Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, and illustrated by Jim Kay

Release Date: September 15, 2011
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 224

Source: My local library.

Image from the author's website.

Summary:

The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

Costa Award winner Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final idea of much-loved Carnegie Medal winner Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel of coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults. (From the author's website.)
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In Patrick Ness's novel A Monster Calls, the yew tree in the churchyard behind thirteen-year-old Conor's house comes walking. The yew tree monster begins showing up while Conor's mother is in the midst of taxing chemotherapy treatments. So yes, A Monster Calls is a Cancer Book. But it is also a story about stories; the monster approaches Conor because he wants to tell the boy stories. And the stories the monster tells have teeth. The first one begins like a fairy tale, but ends unconventionally. The monster is not interested in falsehoods and happy endings.

In between Conor's encounters with the monster, Conor lives the painful, awkward life of a child with a sick parent. Conor's teachers and classmates treat him differently because his mother has cancer. Regular social and school rules no longer apply to Conor, and the unreality and unfairness of it all frustrates him. To top it off, the monster wants Conor to tell a story, too. He wants Conor to tell the truth. And it isn't the truth I thought he would tell.

A Monster Calls is a lyrical, well-written novel that contains moments of dark humor, uncomfortable realism, and, of course, pain. The novel also contains illustrations by Jim Kay that add to the foreboding, sometimes gothic atmosphere of the novel without taking the visuals completely away from the reader's imagination. However, enjoyed is not a verb I would use to describe my experience as I read this novel. Nevertheless, I highly recommend A Monster Calls to anyone of any age who wishes to read a powerful book. A Monster Calls is marketed and shelved as a young adult novel, but I think I would have a hard time recommending the book to teens and especially children looking to read for fun. This novel requires readers to acknowledge their own mortality and--perhaps most terrifying--the mortality of the people they love and all the uncertainties inherent in life. And there is the fact that Ness built this novel out of characters and a premise developed by Siobhan Dowd, an author who died of cancer before she could write this book. Different readers will react differently to this information, which Ness presents in a note before beginning his tale. I can't hand this book to someone and promise that they will enjoy it. But I can promise that they will walk away with a new appreciation for life, truth, and the struggles we may all face.

Book Review: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352

Source: My local library.

Summary:
A lot has changed in the six months since Evie escaped from the International Paranormal Containment Agency with her shape-shifter boyfriend, Lend. She finally has the blissfully normal life she’s always dreamed of, including
1) A real live high school
2) A perfectly ordinary after-school job
3) Her very own locker (and by the way, rusted metal is every bit as awesome as she imagined)

But Evie’s not-so-normal past keeps creeping up on her...and things get pretty complicated when you factor in:
1) A centuries-old, seriously decaying vampire stalker
2) A crazy faerie ex-boyfriend who is the perpetual bearer of really bad news
3) A major battle brewing between the faerie courts where e prize in question happens to be...Evie herself.

So much for normal. (From Kiersten White's website.)
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Paranormalcy--the first book in this series--was pink, sparkly fun, and I am pleased to announce that the laughs--and the pink--are still present in the second book of the trilogy, Supernaturally. Evie, the main character, has come a long way from page one of Paranormalcy, in which she takes down paranormals such as vampires with Buffy-esque wit and Tasey, her pink taser, while longing for a normal high school life.

The beginning of Supernaturally finds our spunky heroine living a fairly normal life. Her roommate is a vampire, and her boyfriend is an immortal shapeshifter, but her high school is normal. (Read: boring.) And, since she no longer works for IPCA, the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she is free to focus on the terrors of real life, like girls' gym, a boyfriend who's in college and can only visit on the weekends, and the fact that her favorite teen drama is in reruns.

Normalcy is overrated.

So when Raquel shows up with an offer for side jobs with IPCA, and an impish, annoying new assistant named Jack, Evie says yes, even though Lend--her boyfriend--and her other new friends disapprove. Author Kiersten White combines this disagreement with mysterious faerie attacks, the reappearance of Evie's ex-faerie-boyfriend Reth, and some startling revelations about Evie's origins to create an intricate, interesting tale.*

While I recommend reading this series in order (readers who do not will likely be confused), Supernaturally stands enough apart from Paranormalcy to be a good story in itself. White avoids a potential snoozer or simple bridge to the last book in the novel by adding characters like Jack and building more complexity into the characters readers already know.

Supernaturally is a breezy read, but, as with Paranormalcy, I didn't find it impossible to put down. I like Evie and Lend and the other characters, but I wasn't emotionally attached to them. White's writing, on the other hand, is fantastic. She turns on a dime from funny to profound, and in the end her plot threads all come together beautifully. I recommend Supernaturally to readers of paranormal romance, contemporary and realistic fiction (despite the paranormal twists, Supernaturally deals with surprisingly common teen drama, like the horrors of college applications), and readers who like sweet, clean romance. And laughing. Because anyone who reads one of Kiersten White's books will be doing a lot of that.
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*Evie isn't completely normal; she has some special abilities. But you can read all about those in Paranormalcy.

Book Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Release Date: January 7, 2010
Publisher: Viking (Penguin)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 208

Source: My local library.

Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Colt has been sneaking out at night to meet Julia, a girl from an upper-class neighborhood unlike his own. They’ve never told anyone else about their relationship: not their family or friends, and especially not Julia’s boyfriend. When Julia dies suddenly, Colt tries to cope with her death while pretending that he never even knew her. He discovers a journal Julia left behind. But Colt is not prepared for the truths he discovers about their intense relationship, nor to pay the price for the secrets he’s kept. (From the author's website.)
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I read most of The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard* in one sitting, and--I don't care how cliched this next clause sounds--I enjoyed every page of it.

The Secret Year in a nut shell: take Romeo and Juliet, subtract the double-suicide, add class conflict and a heaping cup of secrecy, and add an extra dash of suspense. Mix thoroughly.

Colt Morrissey is a boy from the flats--think wrong side of the tracks--and Julia Vernon is a privileged girl from Black Mountain Road, a fancy neighborhood not too far from the flats. They attend the same school, but hang out with different people: Colt with his friends from the flats, and Julia with the Black Mountain elite. Julia already has a Black Mountain boyfriend, but after she and Colt meet by chance at the Willis River bridge and share an illicit kiss, she begins leaving Colt secret notes and asking him to meet her at the bridge. Julia tells Colt that she wants to have a secret, no-strings-attached relationship with him; she tells him that he wouldn't enjoy the social obligations of being her public boyfriend. And Colt agrees. The two meet at the bridge in secret for a year, until Julia dies in a car accident. Colt is left to grieve for his secret sort-of girlfriend in private.

No one can know about the Secret Year because Julia wouldn't like it if their relationship became public, and besides--who would believe him? Julia already has one grieving, real, Vernon-family-approved-Black Mountain-boyfriend.

Julia was beautiful, cunning, and spirited. She was also a poet who kept a lot of journals. And, not long after the funeral, Julia's younger brother approaches Colt with one of Julia's journals. It's full of letters written to a C.M.: Colt Morrissey. Colt reads the journals over the school year following Julia's death, and Julia becomes a forceful, if deceased, character through her journal. Julia is constantly in Colt's head, and his secret relationship with her begins to affect his relationships with his friends, potential girlfriends, and family.

The Secret Year is a beautifully written novel about love, friendship, and the power people can have over others even after they are dead. I recommend The Secret Year to readers of contemporary and realistic fiction as well as readers who appreciate stories filled with social intrigue, class conflict, and stories dealing with family dynamics.
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*Not to be confused with Jenny Hubbard, author of Paper Covers Rock. Although, funny story, the only reason I picked up The Secret Year was because I did get them confused. I liked Paper Covers Rock so much that, if Jenny Hubbard wrote any other books, I wanted to read them, pronto. Did I think the different first names and the middle initial were odd? Yes. But the two novels contain so many similarities that it's spooky: both feature first-person narration from male protagonists, guilt, unrequited and/or secret love, poetry, settings centering around rivers, untimely deaths, and tell either all or part of the story through journal entries. These elements could easily be the favorite motifs of one writer.

Except that they are not. The J. Hubbards are talented--and distinct--authors. And I'm so glad I mistook one for the other and ended up reading The Secret Year.

Book Review: Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Lois Lenski

Release Date: 1940; paperback reissued in 2000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Children
Pages: 144

Source: My local library.

Summary:
Best Friends Forever
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becomes such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.
Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise—a new friend named Tib.
Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers. (From HarperCollins.com)
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I was in a reading slump in the last week of July; I started book after book, but none of them held my interest. A couple weekends ago, the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace came up in a conversation with one of my co-workers at the library, and I decided to try the first book in the series, Betsy-Tacy. This series has been on my reading list for nearly a year since I received review copies of reprints of Lovelace's Deep Valley books and fell in love with Lovelace's prose and the Betsy-Tacy universe.*

As soon as I picked up Betsy-Tacy, my reading slump un-slumped.

For children, it's an easy-to-read, yet artfully told story about two best friends who go on adventures and make up games in their own backyards.

For parents or people working with children, it's a great read-aloud option.

And for childless adults and young adults, it's a mini time travelling vacation to all the good things of childhood. Lovelace has a knack for switching from realistic description to make-believe and back again. Betsy and Tacy's friendship begins around Betsy's fifth birthday, and I had fun watching that friendship grow and reading about their cute--and sometimes hilarious--made-up games.

I also enjoyed the illustrations by Lois Lenski, who won a Newbery for Strawberry Girl in 1946. They go well with Lovelace's poetic imagery.** Here's one of my favorites from Betsy-Tacy:

Image source: a clock without hands

Beautiful.

I recommend Betsy-Tacy to beginning chapter book readers who like stories about unlikely friendships, as well as readers of all ages--especially historical fiction enthusiasts--who are looking for a quick, amusing, and heart-warming read. Lovelace's prose felt worn-in, classic, and infinitely re-readable. I'm already looking forward to reading the next Betsy-Tacy book, Betsy-Tacy and Tib.***
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*Emily of Deep Valley and Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart
**If it were a contest, Maud Hart Lovelace would be in the running for Queen of Description.
***Which I will have to ILL, since--sadly--I can't find a public or university library in town that owns it.

Book Review: Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Release Date: June 14, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 192

Source: My local library.

Summary:

At the beginning of his junior year at a boys' boarding school, 16-year-old Alex is devastated when he fails to save a drowning friend. When questioned, Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also at the river, begin weaving their web of lies. Plagued by guilt, Alex takes refuge in the library, telling his tale in a journal he hides behind Moby-Dick. Caught in the web with Alex and Glenn is their English teacher, Miss Dovecott, fresh out of Princeton, who suspects there's more to what happened at the river when she perceives guilt in Alex's writing for class. She also sees poetic talent in Alex, which she encourages. As Alex responds to her attention, he discovers his true voice, one that goes against the boarding school bravado that Glenn embraces. When Glenn becomes convinced that Miss Dovecott is out to get them, Alex must choose between them. (From the publisher.)
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Alex Stromm, a student at a North Carolina boarding school in the early 1980s, begins keeping a journal after his friend Thomas drowns in a river near the school. He hides his "journal/Not-So-Great American Novel" behind an ancient copy of Moby Dick in the library. He greets the reader on the first page:

My apologies to Herman Melville, from whom I may have to steal a few words to tell the story that is about to be told, that is in the middle of being told, that will never stop being told. Such is the nature of guilt; such is the nature of truth. But it is also the nature of guilt to sideline the truth.

Welcome to the sidelines, Dear Reader.*

The sidelines of Alex's thoughts are an intriguing place to be: the story of what happened at the lake the day Thomas died unwinds slowly, and details come to light that surprise even Alex, who was there. What Alex knows for sure, however, is that if anyone finds out what happened before Thomas drowned, he and the other two boys who were at the river--Glenn and Clay--will be expelled. And Glenn, the ringleader of the group, is not about to let that happen to himself.

Miss Dovecott, a new English teacher and recent Princeton graduate, was out for a run when she stumbled on the scene of Thomas's death. Glenn is certain that she knows more about what happened at the river than she lets on, and he suspects that she's waiting to use her knowledge against them. Glenn's plan to find out what Miss Dovecott knows (and get rid of her if necessary) coincides with Alex's growing relationship with Miss Dovecott. (It's not a romantic one, although Alex spends a lot of time writing about his awkward crush on her.) Miss Dovecott notices Alex's talent for writing, and she begins meeting with him one-on-one to encourage him to develop his skills.

Glenn is the one to suggest that Miss Dovecott may be using Alex to see if he reveals anything about Thomas's death in his writing. Glenn--who grows increasingly paranoid that Miss Dovecott plans to expose them--pushes Alex to choose between him and Miss Dovecott.

Alex's choice is guaranteed to spark conversation between readers.

Paper Covers Rock is a short novel, but I read it slowly. Author Jenny Hubbard's prose is beautiful and full of thoughtful observations about life and literature, yet still believable as the journal of a precocious high school poet-boy. Literary allusions springing from Alex's studies fill the novel's pages, too; Paper Covers Rock is as much about poetry as it is about the aftermath of Thomas's death.

(And in spite of the plot's intensity, Paper Covers Rock finds time to be funny: the school installs a fountain in memory of Thomas, who--let's not forget--drowned.)

Paper Covers Rock isn't a fantasy, but it is set in another time and-- unless the reader happens to be at a boarding school for boys in rural North Carolina--another place, and the setting feels real. For this reason, and also for the novel's prose, tight plotting, and wide appeal, Paper Covers Rock is one of the best books I've read in the past few years.

Paper Covers Rock possesses crossover appeal; Alex's struggle between self-preservation and doing the right thing is universal, and Miss Dovecott--although seen through the eyes of a teenage boy--is a strong adult character who provides someone for older readers to identify with. I recommend Paper Covers Rock to readers who appreciate psychological drama, mysteries, and realistic fiction.
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*This book may shame me into reading  Moby Dick . . .**
**Bad English major, I know.

Book Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Release Date: May 24, 2011

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 400

Source: My local library.

Summary:
From bestselling, Print Award-winning author Libba Bray comes the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.

Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count. (From libbabray.com)
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Reading Beauty Queens is like watching a classic screwball comedy such as Bringing Up Baby*, but smarter: author Libba Bray keeps the satiric laughs and plot twists coming so quickly that reading this novel is almost exhausting.**

After the contestants for the Miss Teen Dream pageant crash on an island en route to the pageant venue, the survivors form two teams--the Sparkle Ponies and the Lost Girls--to salvage materials from the wreckage of the plane, and search for more survivors in the jungle. Unfortunately, the list of survivors is few, and food and water are in dangerously short supply. One beauty queen reflects on the girls' predicament:

 "Ohmigosh. No food at all . . . . I am going to be so superskinny by pageant time!"

The beauty queens soon have more to worry about than food. In the universe of Bray's novel, a giant company called The Corporation seems to hold a monopoly on TV shows and all sorts of products. The Corporation also has political ambition and takes part in shady deals with leaders from other countries, like the one that's scheduled to take place between The Corporation and MoMo B. ChaCha, the dictator of the Republic of ChaCha (whose most trusted advisor is a stuffed lemur named General Good Times), on the same island as the one the beauty queens crashed on.

The resulting hijinks, violence, and explosions are wacky fun. Also, there are sequins.

Bray executes her outlandish plot with plenty of satire and wit, and the laughs don't stop when the Deep Thoughts begin. In Beauty Queens, Bray goes after materialism, gender roles, racism, society's attitude toward the handicapped, environmentalism, the fashion and beauty industries, and more. Bray invites readers to question the world around them: just because certain social ideas exist doesn't mean they're right.

Bray's main aim, however, seems to be to subvert the social expectations placed on girls and women. Bray clearly states within the novel that Beauty Queens is a sort-of retelling of Lord of the Flies, but with girls and a more positive view of humanity. While thinking about life on the island, Miss Nebraska muses:

"Maybe girls need an island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one's watching them so they can be who they really are."***

Much of the novel focuses on identity. Each beauty queen has a specific struggle, although some characters bleed into the background while others are forceful and memorable.

I had mixed feelings about Beauty Queens until I finished it. The serious and funny parts don't always mesh very well, and much of the novel feels all-over-the-place. But now that I'm done reading it, I'm still thinking about it. And laughing. (General Good Times, anyone?) Beauty Queens is an enjoyable, intellectual novel, and I highly recommend it.

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*Bringing Up Baby trailer

**I'm not sure how Bray lives in her own head without laughing 24/7. Or maybe it's more of a cackle.

***This quote instantly reminded me of Barbara Kruger's 1981 work Untitled (Your Gaze Hits the Side of My Face), which uses the format of a magazine cover to suggest how aggressive the way society scrutinizes women can be.

Image from SGA Art History

Book Review: Chime by Franny Billingsley

Release Date: March 17, 2011
Publisher: Dial Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 368

Source: My local library.

 Summary:
Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know. (From frannybillingsley.com)
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Franny Billingsley's Chime is dark, yet uplifting. One of my favorite books in elementary school (and to this day) was Billingsley's The Folk Keeper.* Much like The Folk Keeper, Chime is about a girl who discovers startling truths about herself while learning how to give and receive love.** Briony isolates herself, and part of the fun of Chime is separating truth from the lies that surround Briony: lies that were told to Briony, and lies that Briony tells.

The novel begins:

I've confessed to everything and I'd like to be hanged.
Now, if you please.
 
As she recounts her story, Briony continues in this sharp, funny-yet-serious manner. Chime is set in turn of the century England, and new swamp-draining technology is coming to the Swampsea, where Briony lives with her mostly absent father and her identical twin, Rose. With the new technology come new residents, like Eldric, a funny, handsome "boy-man" who shows Briony a new side of herself as well as of people. Briony and Eldric bond over fighting lessons and Latin jokes. Briony says of Eldric:

If Eldric were to tell the story, he’d likely begin with himself, on the day he arrived in the Swampsea. That’s where proper stories begin, don’t they, when the handsome stranger arrives and everything goes wrong? But this isn’t a proper story, and I’m telling you, I ought to be hanged.

As indicated by her repeated insistence that she ought to be hanged, Briony struggles with guilt throughout the novel: guilt over her sister's peculiarities, guilt over the flood that damaged her family's home, guilt over her stepmother's recent death. Briony is convinced that she hurt Rose's head when they were children, which is why Rose speaks too loudly and needs looking after. Briony also tells the reader that she spoke to the Old Ones and called the flood that injured her Stepmother. She reminds herself of her misdeeds over and over, like scratching at a cut and never letting it heal.

Although the experience of reading Briony's guilt-ridden narration isn't as painful as it sounds, Chime is an intense read full of believable grief, regret, and all the painful and confusing bits that can accompany love. Chime is also funny, and fun. The atmosphere is fairytale-like, and the tales of the Old Ones in the swamp are both spine-tingling and entertaining. With words like "scareful," the dialect of the Swampsea is convincing. There is also unrequited love and silly crushes, as well as requited love and one of the most touching romances I've ever seen in literature. It's the best kind, in which the boy and girl act as equals. And all that guilt and darkness? Billingsley's characters find a way around it.

