Soul Struck, by Natasha Sinel

Rachel’s mother believes that she developed the talent to be able to see a person’s “soul mate” after she was struck by lightning.  The experience also prompted her to found a support group for lightning strike survivors.

Rachel, jealous of how much attention her mother lavishes on her group, has grown obsessed with getting struck by lightning too.  It seems like the only way for Rachel to get noticed by Mom.  Rachel would also like to know more about her father (who Mom alleges was her soul mate) but Mom has always refused to go into much detail.

While clearing out the junk in their garage one day, Rachel discovers an old box which contains clues about the past.  And when Rachel starts snooping through it, she discovers that her mother’s rosy-colored recollections are not even true.

A character-rich story in a picturesque setting (Cape Cod) with just a small touch of magic and lot of complicated relationships.  Just about every character in the story is complex enough to relate to the others in different ways.  Being set in a small town, it makes sense that everyone knows everyone and their histories are partly shared and partly unique. There’s also a certain fluidity as friendships wax and wane throughout the novel. It’s a rich enough story that a re-reading might be justified.  For me that would be too much work, but I admired the writer's effort in creating something so sophisticated.

Tradition, by Brendan Kiely

Jamie Baxter is the type of kid who doesn’t get second chances and after a near-fatal incident on the football gridiron, his career prospects seem bleak.  But his coach manages to pull in some favors and slips him into the elite Fullbrook Academy on a full scholarship to play hockey.

Jules is much more at home at a rich person's prep school like Fullbrook, but after three years the place doesn’t seem so gleaming and pristine anymore. She's disgusted by the way that boys get to be boys and the girls are mostly added on as an afterthought.  Dozens of the school's traditions are, as one character puts it, in place to “benefit the boys and not the girls” and she wants to fight back.

For Jamie, the recent arrival, it is a surprise to see what privilege is associated with these wealthy kids, but it is the sexism of the students and the staff that eventually push him over the edge.  And Jules’s little rebellions eventually escalate to one grand gesture to take a stand against tradition.

There’s not much subtlety in this grueling account of white male privilege and twisted notions of consent.  While the general ideas made me think hard about my own experience in private schooling, the ideas are handled here with a sledgehammer.  That makes for entertainment (if the subject of sexual assault and objectification can be considered light reading) but it doesn’t lead to much reflection on the subject matter.  That will probably be left for anyone who wants to discuss the book afterwards but there isn't much gray area here.

The Other F-Word, by Natasha Friend

Milo is violently allergic to a wide variety of food and he'd like to understand why.  The doctor thinks it's genetic, but his Mom doesn't have the mutation.  That leaves his Dad which is a bit of a challenge, because Milo has two mothers and his Y chromosome came from a sperm donor.  The good news is that the donor indicated on his profile that he was willing to be contacted. Now, Milo just needs to work up the courage to reach out.

Milo already knows a half-sister (through the same donor), Hollis, who he met when they were kids, but they didn't stay in touch and reconnecting is awkward.  Still, it seems easier to have an ally before contacting their father.  Hollis has her own issues and is reluctant to join Milo's quest.  But he wins her over and as they start the process they discover that there are more half siblings out there.  The four teens, while struggling with their feelings about their shared father, find bonds between them.

A thoughtful and thought-provoking story about family ties in non-traditional families and the emotional stresses associated with IVF.  Friend doesn't take any of this very far (just lightly touching on the stresses between parents or the tendency for children conceived through donors to be more prone to delinquency and emotional conditions), but she does work it in.  The far more important story about how a group of four young people who have grown up separately find a bond based solely on an absent member of their "family" both confirms the power of a genetics and simultaneously subverts it by showing the stronger connection through common adversity.  In the end, the sperm donor becomes inconsequential to their experience and to the story.

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali, by Sabina Khan

Rukhsana is a good girl who loves her Bengali culture, its cuisine, and her family.  She tries hard to please her mother and father, but it hurts that she can't be open with them.  Telling them that she is gay is simply something one doesn't do.  And this proves prescient when her mother discovers Rukhsana's romantic relationship with her girlfriend Araiana, and her parents totally freak out.

