Posts filed under 'Young Adult'
I consider myself to be a member of “Team Jacob” but after reading The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer, I have new sympathy for vampires.
Published just in time for the major motion picture release of Eclipse at the end of the month, this novella presents a different point of view from the novel Eclipse. Bree Tanner is one of the (previously) unnamed newborn Seattle vampires who arrive to fight the Cullens and the wolf pack at the end of Eclipse. She’s maybe in the book for a page or two, and it wasn’t until I got to the big fight in the novella that I could even place who she was.
Her story is very sad.
Bree is a starving young runaway lured by a manipulative vampire who offers her a hamburger. She then finds herself part of a wild coven of young vampires wrecking havoc on Seattle. She is bewildered, confused and discovers that she has been lied to. And then she is basically sent off to war in a chaotic vampire army with no leader. Poor thing.
Whatever your feelings about the Twilight saga (I am very excited about the movies, a little tired of the books, and whatever faults there may be with editing and her use of the word “beautiful”, I think Meyer is a great storyteller) this novella stands on its own. It’s short and bittersweet and I was left wanting more instead of thinking it could have been a few hundred pages shorter. That’s what I love about the novella in general. It leaves the reader wanting more.
June 11th, 2010
Molly - Central
With Memorial Day just past, it’s time to begin summer reading in earnest. Well, maybe summer reading isn’t something you should begin “in earnest” but it’s time to start. And I can’t think of a better book to start with than Treasure Island. Pirates! Gold! Rum! And young Jim Hawkins, boy hero, whose mischievousness saves the day, instead of getting him into trouble.
Dr. Livesy, Squire Trelawney, and Jim drop everything when Jim pilfers a treasure map from a dead man’s chest. They quickly acquire a ship, assemble a crew, and set sail, and then it’s mutiny before you can say “shiver me timbers” or even “matey.”
Jim Hawkins and the rest of them are all right as far as adventure story heroes go. But Long John Silver is something else. He’s very charming. He’s got a parrot. And one leg.
He can throw his crutch hard enough to kill a man.
He’s the best thing about Treasure Island. Whose side is he on? Is Jim safe in his presence? Read Treasure Island to find out!
June 3rd, 2010
Jon - Central Library
As I mentioned in a former post, I’ve been on a steady diet of teen books in search of this summer’s Teen’s Choice review books. I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at a couple of titles which will be on this year’s list.
Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson is an exceptionally well-researched piece of historical fiction. The teen protagonist, Isabel and her five year-old sister, Ruth, are slaves living in pre-revolutionary New York. They were promised their freedom by their former owner. Upon his death, however, his relatives sell the two girls to a wealthy family in the area who happen to be Loyalists. Isabel, logically stunned by and chafing at her continued enslavement, and worried about her sister, becomes interested in helping the rebel cause when she is promised her freedom in exchange for information. Several things Anderson does so well in this book include giving readers a glimpse of some of the complexities and dangers of revolutionary times, as well as throwing the idea of freedom into high relief. Will this young country-to-be win its freedom from the tyranny of unjust governance? Will Isabel win her and Ruth’s freedom from the tyranny of the unjust system of slavery? While you’re reading, check out the upcoming Juneteenth celebrations.
The ever-popular Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins is also on this year’s Teen’s Choice list. I read this book because it was one that “all the teens are reading” and I felt I should have an idea what it was about. I didn’t expect to like it at all, because I knew that *spoiler here* many characters don’t survive the book. This is futuristic dystopian science fiction, truly at its best. Here’s a brief summary: In a future world 16-year-old Katniss takes her younger sister Prim’s place in the annual Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. All she hopes to do is survive as long as possible, revolution doesn’t even cross her mind. In this tour-de-force Collins asks many provoking questions. Is compassion a strength or is it a weakness? How can people with few resources resist a government which preys upon its children in order to maintain control? If put in a situation in which your only choices are to kill or to be killed, what would you really do? And is survival in that situation the best thing or is their a way to strive for something better? This is a highly discussable book and would be a great one for a book discussion group. Here’s the link to Suzanne Collins’ interview.
Those are just a couple of the titles we’re reading this year keep an eye on our Teens Choice Awards blog for further news.
May 5th, 2010
Karen - Sequoya
…a great book will be created. Will Grayson, Will Grayson (WG, WG) is the result of a collaboration between John Green and David Levithan, both award winning writers with legions of fans across the world. In full disclosure, this reviewer will always have kind words about JG because after meeting him at a library conference and USING HIS PHONE to gush to his brother about how awesome Brotherhood 2.O was, I’ll always harbor a tiny author crush for JG and his work. Following his steady success makes me happy to say “I used that guy’s phone once” to anyone who tells me they love his books.
WG, WG is a new twist on a bilsdungroman (english majors will appreciate that reference) that takes place in suburban Chicago. Will Grayson #1 (there are two characters with the same name thus the title of the book) is friends with Tiny Cooper, a gay football playing, musical theatre loving teenager, whose outrageous behavior both attracts and annoys his best friend Will to no end. Tiny’s dream musical is in production, he’s starring and directing in his own life story. This storyline along with the drama revolving around their friendship and relationships with boys (Tiny) and girls (Will #1) makes up most of the book’s plot. Green writes the WG#1 chapters and his voice is cynical, sarcastic and witty, much like characters in Green’s other novels. Will Grayson #2 is a clinically depressed only child of a single working mother who is just coming to terms with his sexuality. He has just met his dream boy online and most of character’s dialogue is chat room banter. Levithan writes the WG#2 chapters and creates a sympathetic character whose depression and burgeoning sexuality affect everything and everyone around him.
So how do WG#1 and WG#2 meet? Tiny, Will and Jane (Will #1’s budding love interest) are in downtown Chicago for a show and Will’s fake ID doesn’t work so to kill time he cruises the neighborhood and finds himself browsing at a sex shop. WG #2 has been instructed by Isaac, his online romance, to meet him at a place called Frenchy’s, he thinks its a diner, but ends up being the shop that WG#1 is hanging out in which results in the accidental meeting. Tiny meets up with them after the show and falls head over heels for WG#2 and two days later their lives are completely intertwined. Reading WG,WG will remind older readers just how much can change daily, even hourly, in a young teenage life. Both Will Graysons and Tiny’s stories end in dramatic fashion at the musical’s performance which was slightly over the top, but any Glee fan will be sure to appreciate it. My 13-year-old niece will probably have to wait a few years to read this one though, WG, WG is definitely more appropriate for the older teen or above since there are tons of references to drinking and sex. Green and Levithan fans will not be disappointed with this one, here’s some other rave reviews about the title.
April 24th, 2010
Katharine - Sequoya
YA writing goddess Maureen Johnson’s second installment in Scarlett Martins’ story was worth the wait, Scarlett Fever was great! Unless you have read Suite Scarlett, which was madly reviewed here, most of this new novel would not make much sense. So go read Suite Scarlett and then come back and read this review. Just kidding, read on my good friend and just put both books on your holds list.
Sixteen-year-old Scarlett Martin lives and breathes NYC. Her family owns and operates a tiny retro hotel there and goes to the most elite public school in town. Her boss Mrs Amberson, a former hotel guest, has started a new talent agency whose first client is Scarlett’s gifted acting brother Spencer. Spencer has finally landed a gig, but the catch is he’s the on screen villian whose killed off tv’s beloved Sonny Lavinksi (think Law and Order) and the fans of the show are not happy. Scarlett is already stressed out because her old boyfriend Eric keeps popping up (goes to NYU acting school) and she’s still crushing on him hard. Life becomes even tougher when she’s asked to keep an eye on Mrs. Amberson’s newest client’s older brother Max, the trouble maker who could sabotage his sister Chelsea’s budding broadway career. Scarlett’s relationship with Max is tense, but then somehow the romantic sparks start flying. Life at the hotel gets even more stress filled when her cancer surviving sister Maureen becomes uncannily kind, what does she have up her young sleeve? Lots of dramatic conclusions in this YA novel and one heckuva cliff hanger too. This other reviewer really lets Johnson have it about her ending.
Johnson’s writing style is fun and quirky and that’s what makes these Scarlett books so darn good. Its also nice that Scarlett’s parents in the book hardly ever show up and when they do they don’t just offer up wonderful advice or ground them for life. Johnson lets Scarlett handle her own problems and any independent young woman can probably relate to how Scarlett deals with the headaches of being a teenager. Those are just a few reasons why this series is a must read for any serious YA writing fan.
March 1st, 2010
Katharine - Sequoya
…since I felt so compelled to finish a book that I kept the booklight burning long past my usual bedtime. I’m reading teen books right now to find those select titles that will make the final cut for Madison’s annual summer Teen’s Choice Awards review list. So, the book that kept me up? Sweethearts by Sara Zarr. This is one of those works of realistic fiction that stay with you long after you turn the final page.
As a child, Jennifer Harris was shy, a day-dreamer, overweight, sensitive, constantly teased and quick to cry. Her single mother was working and going to school so Jennifer was a latchkey kid. Jennifer’s best friend in third grade was a boy her own age named Cameron. As much of a misfit as she was, he defended her from bullies, and stuck by her. She felt that he truly understood her in a way that others didn’t. So she was devastated when one day he simply disappeared. He stopped coming to school. The teachers didn’t mention or explain his absence. Some children ganged up on Jennifer and told her that Cameron had an accident and died. Jennifer couldn’t understand how he could have left her without saying goodbye, so she believed them.
Flash forward eight years, Jennifer’s mother now works as a nurse, and has re-married, so Jennifer now goes by the name Jenna Vaughn. And that’s not the only change. She’s lost weight and when she and her mother moved in with her stepfather she switched schools and started friendships with a popular group of kids at her high school. Jenna has managed to recreate herself. Then in walks Cameron.
The mystery behind Cameron’s disappearance is compelling, but so are Jenna’s questions about identity, and her growing understanding about the differences between friendship and popularity. Zarr’s intricate descriptions of thoughts, feelings, relationships - even Jennifer’s relationship to food - are depicted in such a raw and real way that this isn’t so much a book to be read as to be experienced.
February 10th, 2010
Karen - Sequoya
OMG (oh my god) TRIP FUN (triple funny). That is the description I put in the subject line of the email I sent to my junior high school nieces about this book. I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be your Class President by Josh Lieb is a riot. Though its targeted audience is young adult it’s a must read for any fan of the Daily Show, Judd Apatow movies or a good episode of the Simpsons, all of which the author has been involved with in some capacity. His take on a middle school class election will keep you in stitches from beginning to end.
Eight grader Oliver Watson is overweight, sarcastic and by all appearances the class dunce. Except for one deep dark secret, he’s covertly running one of the world’s largest corporations and is one of the richest men on the planet. He runs his operations out of a secret location (a bunker underneath his house) and conducts most of his business through a bluetooth device that puts him in touch directly with Lionel Sheldrake the man he has set up to be his decoy around Omaha, NE. Oliver has everyone fooled, his annoying parents, his teachers and his classmates. He can have anything he wants (with a hidden button in the gym class water fountain he gets root beer instead of crappy water) until he realizes the one thing he wants more than anything. The title of 8th Grade Class President.
Most of the story revolves around Oliver’s attempts to manipulate everyone in his life to make this happen. What makes this book so funny? hysterical dialogue and real life black and white photos interspersed with the text that makes this crazy story somehow believable. Lieb’s take on middle school seems to be right on, my niece replied and had already read the book and LOVED it. Of course there is a dramatic conclusion when the candidates give their speeches and we find out if Oliver did indeed win his coveted presidency. Its an outstanding finish to the funniest book I’ve read in ages.
January 22nd, 2010
Katharine - Sequoya
Maggie Stiefvater’s new young adult werewolf romance Shiver is super fun and set in northern Minnesota, which is practically like home. The changing leaves and the descriptions of autumn turning into endless winter - it feels like we were just there a minute ago. Or I guess a month ago. And if you’ve been to northern Wisconsin, you’ve been to northern Minnesota, because they are basically the same, right?
Fictional Mercy Falls, MN is about an hour away from Duluth (which means it is about an hour away from Superior) so you could pretend that the story is set in Wisconsin if you wanted to. I’m fine keeping it in Minnesota. The big difference between there and here is that the Mercy Falls woods are teeming with wolves during the cold months of the year. I checked the Wisconsin DNR website and we have between 626-664 wolves living here. The Minnesota DNR site estimates 2,921 wolves living there. Yikes. Now imagine that some of those wolves are actually humans who turn into wolves when the weather gets cold. Double yikes.
Throw in a couple of wolf attacks and some seriously angsty romance and you get the gist of Shiver. But this story is not hokey. And it’s not New Moon redux. It’s not like the human/wolves are flying around or riding motorcycles or doing crazy stuff. The humans who shift into wolves aren’t able to use cell phones or do algebra. When they become wolves, they are really wolves. The curious thing is how and why they become wolves.
The main characters, Grace and Sam, are very practical and more realistically devoted to each other than Bella and Edward in Twilight. They’ve known each other since they were eleven or twelve years old and work as a team to figure out the wolf attacks and science behind the shifting. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a romance, but it is not all “you’re so beautiful, I love you, I love you, I love you.” I enjoyed the Twilight series, but the writing and the romance in Shiver is a lot tighter. The combination of authentic wolf behavior and, in my opinion, more pragmatic characters really bumps this book up a notch.
Shiver is book one of three in the “Wolves of Mercy Falls” series and should satisfy Twilight fans looking for a new series as well as fans of Blood and Chocolate, the sexiest young adult werewolf romance ever.
December 29th, 2009
Molly - Central
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
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