Chalice, by Robin McKinley

Seven years of corrupt leadership in their demesne has left the people of the Willowlands with a broken land and without a ruler. Both their Master and his Chalice have perished. Without either a heir for the Master or an apprentice for the Chalice, the choice for a new leader is awkward. The late Master's brother, returned from the priesthood of the flame, is a poor match but at least continues the bloodline. Mirasol, a common woodswoman, is far more at home tending her bees, but when the divinations dictate that she is to be the new Chalice, she has no choice but to accept. With no knowledge of the craft of being a Chalice and the ways of uniting a land and its people behind their new Master, Mirasol feels particularly hopeless. But when outside forces threaten the demesne, she and the new Master must unite to save their people.

A richly drawn fantasy novel, with strong environmentalist undertones. McKinley's delight in building suspense through gravely-intoned (and mildly pompous) narration grated on me quite a bit (although I recognize that others might feel that it simply builds suspense better). That aside, I enjoyed the growth of the characters and have a special place in my heart for the heroics of the bees.

Same Difference, by Siobhan Vivian

When Emily gets the opportunity to attend a Summer program at the Philadelphia College of Fine Art, she goes from excitement to terror as the reality of attending classes in the city (only 30 miles -- but an entire culture -- away from her life in suburban Jersey) and being in classes with students who are seemingly much more talented than she is. She is quickly captivated by a rogue outsider named Fiona who has a flare for unorthodox guerrilla art, and Emily finds herself emulating her new heroine. But as she tried to be more and more like Fiona, she also is drawn away from who she was (and especially from her hometown friend Meg). In the end, Emily feels that she has to choose between the two worlds.

A comfortably predictable storyline, but combined with characters who are interesting enough to care about and follow. This is a stronger book than Vivian's previous A Little Friendly Advice, so if you liked that one, you're bound to like this one. I enjoyed the artsy environment and detailed tour of the Philly arts scene. Vivian is at her strongest though when she just lets her characters interact, so I generally preferred the parts of the book where we weren't traveling about or doing things. Overall, there's not a lot of surprise here, but it's a competent and enjoyable read.

The one thing that really bothered me about this book was the cover. For a reason I find hard to explain, I can't picture the girl on the cover as being Emily (or Fiona). She just doesn't look the part (at best, maybe like Claire - Emily's younger sister). I admit that it's a totally irrational conclusion though!

Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler

Anna was always inseparable from her next-door neighbors Matt and Frankie (they were brother and sister she never had), but at her birthday thirteen months ago Matt became something much more. For the next month, Matt and Anna would sneak out of their houses for late-night rendezvous, always hiding their growing feelings from their parents and (especially) from Matt's sister Frankie. Even though Anna and Frankie were best of friends, Matt convinced Anna that it would be best if they waited until Summer vacation to tell Frankie. But then, a car accident leaves Matt dead, Frankie injured and grieving, and Anna unable to ever tell the truth. Bound by her promise to Matt to not tell Frankie, Anna now finds herself supporting her friend grieve.

Now, one year after the accident, Frankie and her family have invited Anna to join them for a summer on the beach (the same vacation that they planned for a year ago and never took). It promises to be a memorable trip -- full of secrets revealed, grief laid bare, and the pursuit of "20 boys."

From that description, this book looks like light schlock, and on its surface this book is a bit formulaic and predictable. It also has a habit of pulling on your heart strings in a way that left me a bit suspicious. But there is a lot going on in this story and it resists easy solutions. Ockler is respectful of her characters and plays them well, allowing no one to escape blame yet never finding fault completely in any court. Each one is flawed in their own way. The result is a story that feels surprisingly real and has something meaningful to say about friendship and grief (in a way that all ages can appreciate). The plot may sound a bit melodramatic, but the characters never are. For a first novel, it is an extraordinary accomplishment. This is a book that is well worth seeking out.

The Noah Confessions, by Barbara Hall

When Lynne turns 16,she is shocked to find out that her father has not gotten her a car (everyone at her high school gets a car when they turn 16!). But the bigger shock comes when her Dad hands her a letter that her Mom (dead now for the past 8 years or so) wrote when she was 16 herself. In this letter, her Mom confesses to being an accomplice in a terrible crime committed in the past -- a crime which led directly to meeting her father and having her. Lynne tries to cope with this shocking news and deal with the news that her mother may not have been as perfect as she imagined. And meanwhile struggle to learn how to surf and date her first boyfriend.

There's a complexity to this story that is good, in that it keeps things interesting. However, it also overwhelms the reader. There are too many timelines at play here and few of them really matter (despite the claims of the narrator that we need to understand everything). Secondly, I grew tired of being told by the narrator what was important (I prefer to figure that stuff out for myself). Too much build-up guarantees that the story never quite pays off fully. The secret is supposed to be so shocking and Lynne (over)reacts so strongly to the news, while we're left spinning trying to figure out what the big deal is. I'll admit that the story did not drag, but I did find myself wanting to skim over the exposition to get to the real story.

What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook

The town of Wheaton IN is a pretty small place, and a tight community where everyone knows each other. So, when Emma makes the mistake of kissing her best friend Joann's boyfriend (and gets caught in the act by Joann's Mom), life is pretty much at an end. At first, Emma could officially not care less. She's dying to get out of town and, thanks to her running times, she may just get a scholarship at Northwestern that will take her away. But everything gets thrown into chaos when the pastor's daughter and her friend fall ill and accusations of "terrorism" and "Satanism" start to spread around the school. As people start to get falsely accused, Emma (who unwittingly knows the truth) must decide whether to stand up and bear witness or take the easier path and escape.

