Pennies from Heaven? Nope, it's 5 & Dime Friday...

A fabulous week, which means there was 100% less SWAT team in my neighborhood. That alone is worth pennies from heaven, but you know what happens when people throw change from up high... DUCK!

Otherwise known as America's Sweethearts, Melissa Wiley and Scott Peterson are ridiculously adorable. I mean, adorkable. Behold, the cartoonist's proposal. Go ahead and sigh, girls, he's well taken, and has been for nineteen years. Happy May 14th, guys, and many happy returns of the date.

RESPECT to the fat kid: Or, we wish YA fiction had some respect for body diversity. But, too often, weight is a Problem Novel focus, with the most desperate attempts to get over it, and only then is the character granted absolution from the sin of thick thighs. In YA fiction being fat categorizes you as victim or bully. Why can't larger characters just be larger, without penalty? CBC Diversity guest blogger Rebecca Rabinowitz takes apart something we rarely talk about.

(True Confession: In A LA CARTE, I wrote a lot about food, and Lainey's weight - her mother's belief that she was fine, and her own belief, based on what she saw from her peers, that she was NOT fine, but I have to admit that I went back and added more anxiety about Lainey's weight, after a comment made me feel like I should, like she should be more concerned, or I was encouraging my readers to be not healthy. Which, looking back, is something a novice writer did, and it was stupid. Don't let others should all over your writing, people. Write the true.)

Additional to the reasoned, considered and considerate conversation in the comments, Fat Girl Reading has a booklist.

This is such an important topic... but it's not one that gains traction in conversation. People duck the discomfort of talking about weight like its invisible second cousin ethnicity (they're related by discomfort levels). Maybe Maureen Johnson can say a word or two about over-sized-12 figures on book covers?? And then maybe people will listen? Who knows.

Speaking of invisible cousins, Betsy Bird and Varian Johnson want to know where all the black boy books are this year. In a word, "Dunno." :sigh: Is it just that we're all so attention deficient in this field that we're only able to give one thing our attention at a time? Once, it was all about getting boys reading. And then, it was about getting heads on the girls on the covers of the YA novels, and de-pinkifying them. Can the topic du jour be something more substantial again, soon?

Speaking of cover art - how about making your own? Merriam-Webster's made a contest. Hurry, photographers - this one ends soon.

Under the heading PISSANT OF THE WEEK: Really, Belizean construction company?? A twenty-three hundred year old pyramid, and ... you used it for road beds? Really?? You lazy skinflints.

Do you hear it? Those solemn martial strains, kind of like the Olympic theme... meh, well, it's stopped now. The tune marked the historic changing of the guard in the realm of the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Pam "Mother Reader" Coughlan has passed her mantle onto Mrs. Yingling and Abby the Librarian, who will wear it with enthusiasm and pride and make another fun and crazy 48 Hour Challenge pass most Bookishly.

And to Pam, thank you.

I've been following the Vivian Maier stories since her photographs were uncovered. I cannot WAIT to see this documentary... Sneaky Vivian Maier, who called herself V. Smith, and sneaked as close as she could to strangers, and photographed them. Private, unique Vivian the nanny, who had a massive lock on her door, and lines her charges knew not to cross. I cannot help but this how much she would just HATE all of this hoopla. Just. Hate. It, with a near feeling of violence. I know I would. But, I still want to see the movie.

In addition, enforcing how similar we are as human beings provides a helpful boost; many minority students fall prey to the concern that they will not be accepted by their peers in school, but researchers found that if they reframed that concern as a part of life, rather than race—essentially showing them surveys and stats that proved fitting in was the concern of all teenagers everywhere—it had an incredibly positive impact.

Writers: when you use shorthand in the form of stereotypes, you perpetuate suck. Don't do it. I used to get sick of myself in grad school talking about the "commonality of the human experience," but that was one of the most valuable life lessons I've learned: all suckitude is spread pretty equally, both by ethnicity and gender - on most things, anyway. This kind of knowledge? Effects kids' self-esteem, and it behooves us as writers to think twice about the silent messages we send.

