Teen

Zen & Xander Undone

| Tasha

Zen & Xander Undone by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Zen and Xander are sisters who lost their mother a year ago.  In his grief, their father removed himself from their lives, living in the basement and rarely talking to them.  Each sister coped with the loss differently.  Zen, narrator of the book, immersed herself even more in martial arts.  Xander started more and more risky behaviors, coming home drunk or high with questionable guys.  Zen found great pleasure in kicking one of those guys in the head, though it injured her back.  It certainly did feel good though.  As the two girls drift further apart, a mystery brings them back together.  They discover that their mother left a valuable statue to a man they have never heard of.  Now the two of them have to decide whether to solve the mystery or return to their grief apart.

A beautiful depiction of sisters who are best friends but very different from one another, this book also explores grief with an openness that is breathtaking.  I particularly appreciated the intelligence of both of the sisters, both of them bright and filled with humor, caustic at times.  Their complex relationship was depicted in a realistic way, never straying too far from the core of sisterhood that held them together. 

Xander is a particularly complex character, drowning her grief in booze and drugs and throwing in a lot of risk at the same time.  She is difficult to like, until you realize that you are seeing her only in small glimpses.  Otherwise her behavior is shielding her from the reader.  In the end, she is what makes the book gritty and realistic.  She is the barbed truth of grief and coping.

Ryan’s writing is impeccable with a great ear for dialogue, a modern style without relying on any branding to keep it current, and a genuine appreciation for teens.  She manages not to be didactic about grief at all, allowing both girls to find their own way not as examples for others but as individuals.  Both sisters move through the loss of their mother in well rendered ways, even their mistakes making great sense. 

A humor-filled book with great depth, this reads like John Green with girls thanks to the smart sisters.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by:

Bamboo People

| Tasha

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins

Set in modern Burma, this novel is the story of two teen boys on opposite sides of the conflict between the Burmese and the Karenni, one of Burma’s ethnic minorities.  Chiko’s father has been arrested for opposing the Burmese government.  Now Chiko and his mother have no money to survive on, so Chiko heads out to be tested for a teaching position.  But the test was a trap, and Chiko is taken into the Burmese army training to become a soldier.  There he uses his wits to survive, befriending a street boy, who knows much more about fighting and survival than he does.  When the time comes to allow his friend to head to the jungle on a dangerous mission, Chiko steps up and offers himself instead.  Through that mission, he is rescued by Tu Reh, a Karenni teen, who has hated the Burmese ever since they burned down his village.  Now Chiko’s life is in the hands of Tu Reh, who sees him only as the enemy.  This book is about the bravery it takes to make decisions that turn boys into men, learning that compassion is the only way forward.

Beautifully written, Perkins has captured a complicated situation in a way that young readers will not only understand but will be drawn to.  Rather than using alternating chapters for the two points of view, Perkins tells the first part of the book from Chiko’s point of view and then Tu Reh enters in the second half.  This lends a great cohesiveness to the story, allowing readers to view the conflict from both sides, understand both, and at the same time get enough in-depth time with each character to see through their eyes. 

Perkins excels at depicting foreign cultures through sounds, scents, and tastes.  Food is used to convey the differences and similarities of cultures.  There are no long paragraphs of description here, instead readers are treated to details woven into the story that bring the entire book to life.  This is done with a skill that makes it seem effortless. 

Her characterizations are also done with the same grace, allowing readers to slowly learn about the two boys, learn about the cultures, and slowly be exposed to the horror that teens on both sides of the conflict live with.  The darker parts of battle and imprisonment are dealt with obliquely, allowing readers to bring their own level of understanding to the atrocities being committed.  Again, this is a testimony to the skill of Perkins’ writing.

Highly recommended, this book takes the horrors of war and package them in a piercingly beautiful story.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Charlesbridge.

Also reviewed by many, many other bloggers.  Check out a list of them on Mitali’s blog.

Blindsided

| Tasha

Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings

Natalie has been losing her sight since she was eight.  She is still able to see in a tunneled form, but then receives the news that she will lose her sight completely in a short period of time.  Natalie is sent to a school for the blind to learn the skills she will need to have when she is blind.  She is taught Braille and how to walk with a cane. But she doesn’t consider herself in the same situation as the other teens at the school.  They are blind and she is not.  She does learn the skills, but inwardly refuses to accept the situation, hoping for a miracle to happen.  Eventually her sight does leave completely and now Natalie has to choose between using the skills she learned and becoming independent or remaining scared and protected at home.

This book is a mix of positive and negative for me.  Natalie was a fine character with intelligence, lots of doubts, and complex reactions to her situation.  She was well drawn and interesting.  The information on the school for the blind and her skills were also interesting, though they could have been woven more into the story itself so that they read more effortlessly. 

Unfortunately, the book suffered from heavy-handed writing that was often didactic in tone.  There was a sense that the author had a lot to say about overcoming obstacles and disabilities.  Her need to inform others intruded on the story itself, which would have been much stronger without the tone.  Additionally, there were often moments when Natalie grew to new understanding which the author underlined and pointed out, lessening their impact instead of strengthening it as intended.