Surprisingly engaging and exciting, by the point I was half way through, I found it hard to put this book down. Cook takes a lot of cheap shots at organized religion and small towns, but this serves the purpose of ratcheting up the drama and making the story interesting. While the blurb compares the Cook to Judy Blume, I think the fairer comparison is Joan Bauer and this book reminds me strongly of one of my faves (Hope Was Here) in the way it rights the wrongs in a very empowering way. Emma is a funny and insightful character -- a bit too wise for her years and environs to be believable, but still quite enjoyable. Also, while the stars align a bit too neatly at the end, you really want a story like this to have a feel good ending and the payoff is welcome. A fun read for the beginning of summer!

Ghostgirl: Homecoming, by Tonya Hurley

In this sequel to Ghostgirl, Charlotte and her friends from Dead Ed have passed over, but to what? The Afterlife, it seems, is a huge call center where people in this world call in seeking help from the next. The problem, though, is that Charlotte isn't getting any calls and her so-called friends seem to be abandoning her as well (except for a new girl named Maddie). Charlotte doesn't entirely trust Maddie at first but she's all that Charlotte has, until her old friends from the living world Damen and Scarlet call out to her for help again. This time, it's Scarlet's vain sister Petula who's in desperate trouble -- on the verge of death with little chance of making it to Homecoming queendom -- truly a fate worse than death!

The original was clever and funny, which gave the sequel a lot to live up to, although Hurley more or less manages. The death jokes have worn a bit thin by now and Hurley wisely avoids them, in favor of telling a more complicated story about both Homecoming and coming home. This provides the story with a bit more depth than the original novel (which is a Good Thing). The plot itself was a bit hard to follow and I would recommend re-reading the first book again before tackling this one, but this installment is a pleasing continuation of a truly original and exciting franchise.

Bird, by Rita Murphy

Miranda is a small girl. So small that she is easily picked up by the wind and blown around. How she came to be at Bourne Manor, under the guardianship of the widow Wysteria Barrows, is a mystery to her as she can't quite remember how she got here. But the mysteries just keep getting bigger: there's the fact that Wysteria locks all the rooms at night, or the protective dogs who prowl the house, and the secret rooms on the third floor filled with books and beautiful kites that Miranda discovers. It is only when Miranda befriends a young sailor and Wysteria is sent to a hospital for a month that Miranda begins to unwind the mysteries.

A fascinating blend of fantasy, ghost story, and self-discovery novel, Bird operates as something of an extended metaphor. Miranda's search for herself and her "wings" to fly away from her nest plays out very nicely and the story twists and turns enough to keep thuings interesting. The ending gets a bit rushed and might have benefitted from some fleshing out, but this does not distract from the charm and originality of the novel.

The Year the Swallows Came Early, by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Eleanor (or "Groovy," as her Dad calls her) lives in San Juan Capistrano (a part of California where large flocks of swallows nest each year) and loves to cook. All of which would make for an unremarkable story except for the fact that her father gets arrested on page two. At first, Eleanor is convinced that it is all a mistake, but when she finds out that it isn't, she struggles with accepting the situation and forgiving her father for his errors. Her friend Frankie struggles similarly with forgiving his own mother for abandoning him.

A gentle middle reader. The pacing is glacial, making the story a bit dull (it takes 100 pages just to find out why the father got arrested!), but the overall message of forgiveness and the corrosive effect of carrying anger is a winner. What the book does need is more of a hook -- if not more story, then at least more character and more humor.

The Ghosts of Kerfol, by Deborah Noyes

In the early 17th century, a cruel baron is murdered. His young wife is accused, although she claims he was mauled to death by dogs -- or rather, the ghosts of dogs that he himself strangled. Flash forward two hundred years and an aspiring artist visiting the estate sees apparitions of dogs and a young lady. Go forward another hundred years, and a young woman is mysteriously strangled by another apparition. Sixty years later, a couple on a lark are tortured by visions that seem to be after them. Finally, another twenty years in the future, a deaf gardener has a strange evening where he hears a series of ghosts.

Apparently based on an Edith Wharton story, Noyes has basically retold the original and then developed a riff on it with the flash forwards. I'm not familiar with the Wharton story, so I can only judge this book on its own merits. For me, the first part of the story (i.e., the part based on Wharton) is the most interesting. The rest seems rough and unfinished, and -- in the end -- not very engaging. This literary experiment didn't work for me.

The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han

Every year, "Belly" (short of Isabel) has spent the summer at the beach with her Mom, brother Steven, her Mom's friend Susannah, and Susannah's two sons Conrad and Jeremiah. And each year, Belly has nurtured a crush on Conrad, even though the boys have never shown much interest in her. But now that she is 16, something seems different. For the first time, she's no longer interested and she's certain that she's outgrown Conrad. So, why does it feel funny when she meets a new boy and starts spending time with him? And why does Conrad seem so distant and sullen? Is it jealousy or is something else going on?

At first, this novel felt like it was just a light summer romance (albeit a well-written summer romance) with a healthy dose of flashbacks and some better-than average character development. But, by the end, Han has woven a lot more into the story, creating a far more complex romance than you might expect. Han's first novel (Shug) was funny and original. Her second outing shows that it was not a fluke.

Tiger Moon, by Antonia Michaelis

In Colonial India - a world of both Western influence and multiple religious traditions - a young bride needs to be rescued and a neer-do-well thief and swindler named Farhad has been tasked by the gods to rescue her. He won't be alone. He'll have a magic sacred tiger to carry him faster than the wind. But along the way, the hero and his unusual steed will have a series of exotic adventures and they will struggle to accomplish their task. The ending will surprise everyone!

An unusual adventure/fantasy epic, full of familiar tropes and expected plot complications, but then utterly original by the end in how it resolves everything. Perhaps the originality is due to the fact that Michaelis is German (the novel was translated into English) or perhaps it is the exotic setting of the story. Either way, the story twists in unusual ways! I particularly liked the way that India's multiple religious traditions are worked into the story, making this as much a story about a culture as a series of fantasies.

Does This Book Make Me Look Fat?, ed by Marissa Walsh

A collection of short stories, memoirs, verse, and even a graphic story devoted to body image issues. Some of the stories take the viewpoint of the person struggling, while others look at the impact of issues on family members and friends.