Well, geez, Texas, you've had t-storms this week, vicious tornadoes in the North, and those monster snails in Houston... and now this!? There's not a Hallmark card to cover having the Loch Ness monster's cousin hunting from your waters, but ... geez... the rest of us are really sorry. And, also, really glad we don't live in Texas.

TURNING PAGES: Reaper's Novice, by Cecilia Robert

It's not every day that you read a book set in Vienna that has really nothing to do with the stereotypical Vienna. I mean, there's the odd schnitzel, a few mentions of Mozart, but only in a passing kind of way. It's funny how some cities seem to fit into middle grade and young adult lit only as historical settings or vacation destinations. What also interested me was that the character was biracial, living in Vienna. There is a realistic mention of racism and some Austria-for-Austrians action which leaves emotional scars. All in all, this is old European city is made modern in this story, which points to an author who lives in Vienna today. This book is published by Trestle Press, which is, as near as I can figure it, the bridge between Smashwords and the printed word.

Reader Gut Reaction: A two-word description of this book would be "emotional roller-coaster." Okay, maybe that's three, but bear with me. Ana Tei, a seventeen-year-old senior, is at first deeply embroiled in the crisis of her parent's fighting. Her brother, Anton, is fourteen, and pretends he doesn't care, but little sister, Lucy, is only seven, and it all cuts her deeply. Three unhappy siblings nestle into a single bed until the fighting is over. It is never explained why they fight, but there is a Grand Plan to Fix Everything in place: the family is going to Italy to spend four memorable days together. However, before the family can get off on their vacation, a car accident threatens everything Ana holds dear. When Ernest - aka the Grim Reaper - appears, Ana's Grand Plan to Fix Everything shifts into high gear. She's sure there's something she can do.

One of the drawbacks of this novel to me is a lack of start-to-finish story arc. It's difficult, when writing a trilogy or a series, to get just enough of the storyline into the first book, and make the reader eager for more, without playing the game of dangling information and leaving ALL the strings untied, instead of tying enough to make a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end. For instance, at one point, Ana plays her violin, and someone bleeds. Why? Is it the tune? The listener? The violin? What does her playing have to do with soul reaping, and why is her music conservatory important - or unimportant? We'll have to read the next book to hopefully find out.

Concerning Character: An attractive girl who plays violin and has a fine net of scars around her neck and wrists from an odd rash during childhood, Ana is secure in her friend Lea's love, and Reiner has been her best friend since grade school. That Lea and Reiner are now together is even better. It's quickly apparent that Ana will do anything for her those she loves - whether they deserve it or not. Her family first, but her friends are a near second. It is this tenacious love which will both charm and baffle the reader - there are times in the book when the average person would cut their losses and say, "Wow, I can't fix this," but Ana tries to fix it all. This makes her both endearing and exasperating.

Emotional relationships in this novel are incredibly detailed or sparse. Ana and her boyfriend, Rolf, are deeply emotionally involved. It's less clear why Lea loves Ana so much, as most of her emotional attention is spent on Reiner and Rolf, and then, later, on her friend, Zig. Ana's early anguish, at her parents' vicious fighting vanishes in a puff of smoke as circumstances change, but it's never clear how Ana feels about that - and, frankly, I keep expecting things to go back to "normal." The new normal, however, persists - everything is just fine... which seems a little sinister to me.

Without giving anything away, it becomes clear midway through the book that some things have been going on, unbeknownst to Ana, all her life. She is characterized as wanting to know everything -- but her curiosity is imbalanced by emotional reaction - she gets hit with an awful lot of information about her past, her future, and her life -- and she merely wants to know more. In some ways, the pacing disallows the main character a moment to let things sink in, which, in such an action-packed book, leaves the reader kind of dizzy.

Recommended for Fans Of...: THE NEW POLICEMAN, by Kate Thompson; CART & CWIDDER, and others in the Dalemark Quartet, by Diana Wynne Jones; THE CIRCLE OPENS books, by Tamara Pierce; HARPER HALL trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, especially DRAGON SONG. Books where including headstrong and heedless main characters, enigmatic guides, family, friends, and music.

