And now for something completely different...

In a Missouri newspaper article on July 26th, it was reported that a school had voted to remove two books from its library's shelves and keep one after a complaint was filed about the three books. The book that was kept: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  The books that were removed: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.  Horray for Speak!  Horray for...wait, what?!?!  Twenty Boy Summer was banned?  Seriously?!?!

I haven't read Slaughterhouse Five, but I know enough about it to understand why it ruffles feathers, but it's considered a classic now for heavens sake.  However, I have read Twenty Boy Summer (TBS from now on) and it was fantastic, and nothing like how it’s being portrayed by the folks who opposed it.  It’s about dealing with loss and the strain that tragedy can put on relationships.  It’s realistic in its portrayal of how some people don’t handle grief well, how they make mistakes when they try to just make it go away.

Frankie is outgoing and spunky, but when her brother Matt dies suddenly she doesn't deal with it so well.  Her best friend Anna has always been the more quiet of the two.  Anna and Matt had been in love but because they’d all been friends for years they hadn’t told Frankie yet, so Anna keeps her loss to herself.  When Frankie asks Anna to come with their family on a summer vacation on the California coast a year later, Frankie tries to drown her sorrow in boys.  Anna has a hard time emotionally joining Frankie in the flirt-fest because she’s still not over Matt (and she still hasn’t told Frankie).  Even when Anna meets someone new she can’t help but feel that she’s betraying Matt’s memory.  When the truth does come out about Anna and Matt’s relationship, the friendship between girls is almost broken.  Frankie feels betrayed that she was never told and Anna feels that Frankie is insensitive to her own sorrow over Matt.  However, it does end up being the turning point that they both needed to start healing. 

It’s beautifully written and deeply touching.  I cried, multiple times, particularly hard when Frankie screams a torrent of grief at the ocean.  After reading the article several times and mulling this over for half of today, this is how I interpret the explanations of why Speak was kept and TBS was not.  In Speak the main character is a victim, but in TBS the main characters are responsible for their own actions.  It doesn't matter why they did what they did or that Frankie in particular ends up regretting how she acted or that TEENAGERS DO STUPID THINGS OUT OF GRIEF TOO (and definitely more than most adults want to acknowledge), many adults who will read TBS will only see the parts that they label "inappropriate" and completely ignore the part where the characters actually learn something and start to change.  

I could go on and rant about how there's not one thing in the article to indicate that the man who put forth the complaint is a parent of a teenager at this school.  I could rant about how ridiculous it is that TBS was removed from the curriculum, which means it was probably just on a suggested reading list because can anyone imagine asking a high school guy to read and discuss this book? (insert crickets sound here).  But I won't because Sarah Ockler has actually just won something: a place in the group of other fine authors whose work has been banned because it challenges people to see the world around them differently.  And that, my fellow YAngleists, is one heck of an awesome group to be a part of.

The Relic Hunters: Grey Griffins, The Clockwork Chronicles Book 2

My first book review on this blog, was for the first book in this series.  While there were a few flaws I gave it an okay review.  I can't say I'll be as kind to the second in the series.  I feel so bad for you co-authors Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis - you were so close...but yet so far away. 

The Grey Griffins - Max, Harley, Natalia, and Ernie - are still in their first year of school at Iron Bridge and still fighting Otto Von Strife (the Clockwork King), even though he's really not around.  Now he's trying to make something called a paragon engine that will create a portal to the Shadowlands and might allow him to time travel.

The Griffins aren't really around any more either, in a manner of speaking.  Ernie, still distraught over his friend and fellow changeling Robert's death, is spending more and more time with the other changelings.  They have decided to take on the people who steal changelings in acts of vigilante justice.  Natalia is making friends with other girls and Harley is spending more time in Monti's workshop, which leaves Max feeling very lonely.

Once school resumes after winter break they all end up in a class together taught by Obidiah Strange.  They're going to train to be "relic hunters," which seems to be the fancy pants Templar word for archeologist/treasure hunter.  So they go to classes and they study but they never seem to actually do any homework.  Monti starts looking ill but keeps working. They keep up the Round Table tournament to determine who will be on the school team, but instead of it feeling thrilling, it feels like a gimmick.  Schrodinger also comes into the story because there's a Schrodinger box the Relic Hunters have to find and keep away from Von Strife.  

In the end, not much of substance has actually happened in the story but there's a cliffhanger that sets up the next book.  The characters are incredibly shallow in that you never really feel connected with any of them.  Instead of being characters, they feel like gimmicks - especially Natalia.  There's more steampunk descriptions and faerie lore thrown in but they fall flat.  I really think the book is trying to be a steampunk Harry Potter but it doesn't work. 