They trick her to return to Bangladesh with them and then literally imprison her to force her to marry a man of their choosing.  Desperate to escape, she finds an unexpected ally in her grandmother who reveals a set of family secrets which open her eyes.  Through great difficulty, things are sorted out.

The story, which reminded me strongly of Aisha Saeed's Written in the Stars, goes a bit further and in a slightly different direction.  First, because it deals with a homosexual relationship; and secondly, because the family is eventually able to reconcile.  This goal presents literary challenges to Khan as she has to work out a plausible way to get the family to turn around.  The resulting story is not entirely successful and relies heavily on the parents seeing the error in their ways.  In fact, the most frustrating part of the book is that, while Rukhsana learns a number of things to make her more sympathetic to her mother (out of pity), there really is very little growth in her character.  The weight of the character growth falls on everyone except Rukhsana -- who grows very little through her experience.  I think there was room for everyone to do some development.

While there are many good features of the novel, Khan's writing is a bit rough and the book grows dully repetitive.  Every food item is mouth-watering, every discussion ends in tears, every argument results in someone (usually not Rukhsana) apologizing.  I did like the characters themselves who, while not entirely shucking stereotypes about South Asians, were distinct and complex.  And I loved the many cultural details (Khan really enjoys the cuisine and the clothing and never tired of describing both in ways that make one hungry and covetous).

 [Disclaimer:  I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased advanced review.  The book, originally slated to be released on January 1st, is now scheduled to be available at the end of January]

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World, by Shannon and Dean Hale

Moving from California to New Jersey is difficult for fourteen year-old Doreen.  First of all, she has to hide her big fluffy tale to avoid notice from the other kids.  Her ability to leap into trees and talk to squirrels is probably also best left out of sight.  But no amount of super talents can counter the fact that the kids are not very friendly in New Jersey and neither are the squirrels!  Using her regular girl powers, she tackles the first problem.

But there is also danger afoot -- the type of danger that only a superhero can solve.  The Avengers are not particularly interested in helping (despite some intervention from the squirrels), so it will fall upon Doreen to step up as Squirrel Girl!  Someone is trapping squirrels in gruesome cages, hurting dogs, kidnapping babies, and trying to destroy their suburban town.  Aided by both tree and ground squirrels and her classmates (dubbed the "squirrel scouts") they take on SG's nemesis, the Micro Manager!

While I didn't know it before I started reading the novel, the character is based on a classic comic book.  Being ignorant of that fact, I really liked the way the book started where Doreen is just a somewhat gawky middleschooler with a big secret.  Our introduction to the squirrels is also particularly funny.  And the regularly interspersed footnotes provide lots of snarkiness and humor.  But when the superheros and villains start to appear (i.e., the comic book elements), my interest in the story evaporated.  For most of the latter half of the book, we are treated to a number of in-jokes about Marvel characters (Avengers, in particular) and the sort of silly ultra-violence that fills most movie screens these days.  Not only did I find it dull, but also that split focus leaves the story really struggling.  Is it superhero adventure or is it just poking fun?  In any case, it didn't really work either way.  I honestly didn't see the point, but apparently the commercial success says otherwise.

Awkward, by Svetlana Chmakova

On the first day of school, Peppi Torres breaks her resolution to keep a low profile by tripping and spilling her bag in the hallway.  Mortified, she lashes out at shy nerdy Jaime who tries to help her, pushing him away and yelling at him.  Wracked by guilt in the aftermath, Peppi keeps trying to find a way to apologize to Jaime.  Convinced that he hates her she can't work up the courage to just actually do so.

It's all complicated by the fact that she's in the art club and he's in the science club, and the two clubs are in a cutthroat competition to be granted a table at the upcoming club fair.  Things escalate as the clubs are pitted against each other to produce a contribution that will benefit the whole school  In the end, though, it is Peppi's ability to cooperate with Jaime and the science club that will save the day.