Cover Chatter: There are always plenty of covers a book goes through before arriving where it's going to be. Two covers came from this novel - the Kindle version has the swirly background, and show a girl in her late teens, looking like she's part of neither here, nor there. I like the outlines of the people around her, showing the potential of souls. I like the architecture, which says "ancient European city" there. I don't love the pig tails, though; there's not much time spent on Ana's looks in the novel, but I'd remember that. Of course, I don't pay as much attention to ebook covers, so the print cover is the one I appreciate most. The model appears both biracial, and capable of holding a violin as if she can play it. Two wins! The European architecture, plus the violin seem to speak more to the character, and the swirly light around her body also ties in to the story.

Authorial Asides:Cecilia Robert is Kenyan, as is the father character in her novel. Themes of home are certainly strong in this novel, home and family, two things the author has spoken of, and holds dear. Cecilia Robert doesn't do too much that is overt to introduce Ana's two ethnic backgrounds into the text - it flows really naturally, and you know that she's a product of a darker father, and a fairer mother - but it makes no difference to anyone important to the story.

I find it interesting that the major question Ana faces is where is home, and who is most important - the Reaper and that world, or the family she thought was truly hers? It's a question we'll surely see answered in sequels...

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You can find REAPER'S NOVICE by Cecilia Robert online, or at an independent bookstore near you!

Random Monday Tidbits

Just tuning in with a few links on a lazy Monday--lazy because we're in Hawaii, at our friends' house on the Big Island, enjoying a much-needed vacation. Sadly, I did bring some work with me, but only a minimum of such, which, for me, is pretty good. The importance of our trips to the Big Island--besides visiting good friends--is getting the chance to slow down our pace for a while. That is not normally my strong suit.

Anyway, I've saved up a few interesting items for your perusal:

•  First, a few writing-related articles from the Writer's Digest newsletter: a rather useful set of tips on how to avoid and fix word repetition (I am extremely guilty of overusing "just" and "really"...) and some thoughts on writing a satisfying ending.
• Recently, we interviewed the authors of the graphic novel Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong and asked them five questions about the process of writing and crafting. For another inside peek, and a very different set of questions, check out David Elzey's interview with them on Guys Lit Wire.
• Lastly, I got an e-mail announcement regarding the launch of the new Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego: "The center will honor the late author and innovator, and will be an interdisciplinary center where researchers in the arts, sciences, medicine and technology will come together to unlock the mysteries of imagination." How cool does that sound? I so wish I could check out some of the launch events, but I suppose I'll have to content myself with planning some sort of future visit next time I'm in SoCal.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: It's Five & Dime Friday

I think I love this ad more than I thought possible. Because Tech Boy is into All Things Tech, including cameras, he was especially interested in lenticular printing for digital photography... but he passed it along to me because it's for kids. Imagine an ad with specific details visible only from your height - directed at you. This is the ONE AND ONLY TIME I'm happy to talk about advertising directed at minors, because that advertising is a toll-free number to get them help if they or a friend feel they need it. Viva empowerment.

Hey, Ally's back @ Hyperbole & 1/2, making us laugh some more about depression!

...Speaking of empowerment: one of the worst things is an adult who talks down to or thinks down to or writes down to a young adult. This week, TIME put together a big slap-down to the teens and young adults in this generation, calling them the ME, ME, ME Generation. The Atlantic posits, "Same song, second verse," and uses more statistics to remind us all that every generation blames the one before. Sing it.

EEEEEEEEEW: Gigantic snails in Houston. I don't think we need say more.

Dear Comic Book Peoples: There IS a way to draw a sexy character w/o being sexist. No, really.

In case you missed it, here's a link to Huffington Post than Maureen Johnson's Tumblr for her Coverflip Project. It's kind of both eye-opening and brow-wrinkle-inducing: it's about gendered covers. Next, I'd be interested to see what different covers books would have if written by people of color - or not. As always, Maureen starts us thinking...

Speaking of ethnicity - and gender - This, That, Neither, Both is a paper I ran across this past week, which was accepted for the peer reviewed paper session at YALSA’s third annual Young Adult Literature Symposium held November 2-4, 2012 in St. Louis. The charming thing about it for me is that Our Very Own A.F.'s novel was used as an example of biracial characters being confronted with an idea of self that remains inconsistent with their own view. Huzzah, and don't miss this really thoughtful and well put-together treatise.

