Black Juice, by Margo Lanagan

In a diverse set of ten short stories and ten different worlds, we are introduced to a family executing their own daughter, a girl who can't make it to the church on time, and a series of different people suffering through plagues, storms, and other calamities. In short, each story provides a snapshot of a young person coming to terms with their environment.

Some of the stories are outstanding but it is the laziest form of storywriting to create a short story in an exotic locale. Langan creates characters with backstory and settings with deep culture, but as each one is a fantasy setting, it is fairly easy work. The difficulty would have been in expanding any of these stories into a novel, and from this collection, we have no indication that she could pull that off. Beyond that, it become tiresome to have to plod through so many different settings and characters in one book. If the stories had stood out as different from each other, it wouldn't be a problem (after all, any anthology presents the challenge), but these stories just sound the same after a while.

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

In this retelling of the classic Grimms tale, the betrayed princess with the skill of communicating with nature struggles to win back her rightful legacy through perseverance and character, making her allies one at a time and suffering significant set backs along the way. It's a modernized tale, where the princess fights for herself and makes her own tentative decisions, struggling to become assertive against an upbringing in passivity.

The modern touches can be a bit jarring but if the purpose of a fairy tale is to instill values as well as entertain, this rather long-ish book does both. As with Princess Academy, Hale creates an engaging heroine whose struggles capture the reader and have you rooting for her against absent-minded old men, greedy and violent warriors, and brave peers.

Orphea Proud, by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

When Orphea's older brother and guardian catches her and her girlfriend making out, he flips out and attacks her (sending the girlfriend fleeing into the night, where she crashes her car and dies). In the aftermath, the brother decides that Orphea should be sent off to their aunts in the country to straighten her (!) out. But while the brother can't handle the idea of her sexual orientation, Orphea learns that her family has a long tradition of doing things their own proud way.

A bit thin on the characterization, the story meanders a bit and we never get a lot of real depth. But it's not a dull book. So, I'll give this one a mixed review: it is a pleasant enough read but maddening in being such a near miss at greatness.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Narrated by Death, we learn of the story of Liesel Meminger, growing up with her foster parents outside of Munich in Nazi Germany as WW II unfolds around her. The book's title comes from Liesel's method of procuring reading material, but the story is about the people she befriends more than the books she reads, although stories make up a great deal of the plot.

An extremely long and complicated book that has more to do with adult relationships than coming of age or adolesence, it is hard to see why this is being marketed as a YA book. It's definitely good literature, but even if the vocabulary and the post-modern narrative doesn't turn off younger readers, it's hard to see what would attract them to this book. I can see librarians and teachers liking it, but it doesn't belong in the teen section.

The Queen of Cool, by Cecil Castellucci

Libby is one of the cool kids who sets all of the trends and rules her school's social scene, but secretly she is bored with her success and fame. Her friends are shallow, she is undermotivated at school, and her life seems to be on constant repeat mode. But then, on a whim, she volunteers to intern at the zoo and gets paired up with Tina - a midget geek from her high school. And in that chain of events, a world of new possibilities are opened to her.

A lazingly fast read with a predictable plot that wraps up just a bit too easily. But, like she did in Boy Proof, Castellucci shows great wit and a good sense for dialog. The story may be devoid of substance but it is pleasurable and in the Summer that may well be enough!

Played, by Dana Davidson

Ian wants to pledge into a secret fraternity at his inner city high school, and all he has to do is trick a Plain Jane girl named Kylie into giving it up within the next three weeks. But what starts as a simple exercise in teenage deceit grows complicated when Ian realizes that his feelings for Kylie are genuine.

Moderately predictable traditional plot, but with decent characters and some nice twists (Ian's sister Kim shines out as a particularly good role model and a device for the author to articulate her feelings about the characters). Some readers may find the whole thing a bit preachy, but younger readers might enjoy the message and the story.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

In alternating chapters (written by alternating authors), Nick and Norah tell the story of meeting at a club and fumbling with whether they like each other (and whether the other person likes them). Interspersed with a good sense of alternative music and a bit of the NYC flavor, the story unfolds over a single evening.