As with all collections, the contributions are a bit uneven and a few are even off-topic. The strongest pieces are the memoirs, where the authors relate their own image problems. The graphic story is a nice change of pace too, and well done. However, most of this collection is unexceptional and forgettable.

The bottom line is that there isn't much new being said here about the topic.

3 Willows, by Ann Brashares

Three girls (Jo, Polly, and Ama) have a memorable summer. Jo goes to the beach and spends the summer bussing tables, struggling between trying to impress the older girls with which she works and staying true to Polly and Ama. Ama goes out on a hiking expedition, even though she can't stand the outdoors. And Polly tries to pursue a career as a fashion model as well as deal with an absent mother. In the end, all three girls learn a lot about themselves.

Sound familiar?

At a basic level, Brashares is producing another installment of her successful formula. After four Traveling Pants books, though, that franchise was pretty much exhausted, so we now have a new set of girls -- all ready for their own set of books. But hey, it works and it is the literary equivalent of comfort food. Brashares is a good writer, so there is little pain in reading any variant of the theme. The shame though is that she really isn't stretching her talents any.

Boy Heaven, by Laura Kasischke

At cheerleader summer camp, three girls decide to sneak out to go skinny dipping at a nearby lake. They never make it, but instead manage to attract the attention of a car-full of boys. On a lark, they decide to tease the boys. Now, days later, the girls have become convinced that they are being followed.

A surprisingly aimless novel. The main story itself is fairly thin, so most of this novel is actually made up of flashbacks and completely unrelated subplots. Much of this back story is interesting but without much of a main story, there isn't much to keep this together. By the time I finished the book, I really wasn't sure what it was supposed to be about. A disappointment.

Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity, by Kerry Cohen

A young woman, confusing her need for love with sex, goes through a series of relationships, never quite getting the validation she needs in her meaningless physical entanglements.

While this could read as a fascinating piece of YA fiction, it is all the more interesenting for being non-fiction. Cohen has previously revealed a strong heart and a captivating ability to get inside people's heads in her novels Easy and The Good Girl. In this autobiography, she goes much further, revealing in brave detail her own attempts to sort out her emotional needs. In the process, she does not hesitate to reveal intimate details that she admits (in her introduction) will probably embarass her family.

A ground breaqking work. Most of us will relate to some part of her story and, without a doubt, this should be required reading for every teen girl and boy. More than an account of mistakes and wrong turns (which truly would have been boring and narcissistic), Cohen gives us an honest read of doubt and longing, and the way that sex far too often fills (and fails to satisfy) those needs. Striking and unforgettable!

Impossible, by Nancy Werlin

Lucy has always known that her foster parents are not her real parents (and that her biological mother is really the crazy bag lady). She knows that her biological mother went mad shortly after giving birth to her at the age of 18. What Lucy does not know at first is that she is the latest in a line of women condemned by a curse. And that everything that happened to her mother -- being an unwed teen mother, going mad -- is about to happen to her as well, unless she can perform three impossible tasks in time.

A marvelous modern fairy tale based on the words of the "Elfin Knight" (aka "Scarborough Fair"). Werlin, whose overhyped Rules of Survival annoyed me and whose Double Helix surprised me, is turning out to be quite a good writer of sci-fi/fantasy (a genre which probably no one pegged her for at first). This well-paced story features strong everyday characters pressed into extraordinary service. At over 350 pages, this book could have been torturous to read through, but that was not how I experienced it at all. Entertaining and fulfilling.

All the Wrong People Have Self-Esteem, by Laurie Rosenwald

Subtitled, "an inappropriate book for young ladies (or, frankly, anybody else)," this hilarious book is a bit hard to describe. Each page features a collage dedicated to a particular theme (most of them mocking in one way or another what an old friend of mine calls "bow head magazines" - Vogue, Cosmo, etc.). This is a "chick lit" book that mocks even itself and has a bit of bile for even the best intentioned cause (tired of being green? try the purple movement instead!). Witty and on the money, without becoming too precious.

While not full of any deep meaning, this book made me laugh and laugh. And as one of the most original books that I've read in a very long time, I'll give it top marks. I will admit that it may be a special taste (my s.o. couldn't stand it!), but if you have a cynical edge and enjoy a wise cracking humor, you will be able to get into this. And, if not, it really does not take much time to read this one!

Every Soul A Star, by Wendy Mass

Three kids from three different backgrounds: Ally (shy and isolated, she's spent most of her life with her parents and little brother taking care of a campground deep in the woods and now most face the decision of her parents to leave and return to civilization), Bree (spoiled and materialistic, her dreams of becoming a fashion model are destroyed by her parents' decision to pull up stakes and relocate the family to the campground to replace Ally's family), and Jack (a dreamy artist who's never had much interest in science but has been offered the opportunity to skip summer school if he'll accompany his science teacher to the aforementioned campground to help observe a total solar eclipse). Three kids faced with impending huge changes in their lives and the rare opportunity to observe one of the most beautiful occurrences in nature.

A fun and mostly fulfilling read about learning to accept changes and discovering oneself, Mass has delivered another winning novel for middle readers. I was a bit disappointed at how easily the characters changed and I would have appreciated a bit more drama and resistance. That said, Mass brings great creativity to this work (and which novel of hers hasn't been creative and interesting?) and a strong ability with characters. Even Bree, who could easily have been the least likable of the three narrators, develops in a way that makes her sympathetic and identifiable. And while following a convention where each narrator gets to tell the story in alternating chapters can easily get tiring, Mass keeps the pace up. A good read.

What They Always Tell Us, by Martin Wilson

At a party at the beginning of his Junior Year, Alex decided on a whim to swallow a bottle of Pine-Sol. A month later, he is coming to terms with what prompted such a rash act and dealing with the way that his old friends are treating him now. His older brother James has issues of his own, not least of which is a suspicion about the unusual attention that his friend Nathen is paying to Alex. A lonely 10 year-old boy next door plays a role in both Alex's and James's lives as well.

