Book Review: Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez

Book: Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel
Author: Diana Lopez
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

Erica is a regular girl dealing with regular problems like annoying siblings, struggling with school, and wondering whether any boy, ever, will notice her. Then her mom drops a bomb on the family: she has breast cancer.

Suddenly, Erica has a whole host of new problems on top of her old ones. She has to step up and take on more responsibility for her younger brother and sister. She's scrambling to fulfill a promesa made to La Virgen - five hundred names on her sponsor list for Race for the Cure. Her friends are all acting different around her and don't seem to understand any of her worries. With all this weight on her shoulders and all the confusing emotions piling up inside of her, even the best mood ring could get confused.

I have to say, this book hit me where I live. Like Erica, I had a mom who got breast cancer. (She's fine now.) I also grew up Latina, with Spanish and English in my ears and Tex-Mex cooking in my home. And of course, no matter what your ethnicity, everybody can relate to the agonizing experience of being a middle-schooler.

Erica is a Latina girl, but not one who emigrated from another country or suffers from prejudice or poverty. Like millions of American girls, her background is simply there, in family traditions like the promesas, the bits of Spanish floating around her house and neighborhood, and even dishes like migas (eggs scrambled with fried tortillas and salsa, nom nom nom!) It's refreshing after many books that are about being Not White.

For a book with a cancer theme, this was surprisingly light and sweet. Even though her mom is in treatment, Erica is still a preteen with all the usual preteen problems. Though her mom's fate is left somewhat up in the air (she's still doing radiation as the book ends), you have the feeling everything is going to be okay.

48HBC: Finish Line!

Well, I'm done! I'm not as exhausted as I have been in past years, although I could feel myself losing a little steam toward the end of today, particularly as I blogged.

Reading, including audiobook: 19 hrs, 45 min
Blogging: 4 hrs, 7 min
Networking: 1 hr, 9 min

Total: 25 hrs

With 9 books finished, that's at least 90 dollars for my chosen charity. I'll wait until Monday night to total up the comments.

I'm happy with the books I chose. I tried to pick books that weren't explicitly About Diversity, and succeeded with about half of them.The other half had plots dependent on the non-white/non-straight/non-neurotypicalness of their characters, and while I think those are valuable too, it was nice having a book like Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel or While We Run, where the diverse elements are a background note for the characters and not the source of the plot.

How did you do? Share!

48HBC Audiobook: Team Human by Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier

Time: 5:55:29
Source: Local Library

Mel and Cathy have always been best friends, inseparable. Mel and Cathy, Cathy and Mel, that's just the way it is. Practical and down-to-earth Mel considers it her bounden duty to get and keep the dreamier Cathy out of trouble. So when Cathy goes and falls in love with a vampire, well, it's just business as usual. Even when Cathy decides to become a vampire herself, in order to be with Francis forever, Mel believes that she can rescue Cathy from her own folly. But something Mel fails to consider is that this trouble might be impossible to get Cathy out of, and even if it is, Cathy might not want or need her help.


I picked this as my audiobook because I remembered that Mel is Asian-American. But it's an interesting pick in another way, and that's how Mel finds her own prejudices about a group of people sometimes confirmed, sometimes confounded. She finds Francis thoroughly obnoxious (and frankly so did I) but Kit, the human raised in a vampire shade, challenges her beliefs. So does Camille, his vampire mom who also happens to be a cop and extremely, disconcertingly mom-like.

I can see the seeds of Kami, the intrepid/reckless teen detective from Brennan's Unbroken, in Mel. But Mel is sometimes harder to like, especially when she is explicitly not listening to Cathy. Yes, Mel hates the idea of Cathy becoming a vampire. Yes, it's dangerous, but Mel has to learn that supporting friends and respecting their choices is not the same thing as agreeing with them. Mel is invested in the idea of being Cathy's guardian - it's a central tenet of her identity. She's not sure who she'd be if she lost that, and so she's fighting.

This started life as a send-up of Twilight, and you can really see that in the bones of the story. But at its heart, it's really about lifelong friends pulling away, making different choices from each other, and also about how incredibly uncomfortable it can be to face down your own flaws and prejudices.

48HBC Book 9: Red Thread Sisters by Carol Antoinette Peacock

Time: 1:03
Source: Local Library

Last book!

Capsule review: "For everything she's been through, Wen has a quiet toughness that can work against her - as when she rejects her new family's overtures - or for her - as when she takes on the impossible task of getting one young teenager out of thousands adopted by somebody."

 I don't have time to read another one, so I'll just listen to my audiobook and run my time out.

48HBC Book 8: A Certain October by Angela Johnson

Time: 0:42:03
Source: Local Library

Well that book flew by. I had a hard time writing about it, though. Can't quite get a grip on the main character or the plot.

Capsule review: ". . . the jumbled tangle of emotion and uncertainty is awfully close to living inside Scotty's head. It's a quick and often confusing read. I'd give it only to people who are fans of Johnson's other work."

Torn now between picking up a longer book that I might not finish before two hours are up, or a short one and filling in the time with my audiobook and knitting. Hmmm.

48HBC Book 7: A Song for Bijou by Josh Farrar

Time: 1:32
Source: Local Library

Awwwwwwwww. This book is like a puff pastry, sweet and delicious and just what I needed after my last book.

Capsule review: "This is a sweet, funny book with an incredibly sense of place. I want to visit Alex and Bijou's Brooklyn with all its color and variety and energy. It's not all sunny good fun, though. There are some ugly prejudices lurking under the surface. But Farrar keeps those light, brushing the edges of the story without making them the central conflict, and keeping his book light and sweet. Highly recommended for middle-school readers."

Might take some networking and knittting-with-audiobook time before I'm off to peruse the shelves for my next pick.

48HBC Book 6: While We Run by Karen Healey

Time: 2:12
Source: ARC from a friend

I won't say that I couldn't put this book down, but it came close.

Capsule Review: "I feel as if I should have re-read When We Wake, because I know I didn't catch all the subtleties, but as it is, I was held captive by Abdi and Tegan's story. They're trying to do the right thing, but everyone seems to have a different perspective on what the right thing is. It's not black and white in any sense of the word, but dappled in shades of grey, and that's the most interesting pattern if you ask me."

Lunch and a little break for the eyes before I dive into the next one. I've read several long books, so I think I'll pick up a few short ones now.

48HBC Book 5: Temple Grandin by Sy Montgomery

Time: 0:48
Source: Local Library

Probably my last full book for the night. I'm not dragging as much as I have in other years, I think because I'm interspersing a lot of audiobook time. (I'm over halfway through it . . . yikes!) Anyway, this particular book was a quick, engaging read.

Capsule review: "As I read the chapters on her childhood, I was struck by how often young Temple came close to being institutionalized or marginalized, and how often a supportive adult or accepting friend was there to let Temple be who she was. Part of this was being autistic in the 50's and 60's when many people still thought it was something that could or should be fixed. Part of that is still around today, which makes me think about the valuable role of people who work with kids."

My next book will be Karen Healey's While We Run, an ARC that generated an "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" from me when I got my hot little hands on it.

48HBC Book 4: The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman

Time: 2:15
Source: Local Library

This one I liked much better.

Capsule review: "While I liked the different immigration story, and (oh, let's be honest) the love story, what I loved best about this book was Jade Moon herself. She's definitely a Fire Horse girl, and often immature and impulsive along with all her other flaws. It's only when she learns to channel her fiery nature that she's able to control it, and find places and people who will not only accept her, but value her too."

I'll take a walk and listen to my audiobook for a little while before picking up my next book.

48HBC Book 3: The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Time: 2:20
Source: Local Library

I wasn't entirely thrilled with my third pick. I hoped it would be a tight, thrilling story but it dragged quite a bit for me. It did have some interesting themes of identity and the right to live, however.

Capsule review: "What I did like? Eva's tense, wobbly relationship with Amarra, like a younger sister always in her older sister's shadow, with the older sister resenting that she exists at all. The portrait of the parents' grief, both assuaged and heightened by Eva's presence. There was also the boyfriend's grief, which is a complicated beast, all tangled up with sadness and guilt and interest in Eva. The setting is also a view of India we don't often get, a well-to-do middle-upper-class world with light touches of non-Western detail."

Time for some networking!

48HBC Book 2: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Time: 1:27
Source: Local Library

I finished this one last night just before going to sleep, and got up to write the review before going to work.

Capsule review: "One of the things I liked best about this book was the slowness of the process. Gabe comes out to his parents, to close friends, and then painfully, to the world, in baby steps like asking a radio station to change the name on his entry form from Liz to Gabe, and telling his new boss that though his W-2 says one name, it's really another. Each outing is its own different brand of scary, and some go better than others."

Now off to work for a few hours! Excitement: I'm going to be on local radio today talking about teen books for summer reading. If there's a podcast, I'll link it here.

48HBC Book 1: Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez

Time: 1:29
Source: Local Library

My first book is down, refreshingly fast! I picked this one because I felt like I was going to identify strongly with the main character. I was right.

Capsule review: "I have to say, this book hit me where I live. Like Erica, I had a mom who got breast cancer. (She's fine now.) I also grew up Latina, with Spanish and English in my ears and Tex-Mex cooking in my home. And of course, no matter what your ethnicity, everybody can relate to the agonizing experience of being a middle-schooler."

Since the sun has gone down, the temperature has cooled off to something less than the surface of Mercury, so I'm going to take a walk and cue up my audiobook for a little while before I start my next book.

The Starting Line!

As I type these words, it is 6:00 pm Mountain time, so it's time for me to start my 48-HBC for this year! I've got my audiobook (Team Human by Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier) and my first book (Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez). Like last year, I'll be posting short capsule reviews and saving the longer-form reviews for later in the summer.

For the charity portion of it, I'll be donating to local charity Make Way for Books, with 10 dollars for each book finished and one dollar for each comment posted between now and Monday night.

Follow me on Twitter @mosylu or comment here if you have suggestions for my next book, want to tell me what you think of what I'm reading, or just want to let me know you're doing it too, so I can cheer you on!

Are You Ready for the 48-HBC?

Did you clear your schedule?

Did you order pizza and caffeinated beverages?

Do you have your Twitter feed ready to go?

Do you have MotherReader's blog bookmarked?

Did you stack up your books in an orderly fashion? (Or a disorderly one, whatever.)

Did you pick your audiobook?

If the answer to any of these is "Bwuh?" there's still time to get in on the action. You can start your 48HBC anytime between Friday, June 6, at 7 am and Saturday, June 7, at 7 am. You finish it exactly 48 hours after starting. Hop over to MotherReader's blog to find out what it's all about.

I'll be starting after work on Friday, and reading until Sunday night. My audiobook is Team Human and my stack of books is mighty and tall. I'll be writing capsule reviews for the challenge itself, and saving up the longer reviews to post later in the summer.

Join in! Follow me at mosylu and keep an eye on this blog. Let me know if you're joining in or just cheerleading.

And don't forget to have fun!

Reading Roundup: May 2014

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

Sources
Review Copies: 6
Library: 6

Standouts
Teen: Sunrise by Mike Mullins
As the human race is pulling itself out of the Dark Ages, Alex rises to the occasion. Less action-packed than the first two, more community-building, but I appreciated seeing this kid make some hard choices in his new world.
Tween: The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson
Can I explain how much I love a con story? I love the twists and the turns and the con man's brain that figures out twelve angles at once and how to make them work to his advantage, and what actually manages to surprise him in the end. This book fed that love.
Children: Revenge of the Flower Girls by Jennifer Ziegler
A fluffy ball of cute, this book. Although the girls seriously blurred together, to the point where I had to think of them as one girl who managed to be everywhere and do everything.

Because I Want To Awards
The When-Harry-Met-Sally Award: Played by Liz Fichera
Not like THAT. Geez, you guys. Insta-love is rampant in teen romance, as is longtime friends-to-lovers, but this is the first time I've seen two teens genuinely becoming friends before falling in love. Sam and Riley baffle each other as often as they get each other, but their love story has a firm basis in honest liking, and I appreciated that.

The Quirk Factor is Through the Roof: Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger
With numerous asides and slyly hilarious details, it was just like one of my other favorite hoot-and-a-half series, M.T. Anderson's Pals in Peril!

The 48-HBC is Nigh! and a Sobering Realization

MotherReader just announced her annual 48-Hour Book Challenge, fondly known around the interwebs as the 48HBC. It's quite simple - you pick 48 consecutive hours somewhere in the weekend of June 6-8 and read for as many of those hours as you humanly can. You also blog what you've read, chat on Twitter, and visit each other's blogs.

This year, because it's always (unfortunately) a Topic of Concern amongst the kidliterati, the focus is on diversity. WeNeedDiverseBooks is a hashtag that's been going around the Twitters and the Tumblrs and I don't know what else these kids are using these days, get off my lawn.

By the way, it's 2014. Why is this still a thing? Why is it still so hard to find these books about kids that are other than white, straight, neurotypical, and able-bodied? Agh.

As I do every year, I went wading through my TBR list to see what I wanted to read. These things have to be ordered, you understand. There has to be planning. I generally read about 9 books during the 48-HBC challenge. To give myself choices, I decided to pick about 12 or so books out of my list. I also decided to be as broad as possible. Anything where the main character didn't fit that "default" setting stated above would qualify.

I went in going, "This should be easy. These are the kind of books that catch my eye." Several pages later, I was still scrolling, muttering, "Really? Out of all these books, it's taking me this long to find the ones I would call diverse?" I did finally pull together several books, but I was dismayed by how long it took.

So . . . that was sobering.

In my defense, I just read two books that would qualify under my terms, Varian Johnson's The Great Greene Heist, whose incredibly multicultural cast started this leg of the ongoing diversity conversation, and Wendelin Van Draanen's The Running Dream, about a runner who has to adjust to life with a leg amputated below the knee. Also in my own defense, I was going off titles, authors, and a fuzzy memory of why I'd put certain books on my list. But still, I should have more choice. I should be putting more of these on my list, and I should have more available to put on my list in the first place.

If you know of a book I should read for the challenge, please leave it in the comments. Also, it should be the main character, not a supporting cast member. Yes, inclusivity in the characters surrounding the main character is nice and I like it. But nobody is a sidekick in their own life.

Are you going to join in? What are you going to read? Share!

Reading Roundup: April 2014

By the Numbers
Teen: 9
Tween: 3
Children: 3

Sources
Review Copies: 7
Purchased: 1
Library: 5

Standouts
Teen: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I can't even explain what this book is about without spoiling it. Argh. Just read it, would you?
Tween: The Swift Boys and Me by Kody Keplinger
One tumultuous summer changes all the things eleven-year-old Nola has always taken for granted. Some better, some worse, some just different. I've loved Keplinger's work for teens, and she displays the same deft touch with people and relationships in her first book for younger readers.
Children: The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand by Jen Swann Downey
Secret-agent librarians who defend free speech through space and time! Special guest appearances by Hypatia, Casanova, and Cyrano de Bergerac! Also, sword-fighting and a mongoose on the loose. Overall, a rattling good adventure.

Because I Want To Awards
Most Interesting Format: In the Shadows by Kiersten White and Jim diBartolo
White wrote a text-only story, di Bartolo a pictures-only story. With the two stories running in parallel, it takes most of the book to work out how they're connected, but that kept me reading. The ending made me awwwwwww.
Is There a Sequel, Please?: Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen by Donna Gephert
There were a lot of things to like about this book (a realistic look at disillusionment and the reassembling of a family, as well as an almost-sort-of-nascent romance), but now I really want to read the story of Nikki, Olivia's ex-best friend.
Most Deeply Flawed Characters: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
And I mean that in a good way. Everywhere you turn in this book, there are awful, broken people, and the two worst are the two main characters. Mostly you find yourself loving the flaws.

Reading Roundup: March 2014

By the Numbers
Teen: 10
Tween: 2
Children: 1

Sources
Review Copies: 5
Purchased: 1
Library: 6

Standouts
Teen: Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
Sometimes Felton was astonishingly wise and perceptive, sometimes he had the emotional intelligence of a mummified hamster. A very realistic fifteen-year-old, in other words.
Tween: Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air by Stewart Ross, illustrated by Stephen Biesty
Although parts were problematic (they entirely left out the treatment of native peoples during the Age of Exploration, for instance), it was really interesting to see how people have set off to explore our world and what they used to do it. With fold-out diagrams!
Children: Diego Rivera: His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiuh
If you can count, you know this is the only children's book I read this month. That being said, if I'd read ten, I probably still would have mentioned this. It brings a fascinating artist to life and made me hit the web for more of his work.

Because I Want To Awards
Another Cracking Main Character: Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
Sol is impulsive, prickly, and often thoroughly exasperating. Naturally, I loved her.
Oooh, I Get It Now: Everything by A.S. King
For some reason I was never on the A.S. King train, but all of a sudden I've added all her books to my reading list and am tearing through them.

Book Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Book: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Published: March 4. 2014
Source: ARC from a friend

In the Herrani city conquered and occupied by the forces of the Valorian empire, everything and everybody has their place. Kestrel knows what's expected of her, as General Trajan's daughter. She will either join the military or she will marry. Either way, she will take a predetermined place in the adult world by her twentieth birthday.

Unfortunately, at seventeen she's miserably unsuited for either. In spite of her clever strategic mind, she's only okay at actual combat with actual weapons after years of training. And she can't think of a single Valorian man she's willing to marry. The only thing she truly loves is music, and making music is not a suitable pastime for a Valorian lady. It is the business of slaves.

It's music that prompts her to purchase Arin, a Herrani slave. But he refuses to sing. In spite of that, the conquerer's daughter and the conquered man find themselves drawing closer to each other. And it's getting noticed, by Herrani slaves and Valorian high society alike.

But Arin is embroiled in a plot to rescue his homeland from the iron grip of the Valorian empire. When the revolution explodes, the only safety for the conquerer's daughter is with the man who betrayed her country.

And maybe not even there.

Before I delve into this book, I'd like you to have a look at that cover. Go ahead. Study it hard. That girl in a pretty dress, swooning, clutching onto the lettering for dear life, letting a dagger slip from her fingers. Is that Kestrel? To me, it wasn't, and thus I spent most of this book in a quiet simmer of WTF over that cover, while enjoying what was beneath it very much.

Honestly, I was so put off by this cover (I'm really really over the swoony girls in opulent dresses thing, guys) that it was only a cover blurb from Kristen Cashore that got me to try it. I'm so glad I did. It's a love story, true, but it's also about power and politics and rebellion and strategy.
It starts small and intimate (here's a girl, out of place; here's the boy who sees her real self) and grows into a story that concerns itself with the fate of not only countries, but empires. And yet never loses sight of the small and intimate. That's quite a trick.

The love story at the center is also more than your usual love-at-first-sight. In spite of surface differences, Arin and Kestrel are very much alike. Besides music, they both have brilliantly strategic minds, watching the world and people from the outside and seeing game pieces that can be played. They are also both terribly lonely. More than anything else, this loneliness pulls them toward each other.

As they grow closer, they play emotional chess with each other and with themselves, examining their own behavior and each other's at every turn. In this book, love does not switch off the strategic mind. It becomes another game piece, another lever, another way to twist the world into your control or to see how and why it's twisting out of it.

This is (of course) the first of a trilogy. But it's a trilogy that's going on my auto-read list, especially after the end of this book. I just hope the next two covers are better.

Reading Roundup: February 2014

By the Numbers
Teen: 9
Tween: 2
Children: 4

Sources
Review Copies: 6
Library: 9

Standouts
Teen: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Two lovers playing emotional chess with each other and themselves, in the midst of the kind of political upheaval that lays waste to empires. The only thing I hated about this book was the cover, and in my review I will tell you why.
Tween: Renegade Magic by Stephanie Burgis
A deeply fun romp about a girl who's arguably smarter than most of the adults around her, and of course frustrated beyond the telling of it.
Children: Lord and Lady Bunny - Almost Royalty! by Polly Horvath
As hilarious and weird as the first one. My favorite scene was the one in the bookshop. I dare you not to crack a grin at that.

Because I Want To Awards
Ain't No Thang: Adaptation by Malinda Lo
Lo takes a plot point that would have been front and center in another book (emerging bisexuality) and makes it part of the story of a girl waking to a world that's
changing right before her eyes.
Penguins, Malevolent Refrigerators, and Surfing: The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan by Maxwell Eaton III
I think that says it all, don't you?
Worst Bestie Ever: The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols
From page 1, Addison was the worst excuse for a human being, never mind a best friend, that I'd ever met. By the time Gemma puts an end to it, I cheered.

Reading Roundup: January 2014

Sorry to be a day late on this, guys. When I realized it was the first day of the month, I was already half-asleep. It was a light reading month anyhow.

By the Numbers
Teen: 12
Tween: 3
Children: 2

Sources
Review Copies: 6
Purchased: 2
Library: 6

Standouts
Teen: The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
Wrenching, harrowing, violent, and for me, totally unputdownable. Even though it was a terrible world, I kept wanting to crawl back into it and find out whether Mahlia and the others were going to save their lives or their souls.
Tween: Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
I have to say, while I deeply adored Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Rendi was a much more interesting main character to me than Minli. He had so many secrets and so much anger that I loved seeing how the stories that he and others told began to change him.
Children: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee
When people ask for an old-fashioned adventure story, this is the kind of book I hand them. An enchanted boy, a lonely museum, and a terrible evil to right? Yep, this wouldn't have been out of place on a library shelf 50 years ago.

Because I Want To Awards
Disney Movie in Book Form: Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill
A figure skater and a female hockey player, both named Sloane Jacobs, decide to trade lives for the summer. Unlikely, sweet, fun.
ARGH THE ENDING ARGH: Dead to You by Lisa McMann
Returned to the bosom of his family after being kidnapped nine years before, fifteen-year-old Ethan struggles to fit back into his life while worrying about why he can't remember it. The ending, as you might be able to tell, made me claw my face and howl. Not because it came out of nowhere, (you have your suspicions from the first) but because he just disappears. ARGH.

2014 Youth Media Awards

John Newbery Medal
for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
Flora and Ulysses: the Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K.G. Campbell
(H) Doll Bones by Holly Black
(H) The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
(H) One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
(H) Paperboy by Vince Vawter

Randolph Caldecott Medal
for the most distinguished American picture book for children
Locomotive by Brian Floca
(H) Journey by Aaron Becker
(H) Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Scharr Idle
(H) Mr Wuffles by David Wiesner

Michael L. Printz Award
for excellence in literature written for young adults
Midwinter Blood by Marcus Sedgwick
(H) Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
(H) Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal
(H) Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, illustrated by Julian Crouch
(H) Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
for the most distinguished beginning reader book
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
(H) Ball by Mary Sulllivan
(H) A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems
(H) Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes

Coretta Scott King Awards
for the best book about the African-American experience
Author
P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams Garcia
(H) March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell
(H) Darius and Twig by Walter Dean Myers
(H) Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes
Illustrator
Knock Knock: my dad's dream for me illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Daniel Beaty
(H) Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

John Steptoe New Talent Award (illustration)
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the creation of hip-hop illustrated by Theodore Taylor III, written by Laban Carrick Hill

Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement
Patricia and Frederick McKissack

Schneider Family Book Award
for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
Picture Book
A Splash of Red: the life and art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Middle Grade Novel
Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell
Young Adult Novel
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Alex Awards
for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
Brewster by Mark Slouka
The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan
Help for the Haunted by John Searles
Lexicon by Max Barry
Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Mother Mother by Koren Zailckas
Relish: my life in the kitchen by Lucy Knisley
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
The Universe vs Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

Andrew Carnegie Medal
for excellence in children's video
Bink and Gollie: Two for One by Weston Woods, based on the book by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile

Margaret A. Edwards Award
for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Markus Zusack

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
Brian Selznick

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
for an outstanding children's book translated from a language other than English and subsequently published in the United States
Mister Orange by Truus Matti, translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson
(H) The Bathing Costume or the Worst Vacation of My Life by Charlotte Moundlic, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, translated from the French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
(H) My Father's Arms Are a Boat by Stein Erik Lunde, illustrated by Oyvid Torseter, translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson
(H) The War Within These Walls by Aline Sax illustrated by Caryl

Odyssey Award
best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults
Scowler by Daniel Kraus, narrated by Kirby Heyborne
(H) Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle, narrated by the author
(H) Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, narrated by James Naughton
(H) Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, narrated by Rebecca Roman and Sunil Mahotra
(H) Matilda by Roald Dahl, narrated by Kate Winslet

Pura Belpre Awards
For the best books about the Latino cultural experience
Author
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
(H) The Living by Matt de la Pena
(H) The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's greatest abolitionist by Margarita Engle
(H) Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: a migrant's tale by Duncan Tonatiuh
Illustrator
Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales
(H) Maria Had a Little Llama/Maria Tenía Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez
(H) Tito Puente Mambo King/Rey del Mambo illustrated by Rafael Lopez, written by Monica Brown, translated into Spanish by Adriana Dominguez
(H) Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: a migrant's tale by Duncan Tonatiuh

Robert F. Sibert Medal
for most distinguished informational book for children
Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore
(H) A Splash of Red: the life and art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
(H) Look up! Bird Watching in your own backyard by Annette Cate
(H) Locomotive by Brian Floca
(H) The Mad Potter: George E Ohr, Eccentric Genius by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award
Books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience.
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
AND (!)
Fat Angie by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo
(H) Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
(H) Branded by the Pink Triangle by Ken Setterington
(H) Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

William C. Morris Award
for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens. Finalists are announced in December.
Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
(F) Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian
(F) Dr Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos
(F) Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
(F) In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year. Finalists are announced in December
The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb
(F) Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd
(F) Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin W. Sandler
(F) Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone
(F) The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson

Reading Roundup: 2013 plus Bonus! New Year's Resolution

By the Numbers
Teen: 176
Tween: 78
Children: 71

Sources
Review Copies: 116
Swapped: 2
Purchased: 8
Library: 167

Standouts
Teen (Selected in September) Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (link leads to my review)
"The companion novel (not sequel!) to Code Name Verity delivers all the same grit and darkness of wartime. I've seen some reviews that say it's darker but I think it's a different quality here."
Tween (also selected in September; that was a good month): The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
"This is a standout pick because of Oscar, who is shy and bewildered by anybody who is not a plant or a cat. Ursu's deft, honest narration brings you right into that place with him."
Children: (selected in August): Dumpling Days by Grace Lin
"On a family visit to Taiwan, Pacy struggles with being in a place where she feels like an alien but is expected to feel right at home. For every kid who's ever been caught in the middle and had to carve out their own place, this is for you."

Soooooo. That was 2013.

I've been thinking about the way I read lately, especially since KidlitCon. In the past, I've tried to read one book a day on average. I'm getting to the point in my life where that's just too much, and I'm reading for the sake of reading fast. There's probably any number of reasons for that, but the effect is that I'm not enjoying the actual reading as much, and that's . . . well, guys, that's just awful.

So, I'm giving myself permission to slow down. To cut my TBR list, to renew my library book if I need to instead of hurrying to finish it, to request books for review only if I'm excited about them, to take as long as I need to over a book, to give myself enough time out to review them if I want to. That's another thing: I've been so busy pushing myself to finish more books that I haven't been writing about them, and what the heck is this blog for, if not that?

I'm also giving myself permission to read other books than the ones on my TBR list. Re-read old favorites, pick up a romance novel or a fascinating adult nonfiction book if I want to.

I guess my New Year's Resolution is to get back to the fun.

Reading Roundup: December 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 15
Tween: 1
Children: 6

Sources
Review Copies: 2
Purchased: 1
Library: 18

Standouts
Teen: Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker
I admit, there were some parts in the hyper-conservative worldview of the town and the church that made me go, "Whoa . . . okay." However, this was a compelling look at the moment when your faith is tested by direct contradiction of the things you've always known, and whether it's possible to come through with that faith intact.
Tween: No standout this month.
Children: Animal Fights by Catherine Ham
Poems about fighting animals? You wouldn't think it would work. It does, which can be attributed equally to the poems, which are accessible and fact-based, and the great photography.

Because I Want To Awards
Move Over Veronica Mars: Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday
Okay, not really, because VMars doesn't move over for anybody and will tase you if you try. But this story of a snarky, clever teen sleuth got me and I'm quite sad that there's only one sequel. Yeah, the plot's a little uncertain, but I was taking the ride with Hartley.
Veronica Mars in 1942: The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines
Why did I enjoy this one? See above. Less snark, more history, definitely more character growth as Iris learns painful lessons about the world, her father, her mother, and herself. And there's a sequel to this one too. Yay!
Wow, That Was Something!: Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
I've seen these balloons all my life and never stopped to think of all the engineering and creativity that went into them. This book brought that to life, and what makes it even more stunning is that the first idea and execution came from one man.

Reading Roundup: November 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 15
Tween: 7
Children: 2

Sources
Review Copies: 12
Library: 10

Standouts
Teen: Burnout by Adrienne Maria Vrettos
When Nan falls off the wagon, she wakes up hungover in the subway. I loved how she tracked backward, not only through the night she forgot, but exploring the destructive friendship that brought her there.
Tween: 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass
Shuttled off to the weirdest town on the planet after kidnapping her principal's goat (no, really), Tara finds herself propelled off the sidelines and in the middle of the most random scavenger hunt ever. While this required a lot of suspension of disbelief, it left me smiling.

Children: Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African-Americans by Kadir Nelson
We all know about the Civil War, civil rights, etc, but there's a lot more to African-American history than that. Starting with the European settlement of North America, Nelson shines a light on a history too often hidden in the shadows.

Because I Want To Awards
Swoooooooooooon: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Okay, granted, I wanted to smack both main characters more than once. But like the others in this series, this book really evokes that heady rush of the first time you're in Capital L Love, and the complications of living up to those feelings.
A Fine Finish: United We Spy by Ally Carter
Like Harry Potter 7, this took place mostly outside of the school that's so important to the series as a whole. But everything worked for me.

Interview: Danielle and Delco Library Notes

This was homework for Sheila Ruth's Kidlitcon session on CSS and HTML, but it was also a chance to highlight a brand-new blogger. This is one of my favorite parts of Kidlitcon, discovering new or new-to-me bloggers and what they have to say.

Q.

Who are you and what is your blog?

A.

I am Danielle Guardiola and I work at Delco Primary School as the school librarian. My blog, Delco Library Notes, is for teachers, parents, and kids, to showcase what the library is doing. I review books and talk about the skills that the kids are learning.

Q.

What got you into blogging?

A.

I was exposed to social media resources during library school. I saw many early-grade/picture book blogs and thought I could do this as a way to showcase what the school library is doing for kids.

Q.

What do you hope to learn at KidlitCon?

A.

I'm hoping to acquire practical tips on increasing the blog's reach, how to blog better, and how to keep myself consistently blogging.

After the conference was all over, I caught up with Danielle again to see how she'd liked her first Kidlitcon. If you notice a difference in the interview, it's because I just listened and took notes for the first section, but this second section I actually recorded and transcribed later.

Q.

So what did you learn from KidlitCon?

A.

I think I got a big focus of what I want to start with my blog. Because the one that I have right now is for school, and the purpose of that one is just to inform parents of what we do in the library. But besides that, I want to start one where I'm reviewing literature. I've noticed a big need in bilingual books, that we sometimes don't find good quality bilingual books that are available for students. I've talked to several people who said they thought I could be a really good resource, so I think I found a really good focus. That's one major thing, and just a lot of practical tips on how to reach out to other people, how to stay connected with one another and just also be able to go to the Kidlitosphere website and find as much support as possible. That session about the burnout, I was like oh god, it's good I'm hearing this now.

Q.

Yeah! Well, it's something that happens to a lot of people . . .

A.

[It's good] to know that you're not always going to get a lot of responses, that sometimes you're writing for yourself, and that's okay. So overall there was a wealth of information, but those are the three big things: a focus, a community, and a sense of a place where I can go for help, and just not to get overwhelmed.

Much thanks to Danielle, who let herself be interviewed (twice!) in the middle of what must have been a couple of dizzying days. Visit Delco Library Notes and say hi!

KidlitCon 13

Every year, I set aside some vacation and make my way to KidlitCon, wherever it may be. It's been in D.C., Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Seattle, and now Austin.

Other bloggers have done lovely roundups of the different sessions. Since I live-tweeted most of the sessions (see #kidlitcon13 for everybody's tweets) I won't attempt to be comprehensive, especially since the sessions aren't my primary reason for being there. They're useful and informative, don't get me wrong. The session on blogger burnout in particular gave me a lot to chew on, as did the session on diversity. I got to sharpen my tech skills and contemplate the future of blogging.

But my reason for being there was the people. Walking into the pre-con get-together and immediately getting a big hug from Pam of MotherReader, being able to say hello to Lee Wind and Jen Robinson for the first time in years, hanging out with Kelly Jensen of Stacked and Leila "Bookshelves of Doom" Roy and discussing the horrendous addiction that is Candy Crush (seriously, so many of us seemed to be playing it this weekend!), meeting Kim (also of Stacked), Sherry Early of Semicolon, and brand-new blogger Danielle of Delco Library Notes, and that was just in the first day! I also got to room with Sheila Ruth from Wands and Worlds, and dine with Charlotte Taylor and Melissa Fox of Booknut and Sarah Stevenson of Finding Wonderland, as well as many others that my brain is just a little too fried to remember.

I am not a person who loves meeting people, you have to understand. But I always, always love meeting people at KidlitCon, because I know without being told--by the fact of their presence--that they are kindred spirits, a term brought up in the future of blogging session. They love something that I love, and that's a pretty steady foundation. These folks do it for the same reason I do it; for the love of it. Some of us have been doing this for years; some have just started.

We all come at it from different directions. Our keynote speaker, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Lee Wind both discussed the diversity within ourselves. Sitting in a room with an archaeologist, a computer programmer, a film critic, many parents, and a number of librarians, I completely understood that! But we've all got that in common, our shared love of reading, of kidlit, and of spreading that love as far and wide as possible.

Thanks to the organizers, Pam, Jen, Sarah,  Kim, Kelly, and Leila. Also, Tanita from Finding Wonderland and Jackie of Interactive Reader (who both deserve some kind of award for putting in all this work and not even being able to make it!) for another lovely year.

Next year, the West Coast! Will you be there?

KidlitCon Ahoy!

This weekend I'll be on my way to KidlitCon, to hang out with friends old and new. Keep an eye on this space, and on Twitter under mosylu and the hashtag #kidlitcon13. I might actually say a few things. 

Book Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Book: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Published: 2013
Source: ARC acquired from publisher at ALA 2013

It's like the start of an urban legend. Tana Bach wakes up in a bathtub after a party so wild she doesn't remember most of it. But it's not her blood spattering the house. It's everyone else's. In the rush of the party, somebody forgot basic precautions and left a window open, letting the vampires in.

Among the mutilated bodies, she finds her ex-boyfriend, Aiden, tied to a bed. He’s going Cold, but not in the dead sense. It’s what they call someone who has been infected, but isn’t yet a vampire. You can survive going Cold, they say, but it will be up to eighty-eight days of craving blood past the point of madness. The safest place for him right now is Coldtown, the quarantined portion of the city where vampires reign supreme. But first they have to get there.

She also finds Gavriel, a fully-fledged vampire who agrees to help them in exchange for getting him safely to Coldtown ahead of the vampires pursuing him. Now Tana’s on the road with a stone-cold killer, an obnoxious ex that she has to keep human, and oh, she might be infected herself.

For me the best part of this book (besides the gritty toughness of Tana herself) was the world-building. How would the world react to vampires coming out the shadows and chomping down? Well, this one reacts with websites and Twitter feeds, and, naturally, reality shows. There are also border guards at Coldtown and PSAs on the TV. Coldtown itself is a far cry from the reality shows. And of course, there’s the nasty and twisted world of vampire politics, which is as classically Byzantine as every other vampire novel ever has promised.

In some ways this book is guilty of the things it's trying to undermine about vampires. There is a sensual glamor about her vampires, blood soaked as they are. But it’s that balance that makes this book (and vampires themselves, I guess) so intoxicating. They are stone cold killers with a sheen of glamor overlying the fangs, and to your own horror, you find yourself sympathizing with their ageless pain, at least until they start ripping throats out.

Lush, horrifying, gritty, and powerful, this is Holly Black at her very Holly-Black-est.

Reading Roundup: October 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 10
Tween: 8
Children: 9

Sources
Review Copies: 8
Swapped: 2
Library: 15

Standouts
Teen: Unthinkable by Nancy Werlin
This prequel/sequel to Impossible was in some ways awfully hard to read. Fenella and her quest are hard to support, but I got sucked in by seeing her brought back to life by the love of her family.
Tween: Golden Girl by Sarah Zettel
More of the American Fairy trilogy! This time Callie's caught in the glamorous web of Old Hollywood, which is of course the natural place for the glamorous Seelie Court. Do we doubt that she can extricate herself? Answer: No. We do not.
Children: Well Wished by Franny Billingsley
While I enjoyed the riffing on Heidi, what I most enjoyed was the realism of the friendship at the core of this novel. Because honestly? They didn't like each other most of the time, but they were friends because they were each other's only option.

Because I Want To Awards
Most Troubling: Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow
On the one hand, I really liked the way this was put together, narratively and thematically. On the other, the hazy background of generic Native-American-ness, without reference to specific tribes, is troubling to me.
Most Realistic Ending: Gaby, Lost and Found by Angela Cervantes
With her mother deported and her dad barely around, Gaby tries to find her own home. My notes: "Omigosh. How much do I love the realism in the way this shook out? A LOT. I love it A LOT." Without giving anything away, it was positive without being sugary or unrealistic.
Just Right for Third-Graders: Velcome by Kevin O'Malley
This book purports to be packed with spoooooky Halloween stories, but in reality are punny groaners that mid-elementary types will get a massive kick out of. Think of it as "Silly Stories to Tell in the Dark."

Book Review: Across a Star Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

Book: Across a Star Swept Sea
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Published: October 15, 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via Edelweiss

Everyone on the tiny island of Albion knows silly, fashion-obsessed Persis Blake. The princess’s best friend wouldn’t think of going anywhere without her custom-genetically-engineered sea mink or in an outfit that didn’t match her bright yellow (not blond, yellow) hair. What nobody knows is that she’s the daring Wild Poppy, personally responsible for rescuing aristos from the bloody Revolution in the neighboring country of Galatea. And she likes it that way.

When she gets in a jam, it's one of the Revolution's shining stars, Justen Helo, who comes to her rescue. But can she trust him? Until she has her answer, Persis will have to work overtime to keep her secret, or more than her own life might be forfeit.

Although this book takes place in a radically climate-changed future Earth, I kept wanting to call it “The Scarlet Pimpernel . . . IIIIINNNN SPAAAAACE.” The Scarlet Pimpernel influence is obvious, and the IIIINNNN SPAAAACE part? Well, it’s that kind of sweeping sci-fi adventure. Like her earlier book in this world (For Darkness Shows the Stars, otherwise known as "Persuasion . . . IIIIIINNNN SPAAAAACE") Peterfreund uses a future society and technological advances to evoke and examine a much older time and more rigid class system than what we're used to.

I did spend awhile wanting to smack Justen, who’s so busy being self-righteous and trying to atone for his own sins that he almost misses what’s right in front of his eyes - namely that there’s quite a bit more to Persis than she lets on. But given that she’s working so hard to fool everyone, I can give him a pass on this.

Persis herself - what can I say about her? She’s smart enough to get away with everything from genetically-engineered disguises to making an entire society think she’s a dingbat. She’s tough and loyal and turns on a dime, and yet she’s got great yawning vulnerabilities, chief among them her mother, who is succumbing to an Alzheimers’-like condition brought on by flawed genetic engineering. In some ways, though, she’s having a little too much fun, being a little too clever, which is when she puts herself and her mission in the most danger. While the stakes are deadly serious, it’s still a game, which is one of the appeals of the Scarlet Pimpernel character.

The ending didn’t completely satisfy me. Though I loved them dearly, the inexplicable appearance of Kai and Elliot from the earlier book threw me off. Unless there’s a wrap-up third book coming our way, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. But the rest of the book was such a rush that I can forgive it.

Reading Roundup: September 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 13
Tween: 6
Children: 6

Sources
Review Copies: 13
Purchased: 2
Library: 8

Standouts
Teen: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (link leads to my review)
The companion novel (not sequel!) to Code Name Verity delivers all the same grit and darkness of wartime. I've seen some reviews that say it's darker but I think it's a different quality here.
Tween: The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
This is a standout pick because of Oscar, who is shy and bewildered by anybody who is not a plant or a cat. Ursu's deft, honest narration brings you right into that place with him.
Children: Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins
So . . . this is the story Collins chose to tell after finishing The Hunger Games trilogy. It's about being a child touched by war, and slowly coming to understand how much it can take away from you. I predict we'll see it in a lot of military libraries and homes because it's honest and doesn't sugar-coat fear, yet there is a positive ending.

Because I Want To Awards
I, Um, Actually Wanted More Football: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles
Okay, I Do Not Like football and a football book usually has to promise some real good stuff to get me to read it. That being said, this first in Elkeles' new swoony romantic trilogy didn't have quite enough football to suit me. It was very important to both characters, yet I felt as if we saw very little of it. Hmm. Strange reaction on my part.
Gothic and Sexy and Did You Expect Anything Else?: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Black took a short story she wrote under the same title from an anthology and spun it out into this captivating, dark novel. Does pretty much what it says the tin.
All of the Firsts, All at Once: Mira in the Present Tense by Sita Brahmachari
As her beloved grandmother is dying, Mira is encountering any number of other firsts in this quietly reflective novel - first period, first crush, first dawning awareness of how desperately unfair, and beautiful, life really is.

Book Review: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Book: Rose Under Fire
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Published: September 10, 2013
Source: Review copy from publisher via NetGalley


Rose Justice is a girl from Pennsylvania, who grew up next door to the Hershey Chocolate factory and captained the basketball team. But her knowledge of piloting planes, her determination to help with the war effort, and a stupid stunt over France have landed her in a German concentration camp.

There she will discover how low she and her fellow prisoners can sink. Huddled together with three and four other women in a single bunk, deprived of food, water, and clothing, and reduced to a number, she finds everything that has ever made her Rose Justice is stripped away.

She also discovers her own strength, and that of the women she is imprisoned with. From the girls who go to their deaths with their heads held high to her bunkmates who create a little family in the most morbid of conditions, Rose sees the durability of the human spirit.

But human spirits are sheltered in human bodies, and human bodies are frail. In a system which famously slaughtered millions, Rose and her friends have very little chance of making it out alive.


At one point I put down this book and wondered why I was reading it. I’m a wimp, really. Stories of privation and torture and hardship are not my cup of tea, especially when I’m so aware that they actually happened. Then I realized that I was in it for Rose. I wanted to be there to witness what she went through, as if she were a personal friend. You know that she made it out, because the conceit of the story is that she's relating it after being saved. But you become terribly, terribly concerned for her friends in the concentration camp. Who made it out? Who died? They're all so carefully drawn that their fates hit you almost as hard as Rose's.

There’s a macabre Hogan’s Heroes feel to Rose's relation of their endless schemes to keep themselves alive. They manufacture riots to cover up condemned prisoners escaping into hidey-holes. They switch out ID numbers to befuddle the guards. They use dead bodies to make the roll call come out right. It’s almost funny, until you remember why they’re doing it, and then you feel a little weird about giving the book an approving grin as they outsmart the guards one more time.

Like Wein's earlier novel, Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire is about female friendships in wartime, and not the hand-holding, brave-smiling homefront portrayals that we normally get. These are women who are fighting the same war as their brothers and fathers and husbands, and showing just as much courage and spirit.

Book Review: The Rules by Stacy Kade

Book: The Rules
Author: Stacey Kade
Published: 2013
Source: ARC borrowed from a friend

Ariane lives by the rules. 1. Never trust anyone. 2. Remember they are always searching. 3. Don’t get involved. 4. Keep your head down. 5. Don’t fall in love.

They’re all that stands between her and discovery. If anyone learned that she was different in any way, the evil GTX corporation would recapture her and drag her back into the bowels of their research division. Yes, recapture. Because Ariane lived the first six years of her life like a mouse in a maze, showing GTX what she could do. And why was what she could so much more special than any other child?

Because she’s not fully human.

Built of human and alien DNA to be GTX’s pet assassin, she was freed at age six by the man who now calls himself her father, and it’s his rules she lives by. She never thought Rule 5 would be a problem - Don’t fall in love - until she starts to get involved with Zane. Popular Zane. Gorgeous Zane. Sweet, gentle, fascinating Zane. The son of the local sheriff, who wants more than anything to get in good at GTX.

This . . . might be a problem.

Like her prior Ghost and the Goth series, this is written in a dual POV, something that’s happening a lot in YA lately. Often, I don’t really know why. In this book, it pretty much works, because Zane and Ariane have very different viewpoints of GTX, but also of their friends, schoolmates, and obviously, each other. Ariane doesn’t trust Zane (for good reason, because his friend Rachel is as mean as a snake). Zane is fascinated by the formerly mousy Ariane’s buried strength, as well as being very concerned about her home life. Seeing the way that their views gradually change was one of the things that kept pulling me through this novel.

There are some things that don’t hold up. For instance, how is it that this girl lived 10 years in the same town with GTX, with her father working for them, and never once thought, “You know, this isn’t the smartest place for me to be.” There’s a spoileriffic reason for that situation, but her unquestioning acceptance of it is what makes me do the simple-dog head-tilt. Plus, Ariane is very delicate, bruising and breaking bones easily, which is part of the reason Zane becomes convinced she’s being abused. How does that work for an assassin, even if she can kill people with her brain?

Overall, however, I liked this book. I’m told (by Goodreads, and if we can’t depend on that, then who can we depend on?) that this is the first in a series. I feel as if it could have just as well been a standalone, but I’ll try out the next one.

Reading Roundup: August 2013

By the Numbers
Teen: 16
Tween: 3
Children: 5

Sources
Review Copies: 9
Library: 13

Standouts
Teen: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
In lesser hands, this could have been a standard, soapy girl-power revenge plot. But Han and Vivian are good at characters, brimming with flaws. While I sort of cheered on the girls' vengeance, I also saw their victims as real people who were really getting hurt by their actions and may or may not have wholly deserved it. I had to immediately start reading the sequel.
Tween: The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin
A mother away in Iraq, changing relationships, and the dumb things you do for your first crush perfectly captured the general topsy-turvy of t
hose first shaky steps into the teenage years.
Children: Dumpling Days by Grace Lin
On a family visit to Taiwan, Pacy struggles with being in a place where she feels like an alien but is expected to feel right at home. For every kid who's ever been caught in the middle and had to carve out their own place, this is for you.

Because I Want To Awards
Almost a Standout: Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst
The first half of this book is so confusing, because the character herself is so lost and confused, that I really had to hang in there and trust the author. Luckily, the second half came together.
Most Batshit Story Element: Gated by Amy Christine Parker
This story of a girl breaking free of a murderous, apocalyptic cult held me captivated, except that every time I came across one of their core beliefs--that the earth was going to reverse its rotation--I looked up from the book and went, "What?" Okay, maybe I'm nitpicky, because they also believed that they'd been chosen for survival by benevolent alien overlords, but boy did that bump me out of the story.