The most fascinating part of the novel is not the alternating viewpoints in the chapters but the alternating authors. This reads very much like the old party game where someone tells a story and stops and the other person picks up. Sometimes the author leaves his/her partner in a corner and sometimes they try to spell out what is going to come next, but the next chapter always subverts the storyline to what the new author wants. So, it's very much fun to watch Rachel and David wrestle for control of their characters and quite revealing of the gendered differences in writing.

But is it good fiction? No, not really. It's not bad, but Cohn and Levithan are giants in YA and this experiment is more of a one-off for them. It probably won't win any awards, but its a pleasant diversion.

Born Confused, by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Dimple Lala has lived her entire life in America, but as the daughter of two Indians, she doesn't really know if her sense of self somes from the US or from India. And with her best friend being a blonde goddess and her parents anxiously trying to set her up with a "suitable boy," she's more confused than ever. It's easy at first to hate her parent's choice for a match, but when her friend falls for the boy, Dimple begins to realize that she really likes him after all and now she must worry about whether she is going to lose everything in her confusion.

It's a story way too much in need of an editor (at 500 pages, this gigantic tome is about 250 pages too long). There are some charming parts, but many that could have been trimmed out to make a better story. And the ending is way too neat and convenient. These rather major flaws aside, there's lots of fun in this book to recommend it and its unusual setting makes it charming and memorable.

Donorboy, by Brendan Halpin

Following the same formula as Breakfast with Tiffany, we have the story of Ros, who lost her two Moms to "a tragic accident involving foodstuffs." And while that sounds a bit like a joke, the story is actually a pretty serious one about learning to adjust to a new family, as Ros goes to live with her biological father (the sperm donor). There she must cope with her grief, some annoying kids at school, some even more annoying administrators, a few bad decisions, and an overly anxious new Dad. Dad, meanwhile, has to cope with Ros. Told through emails, journal entries, IMs, and random other media, the story unfolds through multiple viewpoints.

It's clever without getting saccharine and insightful without trying to be too cool. Again, it's hard to say what younger readers will think of it, but adults (and parents in particular) will enjoy the father's attempts to cope with his feelings and failures. So, maybe not a good YA book, but a good book all the same.

Stay With Me, by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Leila's sister killed herself and now each family member must deal with the loss. For Leila, this means looking for a reason to explain the event. She believes the answer must lie with a mysterious man her sister was with before she killed herself. But that search opens other doors as Leila meets Eamon, a man 14 years older than herself, who offers things that Leila had never considered before.

While marketed as a YA book, this lacks the humor and insight to really be one. Not only is it not YA, but it's also not terribly interesting as a read either. Instead, it's full of numerous (largely pointless) subplots and inner dialogs of the type that tend to plague modern adult fiction as "clever" and "intellectual" but isntead are just dull and tedious. Not worth the read!

Every Time A Rainbow Dies, by Rita Williams-Garcia

Thulani has lived in a child's world, caring only about the pigeons he keeps on the roof and dreaming of his long-gone mother. But when he rescues a girl who is being raped, his life begins to change in subtle and then major ways. In the process he explores who he is and what he wants from the world, and how his life could be very different. The story doesn't end with any answers, but plenty of possibilities.

I tend to not care for books set in urban settings (preferring more familiar suburban and rural places) but this is a nicely woven tale with plenty of color and details. It's also a mature and respectful story that can open doors to readers (like me) who don't know much about Haitian and Jamaican culture. Recommended.

Heartbeat, by Sharon Creech

Annie loves to run and loves to draw. Through a series of prose poems, she describes her runs, the 100 apple drawings she has made, her grandfather who sometimes forgets who he is, the boy she runs with, and the baby her mother is having. By the end, her mother has had the baby and her running partner has discovered the secret to running well from the grandfather.

Another YA poetry story. Sometimes these work well but this one really doesn't stand out much. There are some cute plays on words with footnotes and a thesaurus, but nothing so dramatically different or original. Average.

A Long Time Ago Today, by Sally Warner

Six years ago, Dilly's mother died, leaving her a place in the Adirondacks that she and her father return to every summer, reenacting rituals that her father believes that Mom would have wanted them to do (Dilly isn't so sure). But when an old family friend tells Dilly that she has a letter that her mother wanted Dilly to have when she was older, Dilly struggles with whether she wants to read it and have her understanding of her Mom changed forever.

