December 29, 2016

Thursday Review: HIGHLY ILLOGICAL BEHAVIOR by John Corey Whaley

Synopsis: It might not be easy to picture a story that takes heavy stuff—mental illness, coming out—and weaves them into an often-hilarious, totally recognizable story of friendship and love. Highly Illogical Behavior (which takes place in, of all conceivable locations, UPLAND, which is very close to where I lived as a child) uses the alternating viewpoints of Solomon Reed—who is agoraphobic and hasn't left his house in three years, ever since one fateful day in eighth grade—and Lisa Praytor, who seems to be his polar opposite in just about every single way. Lisa is extroverted, ambitious, and she just happens to want to get into the second-best psychology program in the country.

Through happenstance, Sol's situation falls across Lisa's radar, and she gets a possibly brilliant, audacious, and definitely ethically questionable idea: she will make Sol her project. She'll fix his agoraphobia. And then she'll write about it in her application essay, thus demonstrating her prodigious psychological talents. Unsurprisingly, neither her best friend Janis nor her boyfriend Clark think this is such a good plan, but that doesn't stop Lisa.

Of course, as she gets to know Sol, and over time becomes his friend, things get a lot more complicated than she anticipated. This is, after all, someone's LIFE, someone's mental well-being. And because she, too, has grown to care very much about Sol, her straight-out USING him to pad her college application becomes even more painful to witness, more and more thorny and entangled and questionable. And yet it's undeniable: Sol is changing. Does the end justify the means? Is their friendship a true one? And can the reader finish this story without wanting to SLAP Lisa across the face just one time? (I would guess, no.)

Observations: This book does so much to show that panic and anxiety disorders, including agoraphobia, are not what defines a person or their character. It's a critical point that those of us who suffer from this type of mental issue will recognize: the need to truly understand and accept that you are not your illness. Getting that message across to those readers who may be just starting to realize they have a real issue? And setting them on the path to understanding and accepting themselves? It could be lifesaving.

The message comes across so clearly in part, I think, because of how recognizable these characters are—it's easy to see and KNOW the ambitious, obsessively college-bound, driven Lisa Praytor. Sol is just as familiar, especially to anyone who has ever experienced social anxiety on any level, but also as a human being with desires and hopes and interests of his own. The characters are all rounded and complex, and it's refreshing to see that Sol—the one with the mental issues—is the one with the MOST functional and loving family. His parents and his grandmother support him and love him unconditionally, and they aren't relegated to bit parts, either.

It drives home the point that mental illness is not a decision that you can simply will yourself out of; that sufferers should not face blame for their condition; and that there is a biological component, meaning that you can have a good life and a happy family but still suffer from a mental illness—Sol's home life and family circumstances are not at fault for his situation.

Conclusion: Though a few aspects of the story stretched credibility—mostly, it seemed, to keep with the book's sense of humor and overall madcap kind of tone—I ended up loving these annoying, sweet, and ultimately very real characters.


I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library's ebook collection. You can find HIGHLY ILLOGICAL BEHAVIOR by John Corey Whaley at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 22, 2016

Winter Greetings

Here in the North Central region of California, the winter is scarcely wild (though it is a bit frosty and rainy) and we are all wearing sweaters and coats and boots and scarves as though freezing to death. (Pause for laughter from everyone east of the Rockies and north of...California.)

I therefore can't provide you with any snowy scenes of my house or other picturesque seasonal tableaux (note: my spell checker demanded the French spelling). However, I do have this adorable picture of a penguin that I took just over a year ago when we were in Australia. Granted, he (or she) is not in the snow or looking particularly wintry (this was at St. Kilda Pier, Melbourne in November) but there you go. It is a Little Penguin, aka a Fairy Penguin. How cute is that? IT IS SO CUTE. You're welcome. Merry Christmas.

Or Happy Hanukkah, or Joyous Festivus, or even if you celebrate no holidays, you still have to live with positive vibes and this penguin.

Also, don't forget-- on a more kidlit-oriented note, Cybils shortlists come out on January 1st, and Multicultural Children's Book Day is later in the month on January 27th!

December 20, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: THE DELPHI EFFECT by RYSA WALKER

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


Time travel! Ghosts! Plotting adults! Secret facilities! Teens Who Save The Day! All your favorite adventure catnip rolled up into one book, kitties! This novel, the first in a trilogy, jumpstarts, and doesn't quit.

Synopsis: Anna has only a year left in the foster care system, and her bestie and heartbrother, Deo, has three. Anna was left in a mall, clutching an Orange Julius cup with her name and a warning pinned to her dress when she was just a toddler, and Deo's got scars from injuries sustained before he could walk. They've been both bounced around so many times that they're pretty determined to first, stay where they are, and second, stay together, as the chosen-family they are. It's hard for Anna, though, since she sometimes - okay, frequently - speaks to ghosts. On one hand, they're responsible for the extra help in getting through high school and into junior college well before other kids her age. On the other hand, her "hitchers" occasionally are unfriendly or angry, and once one tried to hijack her body to finish the unfinished business which has tied them to the earth. After months of a stubborn hitcher named Molly badgering her to contact Molly's grandpa, Anna's desperate to get rid of her. She was murdered - and her grandfather doesn't believe in things paranormal. Anna's been following him, begging to be heard - and he's been talking -- and that talk has attracted trouble just a bit too close. He's been shot - and someone is shooting at Anna, too. And it seems that the people who've come to "help" may not all be as helpful as she thought. Someone is leaking information to the police - and maybe someone else. Anna's not safe anywhere -- and it turns out that neither is her passenger ghost. Using her own resources, Anna flees -- and then Deo disappears...

Suddenly, all the mysteries in the world don't matter. Anna's family is on the line, and she will do anything to get him back - make any promise, take any chance, break any rule.

Observations: Each year there are several horror novels nominated. This year there were three significant ones with the blood-spattered covers. One was... just gross, the other a bit over the top. One made me roll my eyes. This novel wasn't one of the horror picks but this to me comes closest to the true definition of the word. Hitchhikers in your head is probably number one on the list of Things People With Mental Health Challenges Fear, so shudder, with a side of yikes. Walker writes utterly engaging, utterly believable characters. The minute you open the door to this story, you're in -- the dialogue is perfectly reasonable, the strained patience with which Anna has to deal with a disbelieving public, the weird quirks of the world in which she lives are all beautifully believable. Her characterizations just work.

This review, in an attempt to avoid spoilers, spends a lot of time on inconsequentials, but these, in part, are the things which make this a really vivid and engaging story. And it is an entire story - it does end, although, you know there's much more to come. Which is going to be serious adventure catnip for someone!

For those who want to know, there is mutual attraction in this novel,

Conclusion: Book One in the Chronos Files trilogy, we've got a bit more of this world and these characters to explore before it's over. Look for more in 2017, I think. If you love a fast-paced novel about kids who are best-friends-turned family, with a little nascent romance thrown in for fun... have I got a book for you.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find THE DELPHI EFFECT by Rysa Walker at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 16, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: THE SALARIAN DESERT GAME by J.A. MCLACHLAN

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


This is a Cybils year with an interesting spate of novels with a dystopian social justice/labor/unions bent. RAILHEAD by Philip Reeve examines the rights of the nonhuman. METALTOWN by Kristen Simmons, explores the rights of workers, and then I discovered this novel, which explores differences in class and race... in a fully unique way. Some readers may be scared off by the brown face on the cover, but I know you're all wiser than that. And since this September release hasn't had the buzz the other novels received, you can consider this me buzzing.

