Teen

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

| Tasha

Exit Pursued by a Bear by EK Johnston

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston (InfoSoup)

Hermione is headed into her senior year as the co-captain of her school’s cheerleading team. At her school, cheering is more important and more prestigious than the sports themselves. She’s dating one of the boys on the squad and they are all at summer cheerleading camp getting ready for the competitions coming up, knowing that they are probably heading for nationals again. The safety of Hermione’s world is shattered when she is drugged at the camp’s dance party and then raped near the lake. She is found unconscious on the lake shore, half in the water. Hermione must now face being the victim rather than the queen bee, a label that does not sit well for her. She must also wait for a pregnancy test and the decisions that that will bring with it. Hermione fights not to be defined by what has happened to her and to find her footing again so that she can still fly.

Johnston, author of The Story of Owen, once again sets a teen novel firmly in Canada, though this time not in a fictional Canada at all. Instead this book is richly real, a book for teens about a rape where it does not consume the victim or define her life. It’s a book where Hermione’s family and friends come forward to support her, never to question her own role in the attack, never to push her feelings and emotions aside, but to support her completely. A mention must be made of Polly, Hermione’s best friend who is a zingy mix of support and healthy attitude, exactly the friend you want at your side. This novel is a guidebook to how we should be treating assault survivors, not as victims but as survivors who should have our support not our pity.

Johnston takes it one step further and also has Hermione get an abortion. It was at this point in the novel that I found myself entirely overcome. Johnston writes about a Canadian abortion system, one that Americans will have problems relating to due to its ease. Still, there are emotions here, ones that are not questioning Hermione’s decision or situation at all. The emotions are large because here is another sisterhood that Hermione is a part of. It’s not dramatic for any effect or statement, it’s dramatic simply because it is. Because it’s necessary. Because it’s a choice being made. And that is so beautiful and moving.

Immensely powerful and empowering, this novel has so much to say to teens in our world. Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from library book.

2016 Teen Choice Awards Finalists

| Tasha

The finalists for the 2016 Teen Choice Awards have been announced. The website is now open for voting by either individual teens or teachers, parents, librarians and booksellers working with groups of teens. Votes can be cast through April 25th. The winners will be announced during Children’s Book Week, May 2-8.

Teen Book of the Year Finalists

All the Bright Places A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2) Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)

Winter by Marissa Meyer

 

Teen Choice Debut Author Finalists

Conviction An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

More Happy Than Not Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

More Happy Than Not by Adan Silvera

Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

We All Looked Up

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

| Tasha

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (InfoSoup)

The author of Otherbound returns with a stunning science fiction novel for teens. Denise and her mother are ready to leave their apartment, but her mother won’t move fast enough. She is trying to wait for Denise’s sister, Iris. Now they are not going to reach the shelter in time and that means that they probably won’t survive the comet hitting Earth. As they drive the empty streets to their temporary shelter, desperately late, a chance encounter leads them on another path. Instead of a temporary shelter, they are offered shelter in a generation ship that will wait out the comet hit and then leave earth. Now it is up to Denise to figure out how to fix everything, to find her sister in destroyed and flooded Amsterdam, and even more importantly get them all a spot on the generation ship before it takes off. But who is going to take Denise who is autistic and her mother who struggles with drug addiction?

Duyvis set this book in her native Amsterdam and throughout the novel, one can see her love for her nation and her city. Yes, she destroys much of it, but the spirit of the people is clear on the page as is the beauty of the city even through its destruction. The science here is done just right, with a clear connection to today’s technology but also taking it leaps ahead, allowing readers to truly believe it is 2035. This book is not afraid of asking difficult questions about disabilities and addiction and whether only the perfect deserve to survive in this situation.

The book is beautifully written, with an impressive protagonist who shows that disabilities are no reason that you can’t be a survivor and even more so, a heroine. Denise is a beautiful mixture of autistic behaviors when she is pushed but also bravery and resilience. The book is an intelligent mix of adventure and survival with a compelling question of what could make Denise worthy enough to stay. There are additional ethical questions throughout, including how far one would go to save a loved one.

A brilliant science fiction novel that offers diversity and a powerful story. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from ARC received from Abrams.

