Category: Fiction

Posted in Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

Teens on the brink: The Light Fantastic, by Sarah Combs

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

light-fantasticThe Light Fantastic, by Sarah Combs, (Sept. 2016, Candlewick), $17.99, ISBN: 9780763678517

Recommended for ages 12+

April 19 is Senior Skip Day, and it’s April Donovan’s 18th birthday. It’s also four days after the Boston Marathon and 18 years after Timothy McVeigh drove a truck bomb through the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City. April has a rare memory condition, hyperthymesia, which means she has photographic recall of her life’s events. This recall has spurred an obsession with tragedies that have happened in April, her birth month, throughout history. Elsewhere, Lincoln Evans – connected in his own way to April – is trying to understand his sometime girlfriend, Laura. Their teacher is distracted by another student’s chilling statement earlier. Across the country, a group of teens that call themselves The Assassins, led by someone calling himself (herself?) The Mastermind, are getting ready to set something terrible into motion.

The Light Fantastic brings together seven voices to tell the story of teens on the brink. There’s one adult voice here; a teacher’s voice, and she’s not there to be the heavy, the whistle-blower, or the accomplice. Each voice has a painful story to tell; each narrator has a tale to tell, intertwined with the events of April 19, 2013. It’s a tense, complex novel with some diversity to its voices. It felt a bit scattered at times – I think it may be the multiple narrators, backstories, and locations. Bringing everyone together online was helpful; I would have liked to see a little more of that interaction.

In these days when school and public violence surrounds us, The Light Fantastic is an important book to get into readers’ hands and get them talking. Booktalk this with A.S. King’s I Crawl Through It and by Marieke Nijkamp’s This is Where it Ends. Candlewick offers a free discussion guide with common core information.

Posted in Fiction

Religious thriller: Cradle and All

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

cradleCradle and All, by James Patterson, (Sept. 2016, jimmy patterson), $18.99, ISBN: 9780316315265

Recommended for 18+

Two teenage girls fall pregnant: one in New England, one in Ireland. Both virgins; one blessed with the child of God, the other, with the child of Satan, and no one knows which mother is carrying which child. It seems like the world itself is reacting, with outbreaks of polio, famine, floods, and droughts. Former nun turned private investigator Anne Fitzgerland is sent by the Archdiocese of Boston to investigate.

This is a 1980 James Patterson book that’s been “reworked” to be YA, but I have to be completely frank here: this is not YA. I don’t know what the original book read like, but the only thing that remotely makes this book YA is the fact that there are two pregnant teenagers who aren’t even the main characters in the story. There’s sexual violence, discussions of infanticide, let’s not even get into the religious issues, and the fact that a 23 year-old woman is a Harvard graduate, hard-boiled private investigator, and well-published authority on children and teenagers. Oh, and she’s a former nun who left the convent when she fell in love with a priest, who just happens to be assigned to the same cases.

There are huge plot holes. HUGE. One of which makes the entire premise of the book fall apart at the end, if you’ve read that far. There are over 100 chapters in the book, all ranging from about 1 1/2 pages to 4 pages, which makes for some choppy reading (at least for me). It was a disappointing experience for me, and it’s not because I read children’s and YA books over adult books (because I’ve seen that leveled at some folks, believe it or not) – it just wasn’t that good of a book, and I’m a little irritable that James Patterson and his people would even consider releasing this as a YA novel (again, because, pregnant teens).

I’m clearly not the audience for this book. I’m bemused that the jimmy patterson imprint will release this along with books like his excellent Middle School series, and the Maximum Ride YA series that disappears off my shelves. Read this one for yourselves and use your own judgement; I was not a fan. I’ll go re-read Good Omens next time I want to read about a rumble between Heaven and Hell.

 

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Middle School, Puberty, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Realistic Fiction that works: Still a Work in Progress

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

still-a-work-in-progressStill a Work in Progress, by Jo Knowles, (Aug. 2016, Candlewick Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9780763672171

Recommended for ages 9-13

Noah’s trying to make it through seventh grade: his friends are weirding out, girls are weird, and his home life… don’t ask. His older sister, Emma, has been acting strange again. Her increasingly difficult food demands are driving Noah crazy – he really doesn’t like seitan; he just wants a burger – and she’s doing things like wearing lots of bulky clothing layers, moving her food around the plate without actually taking a bite, and arguing with everyone. Just like she did when The Thing They Don’t Talk About began last time. Noah’s only solace these days seems to be in the art room, where he can express himself without stress.

Still a Work in Progress is one of those great middle grade books that tackles tough issues within the framework of every day life: meaning, there’s a lot of laughter, a lot of confusion, and some pain. Overall, the book, narrated by Noah, is hilarious. The dialogue between him and his friends sounds like things I’d overhear my kids talking and arguing about, and Jo Knowles really captures Noah’s inner dialogue beautifully: the mixture of anger and concern for his sister, in particular. Ms. Knowles gives readers a realistic novel that brings together school life, home life, friend life (any kid will tell you friends are a separate sphere), and the frustration of moving through these areas while in the pull of something much, much bigger than you. I also loved the real star of the book: a hairless cat named Curly, who lives at the school and hangs out with the kids (Curly’s on the cover of the book, so you know this is an important cat.)

Great middle grade novel for realistic fiction readers. There’s always a call for good, realistic fiction in my library, so this one will get a good booktalk. Check out Jo Knowles’ author website for a link to the book’s Pinterest page and downloadable discussion guide.

Want more? Here’s Jo Knowles talking about the inspiration behind Still a Work in Progress.

Posted in Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Not just the flu: Pandemic

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

pandemicPandemic, by Yvonne Ventresca, (July 2016, Sky Pony Press), $9.99, ISBN: 9781510703902

Recommended for ages 12+

This is the paperback release of the 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Winner for the Atlantic region.

Liliana used to be an outgoing, top student. Until the whole thing with Mr. B happened; now, she’s withdrawn, her grades have plummeted, and her outlook has changed from a glass half full to the glass being smashed on the floor. Only a few people know what happened, and she’s lost some friends over it, but Lil has bigger problems right now: there’s a fast-spreading flu going through her New Jersey town, and friends and neighbors are getting really sick. Her medical journalist father is in Delaware covering the disease’s early stages, and her mother, on business in Hong Kong, is unable to get a flight back home when everything hits. Lil is on her own, and she’s terrified. As the disease marches through her world, she’s got to reach deep down inside herself and become the person she once was to survive.

Pandemic is a good read. It moves fast, has good characters, and puts them in a scary situation that’s all too real for a lot of us watching the news these days. Lil is on a journey without realizing it. Readers don’t know her before the incident with a teacher, but we see her go from a withdrawn, depressed teen to a strong young woman who can think, organize, and act to keep herself and the people around her as safe as she can, all while facing terrifying odds. I love a good, strong heroine, and was really appreciative that Yvonne Ventresca gives readers a take-charge main character who’s flawed but recognizes the need to push forward.

If you know readers who love a good plague story (minus zombies here), add this one to your shelves. For readers who want the gripping lead-up to dystopia, but minus the government-run aftermath.

Pair this with your cataclysm books: Chris Weitz’s The Young World series, Em Garner’s Contaminated books, and Lex Thomas’ Quarantine series are some good starts (and make Pandemic look like everyone’s getting off easy).

Edited to add: Holy cow, I sent this to publish too soon. Yvonne Ventresca’s author page has links to a Pandemic Pinterest board and an educator’s guide. Make sure to check it out!

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

Sacred Geometry: Rebel Genius

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

rebel-geniusRebel Genius (Geniuses #1), by Michael Dante DiMartino, (Oct. 2016, Roaring Brook Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9781626723368

Recommended for ages 10+

When the co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra writes a new middle grade fantasy series, you read that book ASAP.

In an Italian Renaissance-inspired fantasy world called Zizzolan, we meet 12 year-old Giacomo, a young artist who’s living on the streets after his parents’ death. He lives in a society where Geniuses – animal muses that inspire humans to creativity – are outlawed. When Geniuses are taken from their humans, the humans become empty; dead inside – Lost Souls. This was Giacomo’s parents’ fate. When a Genius discovers Giacomo, he knows he’s in big trouble. He tries to get the bird companion to leave him alone, but the Genius isn’t having it. Just when Giacomo’s luck is about to run out, he’s rescued by a group of teens and tweens that bring him back to the studio where they are students of Pietro Vasari, who trains the kids and their Geniuses in sacred geometry, which will allow them to channel their creative powers. Before Giacomo is able to train for long, though, Vasari tells the group that a renegade artist named Ugolino is on the search for the Sacred Tools that will give him the power to destroy the world and anyone in his way; they need to find him and stop him. Ugolino won’t be so easy to bring down, though – he’s accompanied by his own monstrous work of art: Zanobius, a golem-like sculpture brought to life to carry out Ugolino’s bidding. Giacomo and his new friends set out on a quest that may cost them their lives and their Geniuses – can they save the world?

This is a deep book. DiMartino dives into some massive ideas here, particularly, Sacred Geometry: universal patterns used in the designs of everything in our reality. Think of a spiral: there are spiral galaxies; there are spirals in shells; a chameleon’s tail curls into a spiral, and when you look at it from above, a hurricane appears as a spiral. That’s sacred geometry: math, art, proportion, it all comes together in music and nature. That DiMartino chose such a weighty subject shouldn’t be a surprise; both Avatar and Korra; two hugely popular animated series, delved deeply into Buddhism, religious and cultural conflict, immigration, and identity. DiMartino isn’t afraid to talk to kids about weighty matters; he’s able to communicate layered, complex concepts to his audience. That said, while this is a book aimed at an 8-12 audience, some readers on the younger end of the range may struggle. I’d definitely booktalk this to my 5th and 6th graders, and I’d push this on my teens, too; this is a good crossover to YA. Black and white illustrations add interest and depth to the book, and help illustrate some more abstract concepts.

This is literary fantasy, and it’s beautifully written fantasy. If you’ve got fantasy readers, I think this would be a great book to introduce them to, and it would spark some great discussion. Wnat to read an excerpt? (You know you want to read an excerpt.) Head over to the Rebel Genius Tumblr and download one.

 

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

Two teenagers take to the Canadian trails to work out their problems in Gone Wild

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

gone-wildGone Wild, by Jodi Lundgren (Sept. 2016, Lorimer), $27.99, ISBN: 9781459409897

Recommended for ages 14 and up

This is another selection from Canadian publisher James Lorimer & Company’s line for reluctant and struggling readers. The publisher’s ability to find and champion interesting, relevant realistic fiction that speaks to teens and the issues facing them these days is huge, and Lorimer has managed to find authors that provide diverse backgrounds, viewpoints, and situations that will speak to teens.

Told in alternating third-person narratives, Gone Wild is the story of two teens who head to a wilderness park on Vancouver Island to work out the problems they each have going on. Seth is a teen who was bullied by his half-brother until he went to foster care; he was adopted, but his parents have split, leaving him open to verbal abuse by his mother and psychological bullying by his mother’s boyfriend. Fed up with it all, he storms out and finds himself on the trail.

Brooke’s a high school with a control freak mother, who never lets her feel like she measures up to Brooke’s older sister. When Brooke thinks she may be pregnant, she grabs her gear – she loves outdoor sports and hiking – and heads for the trail, to clear her head and work things out.

Eventually, the two teens meet and work together to get through the wilderness, to figure out the directions their lives are going, and to find the strength to take control back for themselves.

This was a good, quick read. The characters were well-developed and faced some big topics: life-changing topics. We’re dealing with teenage pregnancy, abuse, and adoption, for starters, so more conservative readers may shy away from this book. For teens who are living with their own struggles, though, the idea of finding a way to clear your head and walk it out may be soothing, a real help. You don’t have to find a hiking trail; urban kids can find a quiet place in a park, or work it out on the basketball court or track, for instance; it’s the idea of finding a constructive way to work through life and the curveballs it throws at us.

Because this is a book aimed at reluctant and struggling readers, the text gets to the point quickly and is matter-of-fact in its discussion. All readers will appreciate the candor that Jodi Lundgren uses to tell her story.

A good addition to realistic fiction collections, especially where grittier subjects find readers.

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

Skin crawling YA horror: The Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

women-in-the-wallsThe Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics (Sept. 2016, Harlequin Teen), $18.99, ISBN: 9780373211944

Recommended for ages 13+

Lucy Acosta lives with her cousin, Margaret, her aunt, Penelope, and her father, Felix, in a Victorian mansion in the middle of the woods. Her mother died when she was three, leaving her to be raised by her loving aunt and distant father. When Lucy is 17, Penelope takes a walk into the woods and disappears, throwing the household into chaos. Margaret, Penelope’s daughter, is becoming unhinged, telling Lucy that she hears her dead mother talking to her through the walls, telling her to join her. Her father, obsessed with throwing dinner parties for the exclusive club he belongs to, ignores Lucy’s pleas for help; he won’t accept any sign of weakness. As Lucy tries to get to the bottom of the voices in the walls, she starts hearing them too; and when she begins digging into her family’s legacy, the things she find may doom her.

This was a gloriously creepy novel with just enough gore to move it from haunted house novel to horror. Think Wicker Man meets The Legacy (wow, did I just date myself with that reference), with wonderful madness tossed in, to make things interesting. Be warned, delicate sensibilities and stomachs may find some of the language and violence too much. This is not a book for your conservative readers.

Lucy and Margaret are fairy skin-deep characters with the potential for deeper storytelling, but it’s not really their story, as you’ll discover. The real development is going on around them. Think of Lucy as the narrator – which she is – and the host of the story. She’s the central character, but she’s in the dark almost as much as we readers are. The supporting characters are where the story lies, and when the elements all come together, this is a page-turning read. Horror and suspense fans will enjoy this one.

Posted in Adventure, Espionage, Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Bridget returns in Spy to the Rescue!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

bridgetwilderBridget Wilder: Spy to the Rescue, by Jonathan Bernstein, (May 2016, Katherine Tegen Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9780062382696

Recommended for ages 9-13

Middle school spy-in-the-making Bridget Wilder is not having a great re-entry to “normal” society after being recruited by her former super-spy biological father in Bridget Wilder: Spy-in-Training. The agency that recruited her? Fake. Her super spy dad? Retired, and wants a “normal” relationship with his daughter (read: BORING). Her obnoxious brother is dating someone even more annoying, her best friend has moved across the country, and she’s being framed by someone for stealing cheerleading secrets AND ruining the birthday party of the season! Bridget senses something amiss, though; her spy instincts kick in and she decides to investigate.

Just when you think you’re about to read a fun, fluff middle school drama about mean girls, though, Jonathan Bernstein hits you with the real story: Bridget’s dad goes missing, and she’s pulled back into the spy game. Mean girls have nothing on an international crime syndicate, and Bridget’s going to need all of her skills, plus some new ones, to save her dad, her family, and herself.

I LOVED this book. Written in the first person from Bridget’s point of view, we get a narrator who’s 100% tween/teen girl: smart, funny, sarcastic, and a good kid who cares about her often wacky, extended family. I also love that we get an adopted heroine – yay for adoptees! – who refers to her parents and her siblings as her parents and her siblings, not her “adoptive family” like we see ad nauseum (I’m looking at you, Olympic coverage of Simone Biles and her family). Bridget has her family, and when her long-last dad reappears, he wants a relationship with her, but it’s her choice, and it involves her whole family; it’s not this long last dad appears, daughter runs off with him like the family who raised her never existed scenario, and I am grateful to Jonathan Bernstein for giving us a great, positive portrayal of an adoptee’s relationship to her family. Her entire family. It’s a bit of a touchy spot, being an adoptee myself, so when I find good writing, I applaud it.

But back to the story. Spy to the Rescue is fast-paced and fun. There’s some intrigue, there’s a lot of action, great dialogue, and continued strong character development. I booktalked Bridget Wilder: Spy-in-Training to my Corona Kids during my Spy Week program at the library, and they loved it, especially coming off the Spy Kids movie day, when they were empowered to be spies and save the grownups for a change. Wait until I put this one on the shelves, and let them know that a third book will be coming next year.

If you have action fiction fans, spy fans, or kids who enjoy a good book with a nice dose of girl power, add Bridget Wilder to your collection. Check out Jonathan Bernstein’s author webpage for more about Bridget and her author, Jonathan Bernstein.

Check out the book trailer for Spy in Training right here:

Posted in Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Boarding school thriller: Assassin Game

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

assassin gameAssassin Game, by Kirsty McKay, (Aug. 2016, Sourcebooks Fire), $10.99, ISBN: 9781492632757
originally published July 2015 as Killer Game

recommended for ages 12+

Cate attends an isolated boarding school where, every year, a select few are chosen to play a secret game called Killer. One person in the group is designated the Killer, who will play pranks on the rest of the group, “killing” them – put a rubber snake in a desk, a brightly colored water pistol fired at just the right time – as long as it doesn’t get out of control or disrupt classes, the faculty and staff tolerate The Game. Cate is thrilled to have been chosen, because she feels like she finally belongs in this school of “superkids”: geniuses and rich kids, all. At first, the game progresses as normal, but soon, one of the players has taken the Game too far, and Cate is next on the Killer’s list. Can she figure out who the Killer is in time to save herself?

I love good thrillers, and if they take place in an out-of-the-way location like a school, library, old hospital, even better. The Assassin Game has a great setting: a Welsh boarding school in the middle of nowhere, and an interesting cast of characters, but it does take a little while to build up steam. It’s a quick read, and there are some great pranks, plus high school friendship/relationship drama to bring things to a simmer and add some fuel to the whodunit fire. There’s not a lot of depth to the characters, but there doesn’t really need to be; that’s not what this book is about. You learn what you need to about them, and you learn enough to try and figure out motivations and who would have reason to burn whom.

If you have readers that like a slow-burn thriller with a satisfying payoff, give Assassin Game a shot.

Posted in Horror, Humor, Teen, Tween Reads

Gina Damico’s Wax: You’ll never look at a candle the same way again.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

waxWax, by Gina Daminco, (Aug. 2016, HMH Books for Young Readers), $17.99, ISBN: 9780544633155

Recommended for ages 12+

Welcome to Paraffin, Vermont, home of the Grosholtz Candle Factory. The town stinks. No, really, it does; imagine all those different scents in the air all the time, and what they must smell like when combined? Seventeen year-old Poppy is so tired of Paraffin and their candle tourism, but she and her bestie end up touring the factory one day, for giggles. She ends up discovering some batty old woman talking about living wax, and gives Poppy a candle that will protect her. When gets home, there’s a naked teenage boy in her trunk. A boy who looks suspiciously like a wax figure that she saw in the batty old woman’s workshop. He doesn’t really know much about who or what he is, but he answers to the name, Dud. A fire destroys the workshop, and with it, any chance for Poppy to talk to the woman and discover more, but no worry: she’s going to find out what’s really happening in the town of Paraffin soon enough. People are starting to act a little odd. A little… waxy.

Wax, like Damico’s previous book, Hellhole, combines horror with humor, with laugh-out-loud results. If you’re like me and love horror comedies like Evil Dead: Dead by Dawn and Return of the Living Dead, with a little less gore, you’re going to enjoy Wax. There’s something really horrific going on in the town of Paraffin, but with a sarcastic lead character like Poppy and a sweet, but dense sidekick named Dud, just sit back and enjoy the ride. There’s some true creepiness here; it’s not all snorts and giggles, so horror fans, if you want a break from gore and just want some good storytelling, pick up this book.

I loved Wax because there’s a good story and good characters, and it reminded me a little bit of Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets one of my favorite cult films from the late ’80s. Does anyone remember Waxwork? I have such great memories of being in college, staying up all night, and watching movies like Waxwork and the Puppet Master movies from Full Moon Entertainment. If you haven’t treated yourself to a viewing of Waxwork, I highly encourage it. Here’s the trailer.

But back to the book. Give this to your morbid humor fans who enjoy a little chuckle with their scares. Please booktalk this one with Damico’s Hellhole, because I feel like that book doesn’t get the love it deserves. Quirk Books has a great list of horror comedies that you can display, too, and don’t discount the tried and true work horses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Have teens who love movies? Have a horror fest with the cheesiest of cheese! My teen and I bonded over Evil Dead 2, and my tween understands the power behind the phrase, “Hail to the King, baby”.

Shop Smart, shop S-mart, and consider adding Gina Damico to your horror collection if you’re a fan or have fans in your patronage.