awards like the Printz, Morris, Excellence in Non-Fiction, Alex, and Odyssey, but the numerous, hard-working committees also develop a number of "best of" recognition lists, including Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, Fabulous Films, Great Graphic Novels, Popular Paperbacks, Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA). These lists serve a number of purposes, including assisting librarians and other youth advocates in collection development and reader's advisory.

The last list I linked to -- BFYA -- is especially important because it helps whittle down what can be an overwhelming number of books published over the course of a 16-month period (September 1 of the previous calendar year through December 31 of the current calendar year, so for this year's BFYA, titles were published between September 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011). This list recognizes the best of that huge number of books.

So how do these list and award committees get their pool of potentials? It's kind of straight forward: those who serve on the committees work hard all year round to keep on top of the materials being published (or that have been published). Committee members do receive copies from publishers to consider, but the bulk of responsibility falls upon them to keep an eye out for other eligible titles, then they read or watch or listen to the materials and discuss them at length. For a long time, I was under the impression all of the work falls upon the committee; many of the committees even posted their current pool of contenders for everyone else to check out. It felt like one of those worlds those who weren't serving on committees were sort of removed from all together. I'm not sure why I thought that, but it's not true.

All of the linked-to awards and selection lists above also allow for field nominations.

Did you read that?

Anyone -- teachers, librarians, authors, publishers, you, me, a teenager, any average reader -- can field nominate a title for consideration to any of the above lists. As long as you're not the author of that particular book or the publisher of that book, it's fair game. Each of the awards and lists has a link to a form to complete, and once it's filled out completely and correctly, it's sent on to the committee for consideration. Of course, the field nomination needs to actually be eligible for consideration for that particular award or list, and the eligibility information is also available on the individual award/list websites.

While each and every award and selection list committee works differently, the rules are generally about the same. Here's what the rules are about titles being considered for the Printz Award:

Field nominations are encouraged. To be eligible, they must be submitted on the official nomination form. All field nominations must then be seconded by a committee member, and periodically the chair will send a list of field nominations to committee members for this purpose. If, within thirty days, no second is forthcoming, the title will be dropped from consideration. Only those titles that have been nominated (and seconded if field nominations) may be discussed at Midwinter and Annual Conference meetings. Furthermore, all nominated titles must be discussed. Publishers, authors, or editors may not nominate their own titles.

Rules for the Excellence in Non-Fiction Award are similar:

Field suggestions are encouraged. To be eligible, they must be submitted on the official suggestion form. The form will allow for both a rationale and summary of nominated titles. Committee members will be notified of all field suggestions, which are eligible to be considered for nomination by members. Nominated titles must also have a second from a committee member. Only those titles that have been nominated will be discussed at Midwinter and Annual Conference meetings, as well as phone meetings, though a committee member may request that a suggested title be moved to the discussion list and thus treated as a nominated title. Furthermore, all nominated titles must be discussed. To prevent a conflict of interest, publishers, authors, or editors may not nominate titles in which they have a vested interest.

For both of these awards, field nominations are encouraged. As long as the book's eligible, it will be moved to discussion, and if a committee member feels it's worthy of consideration, it moves on.

Now, field nominations for the Best Fiction for Young Adults isn't much different. Again, it's encouraged, and like the awards above, titles nominated from the populous require a committee second:

Field nominations, which are nominations that come from someone who is not a member of the committee, require a second from a BFYA committee member. The chair informs the committee of field nominations, which remain active until all nominations are closed. If no committee member seconds the field nomination, the title is dropped from consideration.

As long as books are properly nominated from the field -- the form's filled out correctly and submitted correctly and the title is eligible per listed requirements -- the books will be considered by the committee. There's not a wall up that separates the committee's considerations from those at large. Rather, the field nominations help populate the pool of contenders for awards and lists. When a field nomination comes in, the committee receives an email. If someone has read it, they'll either second it or discuss why it shouldn't be considered. There are legitimate reasons a book might not be seconded, and once a book is seconded, every member of the committee must read it, as with any nominated title. But thoughtful, smart nominations are always welcome.

There's a caveat to this, but it's one that I've laid out here and that's laid out in the rules. The field nominations need to be thoughtful. The forms that read simply "this is the best book ever" as reason why it should be considered are meaningless. A good nomination will give concrete reasons for why a book should be considered for the list. Talking about the book's appeal and what makes it better than average are important, as is discussing why and how it fits in the context of the award or list. Likewise, the books need to be within the appropriate eligibility time frame.

Now, going back to my very original comments on this post. I feel extremely guilty this year. Even though I fell in love with Imaginary Girls, even though I thought it was one of the most thought-provoking and enjoyable YA reads this year, I didn't nominate it for anything. It didn't occur to me to do it. I thought to myself, surely someone will nominate this book because how could they not?

And yet, when I saw the final list of BFYA titles under consideration, guess which book was not on that list?

As I mentioned earlier, my first reaction to not seeing it on the list was shock and a bit of outrage. There's no way it didn't meet the criteria. But when I left the auditorium after the announcements of the Youth Media Awards, I felt nothing but guilt. I read that book and I loved that book. But I didn't do anything about putting it into the minds of those serving on the BFYA committee. I assumed someone else had this book on their radar already.

But now, it's too late.

The reason I wanted to write this post was because I wanted to encourage everyone who reads something they like this year to take the time to nominate it if it's eligible for a particular YALSA award or list. These hard-working committees can miss something simply because of how overwhelming their tasks are. They can miss something because they miss something. Human error happens. But anyone who reads can pitch in and do their part, too, so books like Imaginary Girls don't unfairly slip between the cracks.

As of today, nomination forms for the 2013 awards and lists aren't yet open, but they will be starting in February, and I will write up a post when they come out. I've made it a personal goal to spend an hour or two once a month going through every book I've read that has merit and writing up the nomination forms, even if it's for a title that seems obvious it'd be considered. The worst that happens is my field nomination is read and considered a duplicate. The best that happens is a book like Imaginary Girls doesn't miss its chance at consideration for something like the BFYA. I encourage you to do this too -- even if it's not at the same time frame I've made for myself, do take the time to fill out a nomination form for a book you love and that fits the criteria. For the five minutes it takes to complete the form, you are doing your part.

Remember -- anyone can do this.

* A huge thank you to my experts Liz Burns, Sophie Brookover, and Karyn Silverman for their help in the research and fact-checking in this post.

ALA Midwinter 2012: A Wrap-up

2012-01-25T01:00:00.003-06:00

Last year, I talked about how I thought that that ALA Midwinter was my favorite conference, but I'm pretty sure this year's ALA Midwinter might top last year's. I've got another post planned for the weekend to talk about some of the books I picked up (which, to be honest, is much smaller than in year's past since I've really come to be selective in what I decide to take). For now, a glimpse at what went down in Dallas.

Friday

I got into town late on Thursday and headed to my room, where I was staying with Liz, Stacy, and Sophie. Since all three ladies had committee assignments, they went to bed shortly after I got in. I, however, stayed up quite late instead and had a very long (but fun) Friday.

I hopped down to the convention center in the early afternoon to pick up all the registration stuff, and then went back to the hotel to read for a while before meeting up with a bunch of my favorite librarians for a late lunch. We got a recommendation for a little diner about half a mile from the convention center, so we walked over there and proceeded to not only enjoy delicious sandwiches, but we had an excellent conversation about recent blogging drama, what we've been up to, and more importantly, book talk. We had lengthy chats about recent favorites and not-so-favorites, as well as talked about what we hoped would be seeing new seals on the covers come Monday. As much as we all talk online, it's never quite the same as when we get together in person because in person, the passion is so much greater. Likewise, it's easier to have maybe more pointed and honest discussions.

Following lunch, we went back to a hotel and chatted even further at length about recent book releases and what we're looking forward to reading over the next few months. We talked about the titles we're excited about not only for ourselves, but that we're excited to sell to other readers.

Then we headed over to the convention center, where the exhibits were about to open. As you can see to the left, we had a second to even snap a picture before chaos ensued (not our chaos, but other chaos). We split up when exhibits opened, and I spent most of the time catching up with Janssen. One of the best things about the opening night was running into Siobhan Vivian. Siobhan is one of my buddies, as I brought her out to my library to do a program for the teens this summer. When she said she'd be at Midwinter promoting The List (which I will review closer to pub date in April), we said we'd meet up and sure enough, we literally ran into one another.

After maybe an hour or so wandering the floor, Janssen and I decided we were more interested in relaxing for a while before our big Friday night event, so we went back to my hotel and read for a bit. I like to think that good friends can do that, just spend quiet time together reading. As I've really come to learn over the last few conferences, I feel best when I'm not on the go the entire time; taking breaks is essential to not burning out.

We made our way back to the convention center at 8 for YALSA's first annual trivia night. Liz and I had been scheming for a while about this, and we managed to put together a team of ten ladies to dominate the program. After asking Twitter what we should call ourselves, we ended up becoming Judy and the Blooms (thanks to my college friend Becky, also a librarian). And because my team apparently loved me so much, they designated me as the captain. Not a small thing, mind you, because it meant not only did I have to write down the answers to the questions but in the event of a tie, I would have to answer the tie-breaking question. THE PRESSURE!

We went five rounds, and each of the rounds included questions about YALSA and the YALSA awards -- some were dates, some were books themselves, and some were straight up history of the association. Given we had a pretty rock star team, a lot of the answers could be figured out because someone knew from either having served on a committee or because we had enough reading variety on the team to succeed. After a few rounds of offering nothing to my team except my terrible handwriting skills, I was pleased with myself that the one right answer I did contribute was about Lucy Christopher's book Stolen.

Judy and the Blooms fought the good fight, and we made a nice ruckus at the event. In the end, we tied for second place, missing the coveted first spot by only two points. But, we walked away with audiobooks as prizes (I chose a copy of Blythe Woolston's The Freak Observer) and our team walked away with a new tradition: the Paul Zindel fist bump. See, one of the rounds of trivia was visual (and actually, I lied, I was pretty good at this round, seeing covers are one of my things) and we were having a hard time figuring out who the guy in the top row was. After much brain power, we guessed Paul Zindel and when we were right....the PZ fist bump emerged. Because why not?

After trivia, I did a room switcheroo and ended up going a bit away from downtown and stayed with Janssen and my lovely co-blogger Kimberly. The three of us went to UT together, and it was really nice to spend time just with each other since we haven't been all together for a while. It was an early night (for them) and another late one for me because I have this horrible thing about being unable to sleep in new places. On the bright side of it, I got in more reading time.

