Teen

Sacred Scars

| Tasha


Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey

I adored Skin Hunger when it came out, despite it’s precipitous ending.  Remember those debates?!

Now the second in the series has been released to help people recover from that ending.  And it picks up right where the last book left off, in the midst of the drama and tension.  The book has two interconnected story lines which are set 200 years apart.  Readers get to see the rediscovery of magic in one of the lines and the harsh reality of it in the other.  In both stories is Somiss, the aristocrat who struggles to find the key to magic and after finding it, runs a diabolical school to train young magicians.  Franklin, his servant, also appears in both story lines, as servant, unwilling helper, and magician.  At the heart of the stories is Sadima, who learns magic by reading Somiss’ documents and eavesdropping on his recitations.  She yearns to escape with Franklin, her love, and the street urchins they have kidnapped and caged.  But in this brutal world of magic, there are only desperate choices, evil around ever corner, and constant deception.

Nicely the novel manages to not rehash the first book at all, yet readers who have had a gap of a few years between the novels will find it offers just enough to allow you to remember the first novel.  Duey’s writing is gripping, tense, and engulfing.  She has created a world that is so dark, yet it has piercing moments of light, love and truth.  Duey excels at creating characters with depth and dimension, then immersing them into a twisted story.  It makes for a book that is not only impossible to put down but makes it difficult to breathe deeply while reading.

This novel is filled with violence.  Violence so shattering that it is hard to read, harder to process, and impossible to understand.  She is an author who pushes it to a new limit, daring the reader to read on, dancing on the knife’s edge.  All to great and dazzling effect.  She is an author I don’t trust to keep my favored characters alive.  In fact, I am constantly checking to see which of the stories is written in first person, hoping that guarantees survival.

Though I have used some of the most powerful words I have to describe this novel, it is far more dark, disturbing and taut than I can express.  Teens will love this world, react to its harshness, and eagerly await the third and final book in the series.  Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Eternal Smile

| Tasha

The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim

Three amazingly different and yet cohesive stories create this graphic novel.  In the first, Duncan is on the way to winning the hand of the Princess.  He has a magical sword that can slice the heads off of the frog-people and a desire to win.  But soon he discovers that his story has an entirely different piece to it.  In the second story, Gran’pa Greenbax is a frog who wants enough money to be able to dive into it and never hit bottom.  He’s not afraid to sell anything to reach his goal.  He is even willing to profit from the smile that has appeared in the sky, if he can.  But soon, he too discovers that all is not what it may seem.  The final story features Janet, who is stuck in a cubicle/watercooler culture where she doesn’t get any respect.  When she is contacted by a Nigerian prince who needs money, she gets caught up in a scam.  The question is who ends up profiting by it.

Strange, beautiful tales about being an outsider and being true to yourself, these stories will resonate with teens.  The artwork is very different in each story, setting them distinctly apart from one another.  From the epic fantasy art in the first to vintage comic book in the second, and ending with modern style in the final story.  At the same time, the stories all work together as a collection.  They have similar story arcs as well as that overarching theme of identity.

Highly recommended, this book belongs in all teen graphic novel collections because it shows teens how great graphic novels can be.  And if you are an adult like me who enjoys them, make sure you get your hands on this one.

Reviewed from library copy.

Leviathan

| Tasha

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Released in October 2009.

The talented Westerfeld turns to steampunk in this first book in a new series.  Set in an alternate history on the eve of World War I, this book offers large walking mechs vs. man-made creatures that can be combined to form enormous flying and living blimps.  In this setting are two young people, Alek and Deryn.  Alek, son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is the sole surviving person in his family now that his parents have been killed.  He just may be considered the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne if he can survive long enough.  Deryn is a girl who has always loved to fly, but in 1914 girls are not allowed to become pilots.  So Deryn becomes Dylan, a tall, lean boy and proves she is born to fly.  The reader experiences the action through the eyes of both characters living completely separate lives until history brings them violently together.

Gorgeously imagined and written with a flair for battle and a sense of wonder, this book is a winner.  The pacing is fast, the action whirling, and the history deftly placed so that even teens and youth unaware of World War I’s basic timeline will understand the implications and importance of what they are witnessing in this alternate history.  Westerfeld’s characters are caught in the vortex of history and war and spend little time offering deeper insights about their psyches, but that is part of the pleasure here.  This book is more about the incredible war machines and creatures, the awe of flying, the amazement of running in a mech, and the biological magnificence of an enormous flying creature.  As readers, we too are swept up in the imagination on the page, happily believing in the most incredible creations.