A strange story that can't seem to decide what it wants to be about. Alex's coming-out story is the clearest plot line and would seem to be the focus of the novel, but half of the book is really about James and James's storyline never really seems to go anywhere. The subplot about the boy next door also seems to lead nowhere. None of this is helped by the lack of real character development. As much as we would expect the suicidal and sexual-orientation-questioning Alex to make an interesting character, he stays pretty flat. For me, neither Alex nor James really came alive off the page.

Gossip of the Starlings, by Nina de Gramont

In 1984, Catherine is being given a chance to redeem herself after being removed from her last school for sleeping with her boyfriend. She misses her old friend Susannah, but is quickly befriended at her new school by Skye Butterfield (the daughter of one of the state's senators). Skye is hardly a good influence and quickly leads Catherine into bad old habits that threaten to destroy all of them. In sum, a complicated story about adolescent jealousies told in a past passive voice that implies recollection from a wiser older self.

Overall, this is a terribly dull and boring story. The narrator's passive voice does nothing to help. Billed as YA, the novel is really a wistful adult novel about teens (it's no coincidence that Jacquelyn Mitchard's gushing praise appears on the cover -- only she could write a novel that was similarly dull and age-inappropriate as this!). The characters spend their time waxing poetic with a wisdom entirely inappropriate for their age (and lack to ego-centricity that authentic 17 year-olds would express). And where did all the cocaine come from? I myself went to a private school in New England in 1985 and, while we had plenty of pot and acid, none of us could afford the plethora of blow that these young women plow through! Just give this story a miss! There are plenty of nostalgic stories about teens written by grownups -- most of them are more interesting than this one.

Getting the Girl, By Susan Juby

Girls at Harewood High School are getting blacklisted (or "defiled") through an anonymous accuser. The results are devastating -- complete social ostracism. However, Mack Daddy (a.k.a. shy 9th grader Sherman Mack) is on the case! He doesn't know much about girls (and even less about the specifics of the case!) but he bravely plows ahead, even if it means getting caught in a closet wearing a dress that belongs to the mother of one of the lacrosse players! Before the story is done, he will have exposed the mysterious "defiler" and managed to prepare a dinner party for twelve.

A bit more hectic than Juby's previous books but still displaying that same dark wit. The narrator's still slightly more clueless than your average reader (not so much that you can hate him, but enough for a good laugh). As with the Alice books, this can be hard to digest (either you like or you don't) but unlike those books, the humor is less mean and anyone can root for our hero's attempt to right the social wrongs of casting out people who are different.

Fearless, by Tim Lott

In the future, the Ten Corporations run the world and the City is controlled by the City Boss. Children who do not comply with the rules (or who have the misfortune of being associated with parents who do not) are sent to the City Community Faith School -- really, a prison -- where they are stripped of their names and identities and forced to work. One day, one of the girls raises up her voice and challenges the status quo. Nicknamed "Little Fearless," she hatches a plan to free the girls and wake up the compliant cityzens of the City.

A clever and rich allegory, although largely derivative of most other dystopian novels, Lott spins an intersting story. Character development is sparse but in a world of such dehumanization, it is hard to flesh out characters. Instead, we get a fast-paced adventure story. The ending is all a bit too convenient for me, but suffered mostly from being so rushed (it was certainly plausible). The story overall will give you plenty to think about and makes a nice discussion piece (for people who like to analyze literature!).

Zoe & Chloe on the Prowl, by Sue Limb

Zoe and Chloe are desperately looking for boys to take them to the Earthquake Ball next weekend and they get the bright idea of interviewing candidates for the role by inventing a fake job vacancy to use as a cover. Around the same time, Zoe's older sister has a crisis and needs the girls' help. There's also the amazingly naughty Norman boys to babysit, a suspicious mother to placate, Zoe's attempts to charm Oliver, and all manner of zany adventures to keep this story moving.

It's really hard to say what drove me to finish this book. I picked it up in hope that Limb would find new energy with some new characters (since her Jess Jordan series has been losing steam and energy), but these two girls are no mindlessly lame that it was some sort of torture to finish the book. I realize that this isn't a book intended for blokes (to coin the Brit flavor of the writing), but I can't see much here for girls either. Most of the book is spend gushing and fretting and not much of substance goes on (just because it's a children's book doesn't mean it needs to be completely vapid, does it?). By the time we get to flatulence jokes on page 78, I would think that most folks would be ready to turn this one in. Unfortunately, Limb appears to be a one-hit wonder with Girl, 15 Charming But Insane (a brilliant story she just has never managed to match for creativity and fun).

Switched, by Jessica Wollman

Laura would love to be doing anything this year besides cleaning the houses of rich people, but there is no other way she can come up with to earn the money she needs to attend UCONN next year. Willa is floundering at home, sentenced to attend yet another boarding school, where she will undoubtedly fail yet again and let her parents down. In short, two very unhappy girls. But through some strange stroke of fate, the girls are dead ringers for each other and they hatch a plot to switch places -- Laura will become Willa and vice versa -- and both of them will get to live the life they have dreamed of.

Yes, it's Prince and the Pauper modernized and set in the word of texting and MySpace. Who says the classics have to be boring? The story stretches believability in more ways than one and has enough skips in logic to make your head spin, but I have to give it some credit -- I kept reading and I even enjoyed myself. Brainless escapism, but then it's almost Summer isn't it?

Artichoke's Heart, by Suzanne Supplee

Continuing on the same theme...it was the plane ride devoted to eating disorders!

Rosie (nicknamed "Artichoke" so many years ago) struggles with food. Unable to moderate her consumption, she binges as a means of soothing her heartaches. But when she cracks through 200 lbs, she commits herself to losing weight. Meanwhile, she also struggles with a variety of outside stressors: a mother sick with cancer, a new friend who has been cast out of the popular girl clique, and a gorgeous boy-crush who (for some reason she cannot fathom) actually likes her in return. All of this is set in the environs of a Spring Hill TN beauty salon (cue lots of Southern cliche).