I must also quibble with the foreshadowing of the action-filled ending, which would have been surprising except that it was built into the story too clearly with events leading directly to it.  Again, a more even-handed writing style would have raised it to another level.

Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Dutton.

Rush

| Tasha

Rush by Jonathan Friesen

The author of Jerk, California (winner of the Schneider Family Book Award) returns with another great read.  The only thing that will clear the clouds from Jake’s head is risking his life.  He jumps off of waterfalls, takes risky rides on his dirtbike, climbs the town watertower, and scales rock walls.  His father and older brother don’t understand what he does at all.  His father basically owns their town and his perfect brother is following in his footsteps as a firefighter, something that holds no appeal for Jake.  One thing with appeal is his best friend Salome, but he can never let it become anything more than just friends, because he hurts anything he gets close to and he can’t do that to her.  When Jake’s older brother loses his best friend and quits the firefighters, Jake is offered a place on a crew that rappels into wildfires.  It is a crew with a record of young firefighters dying.  Jake isn’t worried, this suits his thrill-seeking nature just fine, but Salome refuses to stand by and watch him die.   He now has to choose between his friend and the rush.

My short summary above just scratches the surface of this novel.  It is a novel of depression and trying anything to feel clarity and connection.  It is a novel of family, exploring the tension-filled relationship between brothers as well as fathers and sons.  It is a novel of love, of taking that final step and feeling a different kind of clarity and rush.  It is a novel of bravery, of honor, of betrayal.  It is a novel that reads at breakneck pace, yet never loses touch with the importance of character and setting.

Jake is a great character in the novel, exploring the reason why people take large risks.  He is a tormented soul, unable to form connections with those he loves, able only to bond with the thrills.  Yet at the same time, he has friends who love him, despite the ways he pushes them away.  The novel is beautifully written, exploring the danger and power of fire, which is used as a perfect metaphor for Jake and his own destructive nature. 

A novel that will appeal to a broad range of readers, from those who are thrill seekers themselves and want a great action-filled read to those who are interested in a well-drawn character facing incredible odds.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Speak.

Check out Jonathan Friesen’s website, his blog, and an interview about his inspiration for the book.

Scars

| Tasha

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Kendra has started to remember her abuse as a child, but she is unable to see her abuser’s face in her memories.  She believes she is being followed by her abuser, so she lives in fear that even as she works to remember, he is stalking her.  To cope with the pressure of the memories, Kendra cuts her arm, releasing all of her stress, anguish and pain and making it something she can handle.  Kendra also does amazing art work that reveals the pain of her abuse and the emotional toll it is taking on her.  Her mother, a professional artist, has been critical of the raw emotion of Kendra’s work, so Kendra hides her work from her.  Her father has become emotionally distant after Kendra told her parents about the abuse, so Kendra turns to her therapist, her art teacher, and her new girlfriend for support.  As Kendra’s memories build, readers will be unable to put the book down until all is revealed.

Rainfield, herself a survivor of abuse and cutting, has captured the situation with such power and ferocity that it can be painful to read.  Readers will find themselves in a vise of tension and menace that mirrors Kendra’s.  Rainfield has written a powerhouse of a book that is astoundingly honest and burningly real.  The character of Kendra is written with empathy and skill.  She never reads as a victim but as a heroine, seeking the truth about what happened to her.  The use of her art in the book to connect her to other people, speak when she cannot say the words, and scream for her pain is hauntingly real.

Get this into the hands of readers who enjoy tense, realistic reads.  The cover is beautifully done, capturing the cutting and the tension in a single image.  A brilliant book written in nervy honesty.  Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by:

Ship Breaker

| Tasha

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Nailer works light crew, climbing into the shells of the discarded oil tankers to gather copper wiring from ductwork.  His job requires him to be small, smart and loyal to his crew.  As a teenager, he knows that he will eventually outgrow the work and that his only hope is to get big enough to join heavy crew or to become a violent drug addict like his father.  When a huge hurricane strikes the Gulf Coast, Nailer discovers a wrecked clipper ship and a half-dead wealthy girl who owned her.  Now Nailer has found another option, to leave the Gulf Coast and his dangerous low-paying work and try to help this girl find her family and safety.  But nothing is a guarantee, especially with his father and others hunting them down.  Set in a future where oil is no longer used and the climate is wreaking vengeance, this book is a dynamic merger of adventure and questions about family and loyalty.

Teen readers of dark, dangerous fantasy will find a lot to love here.  Nailer lives in a world of filth, poverty and loyalty.  It is a society that is original and makes for a great setting against which to posit a hero like Nailer who has no idea he is a hero!  Just the creation of the Gulf Coast and the crews make for incredible world building, but Bacigalupi has created a world around it as well that is just as credible and detailed.  Violence is an important aspect of the book, binding characters together, used as punishment, and also to show bravery. 

The characters of the book are just as fascinating as the world itself and just as well built.  Nailer is a rat with a heart of gold.  He’s a disposable worker, unloved by his own father, who rises above all others in the book to heights of bravery and selflessness.  He grows believably throughout the book, but never stops being himself.  The other characters also show dimension and growth, except for his father, but there are reasons for that that you must discover for yourself.