Saturday

We were up bright and early on Saturday because we were attending Little, Brown's librarian preview breakfast. First, I thought I'd show off the feast. On the left you'll see my plate, and I want you to see it because as far as I can remember this is one of the few meals I remembered to eat at the conference. It's easy to forget things like this. Also, I mostly wanted to say it was delicious!

What a blast the program was, too -- rather than only talk about the books coming out this season, we got a chance to see the books coming out through the end of the year, including the new Libba Bray and the new AS King. That also means we got to see the covers of those books before anyone else did.

At the end of the preview portion, there was a surprise for us. It was Peter Brown, who talked to us about the process of putting together his picture books. It was fascinating to hear about the behind the scenes stuff, and Peter himself was a really fun and funny speaker.

After the breakfast, I headed back to the exhibits with Kimberly and Janssen, where we roamed for a little while before heading to a buzz session. Almost every publisher and imprint did one of these 45 minute programs where they talked about a handful of their books coming out in the next six or so months. We saw one for Sterling and St Martin's Press, and they billed it as a battle of the books. The two publicists who did the program were really entertaining, and I added a ton of books to my must-read pile afterward. The photo on the left is a shot of one of the screens with a few of the St Martin's books they buzzed. I love these sessions because they put a lot of things on my radar I may have overlooked and because it helps me think about collection development in the longer-term.

Months ago, Kimberly and I were invited out to lunch with an editor who had been reading our blog, and so after the buzz session, we headed out with her. We had a lovely conversation about both sides of the table -- from hers about editing and about what she loves to read and us about blogging and what we love to read. It was really cool to talk to someone in another part of the book industry; so often, we forget the role an editor plays in the entire process. It was a really nice long lunch, and when Kim and I headed back to the convention center, we only had a few minutes to ourselves before heading to another event -- this time, the Scholastic preview.

The Scholastic preview was way different from any of the previews I've been to before. Rather than have the editors or publicists get up and talk about the books, they had the authors there to do reader's theater with them. They selected a scene from their forthcoming books and read them as though they were performances, so each author took shots reading some role from one another's books. We got to hear from Jordan Sonnenblick, Francisco X Stork, and Siobhan Vivian, among others.

When the Scholastic event wrapped up, Janssen took off to head back home, and Kim and I went back to our hotel for the evening. And in due fashion, she managed to go to sleep that night and I couldn't. But in the mean time, I finished a book -- one which already made my favorites of 2012 list and I'll blog about closer to pub date. The suspense will surely kill you.

Sunday

We took our time this morning, and we got to the convention center a while after the exhibits opened. Picked up a few books, but really not all that much. An hour or so later, we went to another publisher's preview, this time for Random House. Rather than the buzz session which was a quick overview of titles, this preview was longer and went into more depth about spring releases. Lots of exciting titles coming from them, and I'll talk about that when I post about the books I picked up.

I was about ready to crash at this point, so Kim and I went back to the hotel and relaxed, before shuffling back to the convention center to catch the teen feedback session portion of the Best Fiction for Young Adults panel. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's when local teens come and talk about the books being considered for the BFYA list and they talk about what they think about the books. It runs for two hours, and as someone said, it's probably the only time teens get 2 hours of undivided adult attention like that (adults aren't allowed to talk at all -- this is only for the teens). The room was packed with teens -- I'd guess 60 or 70 local teens -- and adults -- easily in the hundreds. For me, this is the most interesting conversation to hear. It gives such truth to the idea different books are meant for different readers. One teen will talk about hating a book and the next will talk about the love for it. After having read an immense number of the books on the BFYA consideration list, it was interesting to see what points the teens would make that either I hadn't considered.

Many books I wanted to hear them talk about they did and many more they didn't. But what stood out was how articulate these teenagers are about their books. Some of the comments that I noted were about things I felt, too -- many teens don't want romance in a book just to have it there. One girl commented about a book she was loving because of its strong female lead but said she hated the book at the end because the strong girl gives it all up for a boy. These things matter to teens, and they're passionate about them.

Following BFYA, Kim went home. I was so sad to say goodbye because, as much as we talk to one another and as much as we work together blogging, we never get to see each other (and for anyone who didn't know already, neither Kim nor I have met Jen in person!). When Kim left, I went back to my hotel to decompress before making the somewhat terrifying walk over to The Iron Cactus for our YA Blogger meet up. One of the things about the meeting in Dallas that surprised me was how deserted the downtown area was at any given time. A little eerie, to say the least.

It's been so fun putting these blogger meet ups together because each one has had a completely different tone to it. The first one, at last year's Midwinter, was much bigger than I expected and it was the first time I got to meet a lot of the people I consider my go-tos when I need something professionally. Then in June when we did it at Annual, our turn out was spectacular, thanks to the help of YA Highway. I got to meet many of the ladies behind that blog, who work their butts off putting together what I think is one of the most valuable and insightful ones around (that's your cue to read it if you're not already). This time, we had a much smaller turn out, but the intimacy was awesome. Rather than hang out at the bar, we actually sat down and did a more formal/informal dinner. I had the chance to meet a lot of people who were new to me, and we had the chance to talk about books we love and books we were hoping to see earn some sort of award on Monday.

I got along real well with the bartender, apparently; I note this since I guess it doesn't surprise anyone but myself this kind of thing happens. After he made me the spectacular margarita pictured above (an Elder, with 1800 Silver Tequila, Patron Cinronge, and St Germaine with pineapple and cinnamon), he made me another drink and didn't charge me for it. The food, drinks, and company were wonderful, and I'm always glad these things have allowed me to meet so many new bloggers and book lovers. I had the chance to talk with one of the wonderful publicity/marketing folks about blogging and about good pitches (because she writes some of the best) and then we got to have a long chat about how much we both love the Jersey Shore. Judge all you want.

The event went longer than I thought, which was a good thing. Great conversation and food was consumed (I cannot get good hatch chiles anywhere but Texas). I ended up going back to the hotel after and, as will be a certain surprise, spent most of the night not sleeping.

Monday

Getting up early was surprisingly easy when I hadn't really slept and when I was anticipating attending my first Youth Media Awards ceremony. I've tuned in before via the live web cast, but never have I been able to go. And man, what an experience!

The energy in the room was amazing from start to finish, and if anything, it felt like it grew from the beginning until the end. Getting to be there in the theater with thousands of other people who are as excited and passionate about books as you are is such a neat experience. The picture on the left doesn't do justice to what it was like sitting in the room, which was literally filled from top to bottom. If I had to guess, I'd say there were maybe 2,000 or more folks in the theater.

There's really nothing like it. Being surrounded by some of my favorite people -- the same ones who I'd been making predictions with about potential winners all weekend -- only made it better, as did having an entire back channel via Twitter.

The cheers when books were named -- the cheers especially when John Corey Whaley took not only the Morris but then the Printz -- were unlike anything I'd expected. The silences when books that were long-thought front runners didn't make the list were just as powerful.

When all was said and done, it was interesting to not only think about the titles that did and didn't make it, but also about the tremendous amount of work that goes into making these selections. It's so easy to criticize, but the awards process is much more complicated than anyone knows. I haven't served on a committee, but it was interesting to listen to my roommates who were talk about the process a bit. These folks deserve so much credit for their work.

I did one last walk through the exhibits before heading back to my room on Monday. I debated making it to the Morris/Non-Fiction reception, but I couldn't do it. In retrospect I regret that a little, but I'm eager to see Corey speak at the Printz reception in Anaheim this June. So instead of the reception, I spent most of the day in my hotel room and most of it in the afternoon with the lovely Liz, catching up. Despite rooming together, we probably saw one another a total of ten minutes or so.

All in all, this was a fun and potentially life/career-changing conference. Like last year's ALA and Kid Lit Con, I got so much out of it because it was so much about talking with other people. I have had some really amazing opportunities come out of this conference -- definitely things that were entirely unexpected -- and I'm walking away feeling really re-energized about books and my passion for reading and talking about them.

I'm wrapping up with this as sort of a teaser to a post I have planned for Friday about something that's been bothering me (and something over which I have guilt and angst). I had a really neat reading experience at the same time as this conference, and it all reminded me of the fact books and reading are important. They need to continue being talked about and advocated for. As much as we continue to push for technology, we can't forget the value and power found in reading a book, regardless of format. Words and stories matter immensely.

Midwinter 2012

2012-01-24T01:00:00.000-06:00

Kelly convinced me to go to Midwinter this year, and I'm so glad she did - it was by far the most enjoyable conference I've been to. Highlights included seeing Kelly and Janssen, who I had not seen in person since BEA in May of 2011, YALSA trivia (where I contributed nothing, but I'm OK with that), chatting with a very cool editor about books over lunch, a fantastic Little Brown preview breakfast (bacon...and books), a terrific Scholastic preview full of reader's theater and genuine syllabub, and meeting a bunch of librarians who I had previously only known through Twitter. (Spoiler: none of them tried to kill me.)

I'm going to leave the more in-depth conference review to Kelly and just discuss a few of the books I picked up. I've learned to be more selective in my choices. The first conference I went to I was just so gobsmacked by the "free books" that I was more than a little grabby. I've learned better, and I'm glad I have. The stack I brought home is made up entirely of books I am excited to read. Links lead to Goodreads.

The List by Siobhan Vivian

The only contemporary on my list! I'm very picky about the contemporary books I read. I need a very strong hook, and this one has it: each year, a list with the "prettiest" and "ugliest" girls in each grade is put up at a high school. Plus, Kelly thinks it's terrific and the author is just so nice. (Yes, I know niceness does not indicate talent, but it does make me feel more favorable about the book anyway.)

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

I've become a huge fan of Candlewick lately. I think their selections are almost universally examples of good writing, even if the subject matter is not really up my alley. This one, of course, is perfect for me: an Asian re-telling of Cinderella with a different kind of magic. I like Marriott's blurb on the back: "I never liked Cinderella as a little girl. She seemed like the worst kind of wimp to me, and I hated the fact that she needed someone else to rescue her." Fairy tale re-tellings never go out of style - I would say they are "story templates" and almost all literature owes a debt to them.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

This is supposed to be "Dexter for teens." It's also my first Barry Lyga. I don't know how I feel about Dexter for teens, but I do like thrillers and murder mysteries, and I certainly like the fact this is in third person past tense.

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

God is a teenage boy named Bob. "Every time he falls in love, Earth erupts in natural disasters." Sounds pretty funny to me.

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

Three teens are sent by NASA on a voyage to the moon. Terrifying things ensue. I've heard that this one is scary enough to keep readers up at night. Teen horror novels usually have just the right amount of creepiness for me. Adult horror novels? Too much.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough

Another creepy title, this time from Candlewick. In case you're unaware, this is where the book gets its title.

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

A thriller about a girl who sets out to prove her boyfriend is not a murderer. Her quest takes her to Prague and gets her involved with a secret society and conspiracies and lots of other fun stuff. This has been billed as similar to The Da Vinci code, but it seems much darker.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

A fantasy about a kingdom that needs a prince and the boy who auditions to impersonate the king's long-lost son. This sounds like a really fun middle grade.

Winning Team by Dominique Moceanu

Self-explanatory. Regretfully, I could not find an image of this cover online.

A Pile of Contemporary Reviews

2012-01-23T01:00:00.000-06:00

I've blown through a huge number of books in the last couple of weeks, in part due to being able to read anything I want to and part because I'm trying to clear my shelves before the deluge of spring titles come back with me from ALA. A lot of people suffer a mid-winter reading slump, but I'm maybe having the exact opposite right now. As much as I love writing lengthy reviews, it's impossible to do them for every book I read, and I don't want to overlook some of the things worth writing about. Thus, a pile of short(er) reviews -- I'm going to quit calling these things Twitter-style reviews unless they're legitimately 140 characters, which these aren't.

Last year, I read and reviewed Cat Clarke's debut Entangled, so I was really excited to see she had a sophomore novel out at the end of 2011. Torn, much like Entangled, isn't a cut and dry narrative and it features characters you can never be too sure about. This story follows Alice and her classmates as they spend a holiday in the Scottish wilderness. What could have been fun (reluctant fun, that is), turns tragic as Tara -- who we're led to believe is the stereotypical mean girl -- dies after a prank gone terribly wrong. But was it a prank? Alice might have seen what happened and might have buried away the secret truth of why Tara died. Because the thing is, if Alice speaks up, she's only going to get herself in trouble.

Things get trickier, though, as Alice begins a relationship with Tara's brother who is dealing with the heavy grief of losing his sister. As their romance grows, the guilt gnaws away at Alice, and she's left wondering whether speaking up is the right thing or the wrong thing.

Clarke's storytelling left me paranoid for all the right reasons. As much as I got to see what happened, I was also left out of the true intentions behind the prank that killed Tara. Even though Alice told the blow-by-blow of WHAT happened, I knew there was something much more sinister lurking beneath. Moreover, as Alice grew closer to Tara's brother, I couldn't help but rethink my own feelings toward her, too. She made me angry, then guilty, then frustrated, then angry again, then almost sympathetic.

This book features a cast of unlikable female characters, the kind that make you want the worst for them. Interestingly, I found the male characters in this one to be likable and I felt sorry for how they'd become accessories in the girls' game. Clarke's writing skills lie in developing full characters who elicit reaction. I couldn't make my decision about what I wanted Alice to do until the very end of the book, and I think the ability to make me question my own ethical and moral ideas of right and wrong is a skill. It's a well-woven story. My only real criticism for this one was I felt at times the narrative went a little lengthy, but for the most part, these moments were necessary to developing that sense of reader paranoia and character motivation. Fans of Courtney Summers will love this one, as will fans of books like Blake Nelson's Paranoid Park (the comparison of paranoia I felt reading Torn reminded me much of the paranoia I felt reading that one, except in Clarke's case, I never quite felt fully sympathetic for Alice).

Torn isn't available in the US and unfortunately, you can't purchase the paperback via Book Depository, either. But if you're an ebook reader, you CAN buy this one for under $7 via the Book Depository.

Brian James's Life is But a Dream is an exploration into the debilitating mental illness of schizophrenia. From the onset, I was impressed with James's ability to not conflate schizophrenia with dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities). This story follows Sabrina as she becomes sicker and sicker, to the point her parents choose to institutionalize her for treatment. Prior to institutionalization, Sabrina's life was full of color and fantasy, and she lived in what basically amounted to a dream world. Her experiences in the real world paralleled what most people experience in deep sleep. While it doesn't necessarily sound scary, the effects of such distance from reality isn't pretty and it causes Sabrina to act in ways that put her in danger.

While being treated, Sabrina meets Alec, a boy who convinces her the folks in the institution are working against her. Taking the drugs they're giving her is only harming her, he says, and she begins to believe him. She doesn't want to become brain dead, and she becomes convinced her life will be better if she doesn't go along for the treatment. So she and Alex make an escape plan. To save themselves.

This part is spoiler, so feel free to skip down to the following paragraph. As a reader who knows a bit about schizophrenia (and about Sabrina's experiences with it), I was never quite sure whether Alec actually existed or if he was one of those dreams concocted in Sabrina's mind. The evidence to support either argument is in the book -- he could be real or he could be a figment of her dream world telling her to act a certain way. Even in the end, when Sabrina makes a run for it, it's uncertain either way.

The uncertainty, though, might be the greatest strength in the book. I found the writing to be distancing, and while it works for Sabrina's world and her own voice, it kept me far away from her, too. I couldn't connect with her in any way, and because I wanted to, I became frustrated. It makes sense because that's how these illnesses work, but it doesn't necessarily mean it works for readers. It's a dream world.

Moreover, I found it a little disappointing that the person who'd save Sabrina would be a boy, as I find that a trend that won't stop coming. Even if what I said in the previous paragraph were true, it still doesn't settle too well for me. I'd not come to see Sabrina as much of a romantic or one who'd love a relationship with Alec, but it's something I could have bought had Sabrina's voice been stronger and she let me in. Fans of stories about mental illness will want to read this one, especially those who are interested in schizophrenia because James nails it (I'd say textbook nails it, but textbooks can leave out the emotional side of the illness, and James offers that quite well). Life is But a Dream will be available in March.

Girl by Blake Nelson is a classic story, and finally, Nelson's written and published the follow up, answering the question of what happened to Andrea Marr. Dream School follows the infamous, snarky, and intelligent Andrea as she departs her beloved city of Portland to attend Wellington College in Connecticut -- it's a prestigious school, and she's eager for the east coast college experience. She's got idealized notions of what this lifestyle will be, many borne out of things she's seen on tv and read in books and magazines. Except, of course, things aren't as pristine or great as she imagined, and it's challenging for her to come to terms with the truth that what she thought she'd be getting at Wellington and what she really gets are Wellington are two entirely different things.

As much as I loved Andrea in Girl, I think I loved her even more here because she's really developed a great sense of self. Although her voice is still similar, her thinking is much clearer, and it's obvious from the writing alone how much she's grown. Andrea puts herself into foreign experiences at Wellington, many of which she dreamed about and many of which were unexpected. She's meeting new people, taking classes that interest and challenge her, making films, and -- the one thing that's wholly her own -- she's writing. She wants to break into the world, though, even if it kills her. But the thing is, she's not doing all that great at school and fitting in is hard. The more she tries, the more she feels like she's failing. Instead of blaming herself, though, she embraces the fact she is simply different and the things she thought she'd become because of a place aren't the things she'll become. She'll evolve more into herself, rather than an idea of herself.

Dream School takes place in 1994, but I can't say I felt like I was reading a story set in the 90s. It felt contemporary because everything Andrea faces is what teens and early 20-somethings face today. Being at college, she's met with sex and drugs in a way that's shocking to her but it's handled realistically and bluntly (as it would be in the situation). Despite her participation in some of these activities, she doesn't condone them or consider them. She's honest about depicting a lot of these acts as status symbols, rather than enjoyable activities. This all comes to a head, of course, when Andrea and her friend turn to their film making skills. What seems like an inconsequential activity, though, determines the rest of her future at Wellington, and I like to think it impacts her life in a much greater way.

Even though the characters are older than traditional YA book characters, I'd shelve this one beside Girl in the young adult section. There are very visual depictions of drug use, but it's nothing teen readers haven't already seen on television and frankly, Andrea does a good job of giving us her feelings on it. This is a book that is heavy on voice and character development and one I think many readers preparing to go to college will dig. You can read this without having read Girl, but I think the impact would be weaker.

Following on the heels of other ballet books like Sophie Fleck's Bunheads and Stasia Ward Kehoe's Audition, debut author Martha Schabas takes us into the competitive world of ballet school in Various Positions, set in Toronto. Georgia's made the cut to the elite ballet school in the city, and at the same time, her family is falling apart. Falling to shambles, even, and the truths that Georgia learns about how her mother and father came together are hard on her. Ballet is a great distraction, and she's been lucky enough to make friends, despite the air of competition. Then, as Georgia becomes receiving more one-on-one attention Roderick, from one of the harshest (and most talked about) teachers in the academy, she finds herself spiraling into a very sexually-charged world. Her body isn't just for dance.

This was a longer read, and I don't necessarily think the length was a strength, either. Georgia's age is hard to buy into and part of the reason is that her voice sounds mature but her actions are quite immature. The book begins with Georgia trying out for the academy in grade 8, and by the end, she's trying out for grade 10. While reading, I was unable to gauge passage of time because there weren't enough moments invested in performance or practice. What should have been a grounding force in the story -- a goal to read vis a vis the ballet story thread -- instead falls apart early in the book and becomes entangled in a sex scandal.

Georgia's discovered her body is a sexual tool, and she learns via the internet how to use it as such. It's sort of her way to work through the anger and resentment she has toward her parents, but it's also become a way for her to gain the attention of Roderick, who she is convinced has a major crush on her. As a reader, I never got that out of what she told me, nor through Roderick's actions. And seeing how mature Georgia's voice read, it was hard for me to wrap my mind around her perceiving what he was doing professionally as coming on to her.

The most challenging part of this storyline was that I want to blame Georgia for what happened between her and Roderick because the truth is, she manipulated him. She knows this, too. But Roderick did reciprocate amid the pressure, so the fault is not entirely hers. However, I think many readers will feel the same way I did, which was that Georgia didn't really garner any sympathy for her actions. A few pages after this incident which rattles the entire academy, Georgia is then thrust into another position involving sex and a boy, and while I think it was meant to build our feelings for her, it was too late. Not only was it too late, but I thought the message emerging from this book was an uncomfortable one about how males only look at females as sexual objects. It's a theme that emerged not only in the actual encounters themselves, but also in how obsessed Georgia became in keeping her fellow academy members on top of their own bodies and weight issues. I found the flaws outweighed the potential payoff in the story, particularly in the end. Had the broken family story line played heavier into the plot, and the ballet line hadn't become secondary to the sex scandal, this could have been a much stronger book. Likewise, pulling back the focus to those themes would have made the writing tighter and the story more strongly paced. It'd have likely helped solve the passage of time challenge, as well. Too many things were packed into this one to make any of them succeed in the way they could have.

Various Positions is obviously a double entendre, and readers should know the story is more about sexuality and less about ballet. I don't think it will turn off readers who want ballet in their stories, but this isn't going to strike the same chords as either Fleck or Kehoe's recent titles. Various Positions will publish on February 14.