Synopsis: Akhié Ugiagbe's whole name means "Sorrow," which tells you a lot about her father's state of mind when he named her. Life has included a lot of sorrow, including her father's recent death, and a reversal of fortune for her family as a whole, but once she's out of school on Seraffa, Kia, as she calls herself now, will do her best to use her quirky gift for languages to carve out a good life for herself. Part of doing what she can at sixteen is taking an under-the-table job translating at a sketchy casino joint... only to find herself witnessing her older sister, trying to gamble their family out of debt, gambling herself into indentured servitude - for three long years in the Salarian mines where people routinely DIE.

Never mind that Kia will lose her scholarship at University of Translators and Interpreters, never mind what she promised the Order of Universal Benevolence, who are paying her scholarship: family sticks together. Except it seems the Adepts and the religious folk are leveling the field, for once. Kia's been asked by them to go to the Salarian desert to ...translate for her Adept-in-training friend, Agatha.

Though they got close when they both spent time in Malem, Kia thinks it's a terrible idea to send Agatha - Agatha is kind of a disaster as an Adept, whimsically curious one moment, by-the-book the next; determined and unpredictably undisciplined by O.U.D. standards. Agatha can't speak a straight sentence of the Salarian language, and the Salarians are the most easily offended race on the planet, literally. And then she hears about her disguise, and Kia is even more skeptical. The O.U.D.'s going to send her to Salaria white face? They're going to medically kill off her melanin so she can pass as a Salarian, some Adept's dead daughter??? Not going to happen. Stubborn, cagey, yet determined to save her sister, Kia makes compromises, tells lies, deceives herself, and gets dragged along against her will. Once she's in Salaraia, she's already in over her head immediately. And then, the real fun begins.

Is wanting to help someone enough? Or do you need Divine Guidance - a lot of luck - and foreknowledge of everyone's agenda? Kia's about to find out.

Observations: The desert dwellers are the lightest-skinned, fairest-haired, poorest folk in Saaria, initially not choosing the desert by choice, but by necessity as squatters. Salarian's culture is matriarchal, and the money is passed from mother to daughter... so that men have no wealth, little say, and cannot leave their homes and families without permission. On both Saffare and Salaria, teens are expected to pull some of their own weight - whether from attending school and preparing for the job market with seriousness, as Kia is doing, or participating in the Salarian Desert Game, which allegedly makes women out of girls. The worldbuilding provides a lot of fascinating compare-and-contrast with our contemporary world, and examines ideas of rights of classes, races, and eternities.

Kia is characterized as stubborn and self-determined, bullheaded, regardless of how easy it would be to do what's expected of her by so many people. The issues with which Kia contends on Salaria, as she feels pinched between the faith she barely ascribes to asks of her, what political expediency demands and what her heart wants are also thorny and difficult, never giving the reader an easy answer of "which direction is right?" This is a novel full of deep thoughts and conviction, and will be enjoyed by teens who don't mind a bit of mulling-it-over to go along with their fast-paced adventure. There's a tiny helping of a believable, mutual attraction, but no time for romance for Kia, as there's a lot of stuff going on, including people who may or may not be trying to kill her.

Conclusion: I love these covers, and the cover model's brow game is strong!

Readers will encounter mention of the city of Malem in this nove as a place where something nearly disastrous had happened - and may wonder if they will ever find out exactly what. FYI: Kia has another book, THE OCCASIONAL DIAMOND THIEF, which was her first adventure with Agatha! I'm excited to know this, and from this way this novel ends, I'm convinced that the author isn't finished with this character or her world yet.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher via Cybils. You can find THE SALARIAN DESERT GAME by J.A. McLachlan at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 15, 2016

Thursday Review: RUINED by Amy Tintera

Very classy cover
Synopsis: I'm pretty sure this one is also a Cybils Spec Fic nomination—but since I don't see it on Tanita's immediate review docket, I'm jumping on in! I decided to treat myself with this one because I enjoyed Amy Tintera's Reboot and the sequel, Rebel, which were really thought-provoking sci-fi action.

Ruined is the start of a new fantasy trilogy, and I'm already excited for the next two books. If you like your fantasy laced with plenty of intrigue, romance, and revenge—I'd say, if you enjoyed Marie Rutkoski's Winner's Curse trilogy—then you'll want to check this one out.

Emelina Flores—Em—is from the war-torn kingdom of Ruina, where she is the only person in the royal family without any Ruined magic. Her sister, heir to the kingdom, has been kidnapped by the neighboring country of Lera, and the rest of her family massacred. Determined to get her revenge and find her sister, she masquerades as the betrothed of Lera's Prince Casimir, with the goal of getting close enough to lead an attack from inside the kingdom—and to kill the entire royal family. Of course, as you might guess (but not in an easy, predictable way), Cas isn't exactly the war-obsessed, bloodthirsty prince she assumed he would be, and everything gets really complicated really fast.

Observations: I really thought the world-building was effective here. I've started to truly appreciate fantasy books that keep the world itself RELATIVELY confined and simple—a few kingdoms, one or two (or no) types of magic, leaving the focus on the characters, the immediate action, and the emotional arc and making for a more robust story at the end of it. The bells and whistles are icing on the cake without distracting from the story or being confusing. Here, the Ruined magic varies but is essentially an ability to manipulate the natural world (including living creatures) at an elemental level.

But, rather than being a sort of magical Chosen One, Em is the one without magic, who must rely on her wits and natural abilities to complete her quest. It's an interesting twist, and makes her easy to relate to even in the beginning when she is revenge-obsessed and in anguish. And the romance was very satisfying because it doesn't develop arbitrarily and suddenly (ye gods, I hate that) but happens over time, slowly, under difficult but not impossible odds. Our heroes Em and Cas have to work at it, and earn each other's trust even as they are forced to break it again and again. As a reader, I found this definitely added to the book's unputdownability.

Conclusion: SO good. And a plus is that the characters populating the book are sort-of-kind-of-vaguely Latinx, not in an obtrusive way but it's nice to see epic fantasy that taps into cultures other than Anglo-Saxon-Celtic (though I certainly loves me my Celtic mythology).


I purchased my copy of this book on Amazon. You can find RUINED by Amy Tintera at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 13, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: THE KEEPER OF THE MIST, by RACHEL NEUMEIER

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


We've noticed plenty of "hidden princess" novels this Cybils term, plenty of books about royalty in embroiled kingdoms, waiting for - or fighting for - their kingdom's return. This standalone fresh fairytale is a sideways step away from the typical princess-in-disguise book, and has many elements which will be appealing to a reader in search of an adventure...!

