Teen – Page 39 – Mom Read It

Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Cinnamon Girl: A Superheroine teens can get behind!

Posted on February 3, 2016February 2, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl, by Melissa Keil (April 2016, Peachtree Publishers), $17.95, ISBN: 9781561459056

Recommended for ages 13+

Alba is a teen who loves her life just the way it is. She and her mom live behind the bakery her mother runs in Eden Valley, a small, South Australian town. She loves Wonder Woman, comics and pop culture, and her close-knit group of friends, especially her best friend, Grady. Everything is pretty perfect – until it’s not.

First, a YouTube video from some wacko doomsday preacher goes viral. The problem? He claims that Eden Valley will be the one safe spot on the planet, which brings doomsday fanatics flooding into the Valley, setting up campsites on any available patch of land. Then, Daniel Gordon arrives on the scene: Alba and Grady’s childhood friend who went on to become a B-list heartthrob on a nighttime TV soap opera. He’s giving off signals that cause some confusing feelings for Alba, especially when Grady starts acting even weirder. Even Cinnamon Girl, Alba’s superheroine creation, is stumping her lately; she just can’t seem to find inspiration for Cinnamon’s continuing adventures. Can she get all of this worked out before the world ends?

I loved this book! There are fantastic comic book and pop culture references (Wonder Woman fans will be especially thrilled), and Alba is a great protagonist and teen role model. She’s body-positive, with an early conversation about her body and breasts that made me laugh out loud; she thinks she’s aware of who she is and her place in the world, until the outside world intrudes on the little bubble she’s created for herself and she finds herself faced with some big decisions.

This is an end of times story, but not necessarily the end of times you think it is. It’s a crossroads story, an end of childhood story, and for many people, entering adulthood and leaving high school behind can feel like it’s all coming to an end. I loved Alba’s narration and found it real; believable. Alba’s snarky narration is wonderful and refreshing, particularly when the world seems to be showing up on her doorstep and appear to have left their manners at home. The black and white comic art throughout the book made me really want to see a Cinnamon Girl comic book. Maybe we’ll get some further adventures of Alba, with prose and a graphic novel woven together to create a narrative a la I Am Princess X? Probably not, but that’s okay – The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl is a standout, standalone novel that Rainbow Rowell fans will devour. This book will also make a great graduation gift for the teens in your life; let them know that you know adulting is hard, but this book will help ease the transition.

Melissa Keil is an Australian author whose debut novel, Life in Outer Space, won the 2013 Ampersand Project (and which is now on my TBR). Cinnamon Girl has been shortlisted for the 2015 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year. Check out her author website for more info on her books!

geek culture, Graphic Novels, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

YALSA releases their 2016 list of great graphic novels!

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Great news! Last week, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) published their 2016 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. There are some brilliant titles on the list, making gift purchases and library collection updates a lot easier, by the way. I was really excited to see so many great books on the list, from a diverse mix of major publishers and smaller independents.

Some highlights:

Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War. By Michel Chikwanine & Jessica Dee Humphreys/Illus. by Claudia Davila. Kids Can Press, $18.95, (9781771381260). A young man tells the story of his kidnapping by rebel militants and his time as a child soldier in the Congo.

Doomboy. By Tony Sandoval. Illustrated by the author. Magnetic Press, $24.99, (9780991332472). A teen with an active imagination and a love of heavy metal mourns his girlfriend the best way he can: through his music.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1952. By Mike Mignola and John Arcudi. Illustrated by Alex Maleev. Dark Horse Books, paper, $19.99 (9781616556600). Hellboy goes on his first mission.

Human Body Theatre. By Maris Wicks. Illustrated by the author. First Second, $14.99, (9781596439290). A skeleton teaches the reader about the human body and its functions.

Last of the Sandwalkers. By Jay Hosler. Illustrated by the author. First Second, $16.99, (9781626720244). A tribe of insects goes on a voyage of discovery to explore the land beyond their borders.

Princess Ugg, vol. 1. By Ted Naifeh. Illus by the author. Oni Press, paper, $15.99, (9781620101780). Warrior Princess Ulga attends the prestigious Princess Academy at her dead mother’s request.

Roller Girl. By Victoria Jamieson. Illustrated by the author. Dial Books for Young Readers, $12.99, (9780803740167). A tween signs up for roller derby camp and learns about herself, friendship, and sacrifice.

The Scarlet Letter. By Nathaniel Hawthorne, Crystal Chan, and Stacy King. Illus by SunNeko Lee. Udon Entertainment, hardcover, $24.99, (9781927925348). A manga retelling of the classic story of a Puritan woman caught in adultery and forced to publicly bear her shame.

The Suspended Castle: A Philemon Adventure. By Fred. Illus by the author. TOON Graphics, hardcover, $16.95, (9781935179863). Bartholomew has been rescued from an alternate dimension but now misses it and wants to go back, little suspecting the adventure in store for him and Philemon.

Now, go forth and read graphic novels, and check out the rest of YALSA’s list!

Fantasy, Fiction, Post-apocalyptic/Dystopian, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Rebellion as Fantasy: Curio, by Evangeline Denmark

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Curio, by Evangeline Denmark (Jan. 2016, ZonderKidz), $17.99, ISBN: 9780310729662

Recommended for ages 13+

In a post-cataclysm Mercury City, Colorado, a group of alchemists, called Chemists, are the ruling body, controlling the populace through draconian laws, torture, and distribution of a daily potion that helps citizens survive after a plague ravaged society a century before. Physical contact between males and females comes with a price; a price her best friend, Whit, learns after trying to help Grey home in time for curfew. After Whit’s brutal punishment, Grey takes a risk she’s been thinking about for too long – she gives him her ration of potion. She knows she and her family are different – her father and grandfather don’t take it, and she suspects she doesn’t need it, either. This provides the Chemists with the chance they’ve been waiting for: the chance to get hold of Grey and attack her family. She seeks refuge at her grandfather’s repair shop, where her only chance at escape is to enter the world of the curio cabinet in the back of the shop: there, she finds herself in a world of living porcelain and clockwork figures, swept up in a class struggle of their own, and a mysterious figure known as the Mad Tock. Could he be the mysterious person she was told to seek out?

Curio is a curious mix of post-apocalyptic and steampunk genres. Grey is a standard YA post-apocalyptic heroine, spunky and strong-willed, ready to take on the system. She’s got a special secret to be revealed and a family history that she only knows the surface of. The world inside the curio cabinet is a steampunk society, with “tocks” – clockwork figures that make up the working class – and “porcies”, the beautiful upper class. It’s a skin-deep society; the fragile porcies are terrified of cracks or breaks, because they’ll be banished to “Lower”, with the rest of the lower class and broken, to eke out an existence. We spend a lot of time in Curio, but a lot of it is laborious. There is a lot of concentration on the porcies’ fascination with Grey and where she could be from, and the villain of the story is enticing but not as fully realized as he could be. The Mad Tock storyline could also benefit from more emphasis on his story earlier on, and less on his gadgetry.

There’s some strong world-building on both sides of the curio cabinet, but the overall storytelling lags. The one plot that doesn’t lag at all is the love story, and that happens so quickly that it is difficult to believe (but that could just be my personal taste).

Curio is an interesting mashup of two genres I never pictured working well together, but they do. There’s potential for a series here, and indeed, there is a prequel, Mark of Blood and Alchemy, available as a free download for Kindle and Nook.

Fantasy, Science Fiction, Teen

Love and conflict: Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood

Posted on December 7, 2015December 1, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Inherit the Stars, by Tessa Elwood (Dec. 2015, Running Press), $9.95, ISBN: 9780762458400

Recommended for ages 13+

Three interplanetary systems ruled by three royal families: Fane, Westlet, and Galton. Each family wants something the other families have, be it fuel, food, or other resources. Wren, the eldest daughter of the House of Fane, is on life support after a tragic accident off-world; Asa, the youngest daughter, scrambling to keep Wren on life support, takes her middle sister’s place in marriage to the House of Westlet.

There is political and familial intrigue aplenty in this story, with a budding romance set against this sci-fi tale. I kept thinking of Frank Herbert’s Dune, which seems to have influenced the familial/political plotting and counter-plotting. While this is the first part in a new science fiction duology, readers are dropped into the story without much origin or background, and it took me a little bit to get my sea legs as I read and tried to work my way into the story. I hope to see some richer background information in the next book.

Inherit the Stars takes place in a feudal society, with the view that marriage is primarily an arrangement. The main characters’ parents vacillate between apathy and concern for their children, but more likely, concern for their own standing. Asa meets her husband, Eagle, at their arranged wedding, but sees something in him that appeals to her, and their love develops fairly quickly. For this first book, eldest sister Wren exists primarily to set Asa’s plot in motion, but I hope that we learn more about her in future stories.

Inherit the Stars is a good example of the conflicts that arise when politics invades families’ personal lives. It’s light science fiction for readers who want to dip a toe into the sci-fi pool, but want something heavier on relationships and lighter on spaceships. Collections that could use some lighter sci-fi should add this one to their shelves.

Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

A Curse of Ash & Iron – YA with a little steampunk, a little fairy tale

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Curse of Ash & Iron, by Christine Norris (May 2015, Curiosity Quills Press), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1620078853

Recommended for ages 13+

Eleanor lost her mother when she was a child, and has been living under her evil stepmother’s thumb ever since. She’s a stranger to her beloved father; indeed, to everyone she once knew – her stepmother has managed to bewitch her so that no one will recognize her. Living as a servant in her own home and forced to wear a stranger’s face in public, Ellie is in for a bleak future until her childhood best friend, Ben Grimm, sees through the spell and recognizes her. Together, guided by a mysterious benefactor, Ellie may have a chance to regaining her life after all.

Heavily influenced by Cinderella, this steampunk fairy tale is great YA reading for girls who like a little steam power in their romance. Ellie isn’t a simpering, fainting Victorian heroine; she’s a smart, determined young woman who is darned angry about the way her life has gone, and she’s going to fight to get it all back. The evil stepmother is truly an awful human being – you’ll be waiting the entire book for a giant anvil to fall out of the sky and bean her, I promise you – and Ben, as the long-lost childhood friend, has his own subplot about his personal quest for independence that will put you firmly in his corner.

Great characters, steam and brass, and a familiar fairy tale feel to comfort you on days when you just want to be a kid again. A Curse of Ash & Iron is the book for your burgeoning steampunk collection. If your readers aren’t quite ready for Gail Carriger’s Finishing School assassins, they’ll love Ellie and her friends. Historical notes at the novel’s end will appeal to history buffs!

Author Christine Norris offers printable goodies on her website, along with some extra content geared toward librarians. Give her some love, she’s one of our tribe!

Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Fix: A powerful, moving story about healing and moving on

Posted on November 23, 2015November 23, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Fix, by Natasha Sinel (Sept. 2015, Sky Pony), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1634501675

Recommended for ages 12+

Seventeen year-old Macy has it pretty good, at first glance: she’s pretty, her family is financially comfortable, she’s got a good-looking boyfriend who adores her and a best friend. Sure, she and her mother don’t get along and her father is always away on business, but that’s being a teenager, right? The thing is, Macy has a secret that she’s kept suppressed for years; after a late-night conversation with Sebastian, someone she kind of sort of knew as a kid and meets up with again at a party, her life changes. Sebastian is a drug addict who ends up in the psych ward shortly after their meeting. Macy feels compelled to go see him. Their feelings deepen as they get to know one another, and Macy starts reliving the events that left her more damaged than she could ever have realized. Left confused by her relationship with Chris and her feelings for Sebastian and feeling vulnerable over her painful secret, Macy has to learn to trust enough to reveal her damaged self and move forward with her life.

The Fix is a tough book. There’s sexual abuse and drug addiction, family discord and a lot of pain. It demands to be read. Told from Macy’s point of view, we get a raw recollection of her abuse at the hands of her older cousin and the fallout – which includes the demise, to a degree, of her family unit. We see how parents can fail their children and the resultant damage. And then we get Sebastian’s story – how a boy can survive child abuse, an alcoholic parent, and drug addiction with the love of a connected parent. Sebastian’s and Macy’s stories are two halves of a whole, and each story will resonate with readers. The Fix is a story about survival and ultimately, recovery, forgiveness, and hope. There are resources at the end of the book for help regarding sexual abuse, depression and mental illness, and substance abuse.

Natasha Sinel’s author webpage includes information about The Fix, the author’s bio and blog, and contact information.

Add this one to your high school library shelves. Someone out there needs it.

Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

A Tale of Light and Shadow continues with Secrets of Neverak

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Tale of Light and Shadow, Book 2: Secrets of Neverak, by Jacob Gowans (Sept. 2015, Shadow Mountain), $18.99, ISBN: 978-1-60907-978-9

Recommended for ages 12+

Book 2 in the Tales of Light and Shadow series continues with Secrets of Neverak, picking up immediately where the first book left off, after the battle that saw our group of heroes split up and facing danger at every turn. Henry, James, Maggie and Ruther have to travel across Neverak to find Isabelle; Isabelle must learn to survive her circumstances. The Emperor is setting plans in motion, seemingly unhindered by anyone – or is he?

We get much more character development in this second book in the series, and meet some new characters that encounter the party – for better or for worse. Every character has his or her own inner demons to fight, which makes for deep and textured reading; the main characters are accessible and likable. The Emperor is the classic, megalomaniacal villain that you want to see taken down. There’s not a lot of gray area with the characters – like the book’s title, you have light and dark, and the lines are pretty clearly drawn. The book’s ending left me knowing that the big finale is coming, and looking forward to it.

Teen girls will find adventure and a lot of melodrama. We’ve got tormented inner monologues and unrequited love aplenty in this volume! Not being a teenage girl, I preferred the adventure and intrigue, but girls who love romance will be thrilled with this second entry into the series. Parents and educators will be happy at the continued importance of morality and values in the book. Shadow Mountain puts out very clean books, and having them on the shelves is great for me to steer my more conservative readers toward.

Tales of Light and Shadow is a solid fantasy series for all readers. Check out my review of the first book, A Tale of Light and Shadow, to learn more.

Fantasy, Fiction, Teen

Cover Reveal: Charmed! (Fairy Tale Reform School #2)

Posted on November 19, 2015November 13, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Last year, Jen Calonita introduced us to Fairy Tale Reform School with her first book, Flunked. This year, Gilly and her friends are back for more with Charmed! Read on for an excerpt and your chance to win an advanced reader copy of your own!

Fairy Tale Reform School: Charmed

Author: Jen Calonita

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Publishers: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

About Fairy Tale Reform School: Charmed:

Charmed is the exciting sequel to the wildly popular Flunked — second in the brand new Fairy Tale Reform School series where the teachers are (former) villains.

It takes a (mostly) reformed thief to catch a spy. Which is why Gilly Cobbler, Enchantasia’s most notorious pickpocket, volunteers to stay locked up at Fairy Tale Reform School…indefinitely. Gilly and her friends may have defeated the Evil Queen and become reluctant heroes, but the battle for Enchantasia has just begun.

Alva, aka The Wicked One who cursed Sleeping Beauty, has declared war on the Princesses, and she wants the students of Fairy Tale Reform School to join her. As her criminal classmates give in to temptation, Gilly goes undercover as a Royal Lady in Waiting (don’t laugh) to unmask a spy…before the mole can hand Alva the keys to the kingdom.

Her parents think Gilly the Hero is completely reformed, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes it’s good to be bad…

About Jen Calonita:

Jen Calonita has published more than a dozen novels, has seen her works translated into nine languages, and is the recipient of the Louisiana Young Readers Award. When Jen isn’t plotting, she lives in New York with her husband, two sons, and their feisty Chihuahua, Captain Jack Sparrow. Visit Jen at jencalonitaonline.com.

Website

@JenCalonita

Fairy Tale Reform School Facebook

Excerpt from Fairy Tale Reform School: Charmed:

Miri’s voice crackles through the magic mirrors in Fairy Tale Reform School. “Let the first annual Wand What You Want hour begin!”

Wands begin popping up in kids’ hands as we walk through the halls, and we all cheer. Pop! My wand arrives in my hand—long, dark-gray, and nicked like it’s seen a few battles. Hmm…what to try first… I’m just about to test the wand out, when I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Instinct tells me to dive out of the way. When I look up, I see a classmate spelling the troll next to her. The girl turns into an ice sculpture. Geez, that was close. I better stay alert.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Kids begin casting all around me. The crowded hallway is suddenly full of talking woodland creatures, toads, fireworks, and a pretty impressive cloud raining licorice. Kids are cheering and fighting, and the sound of all those wands working is enough to give me a headache. I hurry away from the spell zapping, looking for somewhere to practice alone.

Slurp!

The chaotic hallway disappears behind me, and a new empty hall arrives in its place. I happen to know this hall leads to the school courtyard so I hurry down it and head outside. Ahhh…this is more like it. The warm sun is shining bright high above the castle walls, making me wistful for adventure. I can never sit still for long.

“Pardon the interruption! We hope you are enjoying your wand experience, but remember, all wands disappear at the hour mark so choose your magic wisely,” Miri says. I’m relieved to find no mirror in the courtyard, which means she can’t see what I’m up to. That magic mirror is forever tattling on students for bad behavior. “As a reminder, flying is not advised.”

“Not advised, but she didn’t say it was against the rules,” I say to myself. I flick the wand over my stuffy, uncomfortable pale-blue uniform and turn it into a comfy peasant shirt and pants. I swap out my ugly school shoes for my beloved lace-up boots. Now that I’m comfortable, I get to the task at hand. I’m sure an actual spell would work better, but since I don’t know one, I just imagine myself flying, and Bam! I’m slowly floating up, up, up in the air. Score!

A Pegasus flies by me pulling a coach with four students in it.

“Hi, Gilly!” they shout and wave.

When you save your school from a wicked fairy, people tend to remember your name. Even if you don’t remember theirs.

“Hi!” I say, lying back like I’m floating on a cloud. Wow, this is relaxing. I stretch my arms wide and—oops!

My wand falls from my grasp. Uh-oh. I begin to plummet, spinning faster and faster with no sign of stopping. Before I can even think of a way to break my fall, whoosh! I feel my body hit a blanket and bounce up, then land again on a magic carpet.

“Ten minutes into Wand What You Want, and you’re already having a near-death experience?” my friend Jax asks. His curly blond hair looks white in the bright sunlight. He casually

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Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Teen

Fathomless – Lovecraft-inspired fantasy

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Fathomless (Redemption’s Heir, #2), by Anne M. Pillsworth (Oct. 2015, Tor Teen), $18.99, ISBN: 9780765335906

Recommended for ages 13+

The second book in Anne M. Pillsworth’s Lovecraft-inspired Redemption’s Heir series, Fathomless, picks up where Summoned leaves off. Sean, having learned his magical heritage, is studying magic with his friend, Eddy, and a new classmate, Daniel, who has secrets of his own. The last time Sean played around with magic, though, all hell broke loose – it turns out that HP Lovecraft was writing fiction based on some pretty real happenings – so his teachers are a bit worried about Sean’s desire to jump right back into spellcasting, especially when an ever darker branch on his family tree makes itself known.

As Eddy and Sean become closer friends with Daniel, though, they find themselves mired deeper and deeper in magic and intrigue. Sean ultimately turns to Reverend Orne one more time for help – the same Reverend Orne who was responsible for Sean’s magical awakening and the fallout that followed. Family secrets and Lovecraftian beings abound in this continuing story, with plenty of intrigue and magic for everyone. If your teens have moved on from Harry Potter but haven’t dipped a toe into Lev Grossman’s The Magicians yet, this is the book for them. It’s Arkham without the mind-bending madness.

Sean is an interesting character. He’s a kid trying to figure out his place in the magical world, and he’s fully aware that the grownups in his life are either keeping things from him or holding him back. Eddy is a good sidekick – she’s more reasonable but isn’t above bending a rule or two to help her friends out, and Daniel’s the most intriguing character of all, with a family history shrouded in secrecy and magic and a conflicted relationship with both parents for very different reasons. I’d love to see a book focus on Daniel’s beginnings, maybe even a short story, along the lines of “Geldman’s Pharmacy”, set in the same world as the Redemption’s Heir adventures. (nudge, nudge)

A familiarity with HP Lovecraft isn’t necessary to enjoy this book, but reading the first book in the series is recommended. Definitely have some HP Lovecraft on hand for readers who want to learn more – his work is available for free via the H.P. Lovecraft Archive, and any library worth its salt will have at least one copy of his work.

Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen

Two! Two Programs! (Insert Count von Count laugh here)

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I was still on a high from having kids show up to my comic book discussion group, so I decided to charge headlong into more programming this week. I had a teen coloring club scheduled, and I have to be honest – I was terrified. I had to venture into the Teen Center here at my library, which is like walking into the lion’s den, for me. It’s unfamiliar territory; these teens don’t see me at all, since the Children’s Room is on the other side of the library, and they’re a small, insular group. As teens are. I walked over with some mandala pictures and two boxes of colored pencils, nervously asked if anyone was interested in a coloring club, and was ready to scamper out of there when I heard someone say, “Miss! Over here!”

There was a group of three young teen girls sitting by the window, hands raised and waving at me. “Do you have pencils?” They asked.

“I sure do! Here, see? May not be Power Puff Girls (did I completely date myself with that reference? Better than Bugs Bunny, I guess, which was first on my lips), but check it out!” They cooed over the mandalas, so I felt like I made an awesome score; put down the sheaf of papers and pencils like an offering, introduced myself, told them where to find me, and backed away slowly.

Guys, teens liked my pop-up passive program!

I was so heady with glee that I went full steam ahead and started talking up a reading group idea I’d been working on earlier with my tweens. I’ve been dying to have a book discussion group for tweens, and the parents here have been asking for programs for their school-age kids. I announced that the first book would be The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and a group of kids jumped to sign up. I’m so excited to be trying out new program ideas, and have kids that want these programs! We’ll be having snacks and making our own Origami Yodas at the end of December. I’ll report back.

I missed the chance to try this Kind Bombing idea in observance of World Kindness Day today, so maybe I’ll sneak it in next week.

Have a great weekend, everyone!