Overall, this is a nice story about finding self-esteem and gaining the strength to take charge of one's life. The added element about coming to terms with a sick parent will probably make this a popular pick for mother-daughter book clubs. However, I couldn't quite get beyond the chaotic number of subplots. The overall impact was that I began to block out large amounts of the story just to stay focused on the main narrative. The rest just got distracting. Subplots are beautiful things but focus is best!

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

When Lia's best friend Cassie dies, Lia knows it is her fault. Never mind that Cassie has been purging for years and destroying herself through bulimia and alcohol. Lia knows that Cassie tried to call her a couple of dozen times before she died and Lia never called her back because she was afraid to help her old friend. Not that Lia can tell anyone about this, because if she did, they would throw her back in the nuthouse again. Just as they would if they knew that she was losing weight again. Instead, she has to lie her way, denying to everyone - including herself - that she has a problem (beyond being massively overweight and trying to get herself down to 75lbs or less!).

A truly harrowing trip through the mind of an anorexic. Anderson, of course, is of the great shining stars of YA lit and this book certainly does not disappoint. This is a hard topic to read about and (for me) harder to relate to than her other books (I'll be honest and say that I just don't anorexia -- it combines self-denial with a lethal dose of dishonesty and self-indulgence that repels me on several levels -- but perhaps it is a Good Thing that I can't quite comprehend the motives). Wintergirls lacks the humor and emotional release that helped lighten Speak but I think it is fair to say that humor would have been out of place in a story like this. What Wintergirls offers instead is an unrelenting tour of self-destructive madness. This is scary stuff but worth reading!

Goldengrove, by Francine Prose

After her sister drowns, Nico and her family must come to grips with their loss and grief. Nico's father buries himself in a book he is writing ("Eschatology for Dummies"), her Mom starts abusing painkillers, and Nico herself gets drawn into a relationship with her dead sister's boyfriend. The relationship, which begins as simply a means to vent their grief, spirals out of control as Nico finds herself unable to accept that her sister is truly gone.

I seem to have picked up a lot of books about death and grieving lately. This one, not truly a YA book, is well-enough written but suffers from the same general problems as the others: what can you actually say about this subject? Someone died, you spend a lot of time ruminating about them, and then you either move or or you don't. Prose (great name for a writer, don't you think?) has little to add to this formula and even less about going through it as a teen. Her 13 year-old narrator tells the story through the benefit of adult flashback, so comes across as terribly precocious.

Angel, by Cliff McNish

When Freya was little, she was visited by an angel. The experience led her to become obsessed with angels until that obsession drove her into madness. Now that she is 14, she's better and returned to a normal life, just trying to fit in at school. But the arrival of a strange girl named Stephanie, her brother's struggles with a bully, her father's battle against illness, and the appearance of a dark apparition all threaten the sanity she has struggled so hard to achieve.

A complex and interesting story that spends about as much time exploring high school cliques as it does the meaning of good and evil (in a way that will appeal to teen readers well!). If you're not into angels (and I'm not), there is still a decent adventure story here. But if angels are your thing, you'll like this even more.

Forever Changes, by Brendan Halpin

Brianna is struggling to survive Cystic Fibrosis and her senior year of high school. She dreams of getting into MIT, but being able to live long enough to matriculate will be a more important accomplishment. Her Calculus teacher serves as an inspiration to keep her going and also to appreciate her role in the universe. The music of (the band) Love keeps her going.

While showing a lot of promise, this is a very rough book. The ending is great, but largely comes out of nowhere. Much of the rest of the book is like that as well: pieces of genius observation scattered amidst a rough outline. In sum, Halperin has fantastic ideas but no real story. The story has promise, but disappoints.

Down to the Bone, by Mayra Lazara Dole

Laury is a typical Cuban-American girl living in Miami with a secret (she is in love with another girl) and when a nun intercepts a love letter between the two girls, Laury is kicked out of school and out of her home by a mother who won't let her back until she changes into a heterosexual. So Laury has to go out and fend on her own, which she actually does quite well at: finding a job, making friends, and discovering her identity. She still struggles with whether she should date boys in order to win back her mother or be true to her heart and see girls. In between, Dole gives us a lot of local color and custom, and insight into the gay Cuban-American scene.

Fast paced and heavily laced with jargon and cultural details, Dole obviously knows the milieu and appreciates the culture, mores, cuisine, and patois of Miami. Readers who want the multicultural experience will appreciate the chance to read about a sympathetic character who is Cuban-American and unashamedly gay at the same time. Moving beyond that, however, this is a very thin book. Dole is great with dialogue and so relies on endless conversations about nothing (basically, just her characters "chilling" or "kicking"). Important plot developments get stated quickly and we return to the chatter. The result is frustrating. The characters obviously had a lot going on inside, but we don't get to learn much about that as neither they (nor the author) want to share.

Looks, by Madeleine George

Meghan may be the "fat girl" and the largest girl in the school, Aimee may be a razor thin and unknown new arrival, but between them they share a mutual enemy and have the opportunity to right a series of wrongs. Ultimately a story of revenge, this novel is also a series of observations about cliques and standing up for oneself.

There are some nice commentary and the adults are refreshingly observant and aware, but the overall story is scattered and lethargic. Worse, subplot after subplot (from Aimee's eating issues to Aimee's relationship with her mother's ex-boyfriend) peter out without any serious attempt to achieve resolution. Even the overall settling of scores is left inconclusive. It felt largely like George liked bring up conflicts but lost interest in the characters.

Season of Ice, by Diane Les Bacquets

In the late Fall, Genesis's father goes missing. They quickly find his truck and his boat, but the body (for it seems likely that the worst has happened) is not found. Before the search can get much further, the lake begins to freeze over and the search must be delayed until the Spring. In that winter, Gen and her family deal with the uncertainty and come to terms with their loss. Gen spends the time searching out friends of her Dad's to try to learn more about him.