Synopsis: The town's best baker she might have been, still no one in Glassforge has ever forgotten that Kerianna Aileen's mother was once a housemaid in Lord Dorric's household, and had caught herself a baby girl before being cast aside - like the rest of the Lord of Nimmira's women - to make her own way in the world. Keri has been raised on spiky pride and little else, and since her mother passed away, sometimes even pride hasn't been enough to get by. She's learned the trade her mother taught her, and unobtrusively serves the community with cakes and bread and pies - all the while loathing Lord Dorric, the three half-brothers who have been raised in relative security and privilege, and the people who snub her. Then Lord Dorric passes away - and the Timekeeper comes. He tells Keri that the Magic of Nimmira has named her inheritor of her father's skill. She is now the Lady of Nimmara.

It's what she's always dreamed of -- except it isn't. In her dreams, her brothers - who snubbed her - are humbled and respectful, and very, very sorry. In Keri's dreams, the Magic has always chosen the Lord or Lady of Nimmara - and then imbued them with a sense of dignity and nobility. In her dreams, the Magic, which has always been there, remains, keeping the tiny land invisible from its encroaching neighbors. Reality is somewhat worse - one of Keri's brothers is sneering, the other is scowling, and the third is smirking, like it's all a great joke. She's not graceful nor regal, and the magic that protected the little kingdom -- it's gone. Currently, life is a lot more like Keri's nightmares: nothing is right, and she's been left in charge. And all she knows how to do is make... cake.

Fortunately, her best friend, Tassel is on hand, to remind her of who she is, and what she can do. And, Tassel's humorless cousin, Cort, who tells it like it is. It will take all of Keri's allies and all of her wiles to negotiate a truce between all eyes on the crown... and maybe even then, she'll fall short of saving her corner of the world.

Observations: This book is exactly what's needed to remind people that little roots are what hold up a tree; that from tiny little bits of seed the most massive redwoods grow. We talk a lot about "pluck" and "grit" but rarely does anyone say how to have it... Readers will especially relate to this heroine, because truly, Keri doesn't have anything but her two empty hands. She has to trust in her people, and that she's making the right decisions.

Of course, there are people who don't want to graciously trust Keri to do anything - wasn't she just a baker last week? Keri's half-brothers, as well as other men in this narrative act as they've been trained to - as the only ones with a brain and a will. They try to take over, and speak with Keri's voice. They coerce and persuade and attempt to outright force her to their will. Readers will want to punch someone, repeatedly, during those parts of the book. Just when she gets things nearly figured out and settled, there's another big plot wrench -- which, when readers think about it, they probably saw coming. But, the more important thing is how Keri sets aside her rage before it cripples her, and the fear before it incapacitates her, and goes on. That was great to see.

Though there's a strong female protagonist, this novel will be equally enjoyed by boys and girls - there's fast-paced adventure, as well as plot which requires thought. The lack of romance as an overwhelming emotional tide was a real positive, though attraction exists in the form of a deepening, broadening friendship and mutual respect. While readers might wish for more obvious diversity in terms of gender, ability or ethnicity, most will feel happily sated that this substantial book has a proper beginning, middle, and satisfying conclusion.

Conclusion: Especially right now, novels with themes of Ragtag Band Defeats Incredible Odds By Sticking Together And Combining Their Strengths are incredibly uplifting. If you're looking for a little guidance for how to go on once your kingdom has been exposed to power-hungry predators, -- have I got a book for you!



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find THE KEEPER OF THE MIST by Rachel Neurmier at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 09, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: TITANS, by VICTORIA SCOTT

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


While some girls are horse-crazy from the minute they're tall enough to reach a stirrup, others of us... are not into Pony Club books and that type of thing. I find that I'm mainly into the equine only when they're a.) bloodthirsty unicorns, a la RAMPANT, by Diana Peterfreunde, or b.) slightly rage/possessed water horses, a la THE SCORPIO RACES. Otherwise, meh. I could take 'em or leave 'em. Which is why this book tickled me. We gotcher insane horses, we gotcher mystical man-eaters, and now we've got... androids? Right. The Uncanny Valley widens.

Synopsis: Detroit once was a place for the people. Its working-class denizens knew where a good time was to be had - where the music was, where the best food was, and where to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon - at the races, sliding tickets across the counter, cheering and shouting, taking a chance, and making book. But, the racetrack where horses ran fell into disuse with the Titans came. Good, clean entertainment, it was supposed to be. Safer for everyone - for horses, for riders. But the Titans came and crushed a very old industry, and the betting on this new breed was easier - faster paced, and more addictive than anything that had come before. The rich got richer, the backers, the steel manufacturers, those in the right position...and the poor - betting on a dream of breaking even someday - got poorer. Families were losing houses, jobs, and everything was sliding downhill. Astrid could feel it -- and see what was coming for them. But she could no more ignore the Titans than her father. Only, her bailiwick wasn't the betting... it was the dream of a ride.

Astrid is betting on the "just one shot" like everyone else. She's given sweat, blood, time, and silence to put her hands on a single dream: to keep her family together. She just wants to make up for the one mistake she's made -- but is it possible? Can you ever really have back what you've lost?

Observations: This novel doesn't have a romantic storyline that toils away surreptitiously beneath the surface then rises up to swamp the narrative. Let's just caress that thought for a moment and gaze at it fondly.

Thanks.

There aren't a lot of YA novels featuring grandparents, and how we love them. There really aren't a lot of YA novels featuring irascible, cranky old people whom we love anyway. I like the grudging affection in this novel; Astrid's for the Titans, Rags for Astrid and Magnolia, even a family grudging affection for each other's failures. This novel is about the distance that is between people - between classes - and how it extends and expands. It is about the fractures that come into families in pursuit of security. It is about worry and strife and betting on yourself with your whole heart. There is a lot of heart in this novel, as well as a lot of math and guys with good tools.

Conclusion: The idea of mechanical horses I've not seen elsewhere, and I really like this interestingly post-contemporary world-building. There are big-picture themes in this novel, as well as fast-paced racing action and amusing characterizations. I can see this book appealing to boys and girls - it's very entertaining and engaging, as well as STEM-oriented. With its familiar feel, this old story of an old sport - betting and racing - is given a truly fresh, original face.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find TITANS by Victoria Scott at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 08, 2016

Thursday Review: THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH by James Kennedy

Synopsis: This is another one I acquired and got signed at the KidLitCon in Wichita a couple of months ago—and I got to meet and hang with the author as a fun bonus! Interesting aside—James Kennedy is founder of the really awesome 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, which brings students, teachers, and librarians together to produce condensed, often hilarious film versions of Newbery Award winners. As it turns out, he was in the running for the Newbery himself for this very book, but lost out to that pesky Neil Gaiman and his Graveyard Book. *shakes fist* NEIL GAIMAN!!!

Neil may have won, but this book still has it all. Hilarity: check. Mayhem: check. A level of quirky-cool-things-per-page that is heretofore unseen: check. Jo LaRouche, our thirteen-year-old protagonist, lives with her aunt Lily LaRouche—who seems to be an aging Golden Age film star of sorts—in a wild, gaudy mansion in the California desert. Jo was dropped on the doorstep as an infant, bearing only a note saying she was a "DANGEROUS baby." This is intriguing, since for much of the book, we bear witness to Jo being possibly the least dangerous or threatening (and definitely the least weird) in a rather amusing lineup of characters that includes a vengeful Chinese millionaire, a freakish reality-show host known only as the Belgian Prankster, various cockroach butlers, and previously unheard of orders of mysterious knights.