Review copies of each of the titles were provided by the publisher, except for Torn, which I purchased myself.

Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

2012-01-20T01:00:00.001-06:00

17-year-old Austin has one last chance to say and do the things he's always wanted to do before he dies. He's got terminal cancer, and he wants to go out on his own terms, so he knows this is one of the last weekends he'll be able to hold himself together enough to go see the people he needs to see. Along with best friend/crush Kaylee, he meets up with a host of people from his life -- both past and present -- to tell them what he thinks about them and what he thinks they should do to seize the most out of their own lives.

Megan Bostic's debut Never Eighteen is a short book, ringing in at about 200 pages, and it's fast-paced. I'm a slower reader and I got through it in about two hours. It starts out immediately -- there's not really an introduction to Austin or why he asks Kaylee to take him around Tacoma and on to Seattle, but as readers, we have an idea why. So does Kaylee, with whom Austin spends a long time, but neither of them are blatant in why they're doing what they're doing.

We're on this trip with Austin and Kaylee as readers, and we're introduced to a host of people almost immediately. Austin goes into their lives, tells them what he needs to tell them, and then he exits, at peace with what he's done. The problem here is that as readers, we have no idea how deep or important these connections to Austin are. These characters are sorely underdeveloped; we only get the apology or advice-giving end via Austin as it happens. Likewise, all of these characters we meet have very heavy problems in their lives. One girl is the victim of an abusive boyfriend (Austin tells her to get out of the relationship because she's worth more than that -- and while that's one of the moments in the book you can't help argue with, there's also no context for why or how or any reason why the reader should believe Austin's assessment of the situation in the scant few pages it runs); one boy he meets is gay but has been hiding it from everyone; one of the people is the mother of his dead best friend; and then there is Austin's father, from whom we learn that the reason he and Austin's mother broke up was because his mother cheated on him (and that is explained away by the father as being an okay thing because Austin's grandmother meddled in their relationship too much) and Austin's grandmother, who Austin begs to have a relationship again with his mother since she'll be lonely soon. This is only the start of the cast of people involved in the story.

While I think the idea of the book is one that's intriguing and engaging, the execution didn't work. Aside from the host of problem-laden, underdeveloped characters, there's also the fact that Austin himself isn't all that likable. I'm a big fan of unlikable characters, but the reason Austin didn't work for me was because he's also underdeveloped. He's a cancer kid and that's about it. We learn through the course of his conversations with other people that he's caring and we learn he has had a long-time crush on Kaylee. But really, what he's doing here in offering people advice into how to live their lives didn't work for me. I don't know enough about him to know how much he cares vs how much he wants people to appreciate their lives because he can't have any more of his. Additionally -- and this is spoiler material, so skip on down to the next paragraph if you don't want it -- it's Austin who makes the decision to not go through another round of chemo because he's ready to die. After telling other people to live their lives to the fullest and after coming off as sort of a hero-type in the story, he gives himself up. I get it, and Austin's explanation for it makes sense, but this was the moment I decided I didn't actually know anything about Austin himself other than his dying wish was to be a hero to everyone else. It made me dislike him because he felt disingenuous. Worse, though, it made me feel guilty for disliking him because he's dying of cancer.

I have a very hard time with books about cancer or other body-ravaging diseases because there is an unfair onus placed upon the reader. Whereas books about terrible events become circumstantial (car crashes happen because of something else, mental illness is part nature and part nurture, drugs and alcohol happen because of choices made, etc.), books about things like cancer are not. That's part of why they're high emotion books. The problem is that readers come to the book with this baggage already. They come with awareness that someone in the book is quite possibly going to die because of something over which they can exert no control. There is an automatic sympathy for a character, whether or not that's fair. In Never Eighteen, I felt immense guilt for not liking Austin because he has cancer. It made me as a reader feel like a bad person, which in turn made me even more frustrated as a reader. Austin should have been able to stand on his own as a character, whether or not he was going to die or live, and I don't feel like he does.

I'm glad that Austin had the chance to connect with Kaylee in a way that meant a lot to him and to her, but I didn't find Kaylee an interesting character, either. She was an accessory to Austin's trip quite literally; he needed a ride, and she was there to offer it. It wasn't until the very end of the book I got why she was so important to him, and it felt too late.

What the lack of development did was distance me from the emotional impact this story could have had. While it could easily be explained as the trip Austin would have wanted because he himself needs that emotional distance to really achieve what he wants to achieve in his final days, it leaves the readers out of the story. The end of the book, which should have elicited certain feelings from me, had me more interested in skimming than investing. I felt frustrated because of how little I really knew about Austin and about how little I knew about his real feelings for Kaylee. It wasn't that I didn't care; it was that I knew what was coming and being so removed from the story and characters that it felt like something happening to a complete stranger, rather than someone I'd come to know.

Despite all of the issues I had with the book, this one will have definite reader appeal. It's fast paced, the writing is serviceable, and the idea of getting the chance to have a final word with everyone you want a final moment with is a unique twist on the genre. This one will have particular appeal to reluctant readers, too. I'm demanding of characters, and reluctant readers are, too, but they're more likely to overlook the challenges I had in exchange for story -- and there's a story here, no doubt. While reading this book, I couldn't help but be somewhat reminded of Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why -- they're not the same topically, but the idea of having one word with people who have had an impact on your life is the same. Except in Never Eighteen, Austin is alive and getting the chance. I can see fans of Asher's book interested in Bostic's title, as will fans of stories about disease (though it plays a very little role in the book, other than being the catalyst to every other event).

Review copy received from the publisher. Never Eighteen is available now.

At the Hub: January Debuts

2012-01-19T17:04:00.000-06:00

I'm over at YALSA's The Hub blog today, talking about January debut ya novels. I am impressed with the sheer number of debuts this month. I'd love if you dropped by there and left a comment on which of those books interests you the most, and hopefully, you'll find a new title or two to add to your to-be-read piles.

Double-Take (Mostly)

2012-01-19T01:00:00.000-06:00

You guys, this whole not being able to talk about the books I'm reading thing (due to the Cybils) is killing me. And actually, I've gotten to the point where I've reviewed every recent read that is a non-Cybils book (a first). But while I was in the book store the other day, I did notice another title that bore enough similarities to a Cybils read that it made me a do a double-take.

Archon: The Books of Raziel by Sabrina Benoulis is a fairly new release. It's an adult supernatural debut about angels and witches and a young woman caught up in a prophecy. Based on reviews, it seems to have some crossover YA appeal, but I haven't read it so can't tell you for sure. The main reason my eye was drawn to it is because it reminded me very strongly of...

...Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, Cybils nominee. The covers aren't exactly the same, but they're similar: a girl viewed from the back, her hair strangely floating off to one side, standing in front of an ominous-looking building. The two don't seem to have a whole lot in common other than the fact that they're both SFF. I do think the cover for Anna Dressed in Blood is a good match for its contents.

A Literary Mixtape

2012-01-18T01:00:00.002-06:00

I've seen a cover trend over the last few years I really like. These books would look really neat together on a display, especially with appropriate props, when they're all available. They're a mix of adult and young adult, but they have one thing in common: cassette tapes. They're visually appealing, and the way the tapes themselves have been incorporated into the cover varies enough they don't at all look like double takes. I also appreciate none of these books are historical novels. At least for me, there's not really a feeling of nostalgia in the covers, either.

When I was compiling these, I thought there might be a couple more out there. If you can think of what those might be, drop a comment and I'll add them. All descriptions come from WorldCat.

Supergirl Mixtapes by Meagan Brothers (April 24, 2012): Sixteen-year-old Maria leaves her father and grandmother in Red Hill, South Carolina, to live with her mother, an artist who lives with her young boyfriend in a tiny apartment in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Greyhound by Steffan Piper: When Sebastien Rane's mother can't be bothered to take care of him, she sends him to his grandmother's across the country on a Greyhound bus. I've read and reviewed this one.

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield: A memoir, in which, Rob Sheffield, a veteran rock and pop culture critic and staff writer for "Rolling Stone" magazine, tells the story of his musical coming of age, and how rock music, the first love of his life, led him to his second, a girl named Renee.

Talking to Girls about Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield: Sheffield gets two books on this list. When he turned 13 in 1980, Sheffield had a lot to learn about women, love, music and himself, and here he offers a glimpse into his transformation from pasty, geeky "hermit boy" into a young man with his first girlfriend, his first apartment, and a sense of the world. It's all here: Inept flirtations. Dumb crushes. Deplorable fashion choices. Members Only jackets. Girls, every last one of whom seems to be madly in love with the bassist of Duran Duran. Sheffield's coming-of-age story has a playlist that any child of the eighties or anyone who just loves music will sing along with. These songs--and Sheffield's writing--will remind readers of that first kiss, that first car, and the moments that shaped their lives.

Maybe that one is a bit more nostalgic than the others in terms of content, but I don't get it from the cover.

Way to Go by Tom Ryan (Spring 2012, Orca books): I couldn't find this one up at WorldCat yet, so I'll just go ahead and direct you to Tom's website for the lengthier description. I think of all the cassette tape covers, this one is my favorite. I love the lime green and how vibrant a feel it has. This one stands out on a shelf without a problem. (After I posted this, Tom got in touch with me to say the cover changed a little bit -- you can c heck out the amended cover here. Same cassette tape, different title font).

Even though these aren't all YA or all adult covers, these are books that'll work with either audience, particularly because of the music tie-ins. It's interesting, too, they're all illustrations, rather than stock images (though arguably the Brothers title isn't, but the writing on it sure is).

Can you think of any others to add with a cassette tape on the cover?

What I'm Reading Now

2012-01-17T01:00:00.000-06:00

My reading life lately has been preoccupied with Cybils books, which I can't discuss yet, but I have managed to squeeze in some other books in between. As always, I'll probably have a few longer reviews of these titles up at a later date.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

I'm a little late to the party on this one, and I'm so glad I finally picked it up. It's a great example of why I love fantasy: the worldbuilding is exquisite and I never get tired of learning more about Eon's culture - even when it's told rather than shown. Moreover, while some fantasy tropes are certainly present, I can fairly say that this is one of the more unique stories I've read in a while (there is no riding of dragons, for instance). I'm listening to this one, and the narrator is perfect.

Fables Volume 16: Superteam by Bill Willingham

I always look forward to a new Fables volume. This one let me down a little bit - the showdown with Mr. Dark is anticlimactic and the creation of a Fables "Superteam" is gimmicky. Granted, the gimmick is deliberate and meant to be a bit of a satire, but it didn't work so well for me. Of course, Willingham teases us with a new plot twist at the end that makes me eager for the next volume. Plus, the first story in this volume is unabashedly Oz-inspired (and illustrated by Eric Shanower), so you know I was all over that.

The Raft by S. A. Bodeen

I really enjoyed this solid story about a girl who survives a plane crash only to be cast adrift at sea. There's not much more to it than that, and I don't mean that in a bad way. While the end isn't ever really in doubt, Bodeen is great at keeping the tension and suspense high, particularly when there isn't much opportunity for character interaction. Plus, I learned all sorts of things I can do to survive at sea. Always handy.

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Strange but intriguing, Hautman brings us a science fiction tale that involves time travel, strange new cultures, and aliens (maybe?). It's so odd, and part of the reason for its oddness is that Hautman just lets the story unravel on its own. There's almost no explanation of the backstory, no wizened old man who sits down and tells our teenage protagonist what's going on. (This is a good thing.) I'm really digging it so far.

After the Snow by S. D. Crockett

Willo is living in another ice age. Society has broken down and food and shelter, much less education, are hard to come by. Willo narrates his own story in dialect. Books written in dialect are always tough for me at the beginning. I'm about halfway into this one and I still haven't fallen into it well enough for the reading to be natural. It's not a good sign, but the plot is intriguing enough that I want to see how it turns out.

The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

2012-01-16T01:00:00.001-06:00

Sometimes when I buy a book, I don't end up picking it up right away. It'll get a nice rest on my shelf (or floor) for a while before I dive in. When I do finally get to it and realize what a great novel it was, I don't tend to get mad at myself for overlooking it. I like to think I read it when I needed to read it and the experience would have been different somehow had I read it the second I bought it.

That was the case with Kirstin Cronn-Mills's The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind.

Morgan's a junior in high school in middle of nowhere, Nebraska. She's a clerk at the local grocery store, which is across the street from the gas station. She loves to flirt with Rob, one of her older co-workers, even though she has a boyfriend, Derek. They've been together for a while, but it's clear from the start that it's more of a thing of show than of deep romance. At least, from Morgan's perspective.

As the story progresses, we get to meet Morgan's family. She lost her mom when she was young, so she lives with her father (a borderline alcoholic) and step mother, as well as her two brothers. She's exceptionally close with her grandmother, though, who also lives in town. Cronn-Mills does a good job of introducing us to the characters and set up early on without once info-dumping on us, as she eases us into what it really is like living in a small town. It's in the little details and it's in the moment that propels the story into action: Morgan's neighbor Tessa was caught kissing another girl. It's big news in town, but to Morgan it's not a big deal. After Tessa was caught, she and Morgan shared a kiss, too.

The Sky Always Hears Me explores the idea of sexuality, certainly, but more than that, it's an honest look at growing up in a place you feel can't contain you.

Morgan's voice is one of the best I've read in young adult literature: she's smart without coming off as older than her age; she's funny as hell and offers it to us in just the right about of snark; and she's the kind of girl who has huge dreams and feels stuck in trying to achieve them. She's trying to navigate so many paths at once while also going through the motions of every day -- we get to not only see Morgan in action at work (the grocery store which changes names every time she refers to it) but we get to listen to her as she thinks a lot about what she wants outside this town. She loves to write, and she constantly talks about how she hopes to write a novel and she writes fortune cookie fortunes, leaving them wherever she goes. More than that, she's the kind of girl you wish existed because you'd love to hang out with her or pick her brain on any number of topics. Morgan has an opinion on everything but it's never overbearing. Instead, we get to see her as she forms these opinions and debates with herself whether she's right or wrong.

This is a book about sexuality, but it's not about being one thing or another. It's raw and honest about being sexual, period. Morgan throws no punches throughout the story about how she feels when it comes to sex and kissing, and when she and Tessa exchange a kiss (in more than one scene), she doesn't think it's a big deal. And it's really not. What Morgan really wrestles with, though, is the idea of love outside of sex. It's a topic she talks about not only internally, but one she brings up with her grandmother. She and grandma are close enough to talk about these things, and it's grandma who ultimately tests Morgan's belief in love.

See, there's a bigger secret at stake here, and that's the secret of Morgan's family. We know she lost her mother and that dad is a drinker, but we don't know why. It's never really been something Morgan thought too deeply about. It's painful. Thinking about sex? Not as painful. She's confronted with the loss, though, and in the wake of the knowledge, Morgan's thoughts about love change a bit. Maybe change isn't the right word -- maybe it's more than they become stronger and more solidified.

Morgan learns to love herself in spite of everything going on in her world, and she's not going to settle for less than what she thinks she deserves.

Cronn-Mills's debut novel is a gem, and it'll appeal to readers who like a strong contemporary read with a main character who is likable, strong-willed, and willing to put herself out there. She challenges convention, and she's a fighter. Morgan is spot on and relatable to anyone who grew up in or works in a small town and wants nothing more than to get out. This is a book about her finding not only a way out, but finding out why she'll always be a part of this community (and why it'll always be a part of her, too). Without doubt, I'm eager to see what Cronn-Mills offers up next, as this novel blew me away in the best possible way. If you've ever wondered what "good voice" means, this should be your example.

When you finish reading this one, you'll never look at fortune cookies the same, either.

Review from my own purchased copy of the book.

The Great YA Blogger Meetup @ ALA Midwinter

2012-01-14T10:54:00.004-06:00

As promised, a reminder for everyone planning out their ALA schedules for next weekend. We're doing another blogger meet up! It'll be very low key, and you're welcome to drop by as long as you'd like.

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

2012-01-13T01:00:00.001-06:00

In teenage Ember's dystopian world, the Bill of Rights has been replaced by the Moral Statues. If you've read the Handmaid's Tale, then you know where this is going (albeit there is no sex by proxy in Article 5). It's a rigid Christian world, and people found in noncompliance with the statues are arrested and...no one knows what happens afterward.

Ember lives with her single mother, and when her mom is arrested for being in noncompliance with Article 5 (having a child out of wedlock, Ember herself), Ember is taken to a sort of reformatory. She's taken there by none other than Chase Jennings, her former friend who joined the Moral Militia and seems to have bought into its creed.

Ember doesn't spend long at the reformatory. She desperately wants to find her mother, and (surprise and slight spoiler) it turns out Chase is willing to help her. He's not so brainwashed by the Moral Militia after all. They break out of the reformatory and go on the run. They're pursued by horrible people and run into many dangerous situations.

The premise is underdeveloped, but for me, that doesn't always spell death for a dystopia. After all, Delirium has a completely ridiculous premise, but Lauren Oliver's writing and characterization made me buy into it. I love dystopias so much that I more willingly suspend my disbelief for them than for other genres. While Miller's writing here is solid, it never stands out. It's competent but never really above average. The combination of average writing with a thin premise and underdeveloped world makes Article 5 pretty unmemorable.

My other main gripe is that Simmons advances the plot by making her protagonist do stupid things. Protagonists should definitely make mistakes, but the frequency of mistakes Ember makes strains credulity. The book is basically a chronicle of her and Chase's run from the Moral Militia. You'd think after a while, Ember would learn that it's not a good idea to make herself too visible. And yet she does, time and time again. The climax of the novel is brought about by her doing just that, in a moment of emotional turmoil. Ember doesn't seem to learn from her mistakes, and it made me want to shake her. I understand that it's necessary to keep the plot moving forward, but it's not great writing to do it this way.

Article 5 isn't a bad book. It's just that it's competing in an overcrowded field, and there's nothing that really makes it stand out from the pack. If you're looking for an action-packed read and haven't gotten your fill of dystopias yet, Article 5 may satisfy you. But there's definitely better stuff out there.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Article 5 is available January 31.

A new "edition" to the STACKED collection.

2012-01-12T15:23:00.002-06:00

A huge congratulations goes out today to our girl Jen, who gave birth to a healthy baby girl this afternoon.

We're so happy for her and the family and wish them all the best!

May B by Caroline Starr Rose

2012-01-12T01:15:00.001-06:00

It's the late 1800s on the east Kansas prairie. Times are tough, and May B's parents need money. Their plan is to send their daughter to work at a homestead 15 miles away. They'll make a little money, and it'll teach May B the value of hard work. She's 12 and young to move away from home, but at this time and in this place, it wasn't entirely uncommon for these things to happen. She packs a few pairs of clothes, along with her Reader, for the stay. She doesn't need much else, since she'll have a roof over her head and food in her stomach -- food she'll make.

May isn't thrilled with the family she's working for -- Mrs. Oblinger is cold toward her, often giving her the side eye for choosing to work through her Reader rather than find some household task to complete, and Mr. Oblinger isn't really around enough. Oh, and the house? It's hardly a house. It needs a lot of work. To say the living conditions for May here are nothing like they were at home would be an understatement.

During one afternoon, Mrs. Oblinger confesses to May B that she hates her life here on the prairie. She left a bigger place to be with her husband, and she would like nothing more than to get away. It takes nearly no time for her to act upon this either, and it's within pages that May went from being the help in the house to being the only person in the house. The Oblingers abandon her completely -- and without giving her any idea of when or if they plan on coming back.

Now, she's on her own, and home is a long 15 miles away.

May B is a fast-paced middle grade novel written in verse. The setting in this story plays as much a huge role as do the characters. This is partially because the only character we really get to know in the story is May. May's a strong character, and she's thrown into a crummy situation. She's lonely when she begins her job with the Oblingers, but she becomes truly lonely when she's abandoned at their home. She knows now she has to fend for herself and figure out how to live in this place alone. There's not only the fact seasons are changing and winter's knocking at the door, but she's running out of food and there are the beasts of nature with which to contend. Before snow falls, May tries to make a run for it back home, knowing that while 15 miles is a long way, it'd be worth it. But she stops herself. She goes back to the Oblinger's home and lets winter take over.

Something I didn't mention is that May B's real name is Mavis Elizabeth Betterly. And the reason she brings her Reader with her to the Oblinger house is because she wants to be a teacher. But to be a teacher, she has to overcome her learning disability: dyslexia. This isn't something we know about her right away as readers. We know she wants to be a teacher and she wants to be a better reader. It's not until the winter really descends and May is completely alone that she offers us the insight into her personal struggle with reading. We see it in spurts, but it's when May owns it that we understand the full depths of her character. Her isolation is much greater than being at the Oblinger's home on the prairie without her family.

Rose is very smart in the execution of May B because of this -- it would be easy to build sympathy for May because of her learning disability. The thing is, we build that sympathy well before we're in the know. We get it when we see her being shipped away from home for a few dollars, and we get it again when Mrs. Oblinger treats her poorly, and we get it again when she's completely abandoned. She's been given up over and over. Then we reach the moments of flashback when her teacher has given up on her, and when May hits her lowest point in the winter, she lets us in on this secret. We're not sorry for her because of this; we want her to get better and fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher.