Teens will pick this novel up simply because it is a Westerfeld novel, and happily this book will also offer an entry point for younger readers to enjoy Westerfeld’s work.  While much of Westerfeld’s work is for teens, this book could be offered to 5th and 6th graders without concern.  It is a rip-roaring and gripping look at both the future and the past that readers of all ages will have trouble putting down.

Reviewed from an ARC received at ALA Annual Conference.

Also reviewed by Karin’s Book Nook.

The Ask and the Answer

| Tasha

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (Book 2 of Chaos Walking)

Released September 2009.

Starting up exactly where the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, left off, readers are once again launched directly into the story of Todd and Viola.  Todd has been captured by Mayor Prentiss and regains consciousness as he is being interrogated.  Viola has disappeared after being shot.  Todd finds himself in the city he fought the entire first book to find, but it has been overtaken and surrendered to Mayor Prentiss without a fight.  Now Todd and readers must navigate the ever-changing power of the community, heroes who are villains, villains who are heroes, and some who are both at the same time. 

The complexity of this novel is awe inspiring.  Yet the story manages to remain unencumbered and move forward at a brisk pace.  The tension of the novel will have readers either unable to put it down or forced to put it down with shaking hands.  It is truly a gripping piece of writing.  As with the first book, it is also a very dark story.  Here torture is explored very completely, not hidden from the reader.  A risky choice for a YA novel, but one that definitely pays off.

In the two main characters, Ness has created heroes with faults.  They are both wonderfully drawn and complete characters.  Even the villains of the story are complicated and well developed.  It is this complexity that makes the book work so well.  As more and more is revealed, the story shifts and ripples into something different and new. 

Set aside time when you start this novel.  It is impossible to not think about when you are not reading it and definitely could be devoured in a single sitting.  Enjoy!  And then join me in eagerly awaiting the third.  While you are waiting, check out the short story on BookTrust that is about Viola before she lands on the planet.

(Reviewed from galley copy received at ALA Annual Conference)

Team Jacob Cheers!

| Tasha

Little, Brown has released the book cover of the movie edition of New Moon. 

Team Edward loses.  Team Jacob wins.

Nothing but Ghosts

| Tasha

Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart

After her mother’s death, Katie lives alone in their big old house with her father who is a bit of a mad genius.  Her summer job is to work in the gardens at the estate of Miss Martine, a recluse who hasn’t been seen by the public in decades.  As the gardeners are told to dig for a new gazebo, Katie realizes that something else may be going on.  They just may be digging for something in particular.  She begins to do research at the local library, hoping to solve the mystery of why Miss Martine disappeared.  Just like her own mother disappeared after her death.  Will solving this mystery help Katie cope with the sorrow and loss of her mother?

There are many ghosts in this book, hovering at the edges of the story, never fully viewed, but felt in every line.  Kephart’s background as a poet shows through her exquisitely written prose.  She manages to create nuance, pain, grief and wonder through her writing, capturing emotions at their most poignant.  Here is one of my favorite lines of the novel, describing the estate they are working at:

Miss Martine’s is quiet as the stones down in the stream, quiet as the robin’s nest that Danny found the other day, which had been lived in, then abandoned.

What imagery, evoking a world unmoving in the river of life, empty, still and immovable.  Yet paired with the fragility and hope of a bird’s nest.  Just this one line offers multiple readings.  The entire novel is like this.

Kephart has also created a mystery that is not a mystery.  The mystery of Miss Maritine is not what this book is about.  It is instead about Katie herself, her personal loss, her mother, her father and how she will find a way to continue beyond her paralysis of grief.  So the mystery is secondary, another ghost in the story, that is useful to chase after but not the real reason we are here.

Katie is a great heroine.  A girl who works as hard as the men, unafraid of dirt, who flies down dark roads on her bike without incident, and who is as brave as anyone could be when surrounded by the past.  She breaks into unique territory as a heroine, a girl who is strong but not masculine, grief-stricken but not tragic.  As a character, she is a testament to the delicacy of Kephart’s writing.

Highly recommended, this book is exceptional.  It is one of the most well-written books of the year, worthy of National Book Award and Printz attention.  Appropriate for 15-18 year olds.

Also reviewed on Charlotte’s Library and The Compulsive Reader.

Goodbye Season

| Tasha

The Goodbye Season by Marian Hale

Released September 2009.

This is Hale’s third historical novel.  Set during the 1918 epidemic, it follows young Mercy.  The member of a sharecropper’s family, she is so poor that her family is forced to send her away to work for someone ten miles from them just to have her fed.  Mercy works hard and soon bonds with the couple she serves and their two hired men.  But after one trip to town, one hired man is dead and Mercy is sent away for her own safety.  She returns home to her family, finding the house empty and her mother and three siblings buried near the house.  Mercy is now alone and penniless.  She finds a job taking care of a woman and her two small children.  But something is strange about the family and Mercy finds herself drawn to the older stepson who may know the answer to the mystery.

An intricate tale of loss, grief, mystery, and love, this book is well plotted and filled with surprises.  Mercy is a heroine who never despairs, works incredibly hard, and makes her own way.  She is gentle, sweet and yet strong and resilient.  At the same time, she is conflicted and unsure often.  She is a character worth spending time with in her complexity.  The 1918 epidemic will fascinate teens who are hearing about swine flu around them.  The devastation of the epidemic is clearly evoked without becoming graphic or overwhelming.

One quibble I have is with the cover art.  Why, why, why is Mercy wearing lipgloss and mascara?!  Love the hair, the face, the look, the setting.  But the makeup just doesn’t work.

An historical novel that is sure to please, this book while about a 17-year-old character would be appropriate for readers as young as 12.

Fire

| Tasha

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Released in October 2009.

What a great book to be surprised by in the mail just when you have a couple of days of vacation.  I savored this read over the course of several days, teasingly reading only a small taste at a time so that it would linger longer.  That is until I reached about 3/4 of the way through and simply could not put it down. 

Fire is the prequel to Cashore’s Graceling.  There is only on character who appears in both books.  Set in the Dells as the kingdom heads towards war, readers will feel the dramatic tension not only of impending battle but also of romance.  Fire is a monster, born so beautiful that she either mesmerizes, creates desire or drives people to anger.  Her hair is the color of flame, not red but all of the other colors of fire entwined together into a sunset of hair.  Fire can speak in other people’s minds and can control their minds.  Her father was truly a monster, abusing his power and his relationship with the king.  Now with both her father and the king dead, Fire lives in a remote and quiet area until a mysterious archer with a foggy mind attempts to assassinate her.

This book is a wonderful fantasy, bringing depth to Cashore’s world in this neighboring kingdom, offering unforgettable characters, deep and fulfilling romance like Katsa and Po, and impossible choices that must be made.  This is a story of power, its abuse, its necessity, its application, and its release.  And it is the story of one amazing heroine, who readers will love despite her beauty, crave because of her spirit, and want to spend ever more time with.

Highly recommended, I expect every library will have a copy of this on their shelves.  It is a worthy successor to Graceling, equally enchanting and perhaps even better written.  Glorious as its heroine, this book is a monster of a book.

The Summer I Turned Pretty

| Tasha

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Han, author of Shug, a perfection of a tween novel, returns with a beauty of a summer read.  Belly has always summered at the beach house with her brother, her mother, her mother’s best friend, Susannah and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah.  She has also always had a crush on Conrad who is years older than she is.  Belly is the lone girl in the group, and the youngest, often left behind while the three boys head out to swim, go to parties, and ignore her in general.  But this summer the boys are reacting differently to Belly.  This is her summer, the summer where she can be the center of things, where they will notice her, and where she can feel she is really part of their group.  But things don’t always work out as planned, there are huge things happening in the family, that may just change things forever.

Han’s writing is so effortless that it is easy to read this book in a single sitting.  She captures the lightness of a summer read, but never loses depth and realism.  Her characterization is complex and often revealing far more than the characters would want.  It is a delicious read in this way.  There is also the sweetness of young love, the drama of a crush, and the sudden realization of how brief summers are.  All of this is done without losing pacing and interwoven into the very activities that make summers so special.

I grew up in a resort area where I was one of the few kids who lived there year round.  As someone who has deeply experienced the seasonal community, this book captures it down to its very core.  Belly’s realization that the family she stays with are wealthier than her own family was also one that struck me at about that age when I realized that the families who summered there were living in their second homes.  Seems obvious, but it really isn’t to children who have grown up with that as the norm.  The fact that Han used that little realization made this read so real.

The perfect beach read of the summer, take this one, dip your toes in the water and enjoy!  Appropriate for ages 13-17.