A well-written, but ultimately dull story of grief. The author has a good sense of the characters and the community she portrays is rich and colorful, but the story does not go anywhere. The jacket blurb's promise of romance, for example, is largely unrealized. Other subplots fizzle in similar fashion. It is a pretty work but a purposeless exercise.

I Know It's Over, by C K Kelly Martin

Nick and Sasha have a great little summer romance with a dose of sex thrown in with a good measure of awkward first-time clumsiness thrown in. But after Sasha breaks up with Nick (truth be told, he's a bit of an asshole -- so much so that some reader before me wrote as much in the margin of page 30!), Nick struggles with getting over her -- a problem which is exacerbated when Sasha announces that she is pregnant.

This is a finely written book but I was prejudiced against it because of an overenthusiastic publicity department. There is no worse deed that your publisher can do for you than to get one of my favorite authors (Lara Zeises) to write a blurb on the back of the book that compares this novel favorably with two of my other favorite authors (Sarah Dessen and John Green). Talk about setting uber-unrealistic expectations!

It is a very nice book and addresses rather sensitively the struggles that Nick goes through in a very believable and realistic fashion (this is one of those rare cases where I can speak with some authority that what Nick was thinking and going through rang true). Martin has a good feel for teenage sexuality and a better idea of how boys think that most female writers I have read. However, the book has very little in common with either Dessen or Green's works. For one thing, it lacks the humor and irony that are trademarks of those authors, and for another it lacks the poetry of their books. If you choose the read this book, ignore the hype. You will find plenty to like on its own merits.

The Ghost's Child, by Sonya Hartnett

On an evening when Matilda had planned to finish her book, she is instead visited by a mysterious young boy who prompts her to tell her life story, covering 75 years (growing up, falling in love with another mysterious boy, losing that love, and finding a career).

A haunting and well-written story that will evoke memories of Titanic (but without the pesky ship-sinking bit). Ultimately, this short story does not really have much of a purpose, but it is beautifully-narrated. Also, it is a bit strange that they decided to target the book to a YA audience when this romance will appeal to a much larger demographic. Beware the heavy use of metaphor and symbolism which is certain to cause this book to be misused as a writing assignment in some AP English class!

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

In the distant future, North America is now known as Panem, and is ruled by a tyranny from the Capitol. In retribution for an uprising many years ago, a contest is held every year called the Hunger Games, where each of twelve districts must send two of your young people to fight to the death in gladiator contests. This year, District 12 is represented by Katniss and Peeta. Peeta is a weak baker's son, but Katniss has struggled all of her life to support her family and has a suberb survival instinct. But will it keep her alive in the contest against the others? And what about Peeta, who she must also kill to stay alive (an idea which becomes more complicated as her feelings for him begin to develop)?

Not my usual thing, but a strangely compelling book. I had a great deal of trouble putting it down, which speaks highly for its value. The suspense level is high and Collins spins a very tight story. Perhaps not as much character development as I was hoping for, but there will be a sequel and that promises ample opportunity for taking this further. The book is getting a lot of hype, so it probably doesn't need another endorsement, but I'll give it anyway. If you want entertaining, hanging on your seat excitement, you can't do much better than this book.

Everything Beautiful, by Simmone Howell

When Riley screws up again, her Dad and Stepmom decide that the best thing to do with her during their planned vacation is to send her to a Christian camp in the outback for a week. This naturally enough does not go down well with atheist and wild grrl Riley. And in her first day or two there, she does her best to not fit in. However, she grows close to wheelchair-bound Dylan and (against her own better judgement) begins to enjoy herself, even as she manages to get in more and more trouble.

Despite some originality in the characters (Howell does a good job of giving everyone a twist that keeps them a step or two away from the stereotypes), the story itself is pretty much by-the-numbers and the conclusion falters badly. The novel gets points for avoiding feel-good observations about paraplegics and any temptation to throw in a cheap redemption scene. But the cost is that the story never quite wraps up and an attempt at spiritual depth towards the end falls flat. But I found the characters interesting and original enough to keep me involved in the story.

No More Us For You, by David Hernandez

Life as a museum guard ought to be fairly boring, but red licorice-loving Carlos has an amusing ability to attract trouble. Add to this some awkward relationship stumbling and a lot of boy-on-boy hazing and trash-talking (the writing is definitely R rated) and you mostly get a fairly uneventful story about a 17 year-old boy for the first half of the book. This changes though when a tragedy strikes out of the blue. Now the book becomes an exploration of survivor guilt and coping with loss. Employing alternate narrators (Carlos and Isabel), we attempt to get two perspectives on the events.

If my summary sounds a bit half-baked (and if it seems a bit odd that I have nothing to say about the narrator [Isabel] of half of the novel), that should give you a sense of the book's flaws. The book lacks direction, preferring to wallow in dialogue that seems to exist mostly to prove its authenticity than to further the story. The boys (Carlos and his male friends) are well drawn-out but the girls are throwaway and never really emerge with clear purposes of their own. This would be forgivable if the story had a point to make, but it never does that either.

My Tiki Girl, by Jennifer McMahon

In Maggie's mind, there is her Before Accident self (where she had friends and a mother that everyone liked) and then there is the After Accident Maggie where she has become "Frankenstein Girl" (hobbling from a leg injury) reeling from the death of her mother. Drowned in self-pity and blaming herself for the loss of her mother, Maggie has shut herself off from her friends. It takes a quirky outcast (Tiki) to bring Mags out of her shell. But the relationship develops into something more, triggering rumors and backlash from their peers. All of this aggravates the problems that Mags has dealing with grief.

Long-ish and slow paced, this story fails to deliver. Aside from an attempt at a cathartic ending, the key problems remain unadressed. Instead, we get a lot of ingredients (angst, dead mom, gender identity, oddball adventures, etc.) but no recipe. The characters are surprisingly thin for such a cerebral story (perhaps because their behavior is so predictable) and the story meanders.

