Review: A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn

June 2, 2014May 30, 2014 | Tasha

Marni lives with her Gramps on the edge of the woods where they grow flowers that the wealthy lords and ladies from the castle come to buy. The woods is not just a normal woods, it is filled with small creatures and a lady who has sung and knitted with Marni since she was a child. Marni doesn’t speak with the creatures of the forest anymore, but she had spent many hours as a child with them. Marni is not just any peasant girl, she is the daughter of the sister of the king, and her Gramps was once king himself. The current king, her uncle, killed her mother and now may be turning his attentions to Marni. After all she is not just human, she is half dragon, and her dragon father is expanding his woods to find her.

A large part of the delight of this book is uncovering secrets along the way. Hahn plays with this in her many-layered story, slowly revealing things that the reader may have guessed at. Startling readers with revelations at other times, ones that make perfect sense and click into the story with a neat precision. Told in a series of parts, the book takes place in three distinct locales. There is the hut that Marni lives in with Gramps and their odd but also stable life together. There is the king’s court where Marni is not only out of place but also targeted and unsafe. Finally, there is the world of the dragon, the lure of the woods and its dangerous beauty.

At the heart of all of this is Marni, also called Tulip, who finds herself a princess raised as a pauper. She is separate from the royal court but not entirely, still connected through her flowers and through her mother and the violent act that killed her. She is a girl who is strong enough to deny the fairies in the woods what they want, smart enough to survive at court without understanding the politics, and determined enough to find her father when she needs to. She is one of those heroines who is vulnerable and real but also startling and incredible.

Complex and rich, this debut novel gives us a new voice in high fantasy for teens. One who is definitely worth exploring and reading. Get this into the hands of fans of Seraphina. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss and HMH Books for Young Readers.

Review: Infinite Sky by C. J. Flood

May 30, 2014 | Tasha

Infinite Sky by C. J. Flood

This book begins with the death of a boy but the identity of the dead person is not revealed. We are then taken back to the beginning of summer, three months after Iris’ mother has left their family and just as the travelers come to stay in the field near Iris’ home. She lives with her father and Sam, her brother, who continues to struggle with his mother leaving. Iris starts watching the travelers in the field and becomes friends with Trick, a boy who is easy to talk to and easy to listen to. Tensions start to rise as a theft is discovered and the travelers are blamed for it. The long, hot British summer inexorably leads towards the death of one of the boys, but who is it? Is it Trick or Sam?

Flood’s writing is beautiful and detailed. The setting she creates of the British countryside in summer is one that is so finely drawn that you can see it in its entirety. In fact, you can hear it, feel it, smell it too, so clear and strong are her descriptions. The book’s structure of starting with the tragedy that defines the story adds a great amount of tension. Because the boy who dies is not revealed until towards the end of the book, that mystery is a focus. Yet at times one is also lost in the summer itself, its heat and the freedom it provides.

Flood has also created a complicated group of characters in this book. All of the characters have complicated family lives, whether it is a mother who left or an abusive father. Yet these characters are not defined by those others, they are profoundly affected by it, but are characters with far more depth than just an issue. This is a book that explores being an outsider, falling in love, expressing emotions, and most of all being true to yourself and doing what you know is right.

A perfect read for a hot summer day, this is a compelling mix of romance, mystery and tragedy. Appropriate for ages 12-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Review: This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki

May 21, 2014May 21, 2014 | Tasha

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

Rose goes to Awago Beach every summer with her parents, but this summer things don’t feel quite the same. Rose’s friend Windy is also there and the two of them hang out together just like every other summer. But Rose’s parents are always arguing and her mother won’t go swimming with them at all. Rose and Windy find their own way to escape the fighting, they rent horror movies from the local shop. While they are there picking out and returning their movies, they watch a summer of teenage drama unfold in front of them. This is a summer unlike any others, one where secrets are hidden and revealed and where sorrow mixes with the summer sun.

Done by the pair that did Skim, this is an amazing graphic novel for teens. It deals with that fragile moment in life where children are becoming teens and everything around them is changing. These two girls are suspended in that time during the summer, learning about themselves, about their parents and witnessing events around them in a new way. The use of a summer vacation to capture that moment in time is superb. Yet this book is not a treatise on the wonder of childhood at all. It deals with deeper issues, darker ones, ones that the two girls are not ready to handle yet. And that’s what makes it all the more wondrous as a book.

The art in the book is phenomenal. The two girls are different physically, one a little stouter than the other and both are real girls expressing real emotions. And the larger of the two girls is not the shy, meek one. She has a wonderful sassiness to her, an open grin, and rocks a bikini. Hoorah! The art captures summer days, the beach, what a face of sorrow looks like and how it tears into ones entire physique. Done in blue and white, the images are detailed and realistic.

A glimpse of one summer and what happens during it, this book is about capturing a moment in time, one that is filled with depth, despair and desire. Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from digital copy received from

In the Margins 2014 Nominees

May 20, 2014 | Tasha

In the Margins which falls under the Library Services for Youth in Custody, is a book list for teens that showcases self-published and small press titles by and about people in poverty or living in the margins. Books from large publishers are also considered as long as they fit into the focus of the list.

Here are the 2014 nominees to date. New titles will still be considered and teen feedback will be part of creating the final list.

Caged Warrior by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

The Griots of Oakland by Angela Beth Zusman

Left for Dead by Ebony Canion

The Lure by Lynne Ewing

Rabbit Ears by Maggie De Vries

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

Review: The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove

May 16, 2014 | Tasha

The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove

Released June 12, 2014.

The first book in a new fantasy trilogy by a debut author, this novel features incredible world-building and an amazing young heroine. The world changed when the Great Disruption happened in 1799. When the Disruption occurred different points of time were merged together into a single world. Now almost 100 years after the Disruption, Sophia lives in Boston which is part of New Occident. She lives with her uncle after her parents disappeared while exploring other eras when she was a child. Her uncle is one of the best map makers and map readers in the world, a skill that become necessary when the world changed. But then her uncle is kidnapped and their home ransacked. Sophia finds herself journeying to Nochtland with a boy she just met following a clue her uncle left her before he was taken. Her journey will lead her to different times and different places in the company of many different characters. Little does she know, but it’s a journey to save the world.

Grove’s novel brims with details about this new world she has envisioned. The world is a unique one, unlike anything I have ever read before. It’s a mix of historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction and adventure. The addition of the different eras in time makes for a book that is surprising and great fun to read. It also offers all sorts of new and varied adventures for the subsequent books in the trilogy.

I must admit to not being a huge fan of books with lots of traveling and quests, but Grove maintains the brisk pace of the novel throughout and the travel is an important part of the story itself. Grove brings her world fully to life, making sure to fill it with characters that readers will embrace and enjoy spending time with. Sophia is a girl with lots of brains and plenty of bravery, but one who has been sheltered much of her life. My favorite character though is the villain of the story, Blanca, who steals memories from people using sand. She is incredibly creepy and frightening, yet has her own motivation and goals beyond just stealing memories.

Get this into the hands of fans of complex fantasy like The Golden Compass, they will find a whole new world to love here. Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.

2014 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten Nominees

May 14, 2014May 13, 2014 | Tasha

YALSA has announced the 25 titles nominated for the Teens’ Top Ten. Teens are encouraged to read the nominees before they vote, which starts on August 15 and goes through Teen Read Week ending on October 18.

Here are the 25 nominees:

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Tucholke

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

Maybe I Will by Laurie Gray

A Midsummer Night’s Scream by R. L. Stine

Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

Of Triton by Anna Banks

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards

Splintered by A. G. Howard

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Teardrop by Lauren Kate

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Winger by Andrew Smith

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

May 12, 2014May 8, 2014 | Tasha

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Cady has been spending her summers on the family’s private island for her entire life. She and her two cousins Johnny and Mirren were joined by Gat, a boy who became almost a cousin but also so much more for Cady. The foursome call themselves The Liars, and during the summers were inseparable but barely contacted one another during the rest of the year. But then one summer it all changed and now Cady can’t remember what happened. She was found bedraggled and wet on the beach of the island, alone. Now she suffers from amnesia and migraines, spending days in bed in severe pain. But she is determined to find out what happened, even if the other three refuse to contact her any more, so she returns to the island.

Lockhart has created a mystery and thriller that is written like modern poetry. She plays with construction in her novel, dancing between verse and prose masterfully. This disjointed approach to construction also speaks to the way the entire novel is deconstructed and put back together again. The book moves in time, flashing forward and backward, yet is never confusing. Still, readers will be caught in this sparkling web, unable to piece together the mystery until Lockhart is ready for the reveal. And she does it with great style and technique.

With such a character-driven book, the depiction of the characters is of paramount importance. Lockhart excels in all of her books in creating characters who are real people, human and flawed. She does the same here, creating in Cady a very complicated character that readers have to put together as a puzzle until it clicks together in the end. The other supporting characters are equally well rendered. Even the parental figures who seem stereotypical at first reveal surprising depth as the story continues.

Superbly crafted and brilliantly written, this book is one of the best of the year. Get your hands on it now! Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Delacorte Press and Edelweiss.

Review: Noggin by John Corey Whaley

April 24, 2014 | Tasha

Noggin by John Corey Whaley

Travis died five years ago. Now he’s alive again. But not the same and nothing else is the same either. Travis’ head is now attached to a different body, a healthy body, one not dying of cancer. You see, when Travis was dying of cancer, he and his parents took a huge risk and had his head severed from his body and frozen. Now Travis is one of two survivors of the cryogenic procedure and he has returned to the same home, the same parents, the same friends, but not the same life. His girlfriend is now engaged to someone else. His best friend who had admitted he was gay just before Travis died is now dating a girl and about to move in with her. His mother can’t look at him without crying. And Travis’ room which used to be his haven now is sterile and hotel-like. But Travis is the same except for his body. It was as if he closed his eyes and reopened them. So what is a guy to do? Well, he still has to finish high school, get his driver’s license and of course try to regain the girl. But nothing is simple when you are on a completely different timeframe than everyone else!

Whaley blends immense amounts of humor into his novel. Though Travis’ experience is unique, it also speaks to the universal experience of being a teen, of not fitting in, of making bad decisions, and yet of being vitally alive at the same time. Whaley also cleverly turns the trend of books about dying teens on its head (pun intended). This is a book about life but also deeply about loss, grief and death and how funny it can all be.

What is most surprising about this book is the honesty it has and that through its humor there are deep truths revealed. Whaley deals with the emotions of Travis’ return beautifully like in this scene on page 40 when he sees his best friend for the first time:

He let go for a second and wiped his face with the back of one sleeve before holding me by each shoulder and sort of just staring at me for a while with this expression that I’m still convinced no other person has ever had, a combination of shock, joy, pain, and terror. It was like I could see all his memories of me projected into the air between us, rushing and swirling around and enveloping us both in a nostalgic haze.

This book has tremendous heart and a strong sense of its absurdity. It has depth, humor and cool scars too. Pure teen reading perfection. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

2014 Street Literature Book Award Medal Winners

April 4, 2014April 3, 2014 | Tasha

The 2014 Street Lit Book Award Medal winners have been announced. The books are nominated based on their popularity in school, academic and public libraries. They have a category for Young Adult literature.

The winner is a series: