Posts filed under 'Young Adult'
There are books that stick with you long after you close the back cover. The Hate List by Jennifer Brown is just such a book. Known more for her humor columns in the Kansas City Star (she is the two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award), Brown surprised everyone with her not-at-all funny novel about the aftermath of a school schooting.
As The Hate List opens Valerie Leftman is about to start her senior year of high school. While that may seem like an everyday occurence to most of us, for Valerie it is a traumatic return to the scene of the crime. Technically it wasn’t her crime. But try convincing anyone of that when even Valerie has her doubts. How can anyone forget that five months ago Valerie’s boyfriend Nick Levil opened fire in the commons and killed six students and a teacher. Though she was wounded in her attempt to stop Nick and saved a fellow classmate in the process, Valerie is guilty by association and design. As the investigation shows, she was the first to come up with the list of things and people she hates and Nick’s targets were the very people who bullied them the most and who topped the list. Just about everyone, including her mom and dad, feel that Valerie is to blame for setting Nick on his deadly course by creating the list in the first place.
As the title and subject matter might suggest, this is a difficult book. Brown doesn’t let her characters off with easy answers. Valerie’s recovery is helped by her smart and sympathetic therapist, but nothing will ever be the same for her. She has complicated feelings about Nick - can she still love the guy she knew before or must she hate what he became - and her family is being torn apart. All of which is handled with skillful realism by this first time author. By interspersing the events of the attack with newspaper articles and Valerie’s present day struggles, the author makes sure nothing is white-washed. Very well done.
October 13th, 2009
Jane J. - Central Library
I think it was back in February that I swore off books that dealt with grieving, but I slipped off the wagon. It’s not really my fault…my book group selected Goldengrove by Francine Prose for our next read. Unfortunately for my resolution, this novel was good enough to encourage further slippage….
Goldengrove introduces us to Margaret and her younger sister, the narrator, Nico. Margaret is the more beautiful, bohemian, worshipped older sister to the more analytical, scientific, pudgy 13-year-old Nico. And because Margaret has Nico wrapped around her finger; Nico plays decoy for Margaret’s trysts with her boyfriend Aaron. We meet them while they float on a rowboat in the lake outside their house in the Berkshires on a promising early spring evening. Before the sun sets, Margaret is dead. Her undiagnosed heart ailment kills her after she dives into the lake.
Of course her death shatters Nico’s family. Her parents, hippies in the old days, inherited the family’s summer house by the lake. Henry, who runs his bookstore, the Goldengrove of the title, loses himself in a book he’s writing about end-of-the-world stories of other cultures. Daisy buries herself in a haze of drugs. So neither of them notice when Nico begins to hang around with Aaron.
At first, the two bond over the loss of Margaret, feeling they’ve finally found someone that understands how they feel. They secretly get together to talk about Margaret and their bottomless sorrow. But as Nico starts dropping weight due to her emotional state and starts looking like Margaret, their connection escalates into a sexual attraction. Poor Nico struggles to navigate the possibility of very early sex, and equally, losing her own identity. Frequently measured against Margaret prior to her death, Nico finds it almost as easy to slip into her sister’s personality as it is for her to slip into Margaret’s favorite t-shirt. Hooked on old movies, thanks to Margaret, Nico realizes what’s happening when she sees Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo for the first time.
Prose has an intriguing character in Nico, though sometimes she seems older than her 13 years. I couldn’t help but like her. This is a rich little book that is more than just the story of the death of a sister. There are allusions to poetry, music and film. An examination of the process of healing. The slow emergence of a new person as Nico finally navigates her loss. It was definitely worth the slide off the wagon.
September 25th, 2009
Lisa - Central
If you haven’t read Suzanne Collins’ book The Hunger Games, be aware this review will have spoilers in it.
A year ago, Suzanne Collins came out with the first book in her new trilogy, The Hunger Games. I remember picking up the book as a quick filler read for the weekend, only to spend the next twenty-four hours gripped by Collins’ compelling, frenetic story. In the first book, Katniss barely survives the annual Hunger Games, besting nearly all of her opponents. Defying the Capitol, she fights to let Peeta, her fellow tribute from impoverished District 12, survive. Playing on the popular perception that she is hopelessly in love with Peeta, Katniss emerges the victor not only of the Hunger Games, but in her rebellion against the authority of the Capitol.
The sequel, Catching Fire, has Katniss on a victory tour of Panem following the games and unrest and discontent among the districts is palpable. Katniss isn’t happy either: upset over her ‘romance’ with Peeta, Gale keeps her at arm’s length, and a marriage to Peeta has been mandated by the Capitol. But after witnessing the terrible consequences of resistance during the tour, Katniss comes to the relization that her stand in the arena has sparked a wider revolt against the cruelties of the Capitol. And as the symbol of that resistance, she has become the principle target in the Capitol’s efforts to crush dissent.
I can’t go into more of the story without giving away too much of the plot, but for those who enjoyed the first book, Catching Fire continues Katniss’ story at a breathtaking pace. The world Collins created becomes more focused, as Katniss sees first hand the plight of other people of Panem. There’s also a better sense of the people surrounding Katniss, including Haymitch’s backstory and District 12’s history with the Hunger Games. But the star of the story remains Katniss. Her blend of courage, stubbornness and resourcefulness makes for a protagonist that’s definitely human but one readers really want to see succeed.
It’s true that a lot of the story takes place away from the arena, but with more people depending on Katniss the pressure is even greater. There’s a definite sense of the story snowballing to the final book, as Collins leaves the story in (if possible) an even more gripping cliffhanger than the first title. Collins is currently in the process of writing the third book in the trilogy, and for fans, the completion of Katniss’ story can’t come quickly enough.
September 21st, 2009
Katie H.
I didn’t receive a lot of guidance in terms of reading when I was a kid; I was basically allowed to read whatever I liked and if I didn’t understand something, I looked it up. This wasn’t really a problem until I started reading Holocaust literature, but that’s a story for another day. My parents were very free and breezy with books. There were always a lot of books lying around the house, I was allowed to check out whatever I wanted from the library and my mom would buy me a paperback whenever we were at the book store. By the time I was ten or eleven, I had accumulated a collection of fairly typical “young teen” paperbacks–basically whatever was on the teen shelf at B. Dalton in the 80’s. This included everything by Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, Norma Klein and Paul Zindel. It also included a lot of adventure romances, in particular, the awesome historical Sunfire series published by Scholastic which featured young girls traveling incognito across the prairie on wagon trains, fighting for their family land during the Civil War or striking it rich during the Gold Rush. I’ve always been a little embarrassed about loving this series, but I feel totally vindicated after reading Shelf Discovery: Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick.
Skurnick pulls together the books that she remembered reading as a kid (and re-reading as an adult) and while there are some obvious gaps with my own reading (I’d never read any Lois Duncan until I was an adult, working as a Children’s Librarian), we read a lot of the same books. Mostly very girly. Including the Sunfire series.
Described as a reading memoir, Shelf Discovery sets up types of books with an opener for each chapter, like tragic girls or paranormal girls or girls on the verge of womanhood. Following the openers are book reports on books that fit the theme, complete with the original cover of the book. So fun! Now, like I said, there are some gaps in my reading history, so I glossed over the reports of the books I haven’t read, or (God forgive me, Madeleine L’Engle) I didn’t enjoy reading, but I am sure any girl who has been through middle school in the last thirty years has read at least some of these books.
The author has written extensively for the top review guides including the New York Times Book Review and literary blogs like Jezebel.com and has written ten books in the Sweet Valley High Series as well as other teen series. If she hadn’t said she was three years old in 1970 in one of the essays, I would have put the author in her thirties or forties anyway because all of the books have older publication dates and are referred to as “vintage YA literature”. Nothing was published after the 1990s, and books that I know have been really popular with teens and adults who read teen books, like the Weetzie Bat books, aren’t included.
If you, too, are of the vintage that read these books when they were new(er), love “vintage YA literature” or want to take a trip down “The Cat Ate My Gymsuit” lane, this book is funny and insightful. And hey, if you loved the Sunfire series, you’re in good company!
September 15th, 2009
Molly - Central
After reading Gene Luen Yang’s award-winning graphic novel American Born Chinese and Derek Kirk Kim’s award-winning Same Difference & Other Stories this past spring, I was very excited to read The Eternal Smile: Three Stories The Eternal Smile is a collaborative effort published this year through First Second Books in which Yang contributed the text while Kim provided the illustrations. Together, these two create a work that is divided into three stories that involve fantasy worlds as an escape from the humdrum or painful reality of existence in some way or another. And very much like the stories within Yang’s American Born Chinese, each story has an unexpected twist that manages to give an entirely new dimension and meaning.
In the first story Duncan’s Kingdom, Duncan is a young knight who is out to win the hand of the beautiful princess by avenging her father’s death and obtaining the head of his killer, the Frog King. Through his relationship with Brother Patchwork, he obtains a sword and ends up successfully beheading the Frog King, thereby winning the hand of the beautiful princess. Yet during the ceremony, a bird flies overhead with the Frog King’s “Snappy Cola” in its talons and the entire story shifts to a completely different reality.
In The Eternal Smile, Grandpa Greenbax, a power hungry frog, is constantly in search of the profitable money making adventure in order to build up his “pool o’ cash”. Filbert, Grandpa Greenbax’s right hand man, at one point takes Grandpa Greenbax to the “eternal smile” floating in the clouds in the middle of the desert as a means of calming Greenbax down. Still, Grandpa Greenbax suddenly realizes that such a strange and mysterious spectacle is enough to build a religion on, and hence, a money making escapade indeed! However, after initial success, his plans go awry and he is thrown into a fit of uncontrollable rage. It is at this point that the story takes a totally unexpected turn, and everything the reader thinks about the world of Grandpa Greenbax is completely turned on its head.
In the final story Urgent Request, Janet, a frumpy drone at a tech company, answers a Nigerian scam e-mail to liven up her drab personal and professional life. She creates a fantasy relationship with Prince Henry Alembu, exchanging several emails and sending him almost her entire life savings. Finally, upon a final request from Henry, she requests that they meet, and this proceeds into a series of events that reveals that Janet is not as blatantly naïve as the reader thinks.
Along with Yang’s storytelling, Kim’s drawings for each story are executed in entirely different styles ranging from bright cartoonish figures to light watercolor panels, giving each story a special visual feel. I highly recommend this book to both graphic novel and non-graphic novel enthusiasts as an example of how unique this genre is becoming in terms of both subject matter and aesthetic value. Check it out!
September 10th, 2009
Kathleen - Monroe Street
Banned Books Week is approaching, so if you’re looking for some rebellious reading, here’s a book for you.
Margo Lanagan’s novel Tender Morsels is pretty controversial right from the start, since it begins with a few scenes involving incest and gang rapes. However, despite these disturbing events, the book manages to use tragedy to create a sense of wonder. Predictably, this young adult novel has faced some individuals who want the book banned, but fortunately, librarians are sticking up for this startlingly beautiful book. Critics are also supporting it: it was named a 2008 Printz Honor Book and was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. (Lanagan’s first three books of short stories, Black Juice, White Time, and Red Spikes, are also pretty great. I definitely recommend checking these out if you’re not sure you want to start with Tender Morsels just yet. I bet after reading these, you’ll want more of Lanagan’s work.)
Tender Morsels is a fairy tale in a very real way; like the original stories by Hans Christian Andersen and the brothers Grimm, this tale is filled with darkness while still maintaining a sense of hope. Lanagan’s heroine, Liga, lives through such horror as a girl that when she finally hits bottom, magical forces work in her favor to transport her to a parallel universe created especially for her. Here, she is free from the daily humiliations of poverty and the cruelty of men. However, the boundaries between her universe and reality are thin, and will not keep everyone out (or in) forever. Liga is a fascinating character, and the world she lives in is so perfectly described that it seems just as real as the world she left. The book unfolds slowly like an old-fashioned, traditional fantasy, but the events that take place are utterly new and original. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time, and I hope its rebelliousness only works in its favor.
September 8th, 2009
Kylee
National Book Award finalist The Underneath by Kathi Appelt tells the story of a pregnant cat who is abandoned by her family in a wild wooded area of the bayou. Not knowing which way to turn but knowing she has to find shelter, she follows the sound of a hound’s baying to a rough clearing and an even rougher house. Against the odds, the hound welcomes her but warns her about the occupier of the house who is a very cruel and mean man. Always she must stay, if she wishes to be safe, underneath the house where the hound is chained. And so mostly she does, rearing her two kittens; leaving only to hunt when the man is gone. But kittens are bound to explore despite warnings and with drastic results.
Intertwined with this story is that of Grandmother, an extremely large and ancient cottonmouth moccasin snake. Grandmother is not merely a snake, she is also a magical creature who at one time assumed human form and loved a man. Betrayed, she returned to snake form from whence she nurses her anger and longs for revenge. The two stories make this, in some ways, a very dark book, dealing as it does so much with betrayal and death. But it is also filled with the power of friendship, hope, promises, and love all beautifully illustrated by David Small.
August 28th, 2009
Liz C. - Alicia Ashman
Last week the world lost the visionary movie director, John Hughes. Anyone who grew up in the eighties probably has a favorite film of his, though it’s had to say which I love more, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Breakfast Club. The stories were simple, but emotionally complicated like adolescent life can be at times. The success of teen flicks continues today with films like Juno, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and a little movie called Twilight.
My own prediction for the next breakout teen movie is Whip It which is based on a book I just finished called Derby Girl by Shauna Cross. Whip It will be Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut and star Ellen Page (Juno) and also include a cameo by my favorite late night host Jimmy Fallon. I can’t wait to see it. Seeing that the novelist Cross also penned the screenplay, I’m guessing the storyline will remain true to the book.
In Derby Girl, Bliss is the blue-haired daughter of ex-pageant queen Brooke and furniture salesman Earl and is stuck in Bodeen, TX. She works at the Oink Joint with her best friend Pash and both have that teenage “we just don’t fit in” feeling. Bliss promised her mother she’d do one more pageant show and compete for the Miss Bluebonnet title (a family tradition) before letting her little sister Shania handle the tiara circuit. On a torturous shopping trip to Austin one Saturday (Bliss prefers her vintage Stryper t-shirt to the jeans with pink suede fringe her Mom picks out) a lime green flyer catches her eye advertising the Lone Star Roller Derby Girls, and her destiny becomes clear.
Bliss soon becomes “Babe Ruthless” and is sneaking out of the house riding the bingo bus down to Austin twice a week and illegally competing (she’s only 16) in derby league. Derby girl soon falls for band boy Oliver (there’s always a boy dilemma in a teen story) and her world gets turned upside down by first love. There’s a lot of frank sex talk, a little profanity and a few exciting derby scenes in this sarcastically funny YA book. There’s also a dramatic conclusion involving the Bluebonnet pageant and the Roller Derby championship that will make for a great movie ending. Maybe twenty years from now this movie will be someone’s favorite Barrymore film, let’s hope it turns out as good as the book.
August 18th, 2009
Katharine - Sequoya
Now that vampires are everywhere, there’s a new trendy undead: zombies. They may not be as romantic as vampires, with their sometimes sparkly skin, glamorous fangs, and insatiable thirst for blood, but there’s a lot to be said for the plain old corpse about town. My first encounter with the zombie trend was in Carrie Ryan’s deliciously creepy The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Mary is an orphan, which leaves her only two options in her strict, old-fashioned society: marry and have children, or join the mysterious Sisterhood that watches over the town. When a mysterious outsider breaches the borders that keep the town safe from the Unconsecrated, the vicious, flesh-eating undead that surround them, Mary must fight to keep her loved ones alive. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is fast-paced and filled with action and drama, but there are a few holes in the plot, and the writing didn’t knock my socks off.
Zombie Blondes by Brian James is more my style. 15 year old Hannah is used to being the new girl in school, since she and her father are constantly moving, due his problems with creditors and keeping a job. Hannah usually has no problem spotting the popular group in school, and in Maplegrove, it’s pretty obvious: Maggie and her clan of blonde cheerleaders rule the school. When Hannah is invited to join the group, she learns that the cheerleaders’ seeming perfection is anything but natural.
I liked Zombie Blondes, but Generation Dead by
Daniel Waters is by far my favorite of these three. Phoebe is a goth outsider with a keen interest in a new phenomenon: teenagers across America are dying and coming back to life. Scientists are baffled as to why some teens come back and some don’t; they’ve considered mold spores in the brain, or the consumption of too many fast food preservatives. Regardless of the cause of the undead, they are a fact of life. Phoebe joins a group of students crusading for rights for the “differently biotic” and even meets a special someone with very cold hands. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Kiss of Life.
Teens aren’t the only ones benefiting from the zombie trend. For an adult perspective on the undead, give Breathers: a Zombie’s Lament by S.G. Browne a shot. This darkly funny novel is narrated by a young man who wakes from the dead and finds himself stuck “living” in his parents’ basement, trying to control his hunger for flesh. And of course, you may have heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which gives even Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy a chance to get in on the zombie action.
August 6th, 2009
Kylee
Not for the squeamish, Wintergirls is award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson’s portrait of 18-year-old anorexic Lia and her descent into what can only be described as madness in the wake of her former best-friend Cassie’s death. Cassie died alone in a rundown motel room, as a complication of her own eating disorder. After having terminated their friendship during the past year, Cassie had attempted to phone Lia 33 times (!) the night she died. Lia never picked up the phone, and that decision on her part allows Cassie to now haunt her– in a very real sense. At least in Lia’s troubled mind.
And it is a very troubled mind. You know because the story is told in first person narrative. We see Lia’s thoughts as she re-writes her world, often using strike-through text to change descriptions of everyone and everything into something that suits her skewed worldview. For example, her long-separated parents aren’t referred to as mom or dad. Their relationship with Lia is replaced in her thoughts by renaming them with their professional titles Doctor, and Professor. She uses the same techniques when describing food as well, turning foods she actually craves into something disgusting in her mind.
That’s part of what was so troubling about this book– and it really is a troubling book. How can you reach someone whose worldview is so obviously different from how you perceive the world? Her relationship with her parents, plus her father’s second wife, is less than ideal too. While both her natural parents have achieved some level of success in their chosen professions, their personal lives are much less than perfect. That they’ve achieved some financial success can’t solve the emotional problems they’re encountering. Lia’s only real anchor to reality is a fairly close bond with her young half-sister, someone with whom she can be truly loving, supportive, and non-judgmental. It’s this relationship that gives Lia her only real chance to be a whole person, someone who isn’t self-obsessed about her weight or actively deceiving those family members who are concerned about her eating disorder.
The book does a very good job of describing the behavior of someone suffering from anorexia nervosa without being clinical. You may not know that sufferers can be obsessive about order and counting, but you’ll read about Lia adding up calories in her mind as she surveys the food on her dinner plate, or dividing her food into smaller and smaller bites. You may be surprised to know that there are internet web sites and chat rooms where eating disorders are encouraged and supported, but you’ll see Lia log in and read others confess to bingeing or seek support when they foresee situations when they might be tempted to eat, while encouraging readers to stay strong. You’d probably suspect that something like an eating disorder would be hard to hide from attentive and loving parents, but you’ll read how Lia cheats when she gets weighed or pretends to eat food that she tosses in the garbage, and how her family seemingly allows such massive deception to take place.