Everything You Want, by Barbara Shoup

When Emma's Dad wins $50 million on Lotto, it seems at first as if everything is coming up roses. But that just isn't how life works. Instead, the sudden influx of wealth complicates things. Emma finds that all of her previous issues (insecurity, lack of focus, fear, etc.) get magnified by the money. Now, she can do anything she wants, but she can't figure out what that is. Add to this an extreme awkwardness with boys, and she has to do some serious soul searching.

This might be interesting territory to go down if you have never watched a rags-to-riches story on VH-1, but otherwise you might already be familiar with the concept that money corrupts. And you might have noticed that it has a tendency to turn character weaknesses into social pathologies. The question you have to ask yourself: do you care? Do you feel sorry for the poor little rich girl or do you (like me) get a bit tired of caring for someone who can't seem to get their life together? It doesn't help, of course, that the parents are not exactly paragons of responsibility either!

Overall, this story goes on too long. You'll get the idea in the first fifty pages that these are people who can't handle wealth. After that reality is established, where does one go with the story? I longed for some serious redemption, but Shoup avoids any real deep sul discovery. As a result, the characters never quite dig themselves out of their wallowing and self-pity. It makes for light escapism, but there isn't much in the lessons learned department.

Climbing the Stairs, by Padma Venkatraman

In India in 1941, there are two wars taking place -- WW II is going on in the periphery but closer to home, India is struggling for its independence. When Vidya's father is rendered an invalid from a savage beating, the family is forced to take refuge in the unsympathetic arms of her father's family. In their new home, Vidya must struggle simply for the right to read (the family does not approve of such pursuits by a woman). So, it seems like a lost cause to continue to hope to be given the chance to go to college when she graduates from school (far more likely, she will be forced into marriage). But hope comes from surprising places in this exotic and inspirational tale.

A lot of momentum is lost to exposition and explanation of the culture, but that is to be expected given the unfamiliar locale and customs, and Venkatraman makes up for it with a well-paced story. The characters are interesting and Vidya's ability to overcome her adverse conditions with a combination of luck and perseverance is appealing and rewarding. An interesting story that will appeal especially to people not familiar with the era or the place.

Girl, Barely 15: Flirting for England, by Sue Limb

This prequel to Girl, 15, Charming But Insane, picks up Jess's life a few months earlier (as the title suggests) when a group of French students come to visit on exchange. Jess's surprise at having to host a boy is quickly supplanted by her fantasies of ending up with a Gallic Stud. When Edouard ends up being a mealy geek instead, Jess turns her eyes to one of the other boys. Things get complicated during a weekend camping trip when Jess and her girl friends find themselves in competition for the same young man.

As I noted in my review of Girl, Going on 17: Pants on Fire (the third book in the series), the franchise seemed a bit exhausted, and as I started this one I was pretty much afraid that that was how it was going to go. But after some purely dreadful passages with the girls basically just doing silly gossipy things, they hit the countryside and the story starts getting interesting! Far too soon, however, we're back at school and it goes dreadful dull again. Younger readers may enjoy this book, but most American teens will find them either hopelessly tame or frivolous. For the most part, the joy and fun that was in the original is largely gone (or retread).

I was also rather annoyed at the two attempts to tie in Limb's new characters (Zoe and Chloe -- see forthcoming review of the first book in that series!). Largely pointless, these two passages have nothing to do with Jess's story and seem solely intended to create name recognition and product placement. Shame!

Julep O'Toole: What I Really Want To Do Is Direct, by Trudi Trueit

In this third installment, Julep is unwillingly drafted into a drama club production of Princess and the Pea in order to save her English grade. But she can't stand it. Just as she is about to give up (having fought a losing war against the paper mache trees she is being forced to make for stage crew), she is granted the opportunity to become an assistant director. This changes things immensely, but even Julep isn't prepared for what happens next!

Clever and witty middle reader material about an energetic and adventuresome girl. She had trouble asking for help (probably a problem that readers her age can relate to) but she is resourceful and charming. The series is getting a bit worn out and tired and this latest edition lacks the charm of the first book, but this is well-written entertaining material for the right audience.

My One Hundred Adventures, by Polly Horvath

In one busy Summer, 12-year-old Jane gets roped into helping the minister distribute Bibles, babysitting the horrible Gourd children, and meeting a series of men who used to date her mother (and may or may not be her father). There's her best friend getting dragged off to soccer camp and the lonely Mr Fordyce with his endless berries (and love for all children - even the Gourd kids!). In sum, a array of crazy situations. Jane starts off the Summer wishing for a hundred adventures. And while she doesn't quite manage that many, she does come close!

Another zany Mainelander tale from Horvath. In spirit, this is a close relative of The Canning Season, but with a slightly meaner streak to it (in terms of how the characters treat each other). For this reason mainly, I had a hard time getting through this story. It lacked the lightness of Horvath's other books and its zaniness came across as disjointed ideas instead of the usual cleverness of Horvath's other writings.

Baby, by Joseph Monninger

Baby is at the end of the line. At 15 years old, she's been kicked out of a series of foster homes and she is on her last chance before being sent to Juvie. Yet, this last chance may actually work out! She's been sent to a home in rural New Hampshire and learns to care for a dog sled team (and eventually on how to run the dogs herself). But can she accept good things in her life? Or will she insist on wrecking it all to follow after her boyfriend?

This well-meaning story suffers from two fatal flaws: an unsympathetic heroine and a story that grows increasingly erratic as it progresses. Monninger obvious loves dog sledding (he's written several book on dogs and is a real-life dog sledder) and that is revealed by how well-written those sections are. However, the rest of the book is weak and undeveloped. Everyone seemed overly tolerant of Baby's overly nasty personality and I never saw any real redemption or remorse.

The Good Girl, by Kerry Cohen Hoffman

In Lindsey's family, she is the good one. She takes care of her father, serves as a surrogate mother for her rebellious sister, reassures her mother (who has moved away and started a new family), and keeps silent about her grief for her dead brother. Despite this dramatic challenge, she manages to get good grades, the respect of her teachers, and the admiration of her peers. But inside, she is falling apart. And when she starts stealing things to soothe her pain, the situation quickly reaches a breaking point.

Full of lots of good ideas (and maybe a bit too many explanatory behavioral factors!) this slim book is maddening. It read largely like a abstract, as if Hoffman had started the book and written all of the key parts but never fleshed them out. There is much to like in this book and the character is understandable and sympathetic, but the novel could have been so much more expanded. And in doing so, it would have been a better read because we would have developed a deeper understanding of Lindsey's story and the causes of her issues. The current result looks more like a rush job.

The Wild Girls, by Pat Murphy

In 1972, Joan and her family move to California. Joan quickly befriends an eccentric and independent girl who calls herself "Fox," and the two girls dub themselves the "Wild Girls" -- brave and fearless conquerors of nature. But Fox and "Newt" (Joan) are anything but fearless, and struggle with families that are disintegrating around them and afraid of what this means for them. They do, however, share a love of writing and through a Summer course at Berkeley in creative writing, they learn a lot more about themselves as well as how to craft a story.

Obviously autobiographical, I would have normally been prone to dismiss this story as lazy writing (how hard can it be to tell your own life story, peddling it as fiction?) but this one is done terribly well. There are many brilliant observations about human nature, beautifully-written narrative, and just the right amount of angst to make the story and the characters matter. In sum, this is a gorgeous book and a model of what autobiographical YA really should be about (i.e., take stories from your youth and spin them into something substantive that transcends your individual experience). Highly recommended.

Cycler, by Lauren McLaughlin

Jill has a terrible problem that comes around once a month -- she turns into a boy named Jack. And only after spending four days in a boy's body does she get her period (talk about nasty PMS!). But beyond that catchy premise, there's a story about identity as Jill and Jack struggle to find their place in the life of a single body -- a problem only complicated by adolescence, love, and the Senior Prom.

The plot probably sounds gimmicky, but in fact does not disappoint as McLaughlin quickly transcends the novelty and humor to develop a truly interesting story about gender identity and acceptance. I found Jack a bit too stereotypical (although I suspect that women have the same complaints about the heroines that male writers create!) as a teen horndog, but he grows on you. And the story, while carrying a strong message, never sacrifices its entertainment value. Recommended, yet strangely overlooked by most of my peers. Seek it out!

The Book of Jude, by Kimberley Heuston

It is the late 1980s and Jude is a mildly over-imaginative teen living in New York in a struggling Mormon family. But she does not do well with change and when her Mom gets a chance to study for a year in Prague, Jude can't imagine a worse situation than losing her Mother for a year, until she learns that the plan is really to have the whole family move to Prague. Not only does this sound worse, it actually is worse as Jude's flights of fancy quickly deteriorate into psychosis and madness as she becomes unable to differentiate between reality and nightmares as the country around her shifts between paranoia and chaos.

Set against the historical events of the Velvet Revolution (for some bizarre reason, the blurb writer cofuses this with the Prague Spring [of 1968]!), Heuston's latest historical novel is an interesting dpearture from the usual mold. Part historical, part I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, this complex story traces stories of change, historical upheaval, religious faith, and mental illness. Staying true to the jumbled mental state of the narrator, the story itself jumps and bounds around from topic to topic. That can make for very frustrated reading as interesting subplots get lost in the haze and the main storyline never really wraps up. However, it feels more realistic this way. My one complaint is that the story could have been much longer and benefitted from fleshing out of the story. That said, Heuston is one of the stronger and more original voices in YA historical fiction today and worth reading.

The Mousehunter, by Alex Milway

In an alternate world, mice come in all sizes and shapes, and have proven to be the most versatile helpmates a human could long for. And in this world, young Emiline yearns to fine tune her mousekeeper skills to the point that she can one day be considered a mousehunter. But in the meantime, she has left the employ of her eccentric mouse-collecting Lovelock to join the privateer Drewshank on an expedition to capture the dread pirate Mousebeard. Through storms and sea monsters, Emiline and her trusty gray mouse Portly take the adventure of their lives.

An extremely developed and colorful fantasy read, Milway's descriptions of all of the various mice that populate his world are the true highlight of this book. And the book certainly has enough twists and turns to keep things busy. However, Milway seems to delight in throwing in these details and twists not so much to keep the story exciting as much as to fill the story with activity. Far too many storylines are introduced and die with a whimper. And I found the constantly shifting narrative voice (sometimes with the girl, sometimes with the privateer, and even sometimes with the villians) very distracting. This is not a story for character development (or even growth) and that makes for dry reading. Very creative but dreadfully dull (in spite of its frenetic activity level).

Everything Is Fine, by Ann Dee Ellis

Mazzy's mother is sick, lying at home slowly vegetating from grief. Mazzy's Dad is away from home pursuing his dream job of being a sports commentator on ESPN and avoiding facing th truth about what is going on at home. People come by to help (a home health aide named Bill, the neighbors, a hired woman who brings the groceries, a concerned social worker, etc.) but each time Mazzy tries to drive them off with her "karate chops" and an assurance that "everything is fine," even if it most certainly is not.

The story seeks poignancy by telling the story entirely through Mazzy's voice and her drawings. That would work if Mazzy wasn't such an unlikeable character. Some of this nastiness is a result of her need to protect her family, but there is also a terrible selfish streak to her that really turned me off. And as the story promised that everything would be revealed, I wanted to find out that Mazzy had some good reason for behaving as she did (autism, ADHD, anything!) but that never came. Once I hated the main character, my interest in what happened to her plummeted. And my desire to read her (realistically) scrappy narrative declined. An interesting concept but a book that you will probably want to give a pass on.