Teen

Book Review: Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O’Roark Dowell

| Tasha

10miles

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O’Roark Dowell

All Janie wants is to be normal, but she can’t shake her stinky reputation that comes from her family’s goat farm.  The lump of something strange in her hair one day didn’t help and neither did the clump of goat poo on her shoe that stunk up the bus.  To make it worse, her group of friends from middle school don’t have the same lunch as she does, so she has taken to wolfing down her lunch at her locker and then spending the lunch period in the library.  She keeps hoping that someone normal will enter the library and befriend her, but there are only weird kids around.  No friend material, and no boyfriend material either.  The real trouble is that Janie herself is not normal: she makes her own clothes, is sassy, smart and vibrant.  Now the question is when she’s going to figure that out.

Dowell’s writing is funny, intelligent and spot on.  She writes dialogue that is snappy and a pleasure to read.  Janie’s journey from hoping for normal to embracing her own uniqueness is written with great pacing, lots of truth, and a joyousness that is infectious.  There are many places in the book that clichés could have been used, but Dowell never turns to them.  Instead, she uses those moments to make the book ever more special.

A large part of the success of the novel is the character of Janie.  She has a voice that is clear and consistent, filled with humor.  The novel really traces her growth as a teen, finding her own way that is certainly not normal.  Yet despite being a unique path, it is clear that the person she grows into is the one she was meant to be from the beginning.

A book that celebrates being exactly who you really are, even if you aren’t sure who that is yet, this is a treat of a read.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

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Book Review: Red Glove by Holly Black

| Tasha

redglove

Red Glove by Holly Black

This second book in The Curse Workers series continues the story of Cassel Sharpe.  Cassel was born into a family of curse working con artists and mobsters.  Cassel had always thought he was the only of his brothers without any curse working talent, but as he discovered in the first novel in the series, his memories were being manipulated by his brother, Barron, so that he forgot his unusual power and that he killed with it.  Now Cassel knows that he is one of the most powerful curse workers in the world.  When Cassel’s oldest brother, Philip, is murdered, the feds come to Cassel for some answers, but the problem is that Cassel cannot remember the truth about what happened with his brothers.  Now he is under pressure to provide some information to the feds.  At the same time, he is going to high school and trying not to take advantage of the fact that the girl he loves has been cursed to love him.  Plus there is at least one mob family eager to have Cassel start working for them.  The only way to proceed is to weigh the pros and CONS.

This is a worthy second book in the series with Cassel continuing his struggle with his mobster family, his own role in their business, and his personal history.  Cassel is a very intriguing protagonist with his tough exterior but loyalty and strong sense of right and wrong, though it may not be the same right and wrong as the reader’s.  His view of the world is evolving yet very consistent and strong, which is a large part of why this book and series work so well. 

Along with the strong characterization, the book has plenty of action, cons, humor, and puzzles to figure out.  Nothing is ever as it appears at first in this book filled with con artists.  The big question here is who killed Cassel’s brother, but that pales compared to the puzzle of his own life and family.  There is a great richness to the world that Black has created, enough richness to leave on wondering what is coming next at almost every point in the book.

Beautifully crafted, well written, with compelling, funny characters, this book is a must-read for fans of the series and a must-have for any library serving teens.  Appropriate for ages 14+.

Reviewed from copy received from Margaret K. McElderry Books.

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Book Review: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

| Tasha

imaginarygirls

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Released June 14, 2011.

Chloe knows that she can depend on her older sister Ruby.  Ruby is a girl who has always seemed to be more alive, more beautiful and more intense than anyone else.  She has series of boyfriends, some of whom never go away, lingering for more attention from Ruby.  Chloe knows that Ruby would do anything for her and that she will always live with Ruby.  But that all changes one night at the reservoir when Ruby asks Chloe to swim across the water and return with a trophy from a long-sunken town below the surface.  Chloe trusts Ruby implicitly, knowing the Ruby would never let anything happen to her.  So she starts across, but she doesn’t find the other side of the reservoir, instead she discovers the body of a dead girl floating in a boat.  Now Chloe is sent away to live with her father.  But Ruby will not allow them to be separated from one another and will do anything to get her sister back.  Anything.

This is horror fiction that is literary at the same time.  It takes its time slowly becoming more and more eerie and strange as the reader continues.   The journey here is a large part of the book, as layers are peeled away, readers begin to understand more and more about the sisters, about Ruby, and about the dead girl, London.  It is a book that gives readers the space to think, to untangle the knot, to solve the puzzle.  It is a joy to read.

The prose is beautiful even at its more horrific and strange.  In the early pages there is this section from page 34 that epitomizes the beauty of the language:

It felt like we could have made it to the station in seconds, flown there and back with a canister of gasoline, our eyelashes glistening with frost, our bones weightless from cold.

And you can see within that passage that even the most mundane, running out of gas, can be made sinister yet mesmerizing.

Chloe is a character who struggles with living in her sister’s shadow even as she basks in the attention that it brings her from others and from Ruby.  Their relationship is strange, but Chloe continues to see it as normal.  Readers must wrest their thoughts free from Chloe’s to begin to understand what is happening.  The world the two sisters inhabit is beautiful, troubling and irresistible.

The design of the book is very effective.  From the cover that is beautiful but haunting to the way the chapter titles are done.  Each chapter title is pulled from the first few words of the chapter, giving the book an echo and each title even more strange weight.

Highly recommended, this is a phenomenal horror novel filled with gorgeous writing and a strong paranormal feel.  Ideal for teens who think they have read it all.  This is a book full of surprises and twists that will have them regretting reading it after dark.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Penguin Young Readers Group.

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Book Review: Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

| Tasha

crossinglines

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

Released June 9, 2011.

Adonis plays on his high school football team and all of his best friends are football jocks.  He has just started dating Melody, one of the hottest girls at school.  Alan is the new person at school.  He is the only boy in the Fashion Club and a kid who refuses to conform.  Alan is openly mocked and ridiculed by Adonis’ friends.  Things take a turn for the worse when Alan begins openly wearing lipstick and dresses at school.  He even embraces the name the jocks have been calling him, Alana.  Adonis finds himself pressured by Melody and his younger sister to befriend Alan while all of his friends at school assume that Adonis detests Alan just as much as they do.  Adonis is trapped in the middle, never telling anyone exactly how he feels and where he stands.  But then a plan to bully Alan goes wrong and Adonis is forced to choose sides.

I have mixed feelings about this novel.  Part of me wishes that the subject matter had been handled more subtly.  At the same time, I understand the value in a very accessible book that teens who may feel mixed feelings about GLBTQ issues can relate to.  Volponi writes in a very concrete way here.  His prose is tight and very reality based.

Adonis is a character who will also be easily understood.  His own homophobic-at-worst and mixed-at-best attitudes are clear.  Readers will see themselves in him because we all hesitate at times to speak up, go against our peers, and side with the loner or different.  And here is where I wish that the book had been written with more internal dialogue and less concrete depictions.  Adonis does not ever reflect on why he is homophobic, why he reacts to Alan in the way he does, why he doesn’t leap to defend.  Instead the book stays above those questions, which does not add to its depth.

This lack of self-exploration also hurts the character development of the secondary characters in particular.  Alan is a very interesting character who offers glimpses of his strength but never really comes alive for the reader.  Unfortunately, he never becomes more than a stereotype. 

Volponi has again written a book that teens will relate to easily.  It is a book that asks for discussion, one that will have teens questioning what their reaction would have been in the same situation.   Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from author.

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Book Review: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

| Tasha

whathappenedtogoodbye

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Mclean has moved four times in the last two years.  Ever since her parents very public divorce, she has lived with her father and his restaurant management job keeps them moving around.  At each new place, Mclean changes her first name and also the persona she has in school.  Now she is in the second half of her senior year and in another new city.  Mclean renames herself Liz at first, but then finds herself using her real name, making real friends, and feeling connected to a community.  But Mclean hasn’t been herself in years.  In fact, she’s not really sure she knows who she is, just that she is not any of the personas she has been before.  This smart, thoughtful book examines the feeling of losing oneself only to realize that it’s hard to find yourself again.

Dessen excels at creating worlds in her books:  communities and characters that readers will want to linger with and befriend.  Mclean is one of those people, as are many of the secondary characters.  Mclean is a protagonist that readers will understand immediately.  She is much more of a mystery to herself than to the reader, which is a great piece of the novel.  She is strong and resilient, independent to a fault, but at her core she is afraid, defensive and hurt.  It’s an intriguing mix of characteristics. 

Dessen’s secondary characters are also well written and complex.  Mclean’s friends read as real people, their interests and quirks make for well-rounded characters.  From Beth, the new girl who never managed to make friends, to Dave, the genius whose parents no longer trust him.  They are far more than they seem, perfect foils for Mclean who is far more than she thinks she is. My only quibble is that I was quite taken with the character of Deb, and I rather wished the book had been about her as a main character. 

Dessen writes with humor, charm and a light touch.  What could have been a problem-novel becomes something much more enjoyable in her hands.  This is a book that will speak to almost every teen. 

Highly recommended, this book is sure to fly off of library shelves into the hands of Dessen’s fans.  But I can’t help but think what a great booktalk this book would make.  Just Mclean herself, her moves and her different names and personas would be all it would take to get this book into even more hands.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC received from Penguin Group.

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Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

| Tasha

divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Beatrice lives the selfless life of a person in the Abnegation faction.  She wears gray, avoids mirrors, and tries to always think of other before herself.  But she feels that she isn’t any good at it, unlike her brother, who manages the strict lifestyle perfectly.  In this dystopian novel set in Chicago, there are five factions who keep the peace.  Now that Beatrice is 16, she is tested for suitability in different factions and then is given the choice of which faction she wants to join.  But her results are odd, indicating that she could be suitable for three of the factions, meaning that she is divergent.  It is something that is not only rare but could put her life in danger if others found out.  Now Beatrice has a choice, leave her family behind in Abnegation or stay and be selfless as she has always been taught.

I tried to keep any spoilers from my summary above.  You’ll find that all of that action happens in the first few chapters.  I avoided reviews of this novel, waiting to get my hands on a copy, and I was very happy to discover the world of Divergent myself. 

Roth has created a dystopian fantasy that is a wild ride of a novel.  There is lots of violence, tons of action, and scenes that are guaranteed to raise your pulse from excitement.  And just with any great teen novel, there is romance.  In this case, it’s a romance that may not surprise but builds and matures with grace.  Roth has created a world that is alarming and very different from our own.  The political intrigue of the novel gives it a wonderful depth.

Beatrice is a great heroine who has plenty of self-doubt, learns about herself, underestimates herself, and learns to make friends, depend on others, yet stay uniquely independent.  She is a strong heroine who shows her vulnerability too.  With that touch of doubt, she becomes a much more human character whom readers can relate to.

A delight of a dystopian fantasy, make sure you have this in your library teen collection.  Get it directly into the hands of Hunger Games fans, who will return begging to know when the next book is coming out!  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Book Review: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

| Tasha

akatawitch

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Sunny is a 12-year-old who lives in Nigeria.  She was born in the United States, but that isn’t what makes her so different from her classmates.  Her albino skin and hair does that.  Sunny is also a great athlete, but she can’t play because her sun reacts so strongly to the sun.  She only gets to play when her brothers agree to play with her in the evening.  Sunny isn’t sure she will ever fit in, but after meeting Orlu and ChiChi, the three of them figure out why Sunny is so special.  She’s a free agent, a member of the Leopard People, allowing her to do juju or magic.  Happily, Orlu and ChiChi are also Leopard People, though not free agents.  Suddenly Sunny is immersed in a new dual life.  Her old life of school and family and her new life learning about juju.  But there is also darkness in her life, as a serial killer preys upon children in Nigeria: a killer who has a special connection to Sunny.

This book is incredible.  Okorafor has created a completely unique and entirely formed world within a world.  She brings modern Nigeria to life and then within it creates an entire society that makes sense, wields magic, and continually surprises and delights.  The construct of the magical society doesn’t linger on the how, rather it is presented as a fully-formed world complete with its own laws, own priorities, and a matter-of-fact relationship to death.

The characters of the four young people in the book are well written and play nicely off of one another.  I particularly enjoyed when they would depart from roles that could have been stereotypical and instead revealed themselves to be very well-rounded characters.  Sunny serves as an ideal person for the readers to learn about the magical world alongside.  She is interested, questioning and frank.  She is a very strong female protagonist who can play soccer better than the boys. 

If you have teens or tweens looking for magical reads that break into a whole new territory, this book is for them.   It celebrates Nigeria, magic and learning.  Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking Publishing.

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Book Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

| Tasha

beautyqueens

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Released May 24, 2011.

Printz-award winning author, Libba Bray, returns with another modern story for teens that is filled with satire, sarcasm, and wit.  It is the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on an island. The girls must figure out not only how to deal with several deaths and the wildlife of the island, but also how to keep up their beauty routines and pageant skills.  As the days pass, the girls discover that they have far more skills than anyone would have thought and that it takes a woman to build a village, or at least a hut.  As their chance at a rescue diminishes, they discover that the island is home to far more than they ever dreamed or dreaded. 

The book begins as a chance to giggle at the poor girls who are left to fend for themselves rather ineptly.  Readers will smugly watch the beauties have tiffs and arguments.  It is all very satisfying to see them get their due.  But then the book twists, stealthily, until readers see the real girls behind the makeup and start to root for these heroines.  It is masterfully done and all with a lot of humor. 

Bray takes the opportunity to really give commentary on our American life.  She skewers beauty ads, commercialization, pert actresses, and reality TV.  She mocks popular stores and movies.  But this book has depth as well as biting humor.  The contestants who survive are portrayed as individuals, which gives us a cast of teen girls who are all unique and fascinating.

The book also remedies some of the worst tropes of teen novels.  First, the girls may love hot boys, but they do not need the boys to rescue them.  Second, those same hot boys are great for hot sex scenes, and this book has them for sure.  The girls have sexual encounters with no horrible things happening to them as payback for their slutty ways.  They have sex on their own terms, with the boys they choose, and the world continues to turn.  Imagine that!

Bray also introduces a lesbian character who doesn’t angst over being a lesbian, a bisexual, and a transgendered girl who finds love in a young pirate who steals her high heels. 

The cover is great.  I love the lipstick in place of ammo and the sash that if you look closely is battered and dirty.  It speaks directly to the book, its humor and attitude.

This book is wildly, laugh-out-loud funny.  Bray has created a read that is exactly what I needed in my late teens to see that I was OK the way I was.  Each and every teen girl will see themselves supported by this book, and hey the hot scenes alone make it worth the read!  This is a great feminist read for any teen girl. Appropriate for ages 16-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic Press.

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Book Review: Enclave by Ann Aguirre

| Tasha

enclave

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

Deuce lives underground in her enclave where life expectancy is short and live is brutal.  From the time she was a brat, she knew that she wanted to be a Huntress.  Now that she is 15, she goes through the naming ceremony and is given the role of Huntress in her community.  It is her job, along with her partner, to protect the enclave from the strange beings, Freaks, that share their underground world.  Deuce is paired with Fade, a Hunter who was not born in the enclave, but found wandering underground.  As Deuce learns more about their society, she begins to question the enclave’s rules and the injustices she sees.  When she sacrifices herself to save a friend, Deuce is thrown out of the safety of her community and forced to survive with just Fade to help her.

The strength of this book was in the underground world, the enclave and its lies, the brutality of the life, the unquestioning people, the darkness and danger.  The world Aguirre created underground is compelling and intriguing.  Deuce’s character is equally successful.  She is a strong heroine whose weakness is ignorance thanks to the enclave.  She experiences real growth as a character as she learns the truth.

Unfortunately, the book does not stay underground.  When Deuce and her partner head to Topside to survive, the book loses some of its strength as well as its unique society and setting.  For me, the book seemed to drag despite the high level of violence.

But for me, worst of all was that the world building that worked so well underground began to fall apart.  The Topside misuse of women angered me, but even worse was the insistence that one of the raped women accept one of the gang as a compatriot in their travels.  That she had to let her repeated rapes go and learn to cope seemed to trivialize rape and survival at the same time.

Readers of dystopian fantasy may enjoy this series, but I will stop reading with this first book.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel and Friends.

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