I'm a fan of verse novels, even though I usually find them problematic. Rose uses the format exceptionally well, though. The sparseness in the writing translates further into the sparseness of the Kansas landscape and into May herself. This is the way May thinks. Her language is rich and picturesque, as well, without diverging into the literary. It's important to note that because it's May's voice, and it rings true to a 12-year-old, particularly one who struggles herself with reading.

Though I liked the novel, I wanted a little bit more. At times, it felt like May got through things a little bit too easily, particularly at the very end of the story. While this feels right for the middle grade readership, it could have been pushed even further. I also hoped to get a little bit more of Mr. Oblinger, since it's ultimately his actions that leave May B alone in his house.

It's worthwhile to read the author's note at the end of the book, as Rose talks about her inspirations. In it, she discusses her love of Little House on the Prairie and I think that this book would appeal to that readership. Your middle grade historical fiction readers will eat this one up. I'd be comfortable handing this one off to the tween readers easily, as there's nothing content wise to be worried about, and the strong female lead will strike the right notes with many readers. It'd be a nice stepping stone to books like The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg and Kirby Larson's Hattie Big Sky. This is an impressive debut and I'm eager to see where Rose goes next -- my fingers are crossed for another historical novel, since she's got a knack here.

Review copy received from the publisher. May B is available now.

Giveaway: Cinder audiobook

2012-01-11T01:00:00.000-06:00

Here at STACKED, we loved audiobooks. I also adored Marissa Meyer's debut novel, Cinder. Combining my love for these two things, Macmillan has offered a giveaway of the Cinder audiobook to one of our readers! Have a listen to the 6 minute clip they've provided here.

Entering is easy. Simply fill out the form below and I'll draw a random winner in two weeks, on January 25. The giveaway is limited to US mailing addresses. As always, none of the information you give will be made public.

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Get Your Contemporary YA Fiction Fix

2012-01-10T16:04:00.004-06:00

Remember last June when STACKED hosted a week-long celebration of all things contemporary young adult lit? We got such great feedback, especially about the book lists, that it was impossible to ignore an opportunity to continue advocating for this genre.

If you hop out of your feed reader (or if you're on our site already) scroll down the right side bar. There's now a box for contemporary ya lit, including a link to a rough database we're building. It's our hope readers looking for a certain type of contemporary read can use this to find good reads, fill holes in their personal/library/school collections, and discover how vast the genre is.

It's our hope to highlight both current reads and back list titles and as reviews post on our blog, we'll update with links to them.

Happy reading!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

2012-01-10T01:00:00.002-06:00

Who hasn't wondered "If Only...?" If only I hadn't left the house five minutes late, if only I didn't get a flat tire, if only traffic wasn't bad. If only I had made that flight. For Hadley, four minutes is the difference between making her overseas flight to London and missing it, consequently being stuck in the airport until the next Heathrow-bound flight leaves. But those four minutes are also the difference between her traveling on to her father's wedding and her meeting Oliver, the British boy she meets in the airport and ends up sitting next to on the entire trans-Atlantic flight. Oliver, the boy who she opens up to about her father, his abandonment of their family and his new marriage. Oliver, the charming, teasing boy who works his way into her heart in a mere twenty-four hour period--and who she then loses sight of upon their arrival in London.

Jennifer E. Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight was a quick, fairly short read that was quite enjoyable--a nice, sweet, mindless love story that despite being predictable, still managed to charm. But sometimes that's exactly what I'm in the mood for. The plot was fairly straightforward, revolving around Hadley's trip to London to attend her father's wedding and the disgruntled feelings she still holds towards her father. After all, he abandoned her and her mother after a few months abroad teaching in London and falling in love with "that British woman." These feelings in particular make Hadley quite an authentic character. Despite her mother's forgiveness of her father and her mother's new relationship with Harrison, a local dentist, Hadley herself can't bring herself to forgive her dad, and the distance between them is evidenced both in the lack of contact they have now and the flashbacks back to Hadley's youth, where the reader witnesses the strong emotional bond they used to have. The stubbornness Hadley feels toward her father firmly grounds her in her youth and makes her a realistic character.

One fault I did have with this novel was the whirlwind relationship that sprung up between Hadley and Oliver. Although this is by no means the "I see a boy across the school quad and BAM! I'm in love" scenario that haunts so many YA books nowadays, and the relationship between Hadley and Oliver does develop slowly and deliberately, through conversation, confessions, and close proximity in a shared, cramped airport row, the short period of time still made me question the closeness of their bond.

Regardless, Oliver was a charming, endearing character, particularly in the way he teased Hadley. Fans of Etienne in Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss will adore Oliver and in him find another worthy foreign literary crush. Hadley's ultimate discovery of the reason for Oliver's trip to London also opens up windows to different sides of both of their characters, and Smith gradually leads into this realization particularly well. Ultimately, although the character arcs often seem a tad bit rushed, the author builds these arcs well, and the relationships between Hadley and the adults in her life (her father, her mother, and her new stepmother, Charlotte) are handled particularly sensitively and realistically.

Smith's writing is quite beautiful, and the thoughtfulness of some of her lines is striking. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight was a charming read and highly recommended for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Sarah Ockler.

Twitterview: Stasia Ward Kehoe

2012-01-09T01:00:00.000-06:00

To kick off 2012's monthly Twitterview series is Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition. I asked Stasia to drop by to not only talk about her book, but also to talk about performance art books, as she's the founder of Stages on Pages and is an advocate for these types of books.

As usual, you can enter to win a copy of Audition at the end of the Twitterview. But more importantly, librarians and teachers should check out the very end -- Stasia's running a fantastic giveaway, where you have a chance to win a day-long in-person visit from her to talk to your library or classroom. I've included the link to all the details.

And now, on to Stasia!

Pitch Audition in 140 characters
Maybe Center Stage meets A Tree Grows in Brooklyn???

What inspired Audition?
I write from character and “what-if.” Audition began as a monologue I wrote in a playwriting class about young dancer starting her day.

Audition is written in verse. Why that format?
I tried to capture the cadence and flow of dance and emotional creativity through a lyrical literary form.

What of your own experience in dance did you bring to the story?
I grew up dancing and acting and struggled with issues of talent, independence, choices. No hot dude crisis, though.

You are one of the minds behind Stages on Pages. Tell us about the project.
I founded Stages on Pages to connect performer-writers with each other & readers. It’s a live tour plus website. More stuff soon! www.stagesonpages.com

How was touring with other writers portraying the arts?
Amazing and sometimes super-silly. The similarities between our teen arts experiences are incredible.

This is your debut novel -- talk a bit about that experience.
Scary, sobering, and still a bit surreal. Once the book is on shelves, it’s really out of your hands. Boy, that sounds morbid.

Who or what do you write for?
I write for my characters and, let's face it, all writing is a grasp at immortality. Here's my favorite page from Audition.

What was your most influential read as a teenager?
W. Somerset Maugham. Yeah. I was a weird teen. He wrote great books though, including Theater and Of Human Bondage.

What are your top three writing influences?
Growing up: Agatha Christie, Noel Streatfield, and Maugham. Now, E. Annie Proulx, Emily Dickinson, George Bernard Shaw...I only get 3?

Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
Justine Larbalestier, Markus Zusak, David Levithan, and Lauren Oliver are all brave, honest, and play with form, which I love.

What's the best writing advice you ever received?
There's no substitute for time at the keyboard.

What's your best writing advice to give?
Write what’s in your heart. Revise, revise, revise. Oh, and the keyboard thing.

What is your writing routine?
Weekdays. 1 hr of business stuff then 4 hrs of writing with a lunch break. Of course, I have 4 kids so few days are that perfect.

What gets you jazzed to write?
It’s not a matter of jazzed. It’s more something I have to do. Chocolate & coffee don’t hurt, though.

Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?
I need silence to write. Otherwise, love show tunes: Stephen Schwartz, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim. Some brilliant poetry from Company.

What's next for you?
I'm working on another YA in verse, then on to something scary (but with kissing). I love writing kissing scenes!

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On being critical

2012-01-06T17:40:00.003-06:00

You may remember in September, I did a presentation with Julia, Abby, and Janssen at Kid Lit Con about critical reviewing. I promised to write up the key points and share them. I can think of no better time to sum it up than right now.

Critical reviews are not negative reviews.

Know this distinction. Critical reviews involve thoughtful analysis and synthesis of the work at hand. They support their statements -- both positive and negative -- with what's in front of them. They check their baggage at the door.

Negative reviews are not supported by text. Negative reviews don't tell readers anything substantial about the book, but rather, about the reviewer. It's self reflective, rather than text reflective.

I believe in critical reviews and I love writing them, too. There's nothing more satisfying to me than sitting down after finishing a book and thinking through the points of story that did and did not work for me. It helps me not only realize why I did or didn't like a book, but it also helps me grow as a reader. I learn to read differently each time I critically assess a book. Moreover, I love reading other people's critical reviews of books. There are a handful of blogs I read every single day and there are a handful of blogs I will seek out after I read a book to see what they have to say. I know they're going to be thorough, whether they're succinct or lengthy reviews. Likewise, there are a few Goodreads reviewers who don't blog that I appreciate reading insight from. I think what I love most about reading reviews that are critical and thorough is that a lot of times, I can disagree with them, and yet, I'm able to see precisely why the reviewer said or saw what they did in the text. Because they support it with the text.

Critical reviews are important to me not only as a reader, but me as a librarian. These reviews help guide my thinking about my biases and they help guide my thinking about how to approach selling books to readers.

Not all blogs are created equal.

I don't like negative reviews, and I love critical reviews. But there are a ton of bloggers out there who do neither of these things. There are blogs that exist solely to promote books or authors or agendas. There are blogs out there that write only positive reviews. There are blogs out there that write with a snarky tone or a humorous tone or with a thoughtful tone or with a well-educated tone or with a perky tone. Some blogs incorporate ALL of those things. I like to write critically because ... I like to write critically. It's how I think. It's how I process. I like to think I'm honest but I back up anything tough I say with why I'm saying it. I welcome disagreement. I welcome agreement. It's fine. It's more than fine, really.

All of our blogs -- all of our voices -- can and should coexist just fine.

Blogging is being aware of your audience.

I have a handful of go-to blogs and bloggers I read no matter what because I like reading their style of reviewing. It's critical. It gets me what I need as a reader.

I also keep tabs on blogs that share only positive reviews and blogs that are more about publicity than reviewing.

I get what I need as a reader and a blogger and a librarian from all sides of the blogging world.

Many blog readers read as many blogs as I do. Many read hundreds more. Many may only read my blog or your blog or that blog which is only there for publicity or the blog that only posts snarky reviews. That's okay.