If you’re personally unfamiliar with anorexia nervosa (and count yourself fortunate if you are unfamiliar with it) as well as the life changes and self-justification and deception that can accompany it, I’d urge you to give this book a try. Lia really is a very sympathetic character, despite her self-destructive behavior. And if you’re a certain age, you might also be moved by the less obvious anguish that her family endures as they struggle to cope with a disease that’s literally eating their loved one alive. Assuming you’re not overcome, like them, by a feeling of helplessness.
Also available on compact disc and Playaway.
August 4th, 2009
Dennis - Central
Adults often enjoy novels that are written for the teen audience. Case in point: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the first young adult novel by Sherman Alexie is a perfect example of a book written for a teen audience that will appeal to all ages.
In Absolutely True, the very intelligent Arnold “Junior” Spirit, is encouraged by a math teacher to leave the sub-par reservation school, where he has often been bullied by fellow students, for the high school in Reardon. Reardon is 22 miles away from the reservation and the school has an Indian mascot and not-surprisingly, Junior is the only Indian student.
His story, told in the first person, is set in the different worlds of the reservation and the school. Junior’s experiences in the school are varied; he makes some friends, joins the basketball team, and has his first girlfriend. While on the reservation he witnesses a lot of poverty and alcoholism, but also strong traditions and family ties.
I listened to this book, but did have some difficulties. Alexie reads it himself and it took some time to get used to his accent. I was able to see him accept the Odyssey Award at the recent American Library Associaton conference and he said that he used his “rez” voice for the recording. So you may want to read instead of listen, especially since the print copy includes many charming sketches done by Ellen Forney.
Alexie uses some of his own experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation and attending a white school to enrich the novel. And his website (www.fallsapart.com) is well worth a look for further insight. Happily for fans, he says that he is at work on a second book, about Arnold’s sophomore year, titled, The Magic and Tragic Year of My Broken Thumb.
July 20th, 2009
Mary K. - Central
I am very jealous of a colleague that will soon be taking a bite out of the big apple and staying a few days in the city that never sleeps. I just finished one of my favorite YA authors Maureen Johnson’s new book Suite Scarlett which is set in New York. Johnson is part of a YA writing group that includes the company of John Green, Scott Westerfeld and Lauren Myracle, a creative tribe sort of like a modern day Algonquin Round Table. And New York is definitely a character in this novel and Johnson’s descriptions made me want to hop the next flight out there.
Suite Scarlett stars a PYT (pretty young thing for all you non-Michael Jackson fans) that lives in a family-owned and operated Upper Eastside neighborhood hotel. Scarlett lives in the rundown Hopewell Hotel with her parents and three siblings, Spencer, Lola and Marlene. Spencer is a wanna be actor, always doing prat falls. Lola works at a department store cosmetic counter and has Richie Rich as a boyfriend. Eleven-year old Marlene, fresh from a childhood battle with cancer, often ruffles Scarlett’s feathers with her needy demands. Scarlett’s summer is looking bleak, she has one room to look after in the hotel and no other job prospect in sight. That is until Mrs. Amberson shows up. Eccentric Mrs. A takes up residency in the suite that Scarlett is responsible for and Scarlett soon becomes her personal assistant and her summer ends up being one that she’ll remember for the rest of her life.
As in any good YA novel, there is a “boy situation.” In this case, Scarlett’s brother Spencer’s acting friend Eric. Fresh from North Carolina, Eric has moved to the city to be an actor and ends up working with Spencer in a modern day Hamlet production. A production that Mrs. A ends up supporting (she’s a former actress herself) and Scarlett ends up babysitting. Scarlett falls for Eric, he falls for her, Eric’s girlfriend from NC shows up, what will happen? This one is a MUST READ for a teenage girl this summer. But be prepared, you may end up having to buy a plane ticket to go along with the book, NYC is calling.
May 29th, 2009
Katharine - Sequoya
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