Teen

GoodReads Choice Awards 2012–YA Fantasy & SF

| Tasha

After 1 million votes were cast, the winners of the GoodReads 2012 awards have been announced.  The winner of the top spot for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction is:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Here are the other books that round out the top ten:

  

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

  

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

  

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

GoodReads Choice Awards–Best YA Fiction

| Tasha

The votes have been tallied and the winner of the Best Books of 2012 in Young Adult Fiction is:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The rest of the top ten contain intriguing number of self-published books.  They are:

  

Easy by Tammara Webber

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

  

Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

  

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

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window by Kirsty Moseley

Review: Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

| Tasha

vessel

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

When Liyana took her dreamwalk, she found out that she would be a vessel for her goddess to return to the world.  This meant that the Great Drought would end as the goddess Bayla would bring water to their dry wells in the desert.  Liyana worked to make sure that her body was worthy of the goddess, but when she danced the sacred dance, Bayla did not appear.  Left behind by her tribe to die in the desert alone, Liyana met Korbyn, a god inside his vessel.  He explained that five gods were missing, kidnapped by someone.  So Liyana joined Korbyn in traveling to the other nomadic tribes to tell them of their lost gods and save their vessels.  But the journey is dangerous, the tribes unwelcoming, the real enemy unknown, and as they journey, Liyana finds more and more reasons to not want to disappear when her goddess returns.

Durst has a great storytelling skill which is evident in this book.  The storyline is complex with many characters, mortals and gods alike.  Durst keeps the story moving forward at a brisk pace, populating her world with many unique characters.  Even the desert itself is wondrous with its sand wolves, giant worms, and glass sky serpents.  The ecological disaster of a world-wide drought drives the story, creating its own tension and time limits. 

But what Durst does best here is create an amazing heroine.  Liyana is not only worthy to be the vessel for the goddess, but worthy of awe herself.  She is not only strong but very vulnerable.  She is so strong but also rocked by the new emotions of love and lust that she finds awakening.  She is devoted to her goddess but also questions her own role in bringing the goddess to life.  Complex and completely human, Liyana is simply remarkable.

I must highlight here that Liyana is clearly a non-white heroine in the story and happily, the cover reflects that as well.  This is an amazing girl of the desert with skin that is described as burnt cinnamon.

Get this one into the hands of teens who enjoy the strong heroines of writers like Tamora Pierce.  They will love the world building, unique setting, and Liyana herself.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from McElderry Books.

Review: Live Through This by Mindi Scott

| Tasha

live through this

Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Coley is living a lie.  Her life appears to be perfect on the outside.  She is popular, dances on the school dance team, and has started dating a cute guy in her class.  But that’s just the surface.  After her mother fled an abusive husband in New Zealand, she has since remarried and now has three children with her new husband.  Coley and her brother, Bryan, feel like outsiders sometimes, so many years older than the other children in the family.  And then there is the secret that Coley can’t even admit to herself.  A family member is molesting her at night.  All Coley can do is pretend that it doesn’t happen and just continue to try to live her life.  But it does happen, and it’s getting more and more difficult for Coley to pretend it away.  This is a riveting story about the cost of living a lie and the courage it takes to tell the truth.

Scott’s writing is all the more powerful because of all she leaves out.  Readers know from the very first pages that Coley is being sexually assaulted at night, but Scott doesn’t reveal who it is in her family.  This builds the tension tremendously, making the book impossible to put down until that mystery is solved.  Scott depicts the abuse itself with an unflinching honesty that makes it all the more sinister.

Scott powerfully captures the character of a girl who is working as hard and as fast as she can to stay in denial about what is really happening.  Coley is a complex person, a loving and warm girlfriend and daughter on the surface, but there is so much fear and self-loathing underneath.  Coley also carries a large amount of guilt with her, because of her reaction to the abuse.  Scott does not shy away from the difficult emotions here, while always making sure that readers understand who is truly at fault.

A powerful, wrenching novel for teens that tackles incest and survival.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

| Tasha

unwholly

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Shusterman was a single book with an amazing premise: an American society where teens who were too unruly or too burdensome were unwound into parts for others to use.  Fans of the first book will be delighted that Shusterman is turning that single book into a trilogy.  Book two picks up soon after the first.  All your favorite characters who survived the first book are here.  Connor is running the Graveyard, a place of safety for over 700 teens who escaped being unwound.  Risa is at his side, working to keep the teens all healthy.  She’s in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.  Lev is working with teens to try to keep them from being unwound by their parents, forced by the courts to do this.  But wait, there are new characters too.  There is Starkey, a boy who knows that he is destined for greatness and is sure he could lead better than Connor.  There is Cam, a boy who was manmade from unwound teens, who is sure he is human though others doubt it.  There is Miracolina, raised knowing she is a tithe and will be unwound.  There is Nelson, the cop who was shamed when Connor escaped and who has not stopped chasing him.  There is rewritten history that keeps teens victims.  There is a large corporation working against them.  And that’s just the beginning.

Shusterman does an amazing job here of juggling all sorts of different perspectives while keeping each personality distinct and fascinating.  All of the characters, even the villains, have clear motivations and reasons that they see the world the way that they do.  Some are blinded by faith, others by obsession, and still others by their own view of the world itself.  His character building is well done, especially for such a large cast.

Shusterman continues to point out throughout the book how his concept is not far-fetched.  By using actual newspaper articles that point to teens being vilified, he firmly ties his fantasy world to our own.  The entire premise of the series is fraught with gray areas, ethics on both sides, and straight humanitarianism.  It is in this gray area that Shusterman does his most powerful work.

There are moments where the momentum flags and the pace drags a bit.  But that is a minor complaint and one that would never prevent me from finding out how the entire series ends.  Here’s hoping for another complex and complicated book to complete the set!  Appropriate for ages 15-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

| Tasha

dont turn around

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

Noa woke up on a table, an IV in her arm.  She had no memory of how she got there.  Years earlier, she had managed to escape from the foster care system by hacking computers and creating a fake family.  She is tough and smart.  That is what saves her when she makes a harrowing escape from the warehouse where she awoke.  But men are following her and nowhere is safe.  The only chance she has is to survive in that shadow world where there is no record of her existence.  But she needs access to cash and a computer to pull it off.  That’s where Peter comes into the story.  A wealthy kid, he watched his brother die from the mysterious disease that kills teens.  When Peter sniffs around his father’s files, he stumbles upon one that has men chasing him as well.  So he needs a great hacker to help him find out more.  That person is Noa.  Now the two of them know just enough to get them killed and the only option they have is to trust each other and keep running.

Gagnon creates a future world here that is just a few years ahead of our own.  From the raging disease that is striking down an entire generation to the mysterious people who are using teens for experiments, this is a world that is darker and wilder than our own.  At the same time, it’s a world that is close enough to ours to make it understandable and almost reality.  Gagnon writes about hacking as a beautiful mental exercise, something that the wild and intelligent teen would do simply as a challenge.

Noa is an amazing heroine.  Though she doesn’t have super powers of any kind, she is frighteningly strong mentally and gutsy as can be.  For those looking for a strong heroine, Noa is a modern and fascinating one who offers complexity and vulnerability too.  Peter is another interesting character with his hacking hobby that is used for good and his disturbingly distant parents.  The two of them together are dynamite.

Thrilling and fast paced, this book will appeal to teens who love computers as well as those looking for a riveting read.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: Ask the Passengers by A. S. King

| Tasha

ask the passengers

Ask the Passengers by A. S. King

Astrid wishes there was someone who could just listen to her without pressuring her.  Her mother is too pushy and driven to confide in, her father too withdrawn and high.  Her younger sister makes jokes that would make it impossible for Astrid to tell her the truth.  The truth is that Astrid has been kissing a girl and may just be in love with her.  But Astrid isn’t sure that she is really gay.  It may be that she just loves Dee for being Dee and not because they are both gay.  To make matters worse, Astrid’s best friends are in a fake relationship to keep their own secrets.  Astrid spends a lot of time on the picnic table in her backyard watching the planes fly overhead.  She beams them her love, tells them her secrets, and asks them for advice.  When the gay club that she and her friends frequent gets raided, Astrid is forced to start to confront the truth about herself, her family, and her friends.

King has captured the story of a girl questioning her sexuality here, but the story also transcends that and will reach teens who are questioning other aspects of themselves too.  It is a story that encapsulates that particular blend of wonder and fear that comes as a teen who is learning about themselves in such a private way that the rest of the world doesn’t change along with them.  Beautifully written, this is a book that speaks to the fragility and yet strength of that time.

In addition, King has created such a strong character voice here.  It rings with truth, never becoming snarky but really capturing a teen aspect.  Astrid’s messages to the plane passengers add an additional sense of magic and wonder to the story.  As she beams her love up, passengers receive it, make decisions based it, question their own lives, and react.  It adds an important dimension to the book, showing that throughout our lives people are still questioning.

This is a striking read with a vibrant heroine and a radiant point of view that itself beams with love and acceptance.  Appropriate for ages 16-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

| Tasha

crown of embers

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

This sequel to the amazing The Girl of Fire and Thorns continues the story of Elisa and other beloved characters from the first novel.  It is the story of Elisa’s new role as queen of a country after war.  They won the war against the Inviernos only through Elisa’s use of the Godstone that she bears as part of her body.  The war may have been won, but her enemies are all around her as spies and perhaps even manipulating her own government.  After several attempts at her life, Elisa heads on a new journey; this time searching for a source of power using the guidance of her Godstone.  It is a harrowing journey that will put all of those closest to her at risk.  It is also a journey that readers will be thrilled to take with her thanks to the action, strong heroine and romance packed into this book.

Carson has done it again.  I was looking forward to this book so much, but so often my favorite series slip in the sequels.  This time, the second is as strong as the first.  I love the fact that Elisa is brave, strong and almost fearless, yet at the same time has achingly large doubts about so much of her life.  She is complicated as are so many of the secondary characters around her.  Carson invests much in each of them, making them unique and interesting too.  So many could be spun into their own novels.

The world building here is exceptional.  Carson has created a place of political intrigue, murder and deceit that would be too much without the equally strong message of the power of friendship, the ability to do what is right, and the love that flows throughout the novel.  Beautifully realized, the setting is made all the more vivid thanks to the characters who populate it.

Highly recommended, this book will thrill fans of the first novel.  Get this series into the hands of teens who love Kristin Cashore’s Graceling series.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Review: Son by Lois Lowry

| Tasha

son

Son by Lois Lowry

Claire gave birth to her son when she was fourteen.  As a Birthmother in the community, she wasn’t allowed to touch or even see her baby, who was whisked away immediately.  She expected to be a Vessel for some time, but something went wrong during the birth and she was considered unfit to bear more children.  So Claire was sent to work at the Fish Hatchery in the community, but as she left the birth center, she asked about her baby and whether it had survived.  That’s when she learned she had a son.  During her free time, she started to volunteer at the Nurturing Center and figured out who her son was.  But there was no way for her to really connect with the baby, this disconnected time together had to be enough.  So when her baby left the community, Claire had to follow him.  The journey would leave her stranded, desperate and completely changed.  This conclusion to The Giver Quartet ties the various threads from the other books together and will leave fans of the series satisfied and amazed.

Lowry is the first author I ever wrote a fan letter to and it was for The Giver.  At the time, dystopian fiction was not the rage and was quite unusual, especially for children.  Throughout the series, Lowry has built upon that incredible first book, startling those who thought Jonah had died when he fled, and creating an entire world that was solidly built and designed. 

This book startled me with how effortlessly it reads.  The prose has wings that shimmer and shine, illuminating the incredible world that Lowry continues to expand.  There are so many small moments in this world, from the hand-crafting of a boat to the years of practice before taking a life-risking trip.  There are small birds in cages, picked flowers on tables, and the strength of a long marriage.  Lowry weaves these together into her world, making it hearty and vibrant.

Claire is a wonderful character.  Even in her desperation she is radiant, someone who refuses to accept the world that she is placed in and continues to seek new ways.  It is through her perseverance and determination that the book works.  And it certainly does work.

A memorable ending to a ground-breaking quartet of novels, this one was breathtaking, wrenching and pure wonder.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from library copy.