This is a book that will leave you sweating with panic, heart pounding and pulse racing.  It is a very intense novel perfect for fans of The Hunger Games.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by:

Restoring Harmony

| Tasha

Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony

Sixteen-year-old Molly has lived her entire life on a sheltered island in Canada.  Despite the Collapse ten years ago in 2031, her family has food, shelter and lives an agrarian, self-sufficient life.  But now Molly must leave the island and venture into the United States to bring her grandparents home.  The family doesn’t know if her grandmother is alive or dead, due to communication problems.  To make it worse, Molly must sneak into the United States and only has enough money to get there, not to return.  Molly must brave a country filled with poverty, starvation, no transportation, and ruled by the Organization.  It is one farm girl and her fiddle against the world.

World building is very important in a book like this.  One faulty line of logic and the entire book crumbles.  Anthony has created a world that is carefully built on logic and a great extension of the direction the world is heading in.  The loss of petroleum, the decay of large cities, and the reliance on trading and bartering make for a world that is alarming in its nearness and ambitious in its scope. 

Molly is a glorious protagonist.  She shines with intelligence, resourcefulness and kindness.  Her reliable farmer’s knowledge serves her well in this dystopian novel.  Molly is neither too brave nor too frightened.  She faces danger with squared shoulders and does not seek it out.  Many of the secondary characters are equally well drawn.  Spill, the boy who is able to get anything because of his connections to the Mob, is multidimensional and a great romantic foil to Molly. 

A dystopian fantasy that is hauntingly honest and offers a marvelous heroine, this book is appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Putnam.

Also reviewed by:

A Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friend

| Tasha

A Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

When Julia is killed in a car accident, it left a hole in Cass’ life that was impossible to fill.  When Julia’s drama friends discover that the secret project that Julia was working on is a musical with ninjas, they decide to perform it as a tribute to her.  But Cass doesn’t fit into the drama group without Julia there.  Especially not when Heather, a bully from middle school who publicly questioned Cass’ sexuality, is cast as the lead.  But Cass feels she must do something to fill that hole in her life Julia left behind, so she sets out on a solo bike trek over the summer from Chicago to California.  The book moves from the time following the bike trip when Cass returns to school and her travels.  It is about journeys, tributes, friendship, and love.  It is a book that fills holes, honors all kinds of love, and celebrates those of us who don’t quite fit in until we find the right people.

This book is not easy.  There are no simple solutions to a friend’s death, and Horner honors this friendship with a grand tribute.  From the beginning of the book, readers know that Cass does not complete her ride to California, but this makes the book even more powerful.  It becomes not about the accomplishment of the goal, but about the journey itself.  There are ugly truths in the book that readers are asked to understand and there are beautiful twists and turns along the way.  The book is a ride, a journey, a tribute and so it must be difficult and contain things that bring us to another place.

Horner’s writing is constantly showing and not telling.  Emotions are told through reactions, allowing them to be complex and much more honest.  She has created a heroine in Cass with such heart.  She is complicated, fascinating, and marvelous.  Horner also excels at backstory without burdening the reader.  Cass’ parents are Quakers and that influences her life tremendously.  Through the skill of Horner’s writing, that too is told as it comes up, revealing itself and its layers slowly.  This is much the same way that Cass’ sexuality is handled, honoring the process that Cass is going through to understand it herself.

Simply a magnificent book, get it on your shelves, into your hands and most of all into the hands of teens.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Also reviewed by:

Mercury

| Tasha

Mercury by Hope Larson

A fascinating combination of history and fantasy, this graphic novel tells two parallel stories, both set in Nova Scotia.  Different generations of the same family, one modern and one from 1859, are played against one another.  Tara is the modern girl who is dealing with her family home burning to the ground.  Her mother has had to leave and find work elsewhere while Tara stays with a friend.  Tara has been homeschooled the last two years, and is returning to the school district that she used to attend.  She soon finds romance and magic.  Josey’s story takes place 150 years earlier.  Josey is the sheltered daughter of a farmer who is besotted when she finds herself the focus of a stranger’s attention.  The man has found gold on her father’s farm and soon the two of them enter into business together mining the gold.  Tara finds her own modern world connected to that of Josey in unexpected ways.

Larson has created an intriguing and winning book.  While the two stories are vaguely parallel in romance, they diverge quickly into very different stories.  The book is beautifully designed.  Readers will immediately understand that the historical story is bordered in black while the modern is bordered in white.  Larson’s art is welcoming and great fun to read.  She has created a story with the best of graphic novels, romance and fantasy woven seamlessly together.  The two heroines are very different people, but both romantics and both tied together in intriguing ways.  There were some characters that I wish had been more fully developed such as Tara’s mother and the family she is living with.  I think it would have made it easier to enter her world.

Highly recommended, this graphic novel is one that will easily cross borders between teens who enjoy graphic novels and those who read romance or historical fiction.  This is a great entry book into the world of graphic novels for new readers.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.

Also reviewed by: