Teen – Page 50 – Mom Read It

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

Of Monsters and Madness – Alternate Historical Fiction, starring Edgar Allan Poe

Posted on May 20, 2014May 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Of Monsters and Madness, by Jessica Verday, (Egmont USA) 2014. $17.99, ISBN: 9781606844632

Recommended for ages 14+

Horror and gothic fans will love this book! Annabel Lee – yes, for all intents and purposes of this book, this character is THE Annabel Lee of Edgar Allan Poe fame is a teenage girl, who finds herself moving from Siam to Philadelphia when her mother dies, and she must live with the father she’s never known. Unfamiliar with life and customs in the 1820s United States and confronted with a cold father who keeps her at a distance, Annabel feels left out and pines for her mother and her life in Siam. Her father, once a brilliant surgeon and scientist, now spends most of his time in his laboratory, assisted by Edgar, who unnerves Annabel – yet bears an uncanny resemblance to his cousin, Allan, who Annabel finds herself falling for. Annabel is living in a house full of secrets; when a rash of murders breaks out in Philadelphia, and her father’s strange behavior becomes more erratic, Annabel is determined to unravel the mysteries that consume her life. But finding out answers could put her life in danger.

I loved this book. The idea of making Edgar Allan Poe a character in a gothic mystery, taking place in the United States, is such a great idea – how did no one think of this sooner? We get glimpses of Poe’s writing – he tortures himself over writing The Raven, and bits of The Tell-Tale Heart make an appearance – and the toll that such dark ideas takes on the man. There are some key plot twists that will leave readers staying up all night to finish the book, and then – like me – demand a sequel. Ms. Verday is a New York Times bestselling author, and she knows how to construct a well-paced thriller with smart characters. I’m looking forward to this book hitting shelves in September, and I would recommend it for adults as well as teens.

Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Dangerous Creatures gives us more Ridley and Link!

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dangerous Creatures, by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Little Brown Books for Young Readers (2014). $19, ISBN: 9780316370318

Recommended for ages 13+

I recently became a convert to the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, having read and immensely enjoyed the first one. While a bit unorthodox, I skipped over the other books in the series to read this latest one thanks to NetGalley, so any blanks in the series that you may find in this review are my fault – which I’ll remedy, by requesting the other books in the series from the library, posthaste.

Dangerous Creatures follows Ridley and Link, who is – if you’ve been keeping up with the series, you know this – a quarter incubus now. So I really need to catch up. The gang we (I) know, including Lena and Ethan, are all together right after graduation and the events of the last book in the series, Beautiful Redemption. They’re going their separate ways, but vow to stay together and not drift apart, as so many groups of friends do.

From there, Ridley and Link head up to New York, where Link intends to find success in a band. What he doesn’t know is that Ridley is in trouble – when isn’t she, really? – and Link’s future is part of her settling her debts. Link, while ignorant of Ridley’s troubles, knows that something’s up between he and Ridley, more than the usual at-each-other’s-throats business. Ridley knows she’s no good for Link, but they just can’t seem to stay apart – or will something drive them apart for good this time?

Beautiful Creatures introduced a lot of characters and set several storylines into motion. The story of Ridley and Link has been developing since the very first book, so by now, readers know who they are. They’re a hugely popular couple and have nicely fleshed-out backgrounds and storylines. Having only read the first book in this series, I was able to follow the story easily enough, with exposition drawing in any details I missed in the meantime. Newcomers to the series will be able to jump in, and established fans will be very happy.

The book is a page-turner. There are some new characters and there’s magic; new troubles for Ridley to get herself (and Link) into, and repercussions from previous events. What I loved so much about the first book – the weaving of the Caster storyline with the history of the old South – is missing here, but the authors introduce readers to New York nightlife, which is exciting in terms of a new locale. I missed the history of it all, to be honest, and the constant “he/she loves me, he/she loves me not” interplay between Ridley and Link became a little tedious for me, but I’m sure it will continue to be hugely popular with teen readers.

I enjoyed the book. It’s got an established audience who will snap this book up. It’s going on the shelves at my library, and I know it will fly off those shelves. Now, to fill in the gaps in my Caster knowledge…

Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Beautiful Creatures – I finally join the bandwagon.

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Little Brown (2009). $17.99, ISBN: 978-0316231657

Recommended for ages 14+

I’ll admit it – I’m not a Twilight fan. It’s not my book. And Beautiful Creatures felt, to me, like a Twilight type of book, so I didn’t pick it up. I was recently approved to read the latest, upcoming book in the Beautiful Creatures, though, (Dangerous Creatures – the review’s coming!) so I figured I should at least read the first book, so I could have some idea of what’s going on.

I was wrong, folks. Beautiful Creatures was great. This was my book, just waiting for me to pick it up.

The story involves Lena Duchannes and Ethan Wate, two teenagers in Gatlin, South Carolina. Ethan is a high school basketball player who can’t wait to get out of Gatlin. He’s in with the in crowd, but really doesn’t care anymore. He just want out of the everyday sameness of life in a small, Southern town. Lena is the new girl in school, and she just doesn’t fit in with the Southern beauty queen/mean girls who run the school. When Ethan realizes that Lena looks exactly like the mystery girl he’s been dreaming about, he’s got to find out who she is.

The story weaves a YA romance in with a complex, fascinating tale of witchcraft and Southern history that kept me turning pages, demanding to know what was going to happen next. I love the idea of factions within the “Caster” – they’re not witches and wizards, and this isn’t Harry Potter – community. There are different types of magic, and everyone is born to something different. When Casters reach the age of 16, they are “claimed” by either the light side of magic or the dark side – and wrapped up in this claiming is a mystery that runs through the book as an engrossing subplot.

There’s something here for everyone. There’s paranormal romance, history, mystery, and drama. We meet characters that will take on greater roles in subsequent books. All in all, Beautiful Creatures sold me – and I’m glad I picked it up. I’ve heard the movie is subpar compared to the book, so I’ll keep that in mind and just enjoy the books.

Teen

Book Expo Approaches! What are you going to look for?

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I love BEA. I’ve been lucky enough to go to a few, having worked in publishing before my new career as a librarian, and I never tire of it. The books, the people that are so excited about books – readers, publishers, sellers, librarians – we all love books, and BEA is one big book party, with lots of little book parties going on simultaneously.

This year, BEA is really special and exciting for me, because it’s my first year as a librarian, so I’ll be there looking for children’s and middle grade books that I can bring to my patrons – my “kids”, and some YA that I can recommend to my counterpart, the YA librarian at Pomonok. And I’m also excited, because I’m going on a press pass! How cool is that? So let’s start the reporting now!

I received an e-mail from Capstone with some signings, and I’m excited, because Isobel Harrop will be there signing copies of her book, The Isobel Journal. I’ve got this on NetGalley, and have been looking forward to reading it. It’s on the list of things to read before BookExpo! It’s a graphic novel-ish type book, so it technically comes under my purview, even though it’s YA.

Capstone is also having a book giveaway for their September book, Katie Woo’s Big Idea Journal: A place for your best stories, drawings, doodles and plans, which I absolutely need to get because the Katie Woo books do gangbusters at my library! I may even have a book giveaway for the kids. I also just learned that the Capstone website has Katie Woo printables, which is PERFECT – my kids love coloring in the library, and I think they’re getting tired of my usual printables.

Capstone is also announcing their new YA imprint, Switch Press, at BEA, so I want to see what that’s all about. I notice that they’re including graphic novels under the imprint, so I’m hoping I can bring back some news and maybe a couple of giveaways for our teens.

What’s everyone else doing at BookExpo? I have a planner to fill!

Graphic Novels, History, Teen, Tween Reads

Great News! March: Book One Nominated for an Eisner!

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I”m so excited about this news: MARCH: BOOK ONE, by Representative John Lewis – one of the best books I read last year – has been nominated for an Eisner Award!

From Top Shelf Comix:

March: Book One, the monumental civil rights graphic memoir by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, has already been acclaimed by critics, readers, retailers, universities, and library organizations. Now we are honored to add the endorsement of the comic book community, with Eisner Award nominations in Best Publication for Teens and Best Reality-Based Work, and Nate’s artwork on the book singled out for Best Penciller/Inker!

And that’s not the only good news… the Glyph Comics Awards, celebrating the best in African-American comics, have not only nominated March: Book One for Story of the Year, they’ve selected its 1950s-era inspiration, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story for Best Reprint Publication! How appropriate for past, present, and future to be celebrated all together.

Congratulations and good luck to Top Shelf, Rep. John Lewis, and everyone involved in bringing these amazing stories to print.

Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized

In We Are The Goldens, sisters keep secrets.

Posted on April 29, 2014April 29, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

We Are the Goldens, by Dana Reinhardt. Random House Children’s (2014), $16.99. ISBN: 9780385742573

Recommended for ages 14+

Nell and Layla have always been close. Nell grew up in her older sister’s shadow, even believing her name was, at one point, “Nellayla”. Now that Nell is a freshman at the same progressive high school that Layla attends as a junior, she figures it will be perfect. They’ll be together all the time, as close as ever. Until she discovers that Layla has a secret.

The story follows Nell through her freshman year in high school, burdened with Layla’s secret, which, at first she guesses, and ultimately, Layla confirms; we read her struggle to keep Layla’s secret while keeping Layla safe from what she knows will be a bad situation in any outcome. And through this, Nell also has her own struggles – namely, a crush gone wrong and a best friend that she can only confide so much in. Their divorced parents never seem to have quite enough time to actually talk to the girls and Nell feels very much alone while Layla spirals into her giddy, starry-eyed, teenage love affair.

The book is a quick read, told in the first person through Nell’s eyes, in the form of what feels like a very long letter to Layla or perhaps a journal that Nell uses to get her feelings out. Some flashbacks give depth to the characters, but the main points are right there in the present time: Layla is the Golden Girl. Nell is her sister, still Golden, but in the shadow of Layla’s greatness. As much as Nell’s concerns for her sister are legitimate, they’re also born from the sadness at seeing Layla go somewhere in life without Nell. It’s a separation, a painful one, made even more painful to Nell because she knows how this will likely end. It’s a tough coming of age story for both sisters.

Made more interesting is the addition of two dead brothers, the Creed brothers, who Nell imagines as a kind of Greek chorus. She bounces her feelings off of them, and they speak to the situations at hand, either nudging her into action or deeper thinking. We only get a slight bit of their back story, and I’d have liked to have known a little more about Nell’s relationship to them, because they factor so strongly in her narrative.

We Are the Goldens is a good summer read for teens and provides a lot of fodder for booktalks and discussion groups. The book hits shelves on May 27th.

Fiction, Horror, Teen

Amity is a chilling YA tale of haunted house horror.

Posted on April 18, 2014April 18, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Amity, by Micol Ostow. Egmont USA (2014), $17.99, 9781606841563

Pub Date: September 2014

Recommended for ages 14+

Told in parallel narratives, 10 years apart, Amity is a creepy, horrifying tale of a home, rotten to its core, and the effect it has on two families. We have two narrators, both in their late teens – around 17: Connor and Gwen – who provide readers with first-hand accounts of their descents into madness, and Amity’s history, which appears to lead them to it.

Connor and Gwen each have siblings they are close to, seemingly keeping them rooted in some sort of reality, at first. Connor is a sociopath with an anger management problem and far deeper, darker issues roiling under his surface. His twin sister, Jules, is the only thing in the world he has any feeling toward. He and his family arrive at Amity when his father – a shady businessman and an abusive drunk – attempts to escape yet another bad series of business deals.

Gwen’s family arrives at Amity looking for respite. Gwen has recently been hospitalized for a psychotic break, and the family just wants to start over. When Amity reveals herself to Gwen, her brother, Luke, attempts to stem the tide of what he initially believes is her breakdown, returning. Gwen’s Aunt Ro knows better, though. She may be portrayed at first as some sort of new age free spirit, we see Amity set to work on her, too.

Amity is alive, and she feeds on her occupants. She starts slowly, insidiously, but once she has her claws in you, you can’t escape.

There may be parallels drawn between Amity and the Amityville Horror – haunted house, violent history, even the eye-shaped windows of the home – but Amity stands very much on her own. Ms. Ostow builds a layered, compulsive tale – I couldn’t stop reading it – of growing horror with a shattering conclusion. Teens who grew up on the shock horror of films like Hostel and Saw need to sit down and read a good, old-fashioned, scare-the-pants-off-you haunted house story. Amity is that story.

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

Alena Graedon’s The Word Exchange: an all-too plausible dystopia.

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Word Exchange, by Alena Graedon. Doubleday Books (2014), $13.99, ISBN: 9780385537667

Recommended for 18+

While Alena Graedon’s The Word Exchange isn’t written for YA/New Adult audiences, I wholeheartedly believe that these readers should read it, much in the way that they should read (if they haven’t already) Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. Alex Awards, are you listening?

The Word Exchange takes place in an entirely believable, very near future. Society is too plugged in – smartphones appear to have morphed into devices called Memes, which think for you. Well, not really – but kind of. They anticipate what you want to do – hail a cab? Order a coffee? – and even offer you words when you can’t think of the word you’re looking for. Ana, a young woman who works with her father, Doug Johnson, at the North American Dictionary of the English Language (NADEL, for short), uses her meme – something Doug has no patience for; he feels like books and language are a disappearing art. He has no idea how right he is.

There’s a virus – WordFlu – that’s erasing language, stealing it from the populace. They start by bungling words here and there, eventually devolving into gibberish, silence, and ultimately, death. When Doug goes missing, Ana goes on the search for her father and finds herself in the middle of something far greater than she, Doug, or the Dicionary could ever be – could there really be a plot in place to erase language?

Told in the form of journal entries by Ana and her friend, Doug’s associate Bartleby (also known as Horace), The Word Exchange examines what would happen in a society that leaves entirely too much to technology. It’s very unsettling, because it’s only a step or two from where we are now. Imagine if someone were to create an app that let you think of the word that was on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t remember, for pennies a download? Now imagine if you had a Seamless or taxi service available to you without even picking up your phone or pulling up your app? Those bothersome clicks and pokes to the touchscreen would go away, because your Meme would do all the work for you. Would society really hand over the reins so easily?

The book starts slowly, laying groundwork – the mystery of Doug’s disappearance happens fairly soon in the book, but Ana’s search builds until about halfway through the book, when the action just explodes. Layered and tautly paced, this book was unputdownable for the second half. She’s got complex, three-dimensional characters, and a plot that chilled me to the bone just thinking about it – because it could happen. Very easily.

Teens and young adults should be reading this book, because they’re the next generation – they’ll appreciate the setting and hopefully, the message that Ms. Graedon delivers. It’s a fantastic book discussion group title that explores technology, morality, and the politics of doing business in an increasingly online world. I loved this book and can’t wait to see some of the discussions that evolve around it.

Fiction, Middle School, Science Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human makes humans the invention.

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigble, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human, by L.A. Messina. Tater Tot Books (2014), eBook: $3.99 ISBN: 9780984901838

Recommended for ages 10-14

Henry is a young teen robot in his 13th upgrade. He’s not the popular kid at school, and he has a faulty processor that comes from a virus that attacked his system when he was younger. When his father’s boss shows up at their home one night with a new human model to test for the market, Henry is thrilled – his own human! But this human isn’t a slack-jawed, drooling blank slate like most humans are. This one makes up words, can do things without extensively detailed commands, and doesn’t want to sleep in his box because it’s not comfortable. At first, Henry is worried – what if this human goes berserk like the one that went on a rampage in his mother’s business? – but he comes to realize that the HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2, or “E”, as Henry calls him, is a very special model.

Unfortunately, Henry’s not the only one who thinks “E” is special, which leads to a taut race to unravel the truth about E, especially when the government begins showing an interest in E and Henry’s family.

The book starts out slow as Ms. Messina establishes the drudgery of Henry’s young teen life – mocked at school, boring job at his mother’s spa, Henry is the lonely kid who takes comfort in his comic books and video games, until something exciting – E’s arrival – sparks up his life. Even then, the narrative moves at a slower pace as Henry discovers how special E really is. But once the plot kicks into motion, involving the government and the origins for both E and Henry, the story moves at a great pace that kept me turning pages and wanting to know more.

The book, available via e-book format, is a good read for tweens and young teens. It provides a wealth of opportunities to discuss what would happen in a society where robots were on the top of things and humans were the creation; it also offers chances to discuss morality and the government. It would be a good discussion group story for educators to encourage among their students and patrons.

Lynn Messina’s website offers a book trailer for Henry, along with fun extras for readers.

Graphic Novels, Middle School, Non-Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Smile, by Raina Telgemeier – A Graphic Memoir of Tweenhood

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Smile, by Raina Telgemeier. Scholastic (2010), $21.99, ISBN: 978-0-54513205-3

Recommended for ages 10+

Raina Telgemeier’s memoir, Smile, is a coming-of-age memoir that’s framed by the night sixth-grader Raina sustained an injury to her mouth that led to a series of surgeries and orthodontia. Throughout middle school and high school, Raina endures braces, surgeries, retainers, and even headgear. She becomes a target for her friends’ teasing, which leads to her pulling away from them and embracing her love of the artistic. When she finally realizes that her friends aren’t the people she wants to surround herself with, she stands her ground and moves on.

Smile is one of those books that everyone should read, kid or adult. It’s all about fair-weather friends, enduring what feels like the end of the world, and ultimately, finding your own voice. It’s empowering, whether you’re 12 or 92, because it’s something we need to be reminded of, from time to time – “it”, whatever it is, won’t last forever, and the people you surround yourself with may not be the best for you. Dig deep down into yourself and love yourself enough to get through it.

The cartoon art makes the story even more accessible,with friendly-looking, expressive characters and warm colors throughout. The endpapers resemble a yearbook -in fact, Ms. Telgemeier used her yearbook signatures for the book – with signatures and well-wishes from friends, setting the tone for the book.

Smile has received numerous accolades – deservedly so! – including winning the Eisner Award for Best Publication for a Teen Audience (2011), the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (2012), and the Maine Student Book Award (2012). Smile was a finalist for the Children’s Choice Book Award (2011) and has received designation as an ALA Children’s Notable Book (2011), an honor book from the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (2010), a Kirkus Best Book of 2010, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice (2010).

There are lesson plans on the Web that allow educators to bring Smile into the classroom. Scholastic offers one on their site, along with a template for students to create their own graphic novels; The Graphic Classroom offers some great classroom discussion tips using the book.

A companion book to Smile, called Sisters, which will be published in August 2014 and will examine the relationship between Raina and her sister, Amara, who briefly appears in Smile.