Reading Roundup: July 2013

Guys, I think I'm going to blame the tardiness of this roundup on Summer Reading Program and the resultant brain-fry. Yeah, that sounds good. Let's go with that.

By the Numbers
Teen: 18
Tween: 8
Children: 5

Sources
Review Copies: 16
Library: 12

Standouts
Teen: Across a Star Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund
The Scarlet Pimpernel . . . IN SPACE. Well, no, not really. But the classic adventure of deliberately mistaken identity gets a sci-fi sheen and that's good enough for me.
Tween: The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami
Got a middle-grade girl (or boy, possibly) who loves sweet and charming and rather unlikely? Give them this one.
Children: Journey into the Deep: discovering new ocean creatures by Rebecca L Johnson
Every page was full of wild and weird aliens from this very planet. Truth really is cooler than fiction.

Because I Want To Awards
I Know the Feeling: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
This story of a girl trying to find her place in the world while remaining true to herself echoed most of my teenage years. Especially the poetry castle part.
What's This I Hear? Non-White Fantasy Protagonist?: Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox
While rather rambling, this book gets points for the setting (the New Zealandish Southland) and the ethnicity of the protagonist (native islander with an illustrious mother).
Speaking of Adorably Unlikely: Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
What do you do when you have Broadway dreams in Janksburg, Pennsylvania? Hop a bus to NYC and the open auditions for ET: The Musical! (Yes, really.) I especially liked that he had very tween-appropriate attractions. By which I mean, he was noticing boys and men, but in the way that tweens do, mostly by blushing and looking away.
Protagonist Most in Need of a Hug: Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
I spent most of the book going, "Oh, honey!" because Jack was so clearly used to taking care of himself at an age when somebody should have been taking care of him.

Book Review: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Book: Every Other Day
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published: 2012
Source: Local Library

Half the time, Kali D'Angelo is a normal, if lonely, teenage girl. She goes to school, she comes home, she avoids talking with her dad. The other half, she's a demon hunter, with supernatural reflexes, superfast healing abilities, and an urge to find all the things that go bump in the night and kill them dead. She doesn't know why or how she makes this switch at sunrise, human one day and supernatural killing machine the next, only that she does.

But on one of her human days, she realizes that popular-girl Bethany Davis has a deadly little parasite. Chupacabras drink all your blood within a few days, and Bethany doesn't have much time left. Kali takes the gamble that she can survive to the next sunrise, and coaxes the parasite to jump over to her instead.

But oh, there's so much more to this than a simple bloodsucking demon. Before she knows it, Kali is fighting bigger and badder things than ever before. Even having allies--Bethany, "little bit psychic" Skylar and her brother Elliot, and a mysterious voice in her head only known as Zev--doesn't mean that Kali will get any of them out alive.

When this first came out, I actually requested it from NetGalley. Unfortunately, it expired before I got to it. (Everyone else who uses NetGalley knows the pain of this.) That's why I was so excited to read this. Now that I have? Aw, man, I wish I had read this a year and a half ago!

I'm probably not the first person to make the Buffy comparison, but I'll do so anyway. Combine supernatural beasties, a tough and snarky demon killer, and Ominous Bad Guys, Inc, well, the name of the Slayer is going to be invoked. Does this book stand up to the comparison? Yes, I think so.

What I loved best was that the most important relationships in this book weren't with boys. They were with other girls. Sweet and chirpy Skylar and bitch-queen Bethany form Kali's Scoobies, and the boys (and most of the potential romance, triangular or not) are firmly on the back burner.

While the end seems to make it clear that this is a standalone, I wouldn't mind reading a sequel.

Book Review: Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

Book: Keeping the Castle
Author: Patrice Kindl
Published: 2012
Source: Local Library

Althea Crawley is a very beautiful girl. She's also very practical, and knows that her beauty is the only thing that's likely to save her family and her ancestral home from ruination. She has to marry for money.

Unfortunately, all the best catches seem to be slipping through her fingers. So when the wealthy Lord Boring (no, really) comes back to the neighborhood, Althea sets her mind and all her considerable charms to catching him, and she seems to be succeeding. If only his blunt, sarcastic cousin, Mr. Fredericks, didn't insist on hanging around, quarreling with Althea at every turn.

One of my first book reviews on this blog, lo these many years past, was this author's Owl in Love. The thing I remember most was how the humor and the warmth came organically from the characters, and it's the same in Keeping the Castle.

Althea could very easily have been a really difficult character to like, mercenary and manipulative. After all, it's her stated intention, right from the start, to marry the biggest fortune she can find. That's balanced out by a clear portrayal of how desperate her situation is. Living in a castle that needs a new repair every time she turns around, remaking ballgowns every time there's a party, and pinching pennies until they scream, Althea is very aware that her family is just hanging on by their fingernails. (And the obnoxious stepsisters, who refuse to share even a penny of their own money with the household, don't make life any easier.) Her quest therefore becomes entirely reasonable and practical.

My favorite character, for obvious reasons, is Mr. Fredericks, who really is astonishingly bad at social intercourse, but proves a wonderful foil for our main character. The world of a small country neighborhood is built on polite fictions, and it's those polite fictions that Althea is navigating and manipulating in order to get what she wants. Mr. Fredericks has no capacity or patience for polite fictions, but he proves a better neighbor and friend than the people who have known Althea all her life.

My only quibble with this book is precisely who the audience is. Though content-wise, I wouldn't mind giving it to a middle-grade reader, I wonder how interested they're going to be in the marriage machinations of a time long ago. The best audience, I'm guessing, will be those kids who already enjoy a light romance.

But for this reader? Touches of Cinderella, Jane Austen, and Georgette Heyer made this book all I hoped it would be.

Book Review: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood

Book: The Unseen Guest
Author: Maryrose Wood
Published: 2012
Source: Local Library

Fresh from a madcap adventure in London, the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place are about to expand their ornithological horizons. That is, they're about to go on a hunt for an ostrich. Unfortunately, the ostrich's owner thinks that three wolfish children would be a dandy addition to his traveling wildlife show.

Who will save them from this fate? None other than plucky governess Penelope Lumley, with the help of all the unlikely allies she can muster. It might take a wolf mother, a seance, and a really awfully nice young man that makes her heart go pitter-pat, but she's going to ensure that the children stay right at Ashton Place where they belong.

While stuffed with all the madcapacity (I hereby declare that a word) and tongue-in-cheek asides of the first two, this book felt slower-moving. It could be that I was fairly tired while reading, but still I wish that it had been trimmed down some.

The larger mysteries of the childrens' origins, and the origins of Penelope herself, seem to be moving at a glacial speed. I don't know how long Wood has planned this series for, but we got very few clues in this book as to what, exactly, is going on around here.

I'll keep reading this series, because I do love Penelope as a character. She is staunch in the face of every danger, from feral children hanging out windows to possibly-dead-possibly-not gentleman who clearly don't mean any good. I also really want to figure out just what is going on around Ashton Place, and how everybody is involved.

Book Review: Ink by Amanda Sun

Book: Ink
Author: Amanda Sun
Published: June 25, 2013
Source: review copy from publisher via Netgalley.com

Katie Greene is a stranger in a strange land. Transplanted to Japan to live with her aunt after her mother's death, she feels out of step and confused about everything from following along in math class (in Japanese!) to remembering to change out of school slippers and into street shoes. Lonely and grieving, she just wants to return to North America.

Then she meets mysterious Tomohiro Yuu, who acts like a jerk sometimes and other times like a sweet and sensitive artist. What's more, his drawings are so realistic she could swear they sometimes move. But that's impossible, isn't it?

She soon discovers that Yuu is a kami, a magical spirit who can bring his own drawings to life. But this is about more than flowers and birds. People, including Yuu, have suffered the effects of his drawings before, and the criminal underworld wants to use him as a weapon against his will. She keeps getting warnings to stay away from him, but she can't stop herself from seeking him out.

I really love a book with a strong sense of place. This novel has that in spades. Katie provides us with a window into modern Japan, replete with schools, sports, and teen hangouts, as well as some of the mythology that underlies a culture so different from our own. It does require the non-Japanophile to pay pretty close attention. Luckily, there's a glossary/dictionary in the back to explain Japanese terms and traditions. I found myself getting especially confused over all the different names, but manga-loving teens will probably be just fine with that.

Katie is unfortunately more a witness than a protagonist. She spends most of the time looking on, trying to get and stay in Yuu's orbit, and it's only close to the end that we even realize she has anything to do with the ink magic. I'll pick up the second book in order to return to Katie's Japan, and to see how she becomes a more active player in her own story.

Reading Roundup: June 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 17
Tween: 6
Children: 2

Sources
Review Copies: 5
Library: 18

Standouts
Teen: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
The daughter of a demon and a fallen angel falls in love with a suicidal human boy. Oh yes, it really is that tortured and glorious. I don't think I would have turned off my oh-please meter for anyone but Brenna Yovanoff, but that woman's Facebook statuses probably ooze atmosphere.
Tween: Zombie Mommy by M.T. Anderson
When you're in a bad mood, there's nothing for it but some madcap lunacy, and this fits the bill. Click the title to see the actual review I wrote.
Children: The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
A good old-fashioned kiddie adventure, in the vein of Gregor the Overlander and E. Nesbit. Not what I was expecting from this author.

Because I Want To Awards
Still Good Stuff: The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger
How can you hate on this series? Answer: You cannot. It's impossible for human types.
Need Some Buffy Methadone?: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
What else can you call a book about a tough, snarky demon hunter and her human friends? Luckily, it stands up to the comparison.
Where is the Third Book?: Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica
While it's dressed up in the Fug Girl's tradesnark, this is at heart a sweet and unlikely teen romance, and I lapped it up. Can we please have a third book, because I want to see where Brooke is going, like now.

Late Roundup this month

I'm just back from ALA and in no shape to do a roundup tonight. It'll be up tomorrow!

Book Review: Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury

Book: Wrapped
Author: Jennifer Bradbury
Published: 2011
Source: Local Library

At seventeen years old, Agnes Wilkins is about to make her debut into Regency London's high society. Most girls would be thrilled. But Agnes prefers reading to parties, languages to flirting, and adventure to social success. It seems she's doomed to get the latter and not the former in all cases.

When her suitor, Lord Showalter (such a catch, her mother insists) throws a mummy-unveiling party, Agnes is looking forward to the chance to brush up against new and exotic worlds, even if she does have to wear a party dress. Then she finds a tiny jackal head in the mummy's wrappings, and suddenly Agnes, who longed for adventure, is catapulted into the middle of one. Egyptian artifacts, international espionage, and the safety of the British Isles are all at stake.

Agnes, of course, is having the time of her life.

When I first heard of this book, the promise of a mix of Regency London and an adventure story straight out of Indiana Jones caught my attention. I'm happy to report that I wasn't disappointed. Although I did get a little impatient with her blindness regarding the identity of the villainous French spy (seriously, how could you not know it was that dude?) I seriously enjoyed this, especially her relationship with British Museum drudge Caedmon. Is it a particularly realistic portrayal of the social mores of Regency London or espionage during the Napoleonic Wars? Nah, but gosh it's fun.

Book Review: Zombie Mommy by M.T. Anderson

Book: Zombie Mommy
Author: M.T. Anderson
Published: 2011
Source: Local Library

What ho, chums! Lily Gefelty and her pals are back - in peril, that is. It seems Lily's mom came back from her vacation very different than how she left. It could have something to do with her going to Todberg, a town infested with the undead. Because where else are you going to go on vacation?

There's clearly nothing for it. Lily, Katie, Jasper, and Drgnan must journey to Todberg themselves to investigate. But this time around, they're saddled with Madigan Westlake-Duvet, Katie's snobby cousin from New York City. Still, they're not going to let her intimidating wardrobe and overwhelming nastiness stop them, because nobody's going to save Lily's mom if they don't.

There are some book series that I give up on because it's the same thing over and over again. There are some that I joyfully return to because it's the same thing over and over again. This is one of the latter. I can pretty much count on a Pals in Peril! book to be a kooky romp, with plentiful potshots taken at the tropes and cliches of kids' books past and present.

One of the clearest potshot targets in this one is the Gossip-Girl genre, in the form of Madigan. The jokes come fast and furious - she has an iSquawk, drops brand names like rain, and goes to Snott Academy. That last leads to a joke about snotballs that made me imagine Anderson giggling over his keyboard for days on end as he slowly set it up.

Smart and silly in equal measure, this was just what I needed for a fast and funny read.

Book Review: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Book: Enchanted
Author: Alethea Kontis
Published: 2012
Source: Local Library

The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Sunday is overshadowed by her more extraordinary siblings. But when she meets a talking frog in the forest, he's the first creature who's ever paid attention to just her. Even though he's an amphibian, she tumbles into love.

Then her frog disappears, she learns that she has an extraordinary magical destiny, and the long-missing Prince Rumbold comes back to the kingdom, prompting a three-night/three-ball celebration. But there's more drama afoot. Three royal balls mean more than just three nights of pretty dresses and sparkling jewels. Sunday's lovely and ethereal sister Wednesday will become engaged to the king, a strangely long-living king whose former wives have all died. Sunday will meet the prince and find that she's slipping into love with him, too.

But what about her frog?

While I enjoyed this book and read it straight through, there were so many characters and so many plotlines that I had a hard time keeping hold of them all. I also had a really hard time figuring out where the story was going and who was supposed to be the antagonist until about halfway through. I also had a hard time believing that they could have fallen in love in a couple of talks in the forest. (That being said, I felt more sure of it during the balls, when they connected more strongly.)

I liked Sunday and Rumbold very much. It was also fun to pick out the fairy-tale touches and I think I'll read the sequel, Hero, since this book hints that it's about Sunday's long-lost oldest brother, Jack. I just hope it's a more focused story than this one.

48-HBC Finish Line!

Hours read (including audiobook): 19:36
Hours blogging: 3:17
Hours networking: 0:54
Total: 23:47

Woohoo! For a 48-hour period in which I had to work eight of those hours, just under 24 hours of reading is not shabby at all. The audiobook certainly helped. I found that I really battled the sleepies on Friday and Saturday nights, but today was much better.

I didn't have any marathon-length books this year, but I also only had a couple that were fast reads. Most sat pretty comfortably in the 250-400 pages range. This helped out because I got a regular rhythm going, particularly today when I could wake up and just hit the books.


I didn't network as much this year. I think a big part of that was because I was out of loop for most of one day. I did miss that, and I hope to do better next year.

With nine books finished, that's at least ninety dollars going to charity. I'll wait a couple of days to count up comments on the blog and see how much the final total is.

 So now I have nine (count 'em!) reviews to schedule throughout my summer, and a reminder that yes, this review-writing stuff is really not that hard when you buckle down to it. A valuable thing to remember, always.

Another great year! Thanks to Ms Yingling for hosting, and everyone who joined in the adventure!

48-HBC Audiobook: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Time: 5:15
Source: Local Library

As I said in my starting line post, I've really been wanting to re-read this book ever since I finished the second in the series. The first time around was back before publication, and I was tearing through it, trying to get a handle on the political machinations and wanting to get to the good stuff between Duval and Ismae. This time around, because I was listening instead of reading, I got to slow down and I saw just how well-drawn the characters were, and how the good stuff was there between Duval and Ismae from the start.

I found it fascinating to see Ismae again. At the very, very beginning, raised with a brutish father and married off to a pig farmer at the age of fourteen, she has nothing and nobody. So her fierce loyalty to the convent and her pride in her own deadly skills are understandable. After all, before she acquired them, what was she?

Speaking of that, her attitude toward death is downright unsettling. I've been using the "assassin nun" as a booktalk hook basically since I read this the first time. But now as I listen, I realize that Beginning-of-the-Book Ismae views murder solely as an exercise of power. She is very casual, almost flippant, in considering murder because someone is being inconvenient. Her first kills are greeted with glee and a sense of accomplishment. Look! I won! Knowing how her views change at the end of the book makes this a more impressive starting place for her.

I've also been considering why I was so thrilled at the love story in this book. Besides my general bias toward romance, I think the answer lies in how Duval sees Ismae as compared to how others do. As a child, Ismae was an annoyance, an unwanted mouth to feed. In the convent, she is being honed as a weapon, like a beautiful knife. Neither setting permits her to be a full person. While in the beginning, he often gets exasperated with her impulsiveness and her black-and-white outlook, I never got the feeling that Duval viewed Ismae as anything less than a person, with strengths and vulnerabilities. Yes, she is an extraordinary killer, but she's also a loyal Breton and an intelligent woman, and the fact that Duval sees all these things in her is what made this romance really swoonworthy for me. You can have your star-destined love and your sparkly vampires, girls, I'll take this one.

48-HBC Book 9: The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger

Time: 46:18
Source: Local Library

I picked this one out because I knew it would be under an hour, leaving me ample blogging time. Also because I knew I would enjoy it mightily.

Capsule Review: "Seriously, how can you have an Origami Yoda book without Dwight? Luckily, that's a question we won't need to answer, because Dwight pops up here and there. Only this time, he's the one who needs help. The third book in this enduringly popular series is still fresh, funny, and realistic."

Well, that's the last book I have! With only about 40 minutes to go, I'm going to rest my eyes by listening to the audiobook for the rest of my time.

48-HBC Book 8: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Time: 1:04:42
Source: Local Library

This one went unexpectedly fast. I am now debating whether to start the shortest book I have or just listen to my audiobook for the next two hours. Hmmmmm.

Capsule review: "The thing that kept drifting across my brain, especially as I got toward the end, was that this was not a romance. It's not the story of Hadley-and-Oliver. It's the story of Hadley, period. (Full stop, if you're reading in the UK.) This is a book about Hadley finally accepting the upheavals of the past couple of years, understanding her parents' imperfections, and still being able to love them. Oliver, for all his swoony quirky cuteness, is a mirror that allows her to see things clearly."

48-HBC Book 7: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Time: 2:14:34
Source: Local Library

Nom, nom, nom! I started reading this book and eating lunch at the same time. Considering the first scene is a hellhound slaying, that says something about the strength of my stomach. How was the rest of it?

Capsule review: "I'm probably not the first person to make the Buffy comparison, but I'll do so anyway. Combine supernatural beasties, a tough and snarky demon killer, and Ominous Bad Guys, Inc, well, the name of the Slayer is going to be invoked. Does this book stand up to the comparison? Yes, I think so."

I have about four hours left of my allotted 48, and I think I can fit in two more books if I push, and one more if I take it easy. Although I'm doing better right now than I have in past years, I'm going to take it easy.

48-HBC Book 6: Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

Time: 1:29:58
Source: Local Library

My first full book of the day! I've been looking forward to this one. Kindl is one of those authors who simply doesn't write fast enough.

Capsule review: "My only quibble with this book is precisely who the audience is. Though content-wise, I wouldn't mind giving it to a middle-grade reader, I wonder how interested they're going to be in the marriage machinations of a time long ago. The best audience, I'm guessing, will be those kids who already enjoy a light romance.

But for this reader? Touches of Cinderella, Jane Austen, and Georgette Heyer made this book all I hoped it would be."

Some lunch and then back to the TBR shelf!

48-HBC Book 5: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood

Time: 1:51:00
Source: Local Library

I think yesterday hit me harder than expected. That's what I get for working during the 48-HBC. Ah well. Last night's (and this morning's!) book was the next Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. And what did I think?

Capsule Review: "While stuffed with all the madcapacity (I hereby declare that a word) and tongue-in-cheek asides of the first two, this book felt slower-moving. It could be that I was fairly tired while reading, but still I wish that it had been trimmed down some."

Off to peruse the TBR shelf!

48-HBC Book 4: Legend by Marie Lu

Time: 1:58:14
Source: Local Library

I seem to crash in the early evening, especially if I've worked that day. I'm letting it happen. I would rather read fewer books with all my attention and energy than read more with only a few working brain cells. Besides, I seem to get a second wind late at night and I'm good for at least one more book. Anyhoo, Legend!

Capsule review: "What I would like to know is why I haven't seen this on the big screen yet. It seems to have all the elements: a star-crossed romance, a cruel dystopian future, lots of pulse-pounding action. It was even, famously, optioned months before publication. So? Guys? What are we waiting for?"

Next up? Networking, a little of the audiobook (Ismae has just met Duval! I forgot how charged that first interaction was), and then I'll see what my TBR shelf holds.

48-HBC Book 3: Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury

Time: 1:50:23
Source: Local Library

This was my work-day book. I read a little last night, a little this morning before going in, and a little during lunch, finally finishing it up after I got home. 

Capsule review: "When I first heard of this book, the promise of a mix of Regency London and an adventure story straight out of Indiana Jones caught my attention. I'm happy to report that I wasn't disappointed. . . . I seriously enjoyed this, especially her relationship with British Museum drudge Caedmon."

Next, some networking, a knitting break and some audiobook, then I think I want to tackle something meaty. I've been going for fun and lightweight and I'm ready to change that up.

48-HBC Book 2: Zombie Mommy by M.T. Anderson

Time: 45:58
Source: Local Library

I don't know whether it was my late-night second wind or my choice of books, but I blew through this one, cackling to myself all the way. The Pals in Peril series is one of my consistent favorites.

Capsule review: "There are some book series that I give up on because it's the same thing over and over again. There are some that I joyfully return to because it's the same thing over and over again. This is one of the latter. I can pretty much count on a Pals in Peril! book to be a kooky romp, with plentiful potshots taken at the tropes and cliches of kids' books past and present."

I picked out a longer one to read next, to ensure that I don't finish it tonight before I fall asleep or tomorrow during my lunch hour. Good night all!

48-HBC Book 1: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Time: 2:11:50
Source: Local Library

As always, I worried that I wouldn't be able to focus on my books during the 48-HBC. Something about the onset of Summer Reading just blows my concentration to pieces. And once again, when I make the effort to focus, I can power through my books and find that I enjoy them and think about them deeply enough to write a reasonable review. Probably it helps that my phone was across the room.

So how was this pick, as my first?

Capsule review: "While I enjoyed this book and read it straight through, there were so many characters and so many plotlines that I had a hard time keeping hold of them all. I also had a really hard time figuring out where the story was going and who was supposed to be the antagonist until about halfway through."

Ah well. I think I did pretty well, even if I did crash a little bit after a long day at work and another one tomorrow. I plan to listen to some of my audiobook and start a fairly lightweight and zippy book for my next one.

48-HBC: Starting Line!

Huzzah, it is time again for the 48-Hour Book Challenge! The pizza is in the fridge, the phone is set to vibrate, and the friends are notified that I am AWOL. My official starting time is 7 pm MST, Friday night, which means I have until 7 pm MST, Sunday night to read and blog and tweet as much as I can.

That not-very-good photo you see there is my TBR shelf. As you can tell, it's gotten pretty stuffed of late. The books that have little Post-It flags are there standing in for books I have in electronic format to read on my Nook, because I'm like that. I've been making a point lately of requesting those books from the library that I'm really looking forward to, so I have some energy for this marathon. I also have a few ARCs from NetGalley and other sources.


Last year's capsule reviews worked out so well for me that I plan to do the same thing this year. I'll write a full-length review on each book, because I love how this reminds my blogging muscles how to work. However, I'll save and schedule those posts for later in the summer. During the 48-HBC itself, I'll just post a few lines from the review, plus an update on how I'm doing.

This year, I intend to donate $10 per book finished to my local literacy charity, Make Way for Books. Each comment posted to my blog will add another dollar onto that amount, so don't be shy! You can also cheer me on via Twitter @mosylu. Everything will be hashtagged #48HBC, so check out how other readers are doing.

I have to work tomorrow but I will be reading as hard as I can tonight, and tomorrow when I can. And of course, all day Sunday. I will also be taking full advantage of the audiobook option during my driving and those times when my eyes really need a rest. My first book will be Enchanted by Alethea Kontis and my audiobook will be Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, which I terribly want to re-read since finishing the sequel.

If you want to join in the fun, or just find other blogs that are doing the same thing, hop on over to Ms. Yingling Reads.

Here I go!

48-HBC, now with a new Hostess!

Yes, my dears, the 48-Hour Book Challenge is coming! It commences this Friday, June 7, and concludes Sunday night, June 9. How does it work? Select 48 consecutive hours in that period and spend the whole time reading, blogging about what you read, and connecting with other bloggers doing the very same thing.

Meals? That's what Domino's is for. Showers? Eh, you can hold the book out of the spray. Walking the dog? Isn't that why you had kids? Sleep? Well, I guess we all have weaknesses.

I'm looking forward to it. I've been in a slumpy sort of place for about a month with my reading. A lot of books I really felt "meh" about. I prepared for this weekend by requesting and checking out books that I'm really looking forward to, and I'm fairly sure I will like. I've done this for a number of years, and it has always served to relax and energize me, stock up my blog with plenty of reviews during the crazed months of Summer Reading at work, reinforce my ties with the blogging community, and of course, trim down my TBR shelf.

This year, the inestimable Ms. Yingling is hosting it. If you want to participate, please stop in at her blog on Friday morning to sign up!

Reading Roundup: May 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 15
Tween: 4
Children: 3

Sources
Review Copies: 10
Library: 11

Standouts
Teen: Dare You To by Katie McGarry
Skater-girl Beth and jock-boy Ryan have nothing in common, so why is they're the only ones who can get through to each other? This novel of two flawed and struggling teens falling in love just made me happy.
Tween: Below by Meg McKinley
Born the day her town drowned under a man-made lake, twelve-year-old Cassie finds herself drawn to that lake and the secrets it holds. With thoughtful and perceptive kid characters and absolutely no hint of romance at any time, this book was just beautifully put together.
Children: Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins
I just love these short, sweet, quick reads. For being soft toys, the characters are fully fleshed out. This one takes you back to the origins of their sojourn in the Girl's room, including a surprisingly dark episode involving a walrus.

Because I Want To Awards
Red Pen, Please: Maid of Honor by Jennifer McGowan
This novel about covert girl bodyguards/dogsbodies to Queen Elizabeth I felt overstuffed. It seemed like there were about five or six plotlines and maybe twice that many major characters in this book, and not all of them were fleshed out to my satisfaction. I enjoyed it, when I knew what was going on, but I hope that the rest of the series is more focused.
Who Knew?: Wheels of Change by Sue Macy
I never thought about how technology, specifically bicycles, affected the women's movement, but this book opened my eyes. Also pretty fascinating to see the negative reaction to the increasing freedom that bikes afforded.

Book Review: The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Book: The Summer Prince
Author: Alaya Dawn Johnson
Published: 2013
Source: ARC borrowed from a friend

In the future Brazilian city of Palmares Tres, they have a tradition. Every five years, they elect a king, who lives and revels for a year before he is sacrificed on the altar, and in his sacrifice, he selects the queen who will rule the city. This has been the tradition for hundreds of years, and nobody questions it anymore.

June isn't concerned with politics, even though her stepmother is an Auntie, a powerful political figure. She isn't concerned with anything except her best friend, Gil, and making art. She may be a waka, disdained and overlooked because she's under thirty, but she knows that her work can force people to sit up and take notice.

But when Gil falls in love with Enki, the new Summer King, June finds herself dragged along. Because Enki wants people to sit up and take notice, particularly of the injustices in their city, and June's art is fast becoming his favorite way to do it.

The copy I got had no summary or teaser on the back, so all I had to go on was the cover. When I picked this up, I vaguely thought I was in for another cookie-cutter dystopia, or possibly a faerie-world romance, and I prepared to put it down in 50 pages. (Cynical much?) By the time fifty pages rolled around, you couldn't've pried it out of my hands with dynamite.

Yes, some of the same elements are here. Palmares Tres definitely counts as a dystopia. There is a star-crossed romance, albeit one which includes a number of gutsy choices. There's sparkly tech and glittery parties. But make no mistake, this book is unique.

I'll start with the sexaulity. Not just the characters who have sex, but the  sexual orientation. Bisexuality seems to be the norm - June's mother remarried a woman after her father died, June divested herself of her virginity with her friend Gil and flirts with other female characters, and Enki, well, Enki sleeps with everybody. And it ain't no thang. I loved this. I loved it a lot, especially since Enki falls in love with both Gil and June and both are treated as valid and equally powerful at the same time. That's refreshing in the "one boy for-evah!!" culture that we seem have to going in YA right now.

Then there's the setting. How often do you see a South American setting in YA sci-fi? Or for that matter, any setting that's not basically Western European? I'll tell you: hardly ever. And while the book mentions that climate change has made the Tropic of Cancer just about the only livable portion of the planet, Palmares Tres is not a Western European city transplanted into the jungle. It has deep and flourishing roots in Brazilian culture. I got the sense of enormous richness in this setting, as if I could go digging around for several more books and still find new and interesting things.

Most of the elements I'm gushing about here fall into the "Wow! That's new and fresh and very cool!" category. But I want to emphasize that these are all backed up with crackerjack writing. The book is not a romance, even though it seems to be and will probably be sold as such. It's about politics and corruption and ageism and oppression and art and love (yes, even though it's not a romance). It's about a young woman beginning to understand that if she wants to affect the world, it's going to affect her right back.

According to the author's website, this is a standalone, so I am pouting to myself and hoping to see more YA from Johnson in the near future.

Book Review: Under Shifting Glass by Nicky Singer

Book: Under Shifting Glass
Author: Nicky Singer
Published: 2013
Source: review copy from publisher via Edelweiss

When her beloved great-aunt dies, Jess feels as if she’s gone into a tailspin. With her mother and stepfather totally focused on her twin baby brothers, and her best friend gradually pulling away in favor of boys and popularity, there’s nobody left who really gets her. She feels lost, overlooked, and helpless to change any of the big things happening in her life. Then, in a desk she inherited from her great-aunt, she discovers a bottle with a strange mist inside. What is it? Where did Aunt Edie get it? And mostly importantly, what connection does it have with her baby brothers, born conjoined and fighting for their lives in the hospital?

I’ll be upfront and say that I fell in love with this book, mainly due to the no-answers exploration of spiritual questions. However, it wasn’t perfect. The ending was a little too pat, everything slotting neatly into place when the point of the book prior to that was that there are a lot of mysteries out there and very few of them can be solved so easily and neatly.

But there were a lot of things going for this book anyway, even with the ending. Jess rings very true as a lonely girl whose life is changing at top speed, and every character has a little something more to them than you’d expect. I especially liked the resolution of her relationship with her best friend. As I said before, Jess also delves into spiritual and religious questions, visiting a Buddhist temple and thinking deeply about her own Christian theology for the first time. This book won’t be for everyone, but for a kid who wants to start tackling some of the mysteries of the universe, give it a try.

Book Review: The Garden of My Imaan, by Farhana Zia

Book: The Garden of My Imaan
Author: Farhana Zia
Published: 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

In many ways, Aliya is the girl next door. She has friends and enemies, she worries about popularity and bullying and grades. Though her family is Muslim, they aren’t strict about it. Though she tries to eat halal, she doesn’t have to wear the hijab.

Then Marwa comes to her school. Marwa is far more open about her Muslim-ness than Aliya, wearing the hijab and responding calmly in the face of racist bullying. Aliya starts to resent being “the other Muslim girl.” At the same time, she finds herself longing to explore the faith that she’s always taken for granted, talking to Allah in daily letters and trying to fast for Ramadan. But how can she possibly measure up to Marwa when she keeps failing so massively?

This is not a hugely dramatic book. Simple, everyday things happen - student council elections, class projects, social questions (do I go to Carly’s party or accept Marwa’s invitation to dinner?). Nobody’s house gets vandalized, no mosques get bombed. There is prejudice, but it touches Aliya’s life without shattering it. This is Islam in daily life, and an American Muslim girl starting to understand what that means.

I’d also like to mention that this book shows some of the variety to be found in American Muslims. While some characters are Arab-American or recent immigrants, Aliya and her family are Indian-American, and have been for generations. Some families are strict, some are not. Her great-grandmother Badi Amma, who might have been expected to be the “strict one” when it comes to matters of faith, is permissive and understanding, telling her that “Allah rewards good intentions.”

I’m always on the lookout for books that show different faiths in the lives of contemporary kids without being didactic, and this one fits the bill just right.

Reading Roundup: April 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 14
Tween: 6
Children: 7

Sources
Review Copies: 11
Purchased: 1
Library: 13

Standouts
Teen: Dark Trimph by Robin LaFevers
Yes, it is possible to get darker than Grave Mercy. Sybella has some nasty secrets in her past. If you can handle that, pick this up.
Tween: How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg
Short, self-contained chapters and plenty of gross details make this a natural for reluctant readers. Just don't read while eating. I can't emphasize this enough.
Children: 13 Planets: the latest view of the solar system
While the stuff about the classic nine planets was pretty old hat to me, it's presented in a quick and interesting way. And the newer planets (Eris, Ceres, and others) are downright fascinating.

Because I Want To Awards
Snarky Good Fun: Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The first book by the Fug Girls had all the gleeful Hollywood sendups I expected, but with two strong and sympathetic protagonists, feeling their way toward being sisters to anchor the snark.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah Cliffhanger: Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Not so much a romance as a girl-finding-herself story, this book's last page made me shriek aloud.
Shut Up, I'm Busy Swooning: For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
This sci-fi post-apocalyptic retelling of Austen's Persuasion (INORITE) was pretty fun for the chance to pick up similarities to the original. The next one is supposed to be based on The Scarlet Pimpernel. I'm so there.
Captures Middle-School Politics Perfectly: 33 Minutes by Todd Lasky
Sigh. Like the best middle-school books, this one reminds me why I wouldn't go back to that age of changing identities for any amount of money in the world. Extra points because this intensely interpersonal book is about two guy friends.
Loved the Family Dynamics: Tuesdays at the Castle and Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
You don't know what you're missing until you see it. This book showcased a close and supportive family that worked together to fight off common enemies. In an age group that teems with evil adults and disdainful siblings, this was incredibly refreshing.

Book Review: Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian

Book: Out of Nowhere
Author: Maria Padian
Published: 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

Tom's family has lived in Ennistown for generations. His grandparents and his parents were born in this little Maine town, filled with French-Canadian blue-collar workers. But Tom's Ennistown is changing, as waves of Somalian refugees pour in. He pays little attention to his new neighbors, except for the new Somali players on his soccer team, who play a kind of soccer he's never seen before.

When a stupid prank on a rival school forces Tom into community service at the local Somali center, he starts to learn more about his teammates, especially Saeed, the soccer star who barely speaks any English. He learns the importance of their faith, some of the intricacies of their culture, and the nightmarish background that brought them to the States.

But not everybody in Ennistown is as willing to learn, accept, and support. Tensions and suspicions ratchet up, and Tom and Saeed will find themselves caught square in the middle of them.

Full disclosure: I work in a public library in a refugee-heavy neighborhood. Where this book really made me sit up straight and pay attention was a scene from Tom's first visit to the K Street Center, when he encounters an eight-year-old Somali boy struggling in school. "Holy crap," I said aloud, "that's one of our kids!" He would have fit in with no problems.

Tom is a good kid, basically decent. Even before his community service, he's a team player and a leader, a loyal friend, fair-minded and looking out for the little guy. That's probably why I went along with some of his more obtuse moments, like how long it took for him to grasp that somebody might not know their own birthdate with the certainty that we do in the United States of Paperwork and his attempts to interact with a Somali girl as if she were an American.

My favorite part was the light touches that emphasize Tom's own immigrant roots. His last name is Bouchard, and he's surrounded by other French names. His mere (not grandma) serves a French dessert for Sunday brunch, and it's a treat greeted by universal cheers. He talks about his great-aunt being unable to go into a mill where she once worked in near-indentured-servitude conditions. It's a clear but gentle reminder that very few people ever found America's streets paved with gold, no matter when they came.

Unfortunately, Saeed is a very flat character. Part of this is undoubtedly the language barrier combined with the tight third-person point of view. Because Tom doesn't get to hear much of Saeed's inner life, neither do we. Mostly what we get is the broken English, the astonishing soccer skill, and occasional noble leadership moments.

I found myself much more interested in Saeed's sister Samira, a teen girl clearly caught between cultures. She was another one I recognized, trying to be an American girl and a Somali girl at the same time, trying to work out where she wanted to land on the spectrum between two identities, trying to navigate where she was allowed to land. It is the strange and standoffish relationship (not like that, you guys) between Tom and Samira that ultimately brings the book to its climax.

Not only was this a good book (the slightly fizzling-out end notwithstanding), it's an important book for many communities like my own and Ennistown,

Reading Roundup: March 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 13
Tween: 15
Children: 12

Sources
Review Copies: 11
Library: 23

Standouts
Teen: The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
When I picked this up, I thought it would be just another cookie-cutter dystopia with a tired romance. That couldn't be farther from the truth. With a unique setting and premise, this was easily my favorite book all month.
Tween: Under Shifting Glass by Nicky Singer
Another book that wasn't quite what I expected. Touching on the big mysteries of life, death, and faith without being too glib or pat-answery about any of it, this is a book to start kids thinking.
Children: Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
A fascinating book about a fascinating woman. I only ever knew the legend and Fleming's biography brought her to life, warts and all.

Because I Want To Awards
Good for a Laugh: Withering Tights by Louise Rennison
Rennison's follow-up series to the Georgia Nicolson books is as goofy and entertaining as the former, even if I wasn't terribly clear on what was going on half the time.
Gothic-o-Rama!: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson
I predicted a couple of months ago that Gothic themes were going to be A Thing. This retelling of the Bluebeard story in antebellum Mississippi is as Gothic as they come. Unfortunately, that includes a protagonist too stupid to get out while the gettin' is good.
You Want to Do What Now?: Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi
I don't think I've ever seen a character who wants to be a mortician when they grow up. Have you? Violi gets points for making this a non-morbid and carefully-thought-out choice on the part of her heroine.
And Again with the Kiddie Noir: The Trouble With Chickens by Doreen Cronin
While this was a fun book for this adult, do kids get this style? I've always been curious.

Book Review: Rival by Sara Bennet Wealer

Book: Rival
Author: Sara Bennet Wealer
Published: 2011
Source: Local Library

Brooke has everything Kathryn wants. Popular, rich, and confident, she rules the school with an iron fist and has personally made sure that Kathryn is at the bottom of the popularity heap. Naturally, she's up for Homecoming Queen. More than that, she's sure to win the Blackmore vocal contest, which comes with a hefty college scholarship check. Brooke doesn't need a scholarship, but Kathryn does, desperately.

Kathryn has everything Brooke wants. Dainty and pretty, she always seems to get the boy that Brooke is crushing on. She also has loving, involved parents and a best friend who really gets her. Kathryn has no idea how good she's got it, and Brooke hates her for it. She's also terrified that this little nobody is going to beat her in the Blackmore vocal contest, which comes with the kind of prestige that could be Brooke's first step toward stardom and out of this cruddy little Midwest town.


What makes it all ten times worse is that once upon a time, they were friends.

Very often, I lose patience with multiple POV stories. What's the point? You're all allies, or headed toward the same place. Or, your stories are parallel and don't intersect until the very end. This book, however, is the kind of story that was made for multiple POV. Through each other's eyes, you see how minor misunderstandings and differences have built into a wall of hatred between two very similar girls.

There is one character who's an overt villain and who is really the one behind the most awful bullying. I also wish that the subplot with Kathryn's male best friend, and the subtle does-he-love-her-or-not tension, hadn't been wrapped up so quickly.


However, the best and biggest part of this book is the two main characters. Neither Kathryn nor Brooke are as dreadful or as innocent as they think they are. They both do things out of thoughtlessness and spite. But they both have to learn that forgiveness, like tangos and rivalry, takes two.

Book Review: Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz

Book: Marco Impossible
Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Published: March 19, 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

Stephen's best friend, Marco, has a plan. It's the last day of eighth grade, and he's decided that he needs to confess his love to the boy of his dreams. At the high school prom. In order to get to the prom, they have to get tickets, tuxes, and a reasonable story to get in the door.

Naturally, he calls on Stephen, and Stephen goes along. What's a best friend for, anyway? But as the day goes on, he begins to realize that there's more at stake, and more at play, in this simple little caper than he'd ever bargained for. And even though they've been friends forever, Stephen can't for the life of him work out what's going on in Marco's head.

When I started this book, I thought it was going to be a delightful and kooky romp. As I worked my way through the story, I realized that was just the surface. This really isn't a story about a boy who wants to declare his love to another boy. It's about a boy who thought he knew his best friend inside out, and realizes that's not the case at all.

Marco has things he isn't telling Stephen. Stephen has things he isn't telling Marco. Everybody, in fact, has their little secrets, and these are what builds up into the explosion of truth-telling at the end.

You may have already picked on one of my favorite things about the book, and that's Marco's sexuality. Rather, how Marco's sexuality is handled. To Stephen, it's a non-issue. It's part of who his best friend is and always has been. But as I got deeper in, I realized that wasn't the case for every character, and that plays into the things that Marco isn't telling Stephen.

For a sweet and funny book with more under the surface, this would be my pick.

Cybils Book Review: The Theory of Everything by J.J. Johnson

Book: The Theory of Everything
Author: J.J. Johnson
Published: 2012
Source: Review copy from the publisher specifically for the Cybils

Ever since her best friend Jamie died in a freak accident, Sarah's been on a downward skid. Her grades have slipped, her snark quotient has gotten cranked up to 11. All her other friends have drifted away, and even her ever-patient boyfriend, Stenn, is starting to get fed up. And her parents, well, they've waved the end of their rope bye-bye a long time ago.

Sarah knows she's got to get a handle on her life and her relationships before she ruins all of them, but every time she gets close to feeling good, she feels as if she's betraying Jamie's memory. She knows Jamie wouldn't have wanted her to be sad forever, but how can she possibly be happy without her best friend?

I openly admit, I hadn't heard of this book before it got a finalist slot in the Cybils. I read the author's first book (This Girl is Different) and liked it, but oh, god, a girl grieving the death of her best friend? Pass the Kleenex, we're in for a long night. I prepared myself for Bad Behavior, Meaningful Conversations and/or Blinding Revelations, Deep Connections with others who've Been There, and possibly a New Love.

Then I started reading, and I realized that I was in more capable hands than that.

What I liked best was how Sarah took responsibility for her own recovery. She makes an effort not to be so snarky, she tries to reach out to other people instead of pushing them away, and she really works at being a better person. She even takes a job at a Christmas-tree farm to make amends, and she defies her parents to do so. She does this not because she has a Blinding Revelation or a Meaningful Conversation, but because she's been aware of her downward trend ever since it started. When she makes the reasoned decision, (quite early in the book, too!) that she needs to start dragging herself out of the pit, she works at it. She isn't great at it, especially at first, but she tries and sometimes succeeds, and it's from that place that her life starts to get good again.

There is a Wise Old Mentor character, Sarah's boss. He's a little stock. But he's also one of the first adults in awhile that trusts Sarah to do things that are hard for her, and in a way, that's the theme of the whole book. Pulling herself out of the darkness and back into life again is the hardest thing Sarah has ever done. It may be the hardest thing she will ever have to do. But ultimately, she is the one who has to do it.

Book Review: Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Book: Orleans
Author: Sherri L Smith
Published: March 7, 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

After being socked with a series of devastating hurricanes and overtaken by a virulent illness called the Fever, the inhabitants of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have been abandoned by the rest of the United States. Divided into tribes of blood types, Orleans (the “new” was dropped) has fallen into barbarism and savagery, where the people fight tooth and nail to survive just one more day.

Fen is one of those people. But she has a newborn baby, the child of her dead friend Lydia, on her hands and she swears that this baby will have a better life if she has to break every law of the Outer States and the Delta to do it.

Daniel is from the Outer States, a military scientist trying to cure the Fever, who has snuck into Orleans to gather data for his quest. They run into each other in a blood-hunter’s camp (which is exactly the kind of place it sounds like) and strike a deal--she’ll take him where he needs to go, and when he leaves, he’ll take the baby with him.

When I saw this book on Netgalley, I waffled over whether to request it or not. Another dystopia? Sigh. But I loved Smith’s first book, Flygirl, and finally I decided to give a whirl. I’m so glad I did.

Was it Fen? This tough and uncompromising girl’s quest to get Baby Girl to the Wall and a better life is certainly memorable. Was it Daniel? Though he has a doctorate, he has a lot to learn about life on the other side of the wall, and surprisingly rises to the challenge. Was it the end? I . . . I can’t say anything more about the end, except that while it was devastating, it was perfect.

These are all elements that I loved, but what jumped out at me was the setting, Orleans itself. Many times in dystopias, the physical and cultural surroundings are scary and dark things, utterly wtihout redemptive factors. But Orleans is the kind of place you fall in love with, as much as for its flaws as for its beauties.Yes, it’s scary and dark. Yes, it’s not exactly a place where you’d want to live. But like the real city, it teems with life, energy, and beauty.

One of the most touching moments in the book takes place on All Saint’s Night. Fen and Daniel, hiding out, see a Mardi-Gras-like parade of people from many tribes, tacitly truced for the night. They dance and sing, “Nous sommes ici!” We are here. No matter how far Orleans has fallen, the place and the people are still there.

Book Review: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Book: Also Known As
Author: Robin Benway
Published: February 26, 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

The daughter of two spies and a gifted safecracker herself, Maggie has had a strange childhood, to say the least. She’s been all over the world but never attended school. She’s hobnobbed with the best spies in the world, but never had a best friend her own age.

Now Maggie’s facing her first solo assignment. She’s sure she can carry it off. She’s only been in training since she was three years old. Then she discovers that pretending to be someone you’re not is easy, until you meet the people that you really want to like you for yourself.

I thoroughly enjoyed Benway’s first two books, so I picked this one up and wasn’t disappointed. Was it believable? No. Was it cotton-candy fun on a silver platter? Oh, my, yes.

Watching Maggie try to apply her spy skills to fitting in at high school (even a posh New York City high school) is the kind of fish-out-of-water stuff I really enjoy. And it was no surprise to anyone but Maggie when Jesse, the boy she's assigned to crack like one of her safes, turned out to be sweet and cute and probably the best fictional boyfriend a girl could ask for.

Her other big find was Roux, a former mean girl, long toppled from her throne and now friendless until Maggie turns up. Roux was hi-larious. I had a little trouble believing that she could have been the mean girl, because she was so delightful. Then I realized that the things that made her delightful - loads of snark, well-hidden vulnerability, and a certain high-handedness - would have actually made her a really good Bitch Queen.

If you’re jonesing for more Gallagher Girls, this should help with that. Breezy, funny, and sweet, this confection of a novel is just right to put a smile on your face.

Reading Roundup: February 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 13
Tween: 3
Children: 8

Sources
Review Copies: 9
Purchased: 3
Library: 12

Standouts
Teen: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
This sweet love story had more to do with growing up than it did the swoonypants. Make no mistake, I swooned, but the focus was on two realistically imperfect teens growing into themselves and each other.
Tween: The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
A Chinese-American kid tries to figure out where she falls in between the two labels. I really liked the realism of how both sides sometimes made Lucy feel as if she weren't American or Chinese enough.
Children: Season of Secrets by Sally Nichols
I put in my notes, "Sad but not sobby." Sally Nichols seems able to walk that line easily. A girl struggling with her mother's recent death and the subsequent upheavals in her life meets the Oak King of Celtic mythology, and begins to understand that all life is cyclical.

Because I Want To Awards
Most Thought-Provoking: Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian
This story of a small Maine town dealing with a sudden influx of Somali refugees caught my attention because I work with refugees every day. Review coming at some point soon.
Yum Yum!: A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
With recipes included in every chapter and baking throughout, this book made me hungry for something sweet.
Just Goofy Good Fun: The Butler Gets a Break by Kristin Clark Venuti
The second Bellweather book is as kooky and funny as the first. It'll bring a smile to your face, especially the end. We all need a Benway.

A Momentous Occasion!

I don't really have much to talk about in this post, only that it is my 1000th! Yes! I have officially blathered on for 1000 of these suckers.

Now to be strictly fair, the first posts were about my life as an overseas student in London, mumblemumble years ago. (Ever wondered about my URL? This used to be called Diary of a Bloody Yank.) Even then, I used to talk about books. I let it lapse after coming back to the States, but in grad school, I started feeling the yen to talk about the children's and YA books I was reading. And I've been doing that ever since.

I'm not the most prolific blogger on the planet, but hey, slow and steady wins. Not the race. This isn't a race and I'm not about to stop after crossing this particular finish line. Just, you know, wins.

Thanks for reading. I write this blog for me, but I also write it for you.

Book Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Book: Mind Games
Author: Kiersten White
Published: February 19, 2013
Source: ARC acquired at KidLitCon 12

It’s Fia’s job to take care of her sister Annie. Although she’s the younger of the two, Annie is blind, and Fia has always known that she is responsible for her. Even after their parents’ death, even after they were taken away to a secretive school for young psychics run by the malevolent Keane family, Fia has taken care of Annie.

Now, she’s become a teenaged errand girl, sent on all the nasty missions that Keane needs done. She’ll steal, she’ll maim, she’ll even kill, because if she doesn’t, Annie will suffer. Fia can feel her soul eroding, but she’d let it go entirely if it means Annie is safe.

But what she doesn’t realize is how far Annie is prepared to go for Fia’s safety.

Guys, you have no idea how afraid I was that this would be a love story about the damaged girl and the boy who saves her soul with the Powah of Lurve. The book opens with Fia deciding not to kill the boy that is her mark, and I went, “Oh, crap.”

Rest assured, it’s not. While Fia’s decision sets the plot in motion, the boy she spares is never more than incidental. White keeps the focus on the two sisters, and their determination to protect each other. Unlike many books where it’s all about the Boy and the Lurve and the Destiny, Adam and his foil, James Keane, serve as backdrop to a story that unfolds in two timelines and two points of view. One story focuses on Annie’s slow realization over some years that the school is not the benevolent institution she thought it was. The other showcases Fia, trapped in her hitwoman role, finally breaking out.

So apparently, this is the first of a series. I'm not sure what I think about that. On the one hand, the book works nicely as a standalone. Though it came around very abruptly (I feel as if I missed a chapter showing how and why Fia made her decision), the end is satisfying enough. On the other, many things (the eeeeevil Mr. Keane and his shady plans, to be precise) are sketched in so lightly that I really wanted more expansion on them. Also, the girls are left at new beginnings, and I kinda want to see where those take them. So I'll read the sequel next year and report back on whether it holds up.

Cybils Book Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Book: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Author: Jesse Andrews
Published: 2012
Source: Review copy from publisher specifically for the Cybils

Chubby, pasty, and socially awkward, Greg Gaines has spent most of his high school career trying not to make waves, and finding a fair amount of success. He prides himself on being accepted by every group without ever really being part of one. He stays off the radar and out of firing range in the war that is high school. Nobody knows about his secret hobby of filmmaking except for his (for lack of a better word) best friend and co-director, the undersized and perpetually furious Earl.

Then Greg's mother tells him that Rachel Kushner has leukemia, and she wants him to spend some time with her.

Who is Rachel Kushner? Nobody, really. A girl he once sort-of-maybe-but-not-really had a thing with, in eighth grade. Their parting was drawn out, awkward, and gratefully forgotten until now. Greg bows to the unstoppable force that is his mom's nagging and revives their friendship. He's just trying to make her laugh, but he finds himself opening up to her. And whether he likes it or not, Greg Gaines is about to make tsunami-size waves.

The book really isn't about Rachel, in spite of her presence in the title. As a character, she's actually rather thin (delete tasteless Greg-style joke about thinness and chemo patients). She doesn't do much. There's not even any hint of romance. But her illness forces Greg to be a friend for the first time in his life. He has to do things that are uncomfortable to him. He has to expose his own flaws, not only to her but to others. Near the end of the book, he gets suckered into making a film about Rachel. In the past, he and Earl have made one attempt at each film and went on to the next one. They were stupid, derivative, tasteless, and pretty much senseless. This time he makes . . .

A stupid, derivative, tasteless, and pretty much senseless film. Or rather, five of them. He keeps going. He keeps trying. And while the result is astonishingly bad (I cringed just reading the bits that we get), he still worked at it, for perhaps the first time in his life.

Like most guys, Earl and Greg show their feelings by talking around them, joking about them, and downright pretending they don't exist. You have to watch carefully to see the change in Greg from someone trying to stay invisible and unhurt to someone who is reluctantly, tremulously, openly vulnerable.

I feel like this book got overlooked a lot because of its overt similarity to the much more high-profile The Fault in Our Stars. (And trust me, there will be a review of that coming. Sometime. Soon. Ish.) But they're really not the same at all. Sure, they both talk about death in teens, and how it affects other teens, but in tone and approach they couldn't be more different. This is the death/cancer book for kids who will moan and roll their eyes all the way through The Fault in Our Stars. Myself, I loved them both.

Happy Cybils Day!

Hop on over to the Cybils blog to discover the winners for this year. Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators, and many, many thanks to all the judges and organizers. This is a big job and it's all volunteer-driven.

I had a great time with my fellow judges for the YA fiction panel, and I feel awfully proud of our choice. Hope you like it as much as we did.


Also, there's some holiday about love or something. Yeah. I don't see it catching on.

Book Review: Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Book: Hysteria
Author: Megan Miranda
Published: February 5, 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

Things have been a little weird for Mallory ever since she killed her boyfriend, Brian, with a kitchen knife one summer night. She's ostracized by most of her friends, virtually ignored at home, and forced to take out a restraining order against Brian's grief stricken mother. It was self-defense . . . well, she's pretty sure it was self-defense. But however it happened, she's still suffering.

When her parents enroll her in boarding school, Mallory goes along with it, desperate to escape the constant reminders of what she did. But her guilt follows her to school, where bitchy classmates spread the tale of her past far and wide, and she constantly sees a green car whenever she leaves campus. Even worse, Brian himself seems to be haunting her. She keeps waking up with a painful red handprint on her shoulder, and the dreams just won't stop.

What really did happen that hot summer night? And when Mallory finally knows, what is she going to do about it?

So I'm calling it. The stealth trend of the last few years is Gothic. Some are the traditional Gothics (The Dark Unwinding, a Gothic with a steampunk cover), some are updated (Unspoken) and some go by the name "psychological thriller." But this is totally Gothic.

Girl in danger? Check. Possibly-paranormal-source-of-danger? Check. Girl being told that there is nothing wrong and it's all in her head? CHECK.

How did it work for me? Pretty well, when I was reading it. I got caught up in Mallory's gritty tale, especially since there were times when she wobbled at the edge of sanity. Few things are quite so neat as an unreliable narrator. While Mallory never got to that point, she definitely leaned in that direction. I also liked Reid, the childhood friend who turned out very cute and very sweet. And Colleen, her best friend from home, was ten pounds of awesome in a five pound bag.

After I put it down, I started thinking. Really, parents? Really?? This girl was traumatized, and there was no therapy. No counseling, court-ordered or otherwise. You just packed her off to boarding school and expected that to go well. There wasn't even a nod from school administration that their newest student might have some issues that needed tending to, although they clearly knew since the head of the jackass clique was the dean's son and the one who saw to it that the story got around. Reid was a little bit Ideal Boy for me, though it was good that he was there to balance out the total disdain from everyone else.

Maybe that's what made it most Gothic for me. Mallory has been abandoned by everyone (she's even cut off from Colleen for a short time) and she has to face down all her enemies, including her own mind, by herself.

Final verdict? I liked it, but decided not to think about it very hard.