Category: Teen

Posted in Fiction, Humor, Puberty, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Kill the Boy Band takes aim at fandom

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

boyybandKill the Boy Band, by Goldy Moldavsky, (Feb. 2016, Point), $17.99, ISBN: 9780545867474

Recommended for ages 14+

Four super fangirls stalk their boyband favorites with disastrous results in this insanely funny dark comedy.

The Ruperts are the boy band of the moment, and our narrator – who takes on the names of ’80s teen movie heroines – and her three (mainly online) friends have a plan to be near them, securing a room in the same hotel as the boys. When one of the girls encounters her favorite Rupert (they all have the same first name) at the ice machine, she overreacts and the girls find themselves with an unconscious boy bander in their hotel suite. And things get crazier from there. Each girl has a different agenda, and before the day is over, there are going to be some ugly revelations and even uglier circumstances.

Kill the Boy Band is at once a laugh-out loud black comedy in the vein of Pulp Fiction and Fargo and a scathing look at fandom and fangirl culture. Ms. Moldavsky takes aim at the culture that expects us to destroy our idols, even as we worship them. She looks at the long-established culture of loathing popstar girlfriends, celebrity stalking, and what happens when you find out that the man behind the curtain really isn’t Oz at all.

As a Duranie who was a teenager during the social media-bereft ’80s, Kill the Boy Band made me laugh and cringe, often at the same time. With boy band and fandom culture at an all-time frenzy now, teens will recognize themselves (hopefully, not too much) or laugh in recognition of someone they know. There’s a great whodunit that will keep readers guessing until the very last page – and maybe even after. You’ll laugh, and you’ll think – it’s a great book to have a discussion group with.

Great addition to collections with a thriving teen population that’s plugged in. This should be a good summer read. For older teens, consider introducing them to Pamela Des Barres’ I’m With the Band for a look at pre-online fandom culture.

Kill the Boy Band has been selected as an Independent Booksellers’ Debut Pick of the Season.

Posted in Historical Fiction, Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Divah takes New York!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

divahDivah, by Susannah Appelbaum (March 2016, Sky Pony Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781634506748

Recommended for ages 12+

Itzy Nash is not looking forward to this summer vacation. Her dad is sending her off to her stuffy aunt, who doesn’t even like kids, while he goes off to Paris to do some research. But when Itzy arrives at New York’s elite Carlyle Hotel, she gets the strange feeling that something’s not right – for starters, Aunt Maude isn’t around, either; she’s left word that she’s hired a governess to keep an eye on Itzy. Plus, there’s a weird sound coming from one of the closets, and there are tons of flies. And that’s just the beginning.

Itzy learns that the Queen of the Damned – the Divah – is at the Carlyle, and she’s trying to open the gates of Hell itself. With the help of a fallen angel that she may or may not be able to trust, an aging star, and a host of colorful New Yorkers, Itzy also discovers that it’s up to her to save New York – and the world – from the Divah and her minions. Better hope she’s up to the task.

I loved this book. There’s a bit of historical fiction with a twist, some horror, and through it all, a fantastically witty thread of the darkest humor. It’s a sendup of high New York society and celebrity, a thrill ride in a book, with an End of Days bent. There are well-developed characters and a backstory that comes to fruition over the centuries. Ms. Appelbaum takes pop culture and weaves it into her story’s history to establish the ubiquity of demon and demon hunter culture in our world, from Evian water to Hermès scarves.

Add this to collections where YA thrillers/paranormal fiction is popular. Booktalk New York touchstones like the Carlyle Hotel in New York, particularly the Bemelmans Bar within the hotel; show art from the Madeline books to link the readers to Bemelmans’ work. For teens, booktalk Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, for similar New York-based horror.

Posted in History, Non-fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

A Weird and Wild Beauty tells the story of Yellowstone

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

yellowstoneA Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone, the World’s First National Park, by Erin Peabody (Feb. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-63450-204-7

Recommended for ages 12+

A beautiful book with stunning photo and a powerful ecological and historical message, Erin Peabody’s A Weird and Wild Beauty tells the story of the founding of Yellowstone National Park. She tells us about the hard journey and oftentimes grueling expedition West; about the lives of the men who explored and risked their lives to bring the natural beauty of Yellowstone to the rest of the post-Civil War United States; and provides breathtaking photos and paintings of the natural wonder that is Yellowstone.