It's all about the books right now - old books, and books into film: the inimitable Lizzie Skurnick will, from her new imprint be reprinting some "forgotten" books from the 50's - 80's - authors like Ernest Gaines, M.E. Kerr, and Lila Perl are going to get a fresh look with new covers and a new audience. I LOVE the new cover for DEBUTANT HILL. It's just -- wow. Skurnick mentioned the enduring quality of "classic" YA lit that was geared toward guys... and that little comment in a news release weeks old now reminded me that it's almost time for the CHOCOLATE WAR REBLOG. Hosted by Kelly from STACKED with Liz from the SLJ Tea Cozy blog and Leila from Bookshelves of Doom, this will be a slightly unsentimental journey through what is considered a piece of classic young adult literature. What makes it classic? Is it? I'll be interested to see what a revisit to the book will bring...

Kirkus says this looks to be THE summer for SFF novels-into-film. Leila mentioned awhile back that Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was optioned by BBC America, and we all squeaked briefly about that, but Larry Niven's RINGWORLD has been optioned, too. AND! This just in from Book View Cafe: Pierce Brosnan playing Louise Quatorze in a Parallel History Fantasy by Vonda McIntyre's THE MOON AND THE SUN - you know, the one where Louis was trying to become immortal...? I can imagine the costumes will be lush, not to mention the special effects. Here's hoping that this one gets good distribution.

Sure by now you've heard of the 17-year-old coder who figured out a way to remove SPOILERS for her fave TV shows from her Twitter account? Sooo, what did you do this week?? Ah, well - even if you weren't 100% brilliant, witty, and smart the whole week, I'm sure you had your moments, as did we all. It's Friday - enjoy the weekend you've earned.

Toon Thursday: Who Wants Pie?

The latest pie chart: presenting the truth about writing retreats. Please note: pie chart is a work of creative non-fiction. Your experience may vary.

BLOG TOUR: The Hammer of Witches

Welcome, all of you who have wandered this direction from various tweets and posts, and to our regular Wonderland crew. We're here with author Shana Mlawski, author of THE HAMMER OF WITCHES, and today, Shana's gonna give us some author-chat on... rape.

...crickets...

Yeah, big downer, huh? And yet: if you're writing historical fiction... history is the story of violent conquest. Period. And, unfortunately, devastatingly, rape is a part of violent conquest - historically and presently.

You might be wondering, why did we ask Shana to talk about this? -- and make no mistake, we did. We invited her to talk about this because it is uncomfortable. Mucho uncomfortable. There was a squickness about a few scenes in HAMMER OF WITCHES that we didn't want to shove under the rug. Baltasar Infante is a product of his culture and time. And rape was also a product of that conquest and that history... but, there's just no good way - nor good reason - to talk about it... Or, maybe there is a good reason?

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Should We Write About Rape?

by Shana Mlawski

Writing about rape is tricky.

I know: understatement of the year, right? The thing is, I don't want to write about rape. I wish it didn't exist, period, but barring that I wish it weren't such a major part of our history and our lives in 2013. I hate writing about it. I have to write about it. Maybe we all have to write about it.

HAMMER OF WITCHES is a book for young people. It's a fun adventure story filled with genies, witches, swordplay, and a little romance. But it's also set in 1492. We can't know exactly what happened when the Spanish began their conquest of the Americas, but various reports suggest brutal acts of violence, including rape, were not uncommon. This is not to say there was no rape in the Caribbean before the arrival of the Spanish. There's evidence that the indigenous people of the West Indies “stole” women, too. There's also a “charming” story in Taino mythology about a trickster god who went around raping provincial leaders' wives. The patriarchy: it's everywhere! But the Spanish had special incentive to attack Taino women. The women weren't Christian and therefore were not considered quite as human as the ladies back home in Europe. Use your imagination. Or don't. It's depressing.

In any case, we know rape exists in the world and has existed for a long time. The question writers must ask themselves is, “Should we write about it, and, if so, how?”

As I said, these questions are tricky. I can't give you an answer, but I can show you how my thought process went when I was writing HAMMER OF WITCHES. Behold!

OTHER SHANA: “Shana, you're thinking about writing a rape scene? Why? Does every book featuring a female character nowadays have to have one? It kind of seems that way.”

SHANA: “I hear ya. I hate that 'rape is a fun backstory that makes female characters into badass superheroes' trope. But there WERE rapes in the Caribbean in the 1490s and 1500s, Other Shana. If I don't mention them, it would be a harmful act of whitewashing, a lie!”

OTHER SHANA:“This is a young YA book, First Shana. It could almost qualify as middle grade. Parents and teachers don't want their kids reading about this stuff.”

SHANA “That's absurd. Young adults already know about rape. They go to the movies. They hear the 'jokes.' Doesn't TBS run Law & Order: SVU reruns twenty times a night or something? And as miserable as it is to say, we have to acknowledge that too many young adults have been raped themselves.”

OTHER SHANA: “Ugh, I can't even bear to think about that right now. Fine, I'll mention rape in the book, but I won't use the actual word. I'll say 'the Taino women were taken advantage of' or something.”

SHANA “That's ridiculous! That blunts the violence of the thing! Readers need to feel in their gut how horrible it is! Use the damn word!”

OTHER SHANA: “Okay, okay! Wow. I'll use it once. Maybe twice. But I won't show it.”

SHANA “I'm with you on that one. When you show rapes in books, it can seem pornographic. The last thing we want to do is titillate young readers with a description of one of the most horrific crimes there is.”

OTHER SHANA: “Yeah, that... but mostly I really don't want to write a rape scene. That is not something I can handle doing right now.”

SHANA “Fair enough. We'll have it happen off-screen.”

OTHER SHANA: “But if it happens off-screen, will it seem less horrifying to readers? As I said before, they need to feel how horrifying it is.”

SHANA “Then we'll have one of our protagonists see it, and she can report back. She'll tell us how horrifying it was.”

OTHER SHANA: “Let me get this straight. We're going to have a named character talk about unnamed characters being raped off-screen. Are you saying the raped women don't need names, because they're not really people, you're only using them to make a political statement? Tell me that's not what you're saying, Shana.”

SHANA “Yeah, I can see there are unfortunate implications there. But the book is from the perspective of European characters. I can only 'see' what they see and know what they know. Argh! This is why I need to write a sequel from the point of view of a Taino character! Blerghhhhhhhh!!!”

OTHER SHANA: “Interrupting your blergh-ing for a second. If your named European character is at the scene of the crime, why doesn't she stop it?”

SHANA “She only sees the aftermath. Why? Should I have her fight the rapists?”

(IN SWOOPS MY AMAZING EDITOR STACY, WEARING AN AMAZING SUPER EDITOR CAPE!): “Yeah, have her fight the rapists! She has magical powers. Let her use them!”

OTHER SHANA (WAVES GOODBYE TO STACY AS SHE SWOOPS AWAY, BATMAN-STYLE, TO SAVE ANOTHER NEUROTIC WRITER FROM OVER-LONG INTERNAL DEBATES): “Thanks, Stacy! I'll do that. But wait. Now doesn't it look like the Taino women are mere objects to be raped and then saved by white Europeans?”

SHANA: “Yep. It probably does look that way. But to be fair there are other parts of the book where Taino people save white European characters. There are White Saviors here, AND Taino Saviors, AND Other Race Saviors. So it's not like we're being totally racist here.”

OTHER SHANA: “Sure. You keep telling yourself that, Shana.” (BOTH SHANAS CRY AS WE FADE TO BLACK.)

And there you have it. Did I learn the one true way to write a rape scene? No, clearly I did not. But I picked a way, and although I have some concerns about it I'm mostly okay with how it came out. Rape is not a major part of the book, but it's there, hanging around the margins, a reminder of the terrible reality of Columbus's celebrated voyages.

For all you writers out there, my feeling is that there's no single right way to write about rape. All I ask is that you think about what you're writing as you're writing it. Think about what your artistic choices might say to readers. If you find the implications make you uncomfortable, consider a rewrite. If you're fine with what the scenes imply, more power to you.

Keep writing.

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"But history is history. I'm not going to whitewash it. We have plenty of people doing that already. In the year of 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue—and Spain conquered Moorish Granada, the Inquisition tortured people, the decimation of Taíno civilization began, and the world's largest Jewish population was sent into exile. It's a complex, fascinating era, but it's a tragic era, as well." - Shana Mlawski

And, so, here you have it: there are no good ways to write about some topics. And yet -- those topics still need to be written, especially within the context of historical fiction, where reality and story conflate to bridge the gap between real people's stories and today's living history, to enable us to take the lessons from the past and use them to illuminate today.

Thanks again, Shana, for coming by and talking about a topic both challenging and potentially divisive - and for sharing your thought process.

Yesterday, Shana was at The Reading Zone, talking about writers writing reviews - yea or nay? Next Monday she'll be at The Book Cellar, and the following Thursday at Margo Dill's blog, Read These Books and Use Them!

ETA: Synchronicity! Shana's at Diversity in YA's Tumblr today, too! Don't miss.

Final quote and author photo courtesy of Lee & Low site.

TURNING PAGES: ZENN SCARLETT, by Christian Schoon

This has all the earmarks of a great series: an engaging, realistically flawed main character, stupendously detailed world-building, and tons of new-things-per-page. It's got adventure and heart -- but felt uneven. I wasn't aware this novel would have a sequel, and the novel didn't wrap up enough for me to be able to feel the story was finished. I'm hopeful Strange Chemistry puts out the sequel fairly quickly, which could answer a lot of reader questions and make the whole feel more complete.

Reader Gut Reaction: One thing I really, really liked about the world-building in this book is that it isn't working. On one level, this is a novel about tries and failures. At one time there was a greater organization on Mars, as well as research bodies, business and education and other social strata which has fallen on hard times, due to politics. The loss of an exovet, as described with the first chapter, is the first crack in a disintegrating system, because space ships, powered by massive alien animals, are ...vanishing, often with the full complement of crew. Are they all dead? Are they all alive? No one knows, and further, no one knows why...

The second failure is a failure of politics. The relationship with Earth is finished - and has been for awhile. There is no trade nor safety net beneath. As the Mars colony fails, those who can no longer farm, due to sheer bad luck, due to irreparably damaging the fragile balance between the altered Martian landscape or due to simply not knowing enough to survive have moved to join a filthy, sprawling human slum on the outskirts of the largest town.

And "HUMAN" is the important word in that scenario. The third failure in this novel is the social breakdown. Xenophobia is a huge, huge problem on Mars. Some humans keep to themselves, others prefer to live for their corporations, as if they're on Earth, and ignore the Martian "issue" altogether. Still others refuse to get too close to native Martians, including sentient insectoids like Hamish or those aliens with the living tattoos beneath their skin, or many others, so now that Earth is out of the picture, and has left the Colonists to fend for themselves, they're falling into old racial groupings. Too many humans believe that folk of other species have nothing to offer and that the Terrans who consort with them are tainted. The "pure human" movement is a politically divisive, dangerous and crazy-making point of view. The colonists are divided, and Townies will have nothing to do with kids raised on farms; kids exposed to alien workers or those dangerously odd Martian farm animals.

Not considering this excellent world building set-up, another thing delights about this book and that is that it's a "work" book -- the kind of book that lets the reader know just how much work it is to do something. In this case, it's the work it takes to become an exoveterinarian. Exovets study animals that are "off'wa" -- off world, alien species. In this case, the animals are native to Mars, and they're a varied mix of scorpion-like, whale-esque, and cow-like -- only on a massive, larger-than-a-barn like scale. Some of the animals have advanced intelligence enough to learn to communicate - whether through sign-language or modified speech. Others are simply vicious ...they want to EAT those who study them, they give no quarter, and have no sympathy. How often does one run across that in SFF? No modified treecats, no six-fingered whatsits whose only role is the be the Magical Alien and somehow miraculously and intelligently help the all-important human. These are animals. This is like that one horse book you read to death at twelve. This is the part of the story that is simply awesome.

Concerning Character: Zenn desperately wants two things: one, to be a exoveterinarian. Two, to figure out what's going on with her father. Her mother, presumed dead these many years, was the center of his life. After the accident which might have killed her - nobody knows for sure - he's been distant emotionally, and then physically, taking a job off-planet as a lawyer, and leaving his daughter in the care of his brother. Zenn blames herself for her mother's disappearance - ridiculously - and yet, it's clear that she's not enough to anchor her father to Mars. She is fairly convinced that everyone eventually leaves, so she has a Rule to which she adheres strictly: no one gets past her inner circle. That means she doesn't love anyone wholeheartedly except for animals. That 17-year-old Zenn feels she is able to connect with the ginormous Martian animals on a psychic level is intriguing - and not believed by those around her.

The novel is set primarily at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic. Ciscan Cloisters were places of both worship and study, but years into the future, this last cloister only pays lip service to its religious roots. Though there is still an abbot and a sexton, there is, sadly, no chanting, and very few other novitiates. As a matter of fact, there are NONE. Only the title character, and her uncle, now that her mother has been missing for years, and her father has gone away.

My problems with this otherwise well-structured novel begin in the last half to the last third of the story, where it becomes apparent that things will NOT be wrapped up in the next twenty or so pages. Emotional inconsistencies abound, and are entangled in the character of Liam, one of the few "available" boys, but a Townie. While Hamish is hilarious, Zenn's interactions with her uncle believable, and even the slightly two dimensional "villain" was working for me, without revealing specific spoilers, Zenn's reactions, after she is in possession of all the facts, are deeply unrealistic. Because has held herself to a standard of behavior - with reasons - for years, and is focused and intent on her studies, I have a hard time squaring those characteristics with her actions - and lack of reaction - to events toward the end of the book. The conclusion seemed hurried and non-specific, and the emotional intensity which it should have had was simply missing. Zenn seems punch-drunk from so many changes and revelations, and just ...limply goes along to the next thing. I, as a reader, don't feel pulled along by the plot's momentum in any way, and I felt angry and disgusted that a thin romantic impetus is used to bundle away what sharp edges Zenn should have, and sort of diffuse what should have been her incisive and intelligent judgment, which has served her well in the rest of the book. Yes, her "Rule" is the result of being hurt, but it's a protection that she seems to shed abruptly and without much thought, especially in the last scenes. The shriek of "WHAT!?" I emitted was pretty loud.

Recommended for Fans Of...: CLAY'S ARK, by Octavia Butler, Kenneth Oppel's Matt Cruise series, including STARCLIMBER; S.L. Viehl's STARDOC novels; Sherri Tepper's GRASS; James White's Sector General novels. None of these are considered YA, but they all crossover pretty well.

Cover Chatter: This novel wins on a lot of levels - technically, the writing is good, the details of exobiology are good, the detail is wonderful. It's details like the planetary atmosphere depicted on the cover which make it special. Mars, in Zenn Scarlett's case, isn't terraformed entirely -- it's too big, and there are too few colonists, and any water put into the land would simply boil off into the atmosphere, so, there's a work-around. In the author's words:

"In Zenn Scarlett, I proposed a mini-terraforming approach where, instead of going to the colossal expense of making the entire surface of Mars livable, my colonists devised a technology that enabled them to put a “roof” over some of Mars’ great canyon systems and live and raise crops on the canyon floor. This was achieved by employing barymetric ionizing generators on the canyon walls and projecting a thin, translucent layer of coherently energized molecules that would trap oxygen and moisture beneath it, allow sunlight to pass through, but keep out the frigid, near-vacuum of the thin Martian atmosphere above." - Christian Schoon at Valia Lind Writes

Whether this could really work or not, it feels believable, and it gives the cover designers the amazing "roof" of Martian atmosphere to work with for the cover, which is striking, and something that looks unique and adventurous enough for readers to give it a second look.

Because SYNCHRONICITY EXISTS, today Christian Schoon is also up at Scalzi's "Whatever" for a Big Idea post. Don't miss.

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This ARC courtesy the publishers, my review is unsolicited, and my views are my own.

After May 7, you can find ZENN SCARLETT by Christian Schoon online, or at an independent bookstore near you!