 

The Last Execution by Jesper Wung-Sung

| Tasha

The Last Execution by Jesper Wung Sung

The Last Execution by Jesper Wung-Sung (InfoSoup)

Originally published in Danish, this novel looks at the last 12 hours before a teen boy will be executed on Gallows Hill. The novel shows the approach the execution from the point of view of different members of the community and from the boy, Niels, himself. It opens the night before with Niels swinging out and trying to hit the devil but instead smashing his hand badly. He then has a fly he speaks with, who buzzes around him and Niels imagines himself having long conversations with it. There is the master carpenter in town who will measure Niels for his coffin. The master baker who looks to profit from the busyness that an execution brings to the market. A poet who pens his record of the events. A three-legged dog, who befriended the boy and now waits in the streets. A girl who has fed the boy before and even kissed him. And the executioner with the axe he has inherited.

Based on the last execution in Svendborg, Denmark in 1853, this novel takes a serious and haunting look at what could have brought a boy to the edge of execution and whether he deserves his fate. The entire book ticks closer and closer to the execution and the book offers little hope of reprieve at any point. As the hours pass, the full story of the boy and his father emerges. The desperate poverty they lived in together, working on farms for food and then walking to another farm looking for work. The dire illness of his father that led him to be unable to work some days and eventually die. The hope that starts to light Niels life just before a mistake takes it all away.

I appreciate so much that this is such a dark story. There are moments of hope that shine like sunbeams but they are for past hope, happening before Niels is in his cell. Once there, there is no hope. There is no reprieve for him and no promise of such is ever held out. It is a novel that moves on and on and on to the inevitable, something that could be stopped but now can only be witnessed and readers are forced to witness it along with those that thronged and judged.

Terrifying, moving and deeply poetic, this historical novel asks huge questions and leaves the answers to the reader. Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

| Tasha

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Hanalee has always stood out in her hometown in Oregon in the 1920s. She is half African-American and so has very few rights under the law. Her father died a year ago, hit by a drunk driver. A neighbor has told Hanalee that her father is now a “haint,” a ghost traveling the road where he died. Hanalee also discovers that Joe, the boy found guilty for her father’s death is out of jail and back in town, hiding from everyone. The community is also ruled by the KKK, which is certainly not safe for someone like Hanalee. As Hanalee starts to piece together how her father may have died in a different way than a car accident, she also takes a tonic to see her father’s ghost. Joe also tells Hanalee his own secret, why his family has refused him shelter and why the KKK is after him as well.

Winters writes a gripping novel in this reworking of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set in a time period that is often forgotten, this is a novel of Prohibition, the Klan and the lack of civil rights for people of color. Winters also ties in the loss of rights for LGBT people and how they also lived in the shadows and in desperate fear of being discovered. There is an additional layer of fear as eugenics was being done at the time, a danger for both people of color and LGBT people. With that level of societal pressure and fear, this novel soars and unlikely truces are made in a search for the truth.

Winters’ writing is piercing and honest. She allows Hanalee to figure out the various dangers in her life and somehow at the same time Hanalee is brave enough to not go into hiding or run away but to continue in her search for the truth. Hanalee is an amazing character, filled with love for her best friend, caring for Joe and an adoration of her dead father. Meanwhile she has to handle the dangers around her, and even face them head on with her simple presence in the community.

Brilliantly written, this is a stunning historical novel filled with ghosts and also a firm truth about the risks of the time. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Abrams.

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

| Tasha

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach (InfoSoup)

Parker spends his time in hotels, watching people and stealing from them. He hasn’t spoken in five years. That’s when he meets Zelda, a girl with silver hair and a wad of hundred dollar bills who just leaves her purse behind at the table. Parker takes her money but then realizes he has left his notebook behind, a place where he records his stories and also that he uses to communicate with others. When he goes back, Zelda is holding it. Soon the two of them are talking about life and death, a conversation where Zelda claims to be much older than Parker, and not by just a few years. Parker wants to save Zelda at the same time that Zelda wants Parker to not waste his life. The two together set off on a series of adventures that may just prove that life, no matter how long it is, is worth living well.

Told in the first person, the framework of this novel is that Parker is writing an essay to get into college. That structure alone speaks volumes throughout the novel even as readers are just getting to know Parker and Zelda, since Parker agrees to apply to colleges. The writing throughout is just as rich and thoughtfully done as that framework, allowing these two incredibly unique characters to come fully alive. The book asks deep questions and dances along dark lines, yet it is entirely a delight to read and keeps lightness even as it asks the most difficult of questions.

The two main characters are phenomenally written. Parker’s lack of speech becomes much more than a device, informing readers about his deep pain and the way in which he has truly shut himself off from life. Zelda too is complicated, she is playful and light and then by turns also filled with a resolve that life is not worth continuing. Parker’s short stories are also a source of amazement in this novel and Wallach has quite a way with them, offering even more insight into relationships in the novel. It is all so gorgeously done.

A rich, complicated and exceptional novel for teens, this book handles grief, suicide and questions of how to live your life in a wondrous way. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

YA Book Prize Shortlist

| Tasha

The shortlist for the 2016 YA Book Prize has been announced. Last year was the inaugural year for this prize for UK and Irish YA books. Here is the new shortlist:

Am I Normal Yet? (Normal, #1) Asking For It

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

Asking for It by Louise O’Neill

The Art of Being Normal Concentr8

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Concentr8 by William Sutcliffe

The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo The Lie Tree

The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo by Catherine Johnson

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

One The Rest of Us Just Live Here

One by Sarah Crossan

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

The Sin Eater’s Daughter (The Sin Eater’s Daughter, #1) Unbecoming

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

 

Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff

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Delilah Dirk and the Kings Shilling by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff (InfoSoup)

Released March 8, 2016.

This second book in the Delilah Dirk graphic novel series will have fans cheering once again for this Victorian sword-wielding heroine. When an English army officer threatens Delilah’s good name, her thirst for revenge takes over. But Selim sees it in a calmer way, trying to divert her attention back to their travels. He wishes to travel to England, though Delilah has no interest in going there. That is until she discovers that it may be the way to take down the office who wronged her. Soon the two travelers are in England where Delilah reveals her own background and Selim attempts to enjoy his first trip there even as he is pressed into service for Delilah’s family.

This second book is just as delightful and refreshing as the first. Delilah stays entirely herself, taking on those doing wrong, defending her personal honor, and managing to have many amazing battles along the way with her sword whirling. Selim too remains the calm epicenter of Delilah’s world as the two of them travel together. He can’t get her to listen any better in this book, though in the end he seems to have known best all along. Their dynamic with one another is a major part of these books, the two of them both appreciating one another at times and then almost breaking into fist fights others. It was a particularly good choice to put their dynamic at risk in this book, making it all the more readable.

Cliff’s art is gorgeous. He has action galore here whether it is horses galloping or near escapes. Of course his battles in particular are incredibly done, frame after frame offering detail but also keeping the pacing brisk and the story line firmly in hand. The swirling skirts of Delilah match her swords and she fights in a most decidedly feminine and brutal way. It’s a delight to see.

Another winning Delilah Dirk book that anyone who loves a great sword fight will enjoy. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.

 

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

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The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman (InfoSoup)

The author of Eon and Eona returns with an amazing book of fantasy set in Regency London. Lady Helen Wrexhall is getting ready for her presentation to the Queen, something that her aunt and uncle are depending on to offset the claim that Helen’s mother was a traitor to the crown. Helen has also noticed that her senses are growing more acute. Soon she is told by the intriguing Lord Carlston that she has a destiny inherited from her mother that makes her one of only a few people alive who can hunt demons. As part of the upper class, Helen must figure out how to navigate the dangers and darkness she is discovering without losing sight of her place in society.

Goodman makes a great choice here, creating a Regency England setting filled with a secret layer of darkness and intrigue. She keeps the society of the time intact throughout, allowing everything else to seethe under those strict and proper restrictions. This creates a feeling of dread, harrowing danger at every turn, and the reader has no idea who to trust. Goodman keeps revealing new details and truths throughout the novel, even towards the end, creating a book that is rich and detailed.

Helen is a fabulous protagonist. She is a woman who is fighting against the strictures of her place in society already and then given a way to move forward that is exciting and tantalizing but also scandalous. It is to Goodman’s credit that Helen does not leap into action without hesitation, making her someone who really fits into her time period and setting in a natural way.

Add in a little heat with male protagonists and you have a fantasy-laced romantic novel that is luminous and riveting. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from library copy.