What's important is understanding that whether you blog for yourself or for someone/something else, you have an audience. I know my audience pretty well, but I don't know it perfectly. What I may think is something that's been blogged about tirelessly may reach someone who only reads this blog. That's why I shape some of my posts the way I shape them. Writing critically is an art and a craft. It's both sides of the brain.

It all comes down to understanding, though, I have an audience. Being mindful is key.

Bloggers aren't immune.

Something I've thought a lot about is how bloggers put their words out there openly. They state their opinions and thoughts how they wish to. They eagerly devour books and talk about those books through their own words.

But bloggers shouldn't live in glass houses, either. The way bloggers get stronger, the way they better understand the notion of audience, the better they make themselves is through being criticized themselves.

Criticism is and should be a two-way street. You should be able to take as well as you dish.

Class never goes out of style.

Disagreement is going to happen anywhere you go in the blogging world. That's why having such a multitude of different types of blogs is good. You get varied opinions, and you get the chance to wade into the waters and find what works for you as a reader. Sometimes you'll strike a chord with your audience and sometimes you might set them off with what you say and what you do. That's why you have to always remember you do have an audience and you won't always know who it is.

Be aware of what you're doing and saying and how you're presenting it. Be aware of your presence on all social media where you are making yourself open. If you're accessible, people are going to access you. People will ask you to talk about what you do and how you do it. Tell them. Be open. I enjoy talking about writing critical reviews, and I'm always happy to teach people the ways to do it. I'm thrilled when the lightbulb goes off and someone realizes critical reviews aren't negative reviews.

From personal experience, I can tell you I've had blog posts called out by other bloggers and by authors. People have written me some of the dirtiest emails you can imagine. People have written entire blog posts about my opinions, have called me things, have disagreed vehemently with every word I've written.

I put myself out there for that. When I get those posts sent my way or people email me something less-than-kind, I suck it up and make myself better for it. I don't post those things and I don't call people out by name. I don't openly criticize because I believe it does you no good to respond to sass with sass. You respond by being a critical listener and critical thinker.

Being classy is responding appropriately, no matter what the forum. Being classy is not firing off a blog post about it without thinking through everything and figuring out a way to state my opinion without devaluing or belittling the opinions of others. Being classy is giving myself room to cool off when someone tells me I have no idea what I'm talking about. Being classy is not diving into drama to create more of it.

Being classy is being critical.

Own what you do.

Doesn't matter what you do when it comes to blogging, but however you do it, do it knowing your name's attached. Do it knowing that people will remember things. Do it knowing you're doing it because you love and want to do it and not because it gets you something in the end. Don't do it thinking about whether what you're doing is new or cutting edge or different.

This is what we make of it. It can be a trash pit or it can be a community. But what do we get out of it if we treat it like junk? Nothing. Check your ego at the door.

Do it because it matters to you.

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

2012-01-06T01:00:00.001-06:00

Sara's always been a dancer, and it's been her dream to pursue it more seriously. When she scores a scholarship to a prestigious dance academy in New Jersey, despite the hesitation she has about leaving behind her family and friends in Vermont, she knows this is the thing she needs to do to get ahead.

She packs her bags and is off to what she hopes will be her ticket to success, but Sara soon realizes that the change isn't as easy as she'd wanted it to be. There's not only the challenge of dancing hours upon hours each and every day -- something that takes an immense physical toll on her -- but there's also the challenge of attending an academy where the curriculum is more difficult and more demanding than her school back in Vermont. More than that, though, she's finding the social aspects of her new life to be difficult. And the boys at the Jersey Ballet? Well, they might be the biggest challenge for her. At least, one by the name of Remington is.

Even though Remington has a relationship with Jane, Sara can't keep her eyes off him, and when they're partnered for a performance, she finds that he really is magnetic. And single. It takes little time before the two of them are a couple but it takes even less time before Sara starts to question what her role in their romance is. Does he really love her or is he using her simply as his muse?

Audition is Stasia Ward Kehoe's debut novel, and it's written in verse. I think she nails the form so well in this book, as it's not only well done, but it's entirely suited to the story. Often, verse novels don't delve deep enough into character or story and instead rely on the space between the words in the formatting to do a lot of the telling-that-can't-be-said. In this case, though, there is plenty of character and story development, and it's the verse which actually helps sustain and carry these things. We get a good voice in the novel, too, which is another tough aspect to nail in a verse novel.

Incidentally, this is the second book in the last year I've read dealing with ballet and the rough world of competitive and professional dancing (the first being Sophie Flack's Bunheads). In both books, the main character develops a relationship with a boy that ultimately changes their thinking and the course of their future. But what I liked so much about reading these two books is the synergy between them. They aren't the same story at all. Where Flack's book focuses on what happens when a dancer questions what she's lost by devoting everything to ballet, Kehoe's book delves into what happens when a dancer finds herself through dancing, even if it's not necessarily the way she wants to find herself.

Sara's a quiet girl. She considers herself lucky, even though her friends and family (and the reader) know that to earn a scholarship to a dance academy takes a lot more than luck -- she's hard working, driven, and talented, but she's less willing to give herself those sorts of labels. Sara's humble. It's not until she begins her relationship with Remington, though, that she discovers these very things about herself. Her relationship with Rem is steamy and almost exclusively so. Though they develop an emotional connection at the start of their romance, it becomes much more about their physical involvement than anything else. In the context of the story, though, this makes complete sense: these are two people who are in tune with their bodies on a level most people never are. The fact that their bodies become the centerpieces of their relationship is natural.

What didn't quite work for me, though, was that despite this making sense, the story could have gained a little more from strengthening this physical relationship. What sets Sara off and makes her question Rem's motives for being with her is that he borrows the way she moves her body to help choreograph other dancers. Yes, it's sexual, but it's actually a lot more about the sensuality than the sexuality; it's in the way she stretches and moves, period, when they're together that become fascinating to Rem. She becomes, as she says, his muse. The thing is, as readers, we don't get to see enough of this happen between them, nor do we get a great sense of how she puts the pieces together. There's a bit of a disconnect for readers, as Sara doesn't let us inside her mind enough when she realizes that the way she stretches catlike with Remington is the same sequence of movements he then chooses to implement while training other dances. We're told this. But we could have been shown just a little more.

In that sense, I didn't feel like I got enough of Remington. I needed to know him a little more as a character and understand why he would do this. Where we're immediately connecting with Sara in the story, Remington is more removed. We're told about him through Sara, but we're not told enough. He's a figure a little too far away from our understanding, and thus, it doesn't feel like a big deal when he's using Sara as a muse. I wanted him to be a little more evil upfront to buy this. I completely understand Sara and her feelings, but I could have used just a bit more here.

Audition is well-paced and because of the verse, it reads quickly, despite being near 450 pages long. I could have done with a little bit of a shorter read, which could have aided in defining Remington more; conversely, I could have probably read another 50 pages if he were developed a little bit more. The ending of the book wasn't a surprise for me, perhaps because I had read Bunheads, and I have to say that I was impressed that this book, as well as Flack's, managed to keep the stereotyping of body image issues in the dance world to a minimum. That's not to say it's not in the book because it certainly is, but it's not an issue with which Sara struggles, and I applaud Kehoe for that. It makes the story more authentic.

Hand this book off to fans of verse novels, as well as those who love a good story about the arts. Those who like stories about non-traditional high schoolers will appreciate the fact it's set in a ballet academy, and those who read and devoured Flack's Bunheads will definitely want to pick this one up.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

2012-01-05T01:00:00.000-06:00

Marissa Meyer's debut novel Cinder has been hyped a lot, but I went into it pretty blind, and I'm glad I did. I didn't have any thoughts other than "Wow, this jacket copy makes it sound awesome, I hope it is!" Folks, I wasn't disappointed. This is one buzzed novel that totally delivers.

So here's the deal: Linh Cinder is a young mechanic who lives in New Beijing sometime in the distant future. She was in a mysterious accident as a young child, and the only way to save her life was to make her a cyborg. This means that she has some mechanical, non-human parts. Cyborgs in Cinder's world are second-class citizens, and she's bound to her stepmother by law. True to the Cinderella story from which this book takes its inspiration, Cinder's stepmother is a hellacious beast. Within the first couple of chapters, she does something truly horrendous to Cinder, which sets in motion the action of the novel.

I can't go much beyond that, but you know the story of Cinderella, so you know the book involves a prince (here his name is Kai), two stepsisters (here only one is bad), and a shoe. The fairy tale inspiration here isn't quite as loose as it is in Anna Sheehan's A Long Long Sleep (another fantastic SF), but it's not just a re-telling either. If you know Cinderella, you know where the relationship between Kai and Cinder is going to go, but you won't know much beyond that.

My favorite part of Cinder is the world-building. There's an awful plague in Cinder's world that's highly contagious and incurable. The emperor and his son, Kai, are desperately working to find a cure. Meanwhile, they're also delicately negotiating with the queen of the Lunars (yes, people who live on the moon) in order to prevent a war. If you think Cinder's stepmother is a hellacious beast, wait until you meet Queen Levana. There are a bunch of other elements going on here, but the end result is New Beijing and its denizens feel fully realized. They also don't feel derivative of anything else I've read, despite the novel's inspiration.

The writing is smooth and miles beyond what most debut authors can accomplish. It's not as beautifully immersive as Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone nor as distinctive as Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking, but it never once brought me out of the story with an awkward turn of phrase. I'd pick up the book, and the next time I looked away from it, 100 pages were gone. I give major credit for that to Meyer's decision to write in third person past tense.

I also loved the characters. Cinder and Kai, our two leads, are fairly complex. Cinder's android companion, although not made of any human parts, is written so well that she seems human. Cinder's younger sister (the nice stepsister) is both spoiled and sweet, making her realistic and easy to like. Even the hellacious beast of a stepmother feels like a three-dimensional character in Meyer's hands. And Queen Levana is so deliciously evil (so far, at least) that she is always a treat to read about.

Although there was one major plot point that I found completely predictable, most of the story felt unique and fresh. I think it's indicative of a publishing trend towards more straightforward science fiction that isn't classified as dystopian. The plague may bring to mind a dystopia, and it wouldn't surprise me if many people classified Cinder that way (the term is so over-used!), but the novel is not truly a dystopia. It's just plain old science fiction, and that's what makes it so awesome.

Like a lot of YA science fiction being published now, Cinder is a great choice for readers who like their science fiction without complex science. That doesn't mean it's a great choice for readers who don't naturally like science fiction, just that you don't really have to remember much of your high school physics class to get it. There's also not a whole lot of new jargon to learn, which may make it more friendly to people who tend to stay away from SF.