The Honor Tree

Normally I do not review picture books on this blog because YA books are typically more complex and need more thorough reviews.  It's easy to sit down and read through a picture book and usually the reviews you will find of them tell you everything you need to know.  Professionally, I feel reviewing YA books is needed more.

However, this is too bad to not review.  That's right, too bad.  I received my copy of this book from the author, Ava McAllister,  herself.  Warning signals started going off in my head the moment I looked at the cover.  The story is about a young Native American boy named Indigo who is supposed to find honor one day so he can plant his honor tree.  Going about his day and searching for some honor, he encounters different people from his village and helps them out in various ways.  That afternoon he goes back to his village to prepare for the ceremony but he's disappointed because he couldn't find any honor.  His father gives him a little pep talk about all the kind things he did for people that day and how that is true honor.  So Indigo feels better and plants his tree.

I'll address my issues with the author and the book in an orderly fashion.  

1. According to the back of the book, Ms. McAllister's degrees are in the biological sciences and her career is in the healthcare industry.
2. Ms. McAllister is from Connecticut, but she makes no mention of working with or consulting any of the Native American tribes from her area or any other area.  Nor is there any indication that Ms. McAllister is Native American herself.
3. Although I did not do extensive research, nowhere can I find any evidence of any North American Native cultures having an "honor tree."  If any Native American person out there reads this and knows otherwise, I will most humbly apologize and believe you. 
4. Using the Oyate Criteria for Evaluating Books, my own knowledge of Lakota culture (which isn't extensive but I take it very seriously), and other random knowledge of mine here are my cultural issues with the book: 

• The main character is named Indigo
• Another village boy is named Shiloh, which is a Hebrew word
• A hunter named is Tomahawk
• The text says Tomahawk is testing a crossbow when Indigo comes across him.  My husband bow hunts so I know enough about bows to know that the bow pictured in the book is not a crossbow, a long bow, or a compound bow - it's a recurve bow.  I also have not found any evidence that Native American historically used crossbows. The Inuit people did use them for hunting. However, not until enslaved Africans were brought to North America did crossbow technology develop in the area now called the continental U.S.
• Indigo's father is named Riverwolf
• Indigo encounters a medicine woman, which is Plains Indian culture and the story is clearly set on the East Coast (like say, in Connecticut) 
• Indigo has two eagle feathers in his hair at his ceremony.  Traditionally in various Native American cultures, eagle feathers were given to an individual for great acts of heroism including (but definitely not limited to) a brave act in battle, saving a life/lives, etc.  It is highly unlikely that a boy of Indigo's age would have one feather let alone two.        
• The illustrations of people are very generic and other than coloring, they don't really look like Native Americans. 

 So I urge you, no matter what the message of this book is, don't purchase it - there are better ones out there.

Creature of the Night

I will also be book talking this title at the SDLA Annual Conference for YARP/SD Teen Choice Book Award High School List.  So this review will also be short.

While sometimes the story seemed unbelievable (and not because there's a faerie/supernatural element in the book), it was very creepy.  Creepy enough to make me regret reading it in the dark.  Thanks Kate Thompson.

Set partially in Dublin but mostly in County Clare, Ireland (on the west coast), the story follows fourteen-year-old Bobby who got in too much trouble with his gang of friends in the city.  Wanting a change, his young mother moves Bobby, his younger brother Dennis, and herself to the country.  But the tiny, run-down cottage they rent comes with baggage - literally and figuratively.  Bobby is desperate to get back to the city and will try any means necessary to do so.  But being 14, jobless, and poor limits his options.  The mysterious and sudden disappearance of the former tenant adds to the tension of the story as Bobby struggles to decide where he belongs and who is really is - a hard-working boy with a bright future or a trouble-maker bound for prison or worse.

And again, since there's already more detailed information about it at the link above and because it'll ruin the book talk, I'm not going to say anything else.

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt

This is going to be a shorter than normal review.  Now before ya'll go all bug-eyed on me and start complaining, let me tell you why.  I read this book because it's on the 2012 YARP/South Dakota Teen Choice Book Award list for middle school.  I will be book talking this at the South Dakota Library Association's annual conference in Spearfish this fall.  So, I kinda want things to be a surprise.

I will say that while some parts were kinda unbelievable, the story was still really cute and funny.  Elizabeth Cody Kimmel remembers what its like to be a young teen girl trying to figure out just who she is.  And so what if some times I thought to myself "no high school freshman would think this maturely without major parental intervention or a brain transplant"?  Some times its good to have these books so that teen girls can help themselves find words to put with their crazy, hormonal, and irrational feelings.

But if you're really jonesing for some more information on it, the annotated list for all the YARP books can be found right here!  If you want more information, well you're just going to have to come to conference! 

Hidden Roots by Joseph Bruchac

I read this book in the late winter/early spring but I'm just now posting a review of it for a reason.  I work with a group called the Baltimore Dakota Learning Camps, more specifically with the Hau Kola Teen Camp in Oglala. This was my third consecutive year to work with the Teen Camp, and my 7th year overall.  My role is two fold: to lead a book discussion with all the teens and to help those teens who decide to work with the leadership group to design a puppet show/play for subsequent elementary and/or preschool camps.  For this year's camp I chose this book for discussion.  Because we only have 4 days with the group and we are never sure who all is going to come until they actually arrive at the building, the teens don't get the books ahead of time to read.  My charge is to select sections that can be read aloud in the time allotted and come up with discussion & journaling questions that are challenging, culturally sensitive, and age-appropriate.  As a non-Native person, this is something I take very seriously.

Obviously, I would not have chosen this book if I didn't think it wasn't appropriate or a "good" book.  While the book is set in rural, upstate New York in the 1950s and the protagonist is a young teen, the issues that the book addresses are still relevant today, particularly with the teens that the camp works with: prejudice, personal identity, cultural identity, physical abuse, and the importance of family.  I'll admit, when it came time to create a book discussion guide I tried the easiest way first - looking up other ones online and culling questions from those.  Unfortunately, the only two I could find were obviously aimed at non-Native adults.  So I forged ahead and wrote my own.

The good news is that the feedback I received from the other staff members was overwhelmingly positive - the read aloud selections were spot on, the discussion questions were great, and the journaling questions resulted in some deep sharing from the teens.  As this was the first book discussion guide I have ever written all on my own from scratch, this made me feel very accomplished both professionally and personally.  I've posted the discussion guide here.  It's going to make the post really long but I can't attach it as its own document.  It is free to all and anyone can adjust it to meet their own needs.  However, if you do use it, I would like to know about it so I can report this professionally.     

*Note: Because this book is frequently out-of-print, the copy that I obtained might not be the same copy you have.  Thus, the page numbers may not align completely. 

Hau Kola Teen Camp 2011

Book Discussion Read Aloud Sections & Possible Discussion Questions

Three main themes to focus on:

·       the respect & reverence shown to nature & the environment

·       domestic violence/child abuse

·       the power of family & forgiveness

Read aloud p. 3-8 (top half)

Q: On page 4 Howard says “I’d been taught that it was not good to sleep too heavily. Otherwise you might get crept up on.”  What do you think this means for Howard?

Follow-up or other prompts:

Do you think Howard is afraid of something and that’s why he sleeps light?  If yes, then what?    

What other things in this section tell you that there’s something wrong?

Q: A boy at school tries to start a fight with Howard.  Why did that boy do that?

Q: Howard knows that the other kids want to see a fight but decides he doesn’t want to “give them that satisfaction.” (pg.6)  Why do you think Howard didn’t want to fight – what does he mean by not wanting to give them that satisfaction?  

Journaling questions:

·        Have you ever gotten in a fight or have you ever walked away from one?  Why or why not?

·        Is it wrong to fight?  Why or why not?

·        Howard knows his mother, Martha, is different from the other mothers at school.  His mother tells him (pg.8) that other mothers may not have lived through “the no-matter-what” like she has.  What does “no-matter-what” mean to you? 

Read aloud p. 12 – 14

Q: Howard’s father, Jake, tries to make him scared of the big paper mill machines so he’ll learn something.  What do you think Jake is trying to teach him?

Journaling questions:

On page 14 Howard makes himself three promises, “I will never as long as I live work in the mill.  I won’t be one of those turning what’s wild and free into napkins and toilet paper.  I will never be as angry as my father.”

·        What kind of promises like this have you made to yourself – to not be like somebody else or do what someone else has done?

·        These are kind of like small goals for your life – what goals do you have for your life?

Read aloud p. 19-25

Q: Howard’s father feels that people look at him “funny” because he didn’t serve in the war like he was supposed to.  What do you think “funny” means?

Q: Would you say Jake is bitter? 

Journaling questions:

·        Why is Howard’s father angry and sometimes abusive? 

·        Does he have a good reason to be angry and sometimes abusive?

·        “The mind that was twisted by anger or grief or shame, can be made straight again.”  Do you think people that are as bitter as Jake can change?

Read aloud p. 31-35, 55-59

Q: Both of these sections, particularly the second one, relate some very heavy prejudice.  This was a common way of thinking in the 1950s & 60s.  Do you think this prejudice still exists today?  If so, what can any of us do to get rid of this way of thinking?

Read aloud p. 61-66

Q: Who do you think Uncle Louis really is, not what his relationship to Howard is, but his heritage?  (He’s Native – Abenaki) Why do you think Uncle Louis asks Howard to come along to greet the morning? 

Q: On page 66 Howard asks if it’s okay to be “acting like Indians” and Uncle Louis says yes, as long as no one sees them.  Why do you think they have to do this in secret?

Journaling questions: When Howard goes back to school in the fall he decides it’s better if he goes unnoticed.  He doesn’t think he’s good looking, smart, or good at sports like other people in his class.  He says on p. 67, “I didn’t try that hard and hung back as much as I could.  It would have been worse to try real hard and make yourself noticed and then fail rather than just doing things halfheartedly or staying the background.” 

·        Have you ever felt this way?  If so, why?

·        What makes you want to try hard and do your best?

·        What things are you good at?  What things feel like they come naturally to you – sports, reading, writing, drawing, computers?

Summarize from page 66-109:

·        Howard starts to grow physically and turns out to be pretty good naturally in basketball.  He’s able to make some friends with the boys at school. 

·        Howard discovers the school library, which has a new librarian.  She helps Howard find some books that he really enjoys.

·        Winter comes and brings a chance for Howard to make some money with a friend by shoveling driveways and sidewalks for people in town.

·        Howard’s father finally becomes a hero by saving a new guy at the paper mill from getting pulled into one of the big machines, but he loses a couple fingers in the process.

·        Since Jake can’t work for a while, Uncle Louis continues to help out the family by Jake’s deer tags and doing occasional chores around their house. 

·        Mrs. Rosen, the school librarian tells Howard a little bit about her family history – that her parents were Jewish and sent her to the U.S. to escape Nazi Germany.

Have a staff member read p. 109 – 112, camper(s) pick up, read aloud p. 112- 119

Uncle Louis turns out to really be Howard’s grandfather, and relates the importance of family when he says (on p. 116), “Roots is what helps a tree to stand up against the wind. Your family is always your family.” 

Q: Who are your “root” family members?  Who helps you stay strong when times are tough? 

Summarize: Louis and his wife Sophie lived in Vermont when a law was passed granting doctors the ability to make decisions about who should not be allowed to have children any more.  Often the doctors would have free clinic visits to where Abenaki people lived, using this as a disguised opportunity to select people for operations.  Realizing that something was wrong with Sophie after one of these visits, Louis broke into a clinic and stole the medical records.  They figured out what had been done to Sophie but it was too late and there was a law. Sophie never recovered from the surgery and eventually died. 

Read aloud p. 126-129

Q: What words stand out to you in this final passage?  Why? 

Brief discussion on eugenics if time allows?    

Journaling questions:

·        What would you like to do to learn more about your roots?

·        What can you do to celebrate your heritage and culture?

·        Looking back at everything that Howard learns about himself – he’s good at basketball, he like to read, he’s a hard worker, he’s Abenaki – WHO ARE YOU?

Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell

When I read a book I try to remember that not everyone has had the life experiences that I have, so when I think something is hilarious it not may be for other people.  But ya'll, this book is a hoot!

Seventeen-year-old Ashley Jane Fontaine Ventouras has a proud Southern heritage to go with her long name and a list of boarding schools that she's been kicked out of that's even longer.  Back in her home town of Bienville, Alabama, for the first time in five years Jane finds herself in just about every kind of situation she doesn't want to be in.  The ghost of her mother (figuratively, not literally - we're not in Savannah) is every where, from the people she meets who give her faux sympathy to the Magnolia Maids her grandmother wants to her be a part of.  Much to Jane's horror, she gets chosen to be a Magnolia Maid - a group of young ladies who are supposed to be "ambassadresses" of Bienville for a year to the rest of the country.  The Maids, who have always been from the rich, white class are diversifying this year...Brandi Lyn is from the working class; Zara, although incredibly rich, is black; and Jane, despite her wealthy family is now considered an outsider.  This is change and as Jane says that is the "dirtiest six letter word in town."  Her sarcasm and general lack of fervor for pearls and pastels isn't helping either. 

Oh and Luke Churchville, the guy that she's never forgotten, her best friend and first kiss, had turned into a serious hottie.  The problem is that they haven't spoken in five years.  The agony Jane goes through in figuring out if she wants to see him again and the hilariously awkward first re-sighting...any woman alive will remember those emotions and any teenager reading it will immediately identify.

Jane is a perfect combination of snark and Southern charm.  She's also authentic and completely believable.  Don't believe me?  Spend a few days hanging around with my mom and she'll point out plenty of potential Janes.  This was a breath of fresh air, an easy read, and even thought it wasn't suspenseful I didn't want to put it down.  I hope Crickett Rumley writes more YA fiction!   

Incarceron

I did it again...I read a book and forgot to blog about it.  Maybe it's because the book didn't hook or thrill me like I'd hoped.  As a matter of fact, reading this felt more like riding a bicycle under water.  Slow going....

Finn is a prisoner in Incarceron, a living prison.  Memories haunt him and wrack his body with fits.  Memories he shouldn't have unless he was born outside Incarceron.  But no one has entered Incarceron in decades and only one person was ever rumored to escape.  The one solid clue that Finn holds on to is the strange tattoo of an eagle on his wrist.  Then one day, Finn becomes the owner of a mysterious crystal key that has that same eagle etched into it.  Finn knows that he must use this key to escape the prison that holds him tight.

Claudia is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron.  On the brink of an arranged marriage to the prince of the land, she has memories of her own.  Memories of another prince, the older half-brother of the one she is currently engaged to, who she feels died under suspicious circumstances.  He was her original betrothed, and even though she hasn't seen him since they were both children, Claudia is determined to figure out what happened to him.  In a search for information, she breaks into her father's office and finds a crystal key with the royal eagle emblem etched into it.

Guess where the story leads.....Not only did I have the "mystery" figured out well before I was a 4th of the way through the book, the seemingly endless descriptions of Incarceron itself slowed down what could have otherwise been a really good story.  Setting the scene was way to important to Catherine Fisher.  I also don't care for it when someone has made up a world that is completely unlike our own and has created new names for things but then does not do anything to give them context so it takes you forever to figure out what the heck is going on, if you ever do.  There's a sequel - Sapphique - that I'm going to try to read, but I don't have a lot of hope. 

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Once in a while a book comes along that is so well written, so bitingly funny, and so innovative you find yourself simultaneously wanting to savor each line and speed read through it because the action never slows down.  I also know when I really enjoy a book because I'm making a movie of it in my head as I read it.  Obviously, this was one of those books for me...

Sam, or Samhain (prounced Sowin) Corvus LaCroix has a pretty fancy sounding name but he feels extremely ordinary. And yet, he feels that he has never really fit in anywhere, except with his mom & sister and best friend Ramon.  Unfortunately for Sam, his ordinary fast-food job, college-drop out life is about to become the furthest thing from ordinary.  With a sudden and rather violent warning, Sam finds out that he is a necromancer.  And the other necromancer in the area, a complete power-hungry jerk named Douglas Montgomery, would like Sam to, ahem, go away....and I don't mean move, I mean die.  So what's a boy to do when captured by said jerky necromancer and thrown into a cage with a gorgeous girl/werewolf/fey hound hybrid, especially when you don't know how to use your powers?  In short, try to survive and escape.

Just to give you an example of how witty this writing is, allow me to quote my most favorite two sentences.  I'll set it up for you....A severed head, who's owner Sam knows well, is delivered to his apartment and starts talking to him. He's a little afraid and grabs something from the kitchen as a defense, but then he starts to calm down..."I put the butter knife down. I was still freaked out of my mind, yes, but over that lay a thin patina of shame."

Fair warning: there is some implied sex.  Though you don't read about the "during," you know it's coming and you know it's happened.  Very few reviews other than mine, except this one, say anything about it and most librarians actually need to know these things. 

Fans of Garth Nix, Holly Black, Libba Bray, and other similar writers will definitely enjoy this book.  And if you need some more oomph, as you might be able to tell from the cover picture it was a 2011 Morris Award Finalist.

My Fair Godmother

I can't tell whether this chick on the book cover looks more like Emma Roberts or a teenage Emma Thompson.  Either way, she's an Emma and her outfit isn't anything like what the book describes her wearing - ever.  Well okay, she does wear sunglasses most of the time.  But when an author, like Janette Rallison, goes to the trouble of describing in detail what people wear and the cover art doesn't match...I just don't get it.  Seriously, how hard is it?  Anyhoo...

Be careful what you wish for.  More importantly, you might want to think the wish over for a while (even if your fairy godmother tells you she's missing a shoe sale waiting for your wish), maybe even write out a few drafts.  Because if your fairy godmother is Chrysanthemum Everstar, a.k.a Chrissy, and you ask for Prince Charming you'll get exactly what you wished for Cinderella or Snow White style - complete with a jaunt back to the Middle Ages and with all the crap they went through before said prince comes along.  Keep in mind, that just because he's good looking doesn't mean he's actually nice or smart.

After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, this is precisely what happens to Savannah Delano.  Although Chrissy is a fairy godmother, she didn't do so well with some of her tests in fairy godmother school so she's only a "fair" godmother...for good reason.  Granted three wishes and under the regulations of wishing, Savannah finds herself in increasingly awful situations as the servant Cinderella and the complete airhead Snow White.  Finally, when trying to clarify for Chrissy what she really wants in a guy, her school mate Tristan, who has a crush on her, is banished to the Middle Ages to prove himself worthy.  Savannah finds herself bringing some 21st Century smarts and technology back in time to "rescue" Tristan.

While sometimes predictable, the story has all the classic elements from any Medieval fairy tale: the dwarfs, wicked stepmother/evil queen, an ogre, a dragon, plenty of poorly maintained teeth, princes, castles, mutton, and a black knight.  (I know you're thinking it, so just go ahead and say it out loud, "The Black Knight always triumphs!")  It's funny with some definitely snort worthy moments and a pretty kick-butt leading lady, even if she's not always taken seriously or appreciated by other characters in the book.  A very enjoyable read!    

Notes From the Blender

Meet Declan: he loves death metal & violent video games, has a massive crush on a girl in school named Neilly, and lives alone with his dad.  Declan hates drugs and drinking because his mom was killed by a drunk & high driver.  Yet Declan blames himself because he forgot his shin guards for his soccer game six years ago, and if they had not gone back to the house to get them they wouldn't have been hit by that guy.  Or so he believes.

Meet Neilly: she's beautiful, popular, and she's just lost her boyfriend to her best friend in a span of fifteen minutes.  Neilly doesn't know Declan exists.  Her current situation full of ex's also leaves her dateless to her dad's commitment ceremony.

Meet Declan & Neilly's parents: they've been secretly dating for months and have just announced their engagement to their children.  Oh, and Neilly's mom is pregnant. And they're going to all move in together, in a new house.

Chapters are in first person, alternating between Declan (written by Brendan Halpin) and Neilly (written by Trish Cook).  The language is frank and exactly what you might hear if you were in the halls of your local high school.  This is the second book I have read with Halpin as a co-author (this being the first) and he still feels like the funnier, more authentic of the two writers.  While much of the book is rather wild, Declan's lingering grief over his mother's death and his struggle to face it is beautifully written and very touching.  Issues about sexuality, religion, and blended families (thus the title) definitely put this title with the mature crowd.  It won't be everyone's bowl of ice cream, but I know at least one person who can identify with parts of it and I bet there will be others.

Jellicoe Road

An egregious oversight almost happened!  But first some facts for your perusal:

1. I have been reading a lot this spring & this lame excuse for summer so far.
2. I haven't been keeping up with reviewing right after I've read something.
3. I'm trying to catch up with what I've read.
4. Moments ago I had the sneaking suspicion there was a book I had read a while back and hadn't reviewed.  So I went to my Shelfari list and.......BAM!

How could I forget the smoldering, swoony tension of Jellicoe Road?  My sincerest apologies to author Melina Marchetta!

Taylor Markham has never forgotten Jonah Griggs.  Nor has she forgotten that she was left by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven.  Three years after that Taylor attempted to run away from her boarding school only to be dragged back by a terrifying stranger.  Flash forward another three years - Taylor is a senior at the Jellicoe Boarding School.  She is now the leader of a secret student association that has an annual territory war with the school from the nearest town and the group of military cadets that camps near the school at the beginning of every school year.  Unfortunately for Taylor, Hannah, the closest thing she's had to a mother in six years, suddenly disappears just at the same time as Jonah Griggs reappears in her life.  Jonah is the leader of the cadets, but the last time Taylor saw him was when she tried to run away.

Memories of Taylor's swirl with memories of an unknown narrator and her current situation.  Personally, I found the mystery narrator parts incredibly confusing at first and it was a little hard to get going on the book.  However, I persevered and things started to make sense.  About half-way through the book I actually went back and read the opening part again and had the "ah ha!" moment. While Marchetta ratchets up love/hate relationship between Taylor and Jonah with just about every chapter, my favorite part was actually something very small and insignificant to the storyline.  But because this is my blog I'm going to share it.  At a karaoke night in Taylor's dorm a girl sings a song called "Not Pretty Enough," which most people outside of Australia (where the book is set) who also read YA books have probably never heard of.  This song is by a singer/songwriter named Kasey Chambers and I know every word!      

The Conspiracy 365 Series

In previous posts I have reviewed January and February of this series.  Ya'll may think I'm getting lazy but since it's another series that I read all the way through without interruption I'm going to do one review.  So this is March through December.  And because I don't think you really care about seeing all the covers I'm just doing March and December.

When we left Cal, his foot was stuck in between rails of a subway track with a train hurtling toward him.  Okay, so not to be a big downer but we know he lives because it's a series of 12 books.  Each book ends with Cal in a very bleak situation (except the last one, of course).  As he starts to discover more and more about the Dangerous Mystery of the Ormonds, or DMO as he and his best friend Bogues start calling it, he makes some new friends, some new enemies, and finds himself in so many incredible and near-death experiences it's hard to believe.  Cal flies a home-made experimental aircraft, hang glides, is stranded in the cruel Australian Outback, survives numerous explosions and fights, and more!  So adults, use your willing suspension of disbelief because middle school boys are going to eat these up!

Here's the catch, the primary book publisher is from Australia so purchasing them from your local Barnes & Noble, or online, is going to be tough and/or pricey.  Usborne Books is the United States distributor so if you think these books are right for your collection you'll have to talk to your local Usborne rep.  You can also go to http://www.usbornebooksandmore.com for more information.  These are great hi-low books and fast reads!

        

The Chaos Walking series

Since I read all three of these books, by author Patrick Ness, back-to-back-to-back and in very quick succession, I decided to do one review for all of them. Let's jump right in because there's just so much!  The fun/hard part is to summarize without giving too much away - I don't want to spoil your reading experience!

You think your library is noisy right after school?  What would you do if you could hear the thoughts of person and animal around you, all the time? All that's left of the settlers of Prentisstown are men and a secret, hidden deep inside all that Noise.  Todd is the youngest person in Prentisstown and he's just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man.  But one day Todd encounters something he's never known: silence, like a void in his world.  From that moment on everything Todd ever knew, or thought he knew, about his world changes.

What follows is a thrilling tale of daring do!  Okay so nothing near that amount of cheese - I've just always wanted to write that in a review of something.  Actually this series is three books that will challenge what you've always thought about your private thoughts, emotions, and feelings.  Ness takes the genre of dystopia, sprinkles in a little sci-fi, and the next thing you know you're hooked.  A small word of caution for the more squeamish reader: because the story is told in first person and thoughts flow freely, it's a bit like reading stream of consciousness writing and when things get violent (as they sometimes do), you might want to skim.  A small word of caution for the more empathetic reader: you're going to be so frustrated with yourself because you will identify with everyone who narrates when its their turn. 

I know this really isn't a lot of information, especially about the second and third books, but consider this a teaser.  And don't go reading the summaries somewhere or you'll spoil it for yourself!  Don't say I didn't warn you.

The Replacement

And the winner for the creepiest, most spine-chilling cover ever goes to....

Mackie Doyle looks like a human, talks like a human, even functions like a human...almost.  But how many humans do you know have a fatal allergy to iron, blood, and consecrated ground?  When your dad is the local pastor and you can't step foot in church with out your skin burning, how do you convince others that you're normal?

The creatures that live under the slag heap just outside of the prosperous town of Gentry require something of its residents: a small child every few years and silence about it when it happens.  The human child that is taken is replaced with a replica from the slag heap.  However, the replicas aren't perfect and because of their allergies to blood, iron, and consecrated ground they do not survive long in the human world.  Except Mackie, who is now seventeen.  Yet Mackie starts to quickly deteriorate just after another child is taken - the little sister of the girl of a friend.  Determined to make things right, Mackie must face where he came from and those who live there.

New author Brenna Yovanoff shoots and scores with this book that you cannot put down.  Long after you've read the last page your adrenaline will be pumping.  I'm not much for scary stories, but this book has the dark side of Tim Burton written all over it so I had to read it.  And while many of the creatures from the slag heap will make your toes curl, Mackie just might be the sweetest, biggest softy in YA history.

Note: This is a YALSA 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick

Plain Kate

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, and something blue

At least all that's true with the cover art...

Kate is neither beautiful or rich.  In fact, she is very plain and very poor.  The only remarkable things about her are her skills at wood carving - learned from her father - and eyes that are two different colors.  Both of these things are not in her favor though.  Her village is very superstitious and hard times have fallen.  A young, fatherless girl with no one to defend her is an easy target for blame.  Fearing that she will be burned at the stake as a witch, she makes a deal with a strange albino man, Linay who comes through her village.  Linay will grant her the greatest wish of her heart in exchange for her shadow.  At first, this seems a trifling thing - giving up your shadow when all you want is one true friend.  But a shadow, or lack thereof, are a very noticeable thing. 

So about the little poem at the beginning...the magic portrayed in the story is similar to the folklore that would have been around in Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages and the early colony days of America.  However, the details of Kate's deal with Linay gave it a new twist.  Author, Erin Bow definitely borrowed some of the folklore of the Romany people as well.  The blue...well look at the picture above.

I expected to love this book...I liked it, but I'm not sad that there's not a sequel. 