First in a series of graphic novels (as of now, there are three books in the series) that explore middle school life. It's a successful series, but I don't find much that is remarkable about the story or the artistry, although both are good quality.  The book is entertaining and a fast read and the artwork and layouts quite competent.  But my coolness to the book is creditable at least in part to the truth that I'm not a fan of graphic novels of this sort.  They seem largely derivative of Japanese anime and in my opinion add little more than a change of milieu.

This Is Really Happening, by Erin Chack

In this set of eleven chapter-length essays, Chack recounts tales of her youth.  They range from her year-long battle with cancer to her relationship with her long-term boyfriend.  In between are observations about parties, periods, and incontinence. My favorite was her account of  her day job writing click bait for Buzzfeed, but her observations on YA writer John Green were pretty amusing as well.

It’s not particularly YA although the chapters that deal with her adolescence will be of interest to young readers.  And it is not fiction either – just well-told life stories.   So, it’s a bit far off from my usual radar.

My take is that the writing is funny but the book is inconsequential.  These are the types of essays that we all polish up in one form or another: stories to tell at parties about ourselves to make people laugh.  They become polished because we have told them again and again.  Nice essays, but not sure why they needed to be collected into a book.  There isn’t much here that will stick with you.

Tell Me No Lies, by Adele Griffin

It takes the arrival of Claire in the beginning of their senior year to get Lizzy to come out of her shell.  For years, Lizzy has laid low trying to hide from the embarrassment of having had a grand mal seizure in front of her whole school.  And she's also struggled with being cossetted by her overprotective parents.  But Claire doesn't know that history and doesn't treat Lizzy like she's fragile.  Instead, she takes her into Philly and shows her how much fun they can have with fake IDs.  But as brave as Claire seems, it is obvious that she has fears and secrets as well.  And when Lizzy finds them out, it ends up destroying their friendship.  At the same time, Lizzy also seems to be losing her boyfriend Matt to secrets revealed.

While this drama comes together nicely in the end, it’s a convoluted story lacking much coherence along the way.  The theme (everyone has secrets that they are willing to lie for) is pretty thin upon which to hang this period piece on growing up on the Main Line in the Eighties.  The Eighties details are pretty perfunctory, picking up scattered tropes from across the decade – mostly set in 1988-89, but not in any consistent way.  The whole thing is probably autobiographical or at least based on personal experience, which is fine if there is a story there, but in this case there is not much.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, by Lauren James

The Infinity is a spaceship designed to make a trip from Earth to Alpha Centauri at sub-light speed -- a trip that will take many decades to achieve.  A tragic accident on the ship has killed most of the crew while they were in cryogenic sleep and the surviving adult passengers are killed in the aftermath.  All that is left is Romy, an eleven year-old girl.  Forced to learn how to take care of herself and so far away that communication with Earth takes years, Romy has to grow up fast.  Over the subsequent five years she has managed the practicalities, although the loneliness and the nightmares persist.

So, when Romy gets a message that another ship is coming and, because it is capable of faster speeds, will overtake her in a few years, she is excited to know she will have company.  Over the next months, she gets to know the pilot of the other ship, a young man named J.  He’s everything Romy could hope for – not just another human being, but a nice, young, handsome boy.  She can’t wait for them to meet and her time alone to end.  But then, things go terribly wrong and her adolescent dreams of romantic bliss and companionship are replaced by terror and a fight for survival.

Two books in one:  a character study of a sensitive and fairly realistic adolescent who has to rise to the occasion to survive and the science-fiction survival story in which she lives.  It's a gripping adventure that had me from the very start, but full of more than the usual YA navel gazing due to the character being basically alone in her thoughts.  The book is full of sci-fi tropes -- sub-light space travel, cryogenics, etc. -- so hardly breaks new ground, but I loved Romy and that made the book really fun to read.  I think the book's dedication ("For all the girls who've never felt brave enough to be the hero in an adventure story") sums it up well.