More than just a book on the beauty of Yellowstone, readers will discover that there was a fight to keep Yellowstone’s lands untouched: from Jay Cooke, a robber baron who wanted to build a transcontinental railroad that would cut through the lands, to the Native American tribes who wanted their tribal homelands to remain untouched.

A welcome addition to tween and teen nonfiction, A Weird and Wild Beauty is a lovely addition to collections in classrooms, libraries, and homes. I’ll have to booktalk this one to let the kids know it’s on the shelf – nonfiction, especially in the YA area, tends to go unnoticed – but with summer vacation coming, I could pick any picture out of this book and talk about dream destinations. History fans will love the narrative storytelling voice Peabody assumes, and art fans need to know about this book because of the stunning work by the expedition’s photographer, William H. Jackson, and the painter, Thomas Moran. Readers will learn the complex processes behind each photo – there were no negatives in the early days of photography, so photographers (and their poor pack animals) had to carry hundreds of pounds of equipment, including glass plates of different sizes to capture different images – and painting, or woodcut. It’s a beautifully artistic book that art students should not miss.

"Crater of the Giant Geyser", illustration from "The Wonders of the Yellowstone"; NP Langford; May/June 1871 issue of Scribner's Monthly
“Crater of the Giant Geyser”, illustration from “The Wonders of the Yellowstone”;
NP Langford; May/June 1871 issue of Scribner’s Monthly, from Yellowstone’s Photo Collection

The book includes maps, a guide to Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features, complete endnotes, sources, photo credits, and an index. Make sure to consider this beautiful resource for your collections.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Vault of Dreamers continues with The Rule of Mirrors

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

rule of mirrorsThe Rule of Mirrors, by Caragh O’Brien (Feb. 2016, Roaring Brook Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781596439405

Recommended for ages 12+

About a year and a half ago, The Vault of Mirrors had me on the edge of my seat with its mindgame narrative and cliffhanger ending, so when I saw that its sequel, The Rule of Mirrors was finally available through Edelweiss, I was all over it. I was not disappointed.

Rosie is back, but she’s not at Forge School anymore. She’s not in the vault of dreamers anymore. Actually, Rosie’s not in just one place anymore: she’s been mined, and one of her dream seeds has taken root in a coma patient: a pregnant Latina girl named Althea.

Told in first person narratives, we get Thea’s and Rosie’s stories. While Rosie’s consciousness lives on in Thea’s body, Thea appears to be gone, and she struggles to make sense of everything around her. Rosie is desperate to escape her circumstances and get revenge on Dr. Berg, the Forge School dean who imprisoned her.

This second book in the Vault of Dreamers trilogy is just as gripping and plays just as many mindgames as the first. If you thought there were moral quandaries in the first book, you haven’t read anything yet. O’Brien presents a host of new dilemmas in Rule of Mirrors, including pregnancy, keeping a coma patient alive, and what happens when one person’s consciousness is transferred into another person’s body?

This is a brilliant trilogy that shouldn’t be missed. Great for teens, great for adults, great for dark fantasy fans. Don’t miss!

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen, Tween Reads

Ravenous weaves together fairy tales for great middle grade fantasy

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

ravenousRavenous, by MarcyKate Connolly (Jan. 2016, HarperCollins), $16.99, ISBN: 9780062272744

Recommended for ages 9-13

After being imprisoned in a neighboring city, forced to witness her friends’ deaths at the behest of a greedy king and evil wizard, Greta is doing everything she can to take care of her brother, Hans. Their parents have disappeared, leaving questions and heartache in their wake. When Greta returns home one day to discover Hans missing, she tracks him to a witch’s house. A witch who lives in a chicken leg house. A witch who eats children, and she’s sizing Hans up for her next meal unless Greta retrieves a priceless artifact for her. The artifact is in Belladoma – the city where Greta was held prisoner. A city of people Greta has vowed never to forgive. She’s joined on her quest by Dalen, a young centaur, who has his own village to save. Can the two unravel the secrets the king and wizard left behind to save everyone they love?

Ravenous is the sequel to Monstrous, a smart retake on the Hansel and Gretel fairytale. We go deeper into that tale here; deftly woven with the Baba Yaga myth, with a sprinkling of Kraken/ancient Greek storytelling. I love Greta, the main character. She’s smart, she’s strong, she’s determined, and she’s vulnerable. She’s been hurt, she feels betrayed, and her loyalty and willingness to do anything for her brother is powerful and bittersweet all at once. They have no one but one another, and their parents remain a huge question mark in their lives. That’s got to be brutal for a child, and here, it is. MarcyKate Connolly digs deep into Greta’s determination and finds her pain, which acts as her engine. Through it all, though, she’s a good person.

I also love that Baba Yaga is making her way into the major leagues of storytelling over the last few years. We’ve seen her take center stage in Gregory Maguire’s Egg and Spoon and the hit graphic novel Baba Yaga’s Assistant, and now she’s here, causing trouble in Ravenous. I’d like to see more folk and fairy tales from different cultures make their way to middle grade and YA literature; it provides a richer pool to draw from.

You don’t need to read Monstrous to enjoy Ravenous, but it’s highly recommended. A prequel for the series, Precious, is said to be in the final edition; I read an ARC, and the copy I bought for my library was gone as soon as it hit the New Releases shelf, so someone will have to let me know!

Give this book to your fantasy and fairy tale fans. Booktalk Monstrous and Ravenous as new ways of seeing existing folklore and encourage your book group to come up with their own ideas for reimagining a favorite book.

Posted in Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Teen

Dark Horse to publish YA original graphic novel!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Great news out of Dark Horse today! Writer and artist Ethan Young (Nanjing: The Burning City) is creating an original graphic novel to be published by Dark Horse this fall.

From Dark Horse: The Battles of Bridget Lee will take readers on a multivolume journey through space as it follows the world’s next heroine to great heights.

There is no longer a generation that remembers a time before the Marauders invaded Earth. The remaining human outposts have been quiet since they fought back the alien aggressors, but there are stirrings of another attack. Bridget Lee, an ex–combat medic now residing at the outpost Farfall, may be the world’s last hope. But Bridget will need to overcome her own fears before she can save her people. Her legend begins here.

bridgetlee_1

BridgetLee1_121430

This is great news! Young is an award-winning writer and artist (2007 Independent Publisher Book Award for Tails), and The Battles of Bridget Lee gives us a strong, ethnic female character. Get this on your pre-order and watch lists; this book is going to move.

The Battles of Bridget Lee Volume 1: Invasion of Farfall (978-1-50670-012-0) is in stores September 21, 2016.

Posted in Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Crack Coach looks at the cult of personality and addiction

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

crack coachCrack Coach, by Steven Sandor (Sept. 2015, Lorimer), $14.95, ISBN: 9781459409804

Recommended for ages 12+

Bob Jones is a beloved high school football coach who just won the election for Toronto mayor. He seems to be one of those guys that can do no wrong – but some people would say otherwise. He’s always got an excuse for his bad behavior. When he refuses to meet with the GLBT alliance or address crucial issues facing the city, he claims it’s because his priority is to coach the high school football team. And the kids on his team, particularly Maurice and Vijay, see that the coach not plays favorites and makes some uncomfortably racist remarks while trying to be the “cool old white guy”. He punishes his team by putting them through abusive practices and says it’s for their own good. But when word starts to leak out about the mayor’s public drunkenness, added to suspicious video and pictures surfacing that highlight a possible drug abuse problem, Maurice and Vijay know that they have to mobilize the team and take control back from the coach.

Crack Coach is another hi-lo reader from Lorimer. I’ve become a big fan of this line; the authors are knowledgeable about their subjects (Crack Coach author Steven Sandor is a soccer broadcaster and sportswriter for an online Canadian soccer magazine) and the topics are timely and interesting. They never talk down to their audiences, relying on smart, direct writing and captivating subject matter to draw their readers in.

Crack Coach is a dramatic title, I’ll be the first to agree, but it pulls you in, doesn’t it? I loved the book and enjoyed the characters. They’re teens that other teens can relate to, with real-life issues that affect kids’ lives today. If you think the coach’s story sounds familiar, you’re not wrong – the book was influenced by a true story. Talking to teens about the story behind the story will bring a current events aspect to lessons; bring in some newspaper clippings or access them online to teach teens about primary sources and how writers use them as a tool.

Crack Coach is another great Lorimer book, perfect for reluctant and struggling readers and tweens who are ready for some grittier novels. A good add to libraries and classrooms with a struggling reader population.

Posted in Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Think you know Peter Pan? Read Lisa Maxwell’s Unhooked.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

unhookedUnhooked, by Lisa Maxwell (Feb. 2016, Simon Pulse), $17.99, ISBN: 9781481432047

Recommended for ages 13+

Gwendolyn has never had a real home. Her mother has moved she and Gwen around for years, never staying too long in one place, always on the run from the monsters she swore were after them. Gwen is tired and frustrated at this latest move to a small apartment in London. Thankfully, her best friend, Olivia, is spending the summer with them.

Shortly after they arrive at the apartment, Gwen and Olivia are taken in the middle of the night by shadowy creatures. Separated from Olivia and desperate to find out what’s going on, she finds herself on a boat and demands that the Captain enlighten her. And that’s when she discovers that the monsters her mother always worried about weren’t just a figment of her imagination. Gwen is in Neverland, and Hook isn’t necessarily the one she has to watch out for. Now, she’s got to find Olivia and try to find their way home, but Pan isn’t planning on making things easy for anyone. He’s got an agenda, and the two girls have been brought to Neverland to help him accomplish it. He’s a sweet talker, especially compared to the harsh, brutal Hook, but Gwen has the feeling that Pan’s not all he seems to be…

This dark fantasy reimagining of Peter Pan will turn everything you think you know about Neverland and Peter Pan on its head. It’s a dark and brutal tale, with children dying in battle and evil faeries playing both sides. It’s fast-paced and well constructed, with smart, put-together characters and a painful World War I story gently woven into the overall narrative. You’ll try to place all the characters – I did – but just go with the narrative rather than try to fit every peg to a hole. For instance, I quickly figured that Gwen was Wendy, but where were Michael and John? There are parallels that could be drawn – no spoilers here – but in the end, Gwen is Gwendolyn, Hook is Hook, Pan is Pan, and Olivia is Olivia. These are their own characters, their own people, unique and individual in every way.

I don’t know whether this will turn into a series or a trilogy. This is a great stand-alone adventure and doesn’t need further explanation. Add to your fantasy collection; YA fairy tales are always good to have available to provide a comforting bridge to childhood with a decidedly grown-up spin to them.

Posted in Fiction, geek culture, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Creep Con – Cosplay does *not* equal consent or reality!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

creep conCreep Con, by Kim Firmston (Sept. 2015, Lorimer), $14.95, ISBN: 9781459409774

Recommended for ages 12+

Comic book and superhero fan Mariam’s the new girl in school and feeling lonely until she meets Tya, who’s hardcore into the manga/anime fandom. The two bond over their mutual fandoms and love of cosplay and conventions, and plan to attend an otaku – anime and manga fandom – con together. All is well until Tya can’t go to the con because she has a family wedding to go to, leaving Mariam to go on her own. While she’s there, she meets up with a group of cosplayers from the same manga, who invite her to join their group. The leader of the group, Rick, seems to have a hard time keeping fantasy and reality straight, though, and starts getting way too familiar with Mariam, insisting that they play out their character’s romance. Can Mariam get away from Rick before things go too far?

If you’re a cosplay/convention fan, you’re doubtlessly familiar with the Cosplay is NOT Consent movement, a movement that exists because some con-goers said and acted inappropriately to their fellow fans. Creep Con is an interesting look at this situation, particularly as it takes place in the otaku fandom, where the costumes can get a little outrageous. There are some great references to both comics/superhero and otaku fandoms here, that teens will be familiar with and appreciate. The story brings the danger of cosplay being mistaken for consent home, and at the same time, reminds teens that they need to be honest and upfront with their parents and guardians – safety first.

I did find Mariam frustrating in that she let herself be ordered around by this guy she didn’t even know. She had two people she knew and wanted to become closer friends with at the con, but talked herself – several times – into listening to Rick, who left charming behind and went right into creepy early on in the book. I can see where it was an honest portrayal, particularly for a new girl who was trying to make friends, but I would have liked a stronger protagonist who wasn’t so easily manipulated.

This is one of Lorimer’s new novels for reluctant readers. The line is strong, covering current topics like cosplay and fandom; LGBT and abuse with their Side Streets line; sports; historical fiction, and true crime. Struggling and reluctant readers will appreciate the no frills storytelling that gets straight to the point and covers topics that meet their interests.