Note: This is a YALSA 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick

Going Bovine

I started the review of this book over a month ago (I actually finished the book in March), but I am still at a loss for words as to what to say about this book.  Maybe I should just start with the facts:

• It's big
• It won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature in for 2010
• Its weird - case in point, the upright cow carrying a yard gnome that's wearing sunglasses on the cover

Cameron is 16 and he's gonna die.  No spoilers here, you know that from the inside flap.  Cam's got mad cow disease and the book is one ginormous hallucination of an adventure with a semi-friend and dwarf named Gonzo; a yard gnome that may or may not be the incarnate Viking god Balder; and featuring spotty appearances by an punk-angel with a sweet tooth, appropriately named Dulcie.

This book took me a long time to read, and that kind of bothers me.  Sure I wanted to know what happened in the end and how the characters got there, but only sort of.  What's even more weird to me is that a chunk of this book takes place in New Orleans and I still wasn't that excited about it.  Now that I think about it, I liked the "thank you's" Libba Bray gives at the beginning of the book more than the book itself. 

Love Drugged

Problem: Fifteen year old Jamie is gay and he doesn't want to be. 
Solution: "Date" one of the hottest, richest girls at school whose dad happens to invent pharmaceuticals, one of which happens to be a drug that suppresses homosexual tendencies just like an allergy pill.
Result: Kind of a lame and definitely not-believable story.  Jamie is actually just afraid to tell his parents, which is probably one of the hardest things for a gay person to do so I'm not making fun of that.  The emotions and motivations of the Jamie are completely realistic, but every other character is so incredibly under-developed it just doesn't work as a story.

Or maybe I shouldn't have read Will Grayson, Will Grayson before I read this.  Sorry James Klise - you get an A for effort and honesty, but nothing else.  I know this is a short review but there's really not much else to say. 

Note: This book was read for possible inclusion on the 2011/2012 YARP list.

The Great Wide Sea

Ben's life is turned upside down when his mother dies in a car crash.  In an attempt to cope with his loss, his father decides to pull Ben and his two brothers, Dylan and Gerry, out of school for a year and sail the Bahamas.  Although sailing has always been a part of Ben's life because of the lake near their family house, sailing in the great wide sea is completely different.  Instead of finding the perfect first car, Ben now has to concentrate on things like staying awake for his night shift at the tiller and not going crazy on their cramped 30 foot sailboat.  Conflict rises between Ben and his dad on several occasions, and leads to Ben resenting his dad and his decision to take this trip (not that he ever really liked it in the first place).  One morning Ben wakes up and realizes his dad never woke him for his shift.  In fact, his dad is no where to be found.  At 16, Ben is now in charge of keeping his younger brothers safe and locating a harbor, which will be an almost impossible task...a massive storm is almost upon them, their GPS is gone, the radio won't work, and the emergency locator disappeared with their father.

Other reviews may not laud the book much, but I disagree! M. H. Herlong has written high adventure for boys.  Not only is it an entirely male cast, there's all kinds of crazy almost-mortal-peril moments and a total "Survivor" part of the story.  Ben's frustration with his dad seems completely realistic to me.  A different reviewer criticized the repetitiveness of the emotions, but you find me a teenager (boy or girl) who has just lost a parent and has been taken away from the only home they have ever known by the other parent who has seemed to go off the deep end (somewhat literally) and just try to convince me that they're gonna be hunky dory in a year.  I stayed awake way longer than I should have for several nights because I was so interested in what was going to happen to these three brothers. This was a really fun book!

will grayson, will grayson

Have you ever read a book and realized at the end of it you feel emotionally drained but you had no idea you were so invested until you finished?  That's how this book made me feel.  It was almost like not realizing you're holding your breath until you exhale.

Will Grayson has been best friends with Tiny Cooper since they were little kids and they couldn't be more different.  Will is slightly aloof, very rumpled and straight.  Tiny is the high school football team's best offensive lineman, loud, and spectacularly gay.  One of Will's rules for getting through life smoothly is "shut up."  Tiny rarely shuts up.

will grayson is depressed and he's got the meds to prove it.  life with his single mom isn't very bright.  high school is just something to fill the day.  his only bright spot is isaac - his online pseudo-boyfriend. 

Both Will and will live in Chicago suburbs, and one cold night their paths cross, changing both of their lives.  As one might expect, Tiny Cooper is at the center of it all.

John Green and David Levithan are a fearsome author pairing to behold!  Admittedly, this is the first thing by John Green I have read, but this is not my first David Levithan.  Wry humor and serious emotional depths are not mere literary devices in this book, they are the meat. There is a good reason this book was a Stonewall Honor Book for 2011.

Be ye warned: foul language doth run amok in this tome.  Though, I suspect thou wouldst hear the same if thou wert a fly on the wall in thy local school cafeteria.