Poignant and moderately engaging for a a book in which very little actually happens. The setting (Upstate NY) resonates with me personally because my family had a country place in the area, not so much unlike Dilly's when I was growing up. But the story suffers from its plot, in which lines never really connect and not much memorable occurs. In the end, we are left with a bit of emptiness.

I Am the Wallpaper, by Mark Peter Hughes

Floey has always lived in the shadow of her popular older sister. But when her sister gets married and her Aunt drops off two bratty cousins to live at their house for a few weeks, Flooey has a brush with fame that changes the way she views herself, her friends, and her perception that she is "wallpaper."

This is a pretty much by-the-numbers coming of age story where the quiet neglected one realizes that she has a lot more going for her than she thought. There's a few clever twists but no major surprises. Satisfying and engaging, so worth the read.

Make Me Over, edited by Marilyn Singer

In a series of 11 short stories, the authors explore the many various meanings of remaking ourselves and changing who we are. The highlights include a wallflower who gains confidence by tricking a group of cheerleaders into imagining that he's French; an owl that transforms itself into a human being to win the love of an Indian maiden; and a newly arrived immigrant at Ellis Island who must choose what parts of her past to keep as she pursues her future.

As with all collections, some of the stories are stronger than others, but what I was impressed with overall was the very different interpretations each author took of the collection's theme. I expected to read 11 angst-ridden stories of young women doing make-overs. But instead was treated to some amazingly creative visions of the various ways that people (and animals!) can change themselves to become something better. Inspiring reading.

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone

In a series of poems told by different people, three girls dish up the dirt on "T.L." -- a guy who knows all the right moves and buttons to push to get what he wants. In sum, he's a jerk, but each of these girls has to learn that lesson on their own, convinced as they are that they will be different.

It's fairly well-trod ground (both the format and the story) although Stone does a decent job of explaining how passion, hormones, and dreams can cloud your judgment and make you do stupid things that you learn to regret. And she adds a nice piece of sisterly solidarity at the end to underline for the readers which side they should be on. Functional, but hardly earth shattering.

Climbing the Rainbow, by Joy N. Hulme

After years of struggling with muteness, Dora Cookson gets a chance to attend school for the first time. Kept back for four years, she has a lot of catching up to do. In a series of anecdotes, she retells the highlights of that first year, as her family adapts to its second year of homesteading in New Mexico.

A story that seems to be largely based upon the life of a woman the author knew, this makes for interesting history but not terribly interesting story telling. There is little suspense here and no drama. Small children might like the fact that not much happens (and what does happen is fairly benign) but older readers will find the whole thing terribly dull.

Light on Snow, by Anita Shreve

Another adult lit book with a teen character....

When Nicky and her father find an abandoned baby in the woods behind their house, it triggers a series of events and a visit from a young woman with a secret which cause them to confront the delicate balance in their own relationship.

Unlike the Picoult book I just finished before this one, this novel is more likely to appeal to younger readers. The story is a bit slow, but it reads quickly and has interesting characters and a satisfying conclusion.

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

All of her 13 year life, Anna has had to be there to take care of her sister. In fact, this is the reason she exists: when Kate gets sick, Anna donates bone marrow, blood, and other body tissues to fight off the effects of Kate's leukemia. But as their mother asks Anna to donate a kidney, something breaks, and Anna turns to a lawyer to get legal permission to say "no."

Picoult is an adult lit writer with a great grasp of how adults interract, but really not much of a sense of what makes teens tick. Anna and Kate swing between being portrayed as petulant brats and being simply young (but very well-spoken) adults. They talk like (very intellectual) grown ups and have very adult motivations for their behavior. Picoult has a great story here (albeit with a contrived ending) but no real sense of her younger characters. Read this as an adult book, not YA. And I'll wait for a good YA version of the story.

Claiming Georgia Tate, by Gigi Amateau

In a lyrical narrative, Georgia tell us about life with her grandparents, growing up in rural MS in the 1970s. About finding jesus, the truth about her absent mother, and her ability to make friends and rise above adversity. But this is not a story for the faint of heart, because Georgia will also have to endure being molested, humiliated, and raped before she can return to her loving family.

It's a beautifully told story, but really very intense and not intended for younger readers. One might even argue that it's not a YA book at all. But beyond that, I was frustrated by the many loose ends and a bit too much melodrama for my tastes, so I'm not sure that I'll give it a perfect rating, but it is a near miss and I'll look forward to Amateau's next novel.