Of course, these orders of knights include the Order of Odd-fish, for which the book is named…and as the plot unfolds, the reader finds out the nature of Jo and Lily's connection to the Odd-Fish, as well as the secret of Jo's birth and her ultimate destiny in the magical realm of Eldritch City….

Observations: I see this one appealing greatly to fans of Terry Pratchett, in its combination of silly-yet-serious. Also, like Tiffany Aching, Jo LaRouche is kind of the heir apparent to a hidden world of magical weirdness. And boy, is it weird! And fun. And hilarious. Ever read something and think, in reference to the author, "Good grief, is THAT what it's like inside your brain? Whoa, man." It takes quirky to epic heights. And as such, it might not be for everyone—the ever-growing whirlwind of bizarre might be too much for readers who prefer realistic fiction—but I thought the author maintained the balance with a believable, relatable main character who somehow manages to remain a regular girl in many ways, despite all the strangeness going on around her.

Conclusion: Very, very enjoyable. Also impossible to really describe, so you'll just have to go read it. I'd call it middle-grade-ish, but appropriate for older audiences, too.


I acquired my copy of this book at KidLitCon 2016. You can find THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH by James Kennedy at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 06, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reads: VICARIOUS by PAULA STOKES

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


Writing inclusive speculative fiction is easily doable for a lot of people -- just, craft your imaginary world, know a great deal about the community and individuals who you're portraying -- de rigueur for any writer -- and then add them to the imaginary-ness of your speculative fiction. Done. I'm grateful that Paula Stokes decided to not white-default this novel. Though the Kim girls' culture doesn't figure largely into the story, it's worth having an Asian girl on the cover of the novel, and

Synopsis: Winter and Rose have been sisters like matching gloves, striving together all their lives, from their time in the Korean orphanage to their being brought to the U.S. and "adopted" only to be exploited and trafficked. Now they're out and away from their past -- though it has left indelible scars on them both. The girls work for Gideon Seung, Rose's onetime boyfriend, recording their thrill-ride life experiences for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Dancing all night, jumping from a bridge, hooking up with random hotties: the girls have done it all -- and will do it all -- for Gideon. After all, he saved them.

But, then, Rose vanishes. Her ViSE is returned - with her murder on it. Winter can't find her emotions anymore -- she bounces from panicked to terrified to determined. All she wants is revenge, served ice cold. But nothing is as she thinks it might be -- and as the clues mount up, and her friend Jesse does his best to help her recreate Rose's last days, what Winter thought she knew turns out to be a lie.

Observations: There are many novels about women who have survived abuse, and novels about their emotional struggles. Though we're told early on that Winter and Rose are both struggling emotionally, we don't know how bad it is. I am not yet sure how I feel about the plot twist, and the girls' struggling from the past coming through as part of the plot twist. We get so many "strong female character" novels that when I read one which features a strong woman who breaks, it's uncomfortable. Many won't have seen the plot twist coming, and others will find it upsetting in that it draws into question the whole first half of the novel. Will this turn you off from finishing the novel? Probably not, especially since the novel rebounds and ends on an upswing which promises more story to come.

Conclusion: An adventure, this novel has some suspenseful thriller elements, and a plot twist which may be seen coming by some, but may be an affront to others. The novel ends this episode, but there's clearly room for more -- and this is a duology after all, so there will be another story in this universe. All in all, this is a fast-paced, engaging novel to pack in a bag to keep you engrossed during a long train ride.


I received my copy of this book courtesy of Tor Books. You can find VICARIOUS by Paula Stokes at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

December 02, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: MEMORY GIRL by LINDA JOY SINGLETON

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


There are elements to this novel which are so familiar -- THE GIVER vs. DIVERGENT vs. OLD MAN'S WAR vs. NEUROMANCER -- we've dealt with the "downloaded human consciousness" trope before. However, the dystopian grotesqueness of seeing it up close, using teens who are already seeking identity and trying to hold onto it -- who struggle with peer pressure and the overarching adult desire for them to conform make this a compelling read regardless.

Synopsis: At ShareHaven, life is shared -- and extended. Jennza knows it's not her lot to be herself forever -- the ultimate use for her is to take on the memories of someone who has passed away, and live again for that family, with those memories. She's meant to take on another life... but she worries. Is her life going to have her good friends Lorelei and Marcus in it? Will it have trips to the seaside, her silly little pet Petal, and her love of climbing? How do you keep all that makes you... you, if you have to grow up to be someone else?

There's not too much time to worry over that, however; Jennza is

Observations: We don't often, in dystopian novels, get a real sense of "what brought us to this point," and this novel offers only the barest hints of "some big terrible thing happened, and then we decided on this idea." The novel explains more than once that there was no choice but to do this - and the characters don't really react to this as much as the average teen. Though they're conditioned somewhat to accept their place and revel in the idea of exchanging it -- it seems there'd be more than one who rejected this idea.

Religion is pitted against Science in this novel; Scientists are the keepers of wisdom, and belief and faith and even praying are frowned upon as backwards and problematic behaviors in this brave new world. I really wished that the novel had delved further into these ideas, as things like assisted suicide seem compatible with Believers in this world, not Science. Which I found intriguing but a bit odd.

This seems to be a truly post-racial society in some ways - the question of whether someone who didn't look like your long-lost whomever could stand in for them never came up -- which for me was something I was looking forward to exploring. Do people pick their youth based on appearance, or is it only their scores? There is a lot more going on in this society than this book got into.

Conclusion: Though the slang is new, the trope is familiar. A bright, shiny, clean dystopia which walks familiar medical/scientific/we-have-all-the-answers paths, yet prolific Singleton has provided worldbuilding which gives a new depth and provides new ideas to explore for the reader.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of CBAY Books. You can find MEMORY GIRL by Linda Joy Singleton at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 29, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: THE IMPOSTER QUEEN, by SARAH FINE

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


I'm not too huge a fan of Fated King stories because it seems we've had endless permutations of Arthur &tc., being part of the Special Circle of Knights or being part of Merlin's coterie or Morganna's, etc. so stories of kings and princesses and prophesies are usually something I just race through and move on from. Sarah Fine's book arrested my attention because ...well, I'm not sure why. Maybe because I had no inkling, despite the title, that the protagonist wasn't really going to win the day. I was surprised and dismayed, along with the adults around her. That shows some skillful writing. While there are plots and counterplots in this novel, some more obvious than others, there's enough to keep a reader happily engaged, and enough for a sequel -- though because the novel ends tidily, a sequel is not necessary. And, that's what we like here!

Synopsis: Elli has lived a life of luxury, study, and expectation. As Saadella, she has whetted her curiosity against the sharpest minds in the kingdom, preparing for her role as Valtia. She has been told that she will be the most powerful to ever rule. Elli really doesn't care about that. The current Valtia must die in order for her the Saadella to lose her name and receive her power... and Elli's pretty much thrilled to let the current Valtia go on being the queen for as long as possible. The Valtia has cared for Elli since she was tiny, and is a clearer, sharper memory than Elli's own mother... thus, it's easy to tell when she begins to fail. Why don't any of the Valtia's ever live past their thirties? Why do the invaders have to come now?

What should have been a glorious victory for the Kupari turns from personal tragedy for Elli -- into disaster as the Saadella finally ascends to her throne, only to find that the magic which she has awaited -- gone. Instead of raised up and deified, Elli only feels ...hollow and empty and useless. And, soon, her uselessness is magnified by terror. How will she live? What will she do, if she is neither the Saadella nor the Valtia? What good is she?

Left with few choices, Elli disappears into the outlands, and finds herself in a nest of thieves -- but are they all thieves? Are they all bad people, as she has been taught? As they guide Elli into her new life, she realizes how much she hasn't learned about her own world -- and the prophesy that said she was powerful has a meaning she hadn't considered. There's a "right" side to be on, in the upcoming conflict, and then there's the side you make yourself. Elli's eventual grasping of her identity as a decider allows her to stop being used and to use circumstances for the betterment of all.

Observations: We've had a couple of books this Cybils cycle about powerlessness -- and I like how Fine deals with it, in such a way which gives it a real world application: after a theft of your power, you may have nothing left within you, but the hollow inside is empty for a purpose -- so that you can work as an amplifier on behalf of someone else. That's a pretty cool thought, when all is said and done. Elli was prepared to lose her name and lose her personal will on behalf of the people of her kingdom -- and while that in itself is laudable, sometimes our best power is to decide things for ourselves, on our own behalf, and if the kingdom comes along... well, okay.

Conclusion: Elli is a character who yearns for love, attention, and purpose, who knows when she's inflicting her affection on someone, but who doesn't always see when someone's affectionate attention is given to her. I like how Fine plays with ideas of power and will with a would-be queen, who is basically powerless in some ways, though she's allegedly the period at the end of the kingdom's sentence. Though I might wish the romance had been eliminated, to keep the reasons Elli does things more ..."pure," overall, I think this somewhat familiar narrative has just enough new things to engage teens seeking to understand their own powerlessness -- and to find ways to turn the tide of the world they know.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find THE IMPOSTER QUEEN by Sara Fine at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 28, 2016

Monday Review: REALITY BOY by A.S. King

Synopsis: I picked this one up (and got it signed; woot!) at the most recent Kidlitosphere Conference in Wichita—somehow I missed it when it came out a few years ago, but I'm so glad I went back for it, because it's up there with my favorite A.S. King novels.

Picture one of those awful, Nanny 9-1-1 reality TV shows that were so popular there for a while. Now, imagine being a teenager, and having been one of the luckless kids who was featured on such a show as a toddler, too young to have any say about it. Imagine you'd been acting out your anger at your manipulative older sister in all kinds of sad and horrible ways, but thanks to oblivious parents and heartless TV studio execs, you're the one who takes the blame. That's what happened to Gerald Faust. Now seventeen, he's biding his time until he graduates, working a job at the local sports arena and still working on his anger issues. You'd be angry, too, if all the kids at school knew you as "the Crapper" and your awful sister was still living in the basement, making your life hell.

Gerald feels very much alone at the beginning of this novel, but it is those who dare to reach out to him that begin to truly open him up to the world: his boss at the arena, who is everything his mom isn't; and Hannah, a girl with enough troubles of her own that she doesn't seem to care about Gerald's past. In tiny ways, and then in more pronounced ways, his walls start to come down, and his life starts to change. And, to his surprise…he finds hope out there beyond the walls.

Observations: This story was incredibly gripping, told as it was in alternating sections: Gerald's childhood on the TV show, and his experiences with the TV nanny, are juxtaposed with his present-day life and tribulations with schoolmates and family. Some of his problems are new, and some of them just never went away…and through it all, he struggles with his anger and powerlessness. Overcoming his anger, and realizing the power that he DOES have, is one of the core themes of this book. Feeling powerless, feeling like you're subject to the whims of your family and those around you—it's basically a childhood/adolescent truism, but Reality Boy takes it to heretofore unexplored heights.

I had so, SO much sympathy and righteous anger on behalf of Gerald—how could parents do something like that? How could they raise their children in such a dysfunctional way?—and yet these types of small tragedies happen every day, albeit not necessarily in such visible ways. Still, the presence of the media panopticon in this story is frighteningly relevant.

Conclusion: A.S. King does such an incredible job of telling Gerald's story here, making us feel for him AND feel his anger—and making us root for him to heal. Fans of her books won't want to miss this.


I purchased my copy of this book from Watermark Books in Wichita. You can find REALITY BOY by A.S. King at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 25, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: 23 MINUTES by VIVIAN VANDE VELDE

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!

I have a ridiculous love for the novels of Vivian Vande Velde (I also love the alliteration of her name just that tiny shade too much) and her speculative worlds never fail me. I discovered her vampire novel in my 90's YA reading, about the same time I discovered Annette Curtis Klause's vampires, and devoured them both. I'm pleased to see Vande Velde still writing.

This is your little holiday reminder to hit the library and dig up some of your favorite authors, and see what else they've published since the 90's! Vivian Vande Velde has been busy!


Synopsis: Okay, so you're not going to care, but fifteen-year-old Zoe's had a crap day. She fought with her house mother, she stole her file from the office of her group home, and she's just been caught in the rain - so she steps into a bank, where everyone's giving her stinkeye. And then? There's a ROBBERY. And the one guy who's been kind of sweet and friendly to her... dies.

This is not the day Zoe signed up for.

What's worse is that though she's pretty sure her day is her fault -- totally sure, actually -- Zoe has to change the trajectory of this day -- she has that power, in theory. In practice, changing the world by changing your actions? Is darned hard. Sometimes she's too fast. Sometimes she's too slow. And she simply cannot think fast enough with guns firing and people falling on her -- her heart is beating too fast, and there's too, too much at stake.

Nobody looks at her. Nobody truly sees her. Nobody wants a damp, blue-haired girl to stand around, messing up the sanctity of their Adult World. But, Zoe has seen people die and she's got to stop it -- she's just got to... or else, what is her weird ability for? Who is she? What's her life about?

Observations: Vande Velde really stretches to determine the boundaries of this paranormal skill - twenty-three minutes is the amount of time Zoe has to change things, and ten times is how many times she can rewind. That's it. Establishing this clearly goes a long way toward helping the reader stay focused. While the book uses a lot of repetition, the focus of each scene is somehow subtly different, keeping the reader worried - and engaged.

This book was both funny and frustrating. It really says something about our culture that a teen is not listened to -- add to that a teen with blue hair, who doesn't look particularly prepossessing, is unaccompanied, has papers which detail her psychiatric history, and is by turns weeping, shaking, blurting, or snarking? She is NOT going to be heard. I knew this, and yet I kept hoping, and trying to think - and outthink - the protagonist, and come up with things she could try to get her very important message across, before the twenty-three minutes were up. I LOVE the mental gymnastics it took to plot this, and I hope to see a lot more uniquely fresh plot ideas like this. I really enjoyed this, even as it made me want to scream.

Conclusion: The Dutch version of this novel made me smile - I hope the paperback American version chooses to display that blue hair!

Vivian Vande Velde has a unique and twisty mind, which we already knew, but she truly put it -- and the readers' -- through its paces in this short, fast-paced novel.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of public library. You can find 23 MINUTES by Vivian Vande Velde at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving!


Wish I could take credit for the nice graphic, but in fact I found it on a great site called Open Clip Art. It's based on art from the Columbia Evening Missourian of 1922.

With much love and gratitude for the amazing people of the kidlit community--readers, writers, bloggers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, etc. etc.,  Finding Wonderland wishes you all a very happy Turkey Day!

November 23, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY, by CAT WINTERS

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!

NB: Author Cat Winters is a go-to for historical fantasy for many, and the covers of her first two novels, which also took place in the early 19th century, were atmospheric and memorable, sifting through history, complete with wonderful black-and-white photographs, to reveal something important and disturbing about today. This novel, which is set in the roaring Twenties and the heyday of America's love affair with fast cars, fast women, and bootlegging, is no exception. Winters frames this novel within the story of Hamlet - and if you'll recall, that play ends with a pile of bodies. Readers should be aware of a content warning for Klan appearances, lynching & racism-related violence in this novel. Though the plot isn't ripped from today's headlines, but yesterday's, readers may find themselves distressed at the similarities.


“I believe that 'love' and 'wrong' are two deeply unrelated words that should never be thrown into the same sentence together. Like 'dessert' and 'broccoli.”

Synopsis: Hanalee Denney is biracial, and her father, Hank, who was black, has died under mysterious circumstances. Hanalee now lives uneasily with her white mother and her new white stepfather, Uncle Clyde - Clyde was the last one to see Hank alive. The boy whose car struck and killed her father, Joe Adder, swears up and down that he'd merely broken Hank's arm and a leg -- and that he was nowhere near death when Joe sent Uncle Clyde to him. Hanalee's conversation with Joe was helped along by a pistol -- and so she's pretty sure he's telling the truth. Maybe.

Of course, it's hard to take the word of someone like Joe... who is an Oscar Wilde, after all.

Hanalee didn't know what an Oscar Wilde was, -- but, she finds out. And it turns out that she and Joe are a minority of two, in their little town. According to the Klan, folks like them aren't supposed to exist. Neither are ghosts, either, but ...apparently, one does. Hanalee's father is haunting the neighborhood. Taking her courage in hand, Hanalee goes to find out what he has to say...

The Elston, Oregon where Hanalee is growing into womanhood isn't the town she remembers as a child. Her parents' marriage was illegal -- and the "one-drop rule" is in full force; even biracial, Hanalee will never be allowed to marry, and further schooling will soon be unavailable to her. Joe's in danger of being forcibly sterilized. When Joe informs her of the tail end of a plot that maybe fingers her stepfather for her father's murder, she is wild to follow it up - but there just aren't many leads, or many options open to a colored girl in racist Oregon. Also, there aren't that many people who care that a black man died. With her mother urging her to stay calm -- and stay safe -- and with Joe hiding from the Sheriff, and his own family, there's not danger and fear around every corner. But, somewhere, too, there is also the truth, and Hanalee is going to find it.

Observations: I love that the title is about religious hypocrisy, and is taken from Hamlet, I love the cover of this novel, and that the hours of research the author put into it show. Oregon in the 20's -- and, not gonna lie, in some pockets, well beyond those years -- was a scary, scary place for people who were black. The charter for settling the state had basically a proviso: if you're black, don't bother, which was vastly different from the rest of the more easygoing West. Sundown towns aren't just a horrific remnant of the South; many people were hounded to death or died more directly at the hands of the Klan in Oregon. And of course, their agenda didn't stop with racial purification, but moral purification. Gay men and women's lives were made a living hell, as they were sterilized and incarcerated and beaten, so that the state would be "purified." This is a history which makes us shudder and turn our faces away -- but it's a history which should not be forgotten. How do we remember this history? By vowing never again, not today, not tomorrow, and doing all in our power to keep the topic something that isn't a secret shame, but a public reminder.

Conclusion: Despite its heavy subject matter, this novel has a dreamy, important friendship in it - not a romance, but a friendship. It has moments of quirk and humor, as most Winters' books do. While I don't as clearly see Hamelet's story throughout the novel, this is an excellent, spooky, and generally horrific novel which brings to light Oregon's racist roots and reminds us of what it takes to combat intolerance and hate -- sustained effort, taking hits for each other.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY by Cat Winters at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 21, 2016

Monday Review: FORGE and ASHES by Laurie Halse Anderson

Synopsis: Forge and Ashes are the 2nd and 3rd books in the Seeds of America trilogy by Laurie Halse Anderson. Way, WAY back in 2009, I reviewed the first book, Chains, and was so glad to know there was a sequel in the works: it was an absorbing tale of the difficulties of life as a slave in colonial America. Well, the sequel came out in 2012, and it took me so long to get to reading it that I am sorry to admit I forgot a lot about what happened. As it turns out, though, there is a change of narrator in Book 2, and some time has passed, so my sieve-like memory was not an obstacle to my enjoyment of the story.

Book 1 was told from the point of view of the young woman Isabel, who was freed along with her sister when their master died, but then forced by his nephew back into slavery for an unkind Loyalist family. Book 2, Forge, takes place after the events of Chains, but follows the story of Isabel's friend Curzon, a runaway slave with forged papers who ends up joining up with the Patriot Army at Valley Forge. He finds meaning in his fight for freedom, he finds friendship in his fellow patriots (some of them), and, of course, he finds Isabel in his life again. She's trapped in a bad situation, and Curzon's avoiding his own past, which seems to insist on chasing after him…

Book 3, Ashes, returns to Isabel's viewpoint. Having fled Valley Forge, she and Curzon are headed to the South to find Isabel's intellectually disabled younger sister, Ruth, from whom she has been separated for a handful of long years. After rescuing Ruth from a plantation, along with her friend Aberdeen, the four make their way back north. To Isabel, the hardships encompass much more than just the journey; for one thing, Ruth is angry at her sister and doesn't want to accept her back into her life. For another, Curzon seems obsessed with his newfound ideas of freedom after serving with the Patriots. But it seems that the struggle for freedom is where their destiny indeed lies, and they all make their way to the front lines at Yorktown…

Observations: I ended those synopses with ellipses (hee) because I don't want to give away too much of the adventure of these two books—part of the enjoyment is following these determined, brave, honorable protagonists as they overcome obstacle after obstacle, all for the sake of the type of personal freedom we as contemporary readers take for granted, and the security of their loved ones. Their stories are also gripping because of the fascinating and important window they provide into colonial America, and what it was like to navigate society as a slave, a former slave, a servant, a free worker, a soldier, a woman on the battlefield. These are less-commonly told stories that give us a much fuller picture of what life during the era was actually like, and they are interwoven with the stories of real-life people who are included in the bigger-picture story, as well as interesting snippets from historical documents. These two books, incidentally, skew a little older than the first one, as the characters themselves age.

Beyond the value of these books as historical portrayals or as gripping tales of personal struggle, they also have amazing depth in terms of theme. The idea of freedom, of course, pervades this trilogy: what people are willing to do and to suffer for the sake of freedom; how much they are willing to fight for it; and who they are willing to trust to help them achieve it. The bonds of family, friendship, and love, both within and across color lines, are forged (there's that word again) and tested by the ravages of time and war—and prove themselves to be strongest.

Conclusion: By the time I finished reading this trilogy, I felt newly awed and inspired by the incredible stories of those unsung individuals from colonial America who were nevertheless such a huge part of our past history. The author tells their stories with sensitivity and honesty.


I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library's ebook collection. You can find FORGE and ASHES by Laurie Halse Anderson at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 17, 2016

Thursday Review: CUCKOO SONG by Frances Hardinge

This scary cover almost made me not want to read it.
Synopsis: I’m a huge fan of Frances Hardinge’s Fly By Night books, so I was eager to check out this one—another middle grade fantasy. It’s hard to talk about this one without giving away too much (or at least without minor spoilers), so if that is the sort of thing you mind, I’d stay stop reading now.

Okay. For those of you who remain, I’ll now note that if you are familiar with the habits of the cuckoo, then you’ll be able to guess pretty quickly that this is a changeling story. The era is shortly after WWI, in England. The narrator is thirteen-year-old Triss, who has recently woken from illness, after an accident when she fell into a sort of mill pond. She’s gradually feeling better, and her world is starting to fall back into place, except that her family is…treating her strangely. Her younger sister Pen acts scared of her, and insists she just isn’t herself—but then, Pen always hated her. Even Triss’s parents, though, are acting weird, whispering and lying to her.

And then there’s the fact that Triss doesn’t quite FEEL like herself. For one thing, she is ravenously hungry. She can eat and eat and eat and not feel satisfied. But when she checks her diaries to see what might have happened and why she might be this way, all the pages have been mysteriously ripped out. One day, she follows her sister into town to try to get to the bottom of things, and finds out that not only is she NOT who she thought she was, but the Architect who made her that way may soon be threatening her entire family, her entire town, and her very existence.

Observations: I love the unexpected twist here on the changeling story: we get the viewpoint of the usurper, who has so completely been plunged into the life of the original Triss that she thinks she IS Triss, at first. By the time she finds out she isn’t, Not-Triss already cares for her family, even her sister—because she has Triss’s memories, too. And she feels no allegiance towards those who created her and forced her into this situation. The changeling in this story, as it turns out, is NOT the one to be worried about...

In certain ways, this reminds me of stories like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, wherein the adults are either flawed or evil, and the kids have to band together. And in Cuckoo Song, boy is there plenty of flawed-ness and evil to go around. The parents are selfish and desperate, and allow their grief over their son (lost in WWI) to drive their decisions. Meanwhile, the adults who are fey or fey-involved are downright malicious and scary. It was a huge relief when a trustworthy adult eventually did come along to be an ally for Not-Triss and Pen—and ultimately, that resulted in a satisfying ending, with the sisters saving the day and their ally taking enough of a role that it was believable.

Conclusion: I won’t lie: this book was SUPER CREEPY. And that doll’s head on the cover almost made me not want to read it, but fortunately the actual dolls were not a huge part of the book. But, as always with Hardinge’s books, the writing was exquisite, and the story was an unputdownable adventure as well as a story about sisterhood and friendship.


I bought my copy of this book on Amazon. You can find CUCKOO SONG by Frances Hardinge at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 14, 2016

Elsewhere Around the Kidlitosphere...

I haven't been producing a lot of new content (or stringing together coherent sentences) over the past week, so instead of a regular blog post I thought I'd do a quick roundup of other online stuff I've been doing:
The Cybils blog is always such a great resource for finding new reading material (NOT that I ever have trouble finding new reading material), and I love having a mandated opportunity to go around and read a ton of different kidlit blogs and check out books in categories that aren't my usual go-tos.

Welp, that's about all I can manage for today. I leave you with this bit of humor I found on Twitter:

November 11, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: ON THE EDGE OF GONE by CORINNE DUYVIS

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


Many readers know author Corinne Duyvis from her work with the Disibility In Kidlit website. This is her second novel.

Synopsis: Denise is struggling to stay calm. She's researched and knows the rate of survival, knows the details of the deep impact comet that's going to hit Eastern Europe. She knows everyone in her Amsterdam neighborhood is in their shelter -- everyone but her drug-addicted mother who has fiddled and fluttered and has made them late. The shelter won't take them, and now they're delaying again. But, the last delay has given them a two-day reprieve from the underground shelter. It's given them a temporary spot on a generation ship - still grounded, doing repairs, but space-worthy. Denise desperately wants to get herself and her sister on-board, but her sister didn't make it home in time to leave with them, and her mother has smuggled her ketamine along. All the problems that they had before have come along with them; Denise's inability to communicate easily, her mother's drug addiction. Add to that the comet, its temblor aftermath, and the tsunami following part of Norway falling into the sea, and everything feels impossible.

There's no place for them on the generation ship. Passengers have been chosen for their practical skills and contributions. There's no room for a drug-addicted woman and her autistic daughter, Denise is positive. There's certainly no room for soft and beautiful things like cats in this world anymore. Denise believes she's not able, and that her inability is going to keep them stranded. But she's more stubborn than anyone - and her conviction and tenacity matters more than she expects.

Observations: Politically this year has shined a light on the inequities in our system. We know what is valued, and which lives are swathed in privilege. Denise is Dutch-Surinamese, disabled, dark-skinned, and female. Iris, Denise's sister, is also dark-complected, and was once Denise's brother. Their mother, though white and Dutch, is equally "damaged goods," as a drug addict. Who matters? Who is good enough to be caught up and carried away to a better world in this metaphorical Ark? Denise is uneasily aware of how people see her, with her inability to meet their eyes for long, sometimes not knowing where to put her hands, or how to hold her body. However, unlike many others, Denise has a titanium core. She longs to find her sister -- she keeps searching, over and over, until she finds her. She longs to secure herself and her mother a safe space aboard the generation ship. Through sheer determination, she holds a job, even when her mind is spinning a thousand different directions and she struggles. She has to be a contributing member of her new society, so she... simply becomes one. She works, she schemes, and she plans to make the reality she needs to happen, happen. It doesn't always work easily, but she never gives up -- on her family, and eventually, she learns not to give up on herself. A disability doesn't mean that you can't be a survivor - a hero - and a fighter.

Additionally, there is a strong subtext in this novel about self-care, and deciding what boundaries you need to lay with the people around you. Much of the anxiety and pressure that Denise finds herself under is because her mother is unreliable as a provider. Denise takes on that role for herself until she can work alongside of her sister, but her mother never truly fulfills the role she's meant to fill, except to unnecessarily explain and highlight Denise's autism. When she can, Denise sets a boundary - and that I'd love to see more of in YA lit.

Conclusion: This probably wasn't the best novel to read when I am already feeling agitated -- the nail-biting tension within the world-building is way too good for this to be a comfort read, as readers will really feel the mounting panic in anticipation of crowded underground refugee spaces, the horror and the desolation at the natural disaster(s) which follow, and the panic of the narrator, as she struggles so hard to adjust, to focus, and to be present in this new and dreadful reality. If you're looking for a book that tells a whole store yet still leaves the door open for a sequel - perhaps? - and is a quick-paced, slightly agonizing, yet excellent read, have I got a book for you...



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find ON THE EDGE OF GONE by Corinne Duyvis at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 08, 2016

Cybils Speculative Reader: POWERLESS by TERA LYNN CHILDS & TRACY DEEBS

Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!

As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.

Enjoy!


Tera Lynn Childs' previous novels dealt with various fairytale creatures in moderns settings, so superheroes was a perfect next step. I'm not a huge fan of superheroes for various reasons, not the least among these is that the canon is largely majority privileged, and the same is true here, but as a YA novel, this one still falls solidly in the category Aquafortis calls, "reasonably entertaining."

Synopsis: Kenna is an Ordinary, which doesn't just SUCK but it sucks BIG TIME. She's over it, though; her Mom works in the lab at the League of Superheroes and she interns for her Mom, so it keeps her busy. The Supers overlook her - a lot - with the prevailing attitude that she needs help or saving and that she's basically useless for anything - even cleaning up a lab that gets broken into. But, that's fine. The Supers - Villains and Heroes - don't bother her. Her mom's cooked up a vaccine to make her immune, and she's been immune forever. Mind wipes? Nah. Flinging her around the room? Nah. Kenna might be powerless, but she'll go toe to toe and scream in anyone's face. She believes in the power of her temper, if nothing else.

That kind of comes in handy when villains break into the lab one night.

First, villains aren't supposed to be that hot. Second, they're not supposed to jump in front of danger for you. And third... okay, they're just not supposed to be that hot. Seriously. Kenna is pretty brain-spun by the whole experience (also, the hotness. Did we mention Villain Boy is hot?). And the surprises keep coming - about the people she thought she knew, about the League, and about her own family. From gentle bemusement, Kenna plunges into feeling betrayed and furious -- and more than a little hurt. As the twists in her story are suddenly revealed, Kenna doesn't know who to trust, who is telling the truth, and what's worth fighting for... but she's always known that she's going to fight - because without superpowers still doesn't mean powerless.

Observations: This book is engaging and fast-paced, and, in a word, cinematic. With all the superhero films out there, it's easy to see how this one would translate to film, especially with the descriptions of The Hotness (seriously, the descriptions of the boys in this book made me smile), the testosterone-poisoned villains for comic relief, and the action-hero adventure pacing. Additionally, this is the third "get your grrrl power on!" book I've read this Cybils season, and it's making me smile. Against the balance of books presenting themes which seem to say "love is going to make it all better" and "teens must save the world but will risk all for a cute someone because gullible," this is good to see.

Another interesting theme that surfaces in this novel is the theme of Doing Right. Kenna is someone who thinks very much in terms of black and white: supers are good, villains are bad. It's how most people think - how Americans tend to think of our country, for instance. Maturing helps most people understand that we are not lawful good only - sometimes, a country's white hats move into deep shades of gray that edges right into charcoal.

I was pretty disappointed that Powerless is only a title and breaks down as a concept; Kenna is a white girl whose mother works in a lab. She has access, privilege and is far from powerless, and this novel would have been a great place to discuss what power we do have when we're privileged, and now to work on behalf of those who are less so.

This is the beginning to a series called The Superhero Agenda, and while the end isn't a cliffhanger, this novel is largely set-up for all their agenda items. I suspect this series will have many fans, and many waiting with baited breath for RELENTLESS to drop next summer.

Conclusion: Despite Kirkus' haughtily deriding this as "fluff," escapist reading is not a bad thing, because sometimes we all wish we were elsewhere. If your 'elsewhere' includes a snarky girl and her Hotness, as well as superhero capers, mad scientists, and fighting for justice? Then have I got a book for you...



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find POWERLESS by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

November 07, 2016

Middle Grade Monday: MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool

Synopsis: Yes, look, I'm participating in a Thing, and that thing is Middle Grade Monday! When am I ever organized enough to do that? Today, evidently. Anyway, I recently read Newbery Award winner Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, who was one of the keynote speakers at this year's KidLitCon in Wichita. While I don't read as much MG as I do YA, this one shares many similarities with my favorite MG books from over the years: a main character who isn't sure who she is or where she fits in, thrown into a new situation like a fish out of water, and forced to rely on her natural pluckiness, wit, and kindheartedness; a young girl exploring her family's past and a town's secrets, and finding out she has a family-of-the-heart just as true blue as her own father.

When twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker gets to Manifest, where her father has sent her to live for the summer with his old friend Shady Howard, it's 1936, and a lot has changed in the town of her father's boyhood. It doesn’t match any of the stories of mischief and colorful townspeople from her father's stories, or the gossip from the newspaper columns she's been scouring from the 1917 edition of the Manifest Herald. The town Abilene shows up in is dusty, old, and dying. But it's got a history, and she's determined to root it out and discover what her father's connection is to this place.

Told in alternating storylines, past (1917) and present (1936), the reader learns along with Abilene the story of two young men, Jinx and Ned, who take very different paths in life, and a town made up of a fascinating array of immigrants, all of whom arrived in Manifest hoping for new lives and honest work at the nearby mine. By the time Abilene arrives in 1936, the mining operation is dead—but the stories aren't. They're there for her to find, and she goes on finding them, even when a mysterious note warns her to leave the town's secrets alone. In the process, she finds new friends, too—and a new adoptive family that has a heart and soul the size of a town.

Observations: This book is set up in a way that is so much fun and so clever. There's the story-within-a-story, which naturally unfolds as Abilene gets to know the mysterious diviner Miss Sadie, a slightly unnerving recluse who lives alone behind a gate marked Perdition. And then there are the bits of ephemera that illuminate the world of Manifest's past—newspaper columns from Hattie Mae's News Auxiliary and fictitious ads for hilarious old-timey-sounding products like "Velma T.'s Vitamin Revitalizer." In this way, the past is brought to life using bits and pieces that are cleverly put together to tell a story—to tell parallel stories, really.

I loved the intriguing cast of characters in this one, too. Immigrants from Germany, Hungary, Poland, Scotland, Italy, and more are thrown together in a small Kansas mining town, and it's such a wonderful microcosm of the history of early-20th-century America. Well, not always wonderful—because the KKK is there, too. This story doesn't pull many punches about the darker side of our history, and something that isn't always written about is the many immigrant groups who were viewed as somehow lesser. In this instance, in 1917, the Germans are the prime scapegoats, under suspicion as wartime spies. And it turns out there are a LOT of people in Manifest who are hiding things…

But, of course, one big takeaway from this story is that few people are what they seem to be on the outside, and we all have hidden histories to tell. Abilene finds her father's history, and in the end, realizes that it's hers, too—and, much like the town, it isn't dead but is very much alive, and just needs a bit of spark…

Conclusion: The word "heartwarming" is overused but suffice it to say that by the time I finished this book, I wanted to hug it.


I purchased my copy of this book from the fantabulous Watermark Books in Wichita, home of the Kidlitosphere's own Book Nut. You can find MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!