This is the first book in a quartet, but it passes my rule of "All books must include a beginning, middle, and end," so it gets a pass. In fact, it gets more than that - I eagerly await the next installment.

Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala

2012-01-04T01:00:00.001-06:00

Joy Delamere has asthma, but that's not what causes her to feel like she's suffocating. It's Asher, her boyfriend. At least, that's how he sees himself and that's how Joy's family sees him. To her, though, he's about as far from a boyfriend as she can imagine. He has her in a choke hold -- quite literally. Joy's older brother, who used to help keep her in check, left for college and now her family depends upon Asher to keep an eye on Joy. And he takes the responsibility very seriously.

Not only is Joy's boyfriend abusive and controlling, her parents are about as absent as they come. Her friends keep slipping further away, too, the more time she and Asher spend together.

Joy wants out.

She cuts off her hair, hops an early morning bus from her suburban town, and lands in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. She's packed her inhalers, a few granola bars, some cash, and a lot of hope for figuring it all out. She's turned to the street to get out of her life, and she hopes that the boy she ran into a few weeks back -- a street kid playing outside one of the shops she visited with Asher -- might be the person she needs in her life.

Don't Breathe a Word is Holly Cupala's sophomore novel, and like her debut Tell Me A Secret, it surprised me with the how well the complicated issues at stake were handled. From the beginning, we're dropped into that moment where Joy decides she wants nothing more than to give up her suburban home life and move to the streets. From the details we're given, it all seems ridiculous she'd want to do that -- she's got married parents, there's money and food, and she has this boyfriend who takes care of her. As readers, we're not privy to the decision making at this point. We're given Joy at her lowest and from there, she spills the events leading to that decision.

In setting up the story this way, my emotions and feelings toward Joy were toyed with in the best possible way. I thought the fact she was running away from her problems was a cheap solution and I thought she was being incredibly selfish in her actions. But as the story unraveled, and as Joy began detailing the abusive and powerful hold Asher had over her and the lack of allies she had in the situation, my sympathy for her increased. I felt for her. Nothing in her life seemed redeemable, and as I got to know her parents (both too busy with work and with their own lives to pay attention to their daughter, thus their insistence Asher watch Joy so closely), it was clear they weren't on her side, either. Joy was suffocating under the weight of Asher and the pressures put upon her to be right in her parents' eyes.

I'm not an expert on street culture, but I do know a bit from reading and research and, quite frankly, from working in libraries (anyone who has worked in a public library, no matter how small or rural or quaint, becomes familiar with transient and homeless populations through the course of their education or their own experiences). What Cupala offers readers is realistic and challenging to read because of how honest it deals with the truth of street life for kids. It's gritty and raw. But it's also an entire culture in and of itself: there are families and alliances, and when Joy spends her first few hours on the street, she realizes how essential aligning herself with people who would help protect and guide her was. She's motivated to find that boy who talked to her, and when she does, it's not an instant love connection -- it's tenuous at best. He wants to help her, but he is understandably wary that her intentions might not be the same as his or those he spends his time with. He ended up on the streets for a reason, too. He's got pain and a story he's keeping hidden until he truly trusts her, and that trust takes a while to build.

In the street, people don't tend to use their real names. They adopt new ones, and the boy Joy seeks out calls himself Creed. When he asks her name, she adopts a new name, too: Triste. By doing this, she not only protects herself from being found by anyone who might be looking for her, but she cements in her mind and in the mind of Creed and his "family" that she's serious about living on the streets. This isn't simply a case of running away. She's desperate.

There's much more to talk about in the novel, particularly when Triste's time on the street is through. I don't want to ruin it, but I'll say that while I saw some things coming, I didn't see it all play out the way it did. Although the ending felt a little convenient, particularly when it came to how Creed and Triste's romance plays out, I was okay with it. They both deserved the endings they got because of how much they went through alone and together on the streets.

This is an emotionally-charged story, and it's going to appeal to readers who love the way authors like Ellen Hopkins shed light into stories of teens who are in situations that are outside of the norm. Cupala's writing is much different, as her prose and pacing is slower -- deliberately so -- than Hopkins, but it's a book that challenges readers. What worked well for me was that I never felt entirely sure throughout the book how I wanted it to end or how I wanted Joy to confront the real problems at hand. I love a character I can't make predictions for and a character who challenges me to consider my own preconceived notions of how life works or should work. Joy does that here. Don't go into this book prepared for a quick paced story; investing the time to really fall into this world that's so foreign is worth it. Cupala's done her work on the book, and there's something to be said this needs to be read not only for Joy's story, but also for the sheer research and crafting of that research into the writing. Not everything in the book worked for me -- I found many of the secondary characters distracting rather than interesting, and some of the situations felt a little too convenient or required a bit more of a stretch of my beliefs than I'd like -- but because so much did work, I'm okay overlooking the problematic areas. It won't work everyone, but it will speak to so many readers who themselves have felt like there is no other way out, and the restraint Cupala uses in not laying down judgment of street culture is admirable.

Don't Breathe a Word is a quiet kind of powerful novel. It digs at the heart of feeling alone and feeling desperate without sacrificing story nor taking an easy way out. So while we're thrown into the book at Joy's rock bottom moment, we know there is a whole lot of "going through" for her to do, both forward and backward.

Finished copy received from the publisher. Don't Breathe a Word is available now. Bonus: it's a paperback original release.

Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook

2012-01-03T01:00:00.000-06:00

Isobel's life has just been turned upside down. Her parents are divorced, and her mom has just married a new man named Richard (aka Dick) whom she met on the Internet. Dick has a creepy gothic mansion on a tiny island, and Isobel's mom is forcing them all to move there right before her senior year of high school. A cute new stepbrother, Nathaniel, is also part of the mix, but he's made it clear that he and Isobel will not be friends. (Romance develops. Naturally.)

The moment Isobel steps into her new home, things start heading south for her. After being told she could have any room she likes in the huge place, she has the misfortune to choose Nathaniel's dead sister's room. Dick's previous wife and their daughter both died in a boating accident under mysterious circumstances. Naturally, this being a ghost story, Isobel is haunted by this dead sister.

Of course, it may not be a haunting at all. Isobel's father is schizophrenic and Isobel's behavior becomes so erratic that her mother and Dick fear she may be mentally ill as well. (They handle it so poorly it's borderline malicious.) Soon, Isobel starts to believe it may be true too.

I was pleasantly surprised by Unraveling Isobel. It's not so much a ghost story as it is a thriller, and that's part of the reason I enjoyed it so much. My interest in ghost stories has waned since I was a teen, but this one has a solid mystery that anchors it so it's not just about the ghost (or the illness). I also thought Isobel's potential schizophrenia was handled nicely by Cook. She doesn't sensationalize it for the sake of the story, although the potential for it is blatantly there.

The biggest reason why I found the book so enjoyable, though, is Isobel's voice. She's understandably upset at being uprooted the summer before her senior year and moving to a completely new place with a man (Dick) she doesn't like. But she's not just bitter, she's snarky-bitter. She's got some great one-liners and a way of looking at her situation that made me chuckle. Her voice is somewhat similar to Clare's in Clarity, although this book is much darker.

The subplot featuring the nasty queen bee of Isobel's new high school fell a little flat for me. I expected it to tie in some way with the main mystery, but it never did. There's nothing inherently wrong with a subplot that doesn't relate to the main plot thread, but high school bitchiness doesn't really do much for me, so it was certainly the part I enjoyed least.

Unraveling Isobel isn't spectacular, but it's definitely a worthwhile read if you're into this type of story. The writing is tight, the voice is engaging, the plot moves quickly, and it's a great way to spend a lazy evening. I'd be happy to read more like it.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Unraveling Isobel is available now.

AudioSynced: December Edition

2012-01-02T01:17:00.001-06:00

Welcome to another edition of AudioSynced, a monthly roundup of audiobook reviews, news, and fun from around the blogosphere. It's hosted by us and by Abby (the) Librarian. If you posted something about audiobooks in the month of December, drop a note in the comments with a link to your post.

Reviews
I've collected a ton this month, including a lot I just pulled up through my own RSS search. If I missed you, let me know!

Lee has a wealth of reviews this month, including Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, Veronica Roth's Divergent, Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, George Pelecanos's Cut, Mark Mills's The Summer Garden, and Jack Gantos's Dead End in Norvelt. I envy that amount of monthly listening! Another thing Lee wrote about this month were a couple other places audiophiles can read reviews (in round up style). Check it out.

Beth's A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust has a pair of reviews this month, Laurie Halse Anderson's Catalyst and Lauren Oliver's Liesl and Po. If you haven't been by Beth's blog, I suggest not going over there while hungry! Her header makes me crave ice cream every time.

Abby reviewed Adam Rex's The True Meaning of Smekday. She also talked about her favorite listens of 2011.

Beth Fish Reads offered up a host of reviews this month, including Robert Massie's Catherine the Great, Hector Tobar's The Barbarian Nurseries, Charlaine Harris's From Dead to Worse, Kathy Reichs's Virals and Seizure, Alice Walker's The Chicken Chronicles, and Carrie Vaughn's Kitty and the Midnight Hour.

Sarah at Green Bean Teen Queen reviewed the John Newman's middle grade book Mimi and Nikki Grimes's Planet Middle School.

I really like this review of Amy Kathleen Ryan's Glow by Yan at Books by Their Cover. It's her first audiobook and I thought her review captured so well what does and doesn't work in an audio production of a book (from a first time listener at that).

Liz, over at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, reviewed Holly Cupala's Tell Me a Secret. I've got a copy of this sitting on my shelf, and despite having read the book, I'm eager to listen to it since it's narrated by my favorite reader, Jenna Lamia.

Melissa over at One Librarian's Book Reviews did a retro review feature on Christopher Paolini's Eragon.

Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves reviewed Toby Ball's The Vaults.

Michelle at Never Gonna Grow Up reviewed Marie Lu's Legend at the tail end of November, but I thought it would be worth sharing anyway.

Nerfreader's got a review up of Jo Walton's cozy mystery called Farthing.

Other Audiobook News

I have a love-hate relationship with best of lists, but I read them anyway. Here's Library Journal's picks for Best Audiobooks of 2011.

The Guilded Earlobe is an audiobook blog you should be following, and here, you can read his top 20 audiobook picks for 2011.

If you weren't familiar with Large Hearted Boy's annual roundup of "best of" lists from around the web, then you're going to love this little link. It's not separated out by audiobooks, but you can find them with a little browsing.

Publisher's Weekly talks about how this year, there was not a children's spoken word album among Grammy nominees.

And that's a wrap on this month's AudioSynced! We'll be back next month at Abby (the) Librarian.