I recommend Chime to anyone who enjoys romance, folklore, family drama (Rose is a fantastic character), mysteries, and--of course--beautiful prose.
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*Add it to your reading list if you enjoy historical fantasy mixed with folklore and beautiful prose, and if you like reading, period. Seriously. I own a copy of The Folk Keeper, and it sits on the second shelf of my bookcase***, which I reserve for my Favorite Books of All Time.

**This aspect of Billingsley's novels is not as cheesy as it sounds. Pinky swear.

***Because that shelf is easiest to reach, of course.

Book Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Release Date: February 8, 2011
Publisher: Viking
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 592

Source: My local library.

Summary:

When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.

For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.

Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well. (From deborahharkness.com)
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A Discovery of Witches had me from the first chapter. The story begins in Oxford, where Diana Bishop, a historian specializing in alchemy, is doing research in the Bodleian Library. Much geeky fun is to be had in author Deborah Harkness's descriptions of the library and the old manuscripts Diana methodically explores. Harkness, like her protagonist--Diana--is a historian; thus, her descriptions of Diana's scholarly practices are probably accurate, and I enjoyed reading about Diana's research.

Diana is the last of the Bishops, a family of powerful witches. For the most part, she neglects her magic. So when one of the manuscripts she requests appears to be enchanted, she examines it as she would examine any normal manuscript, and she sends it back to the stacks. Later, when she wants to glance in a periodical at the top of a tall shelf, however, she decides to use her magic instead of wasting time getting help. A vampire sees her grab the book, and she is forced into meeting him. The vampire's name is Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist, and he is interested in the enchanted manuscript she examined earlier.

In Harkness's world, there are two types of beings: creatures and humans, and there are three types of creatures: witches, vampires, and daemons (freakishly creative and/or intelligent types). All three groups of creatures are interested in this mysterious book, but no one--until Diana--has been able to call it from the stacks of the Bodleian since the 1800s. Before the reader knows it, creatures are stalking Diana, and Matthew steps in as her protector. Also--of course--they begin to fall in love.

From here, Harkness crafts a tale full of mystery, magic, and plenty of historical tidbits. Unfortunately, the plot runs out of steam in the middle of the novel. Also, A Discovery of Witches begins to read like Twilight, but with an adult witch as the leading lady instead of a teenager. Matthew Clairmont is a typically manly and overprotective vampire. While Matthew is getting to know Diana, one of his friends points out that it sounds like he is hunting Diana, and Matthew replies, "'I know. I climbed into her window when she was sleeping. I follow her when she's running. She resists my attempts to help her, and the more she does, the hungrier I feel.'" Sound familiar? Not to mention creepy?

Diana is a strong, intelligent woman with the potential to be a very powerful witch, and I still can't figure out why she goes along with Matthew's overbearing behavior without complaining in any truly forceful terms until page 284, where she says, "'Stop telling me what to do, Matthew. My ideas about vampires may be romantic, but your attitudes toward women need a major overhaul.'"*

Amen, sister.

I may not be able to stand Matthew and Diana's romance, but I appreciate them both as characters. My favorite characters, though, are the secondary ones. Harkness creates a large-ish cast of endearing characters, including Matthew's mysterious family and Diana's two aunts in upstate New York. The settings of the novel--Oxford, France, and New York--are also fun and make for enjoyable armchair travel.

And while I found it difficult to push through the middle of A Discovery of Witches, the end (while not nearly as enthralling as the beginning) is satisfying enough. Discovery of Witches is the first in the All Souls trilogy, and next novel is due out in 2012.  I recommend A Discovery of Witches to readers of paranormal romance, historical fiction, travel stories, and mysteries with a supernatural twist. This is a novel that may also have some crossover appeal with teens. A Discovery of Witches contains the kind of characters that take up residence in a person's head and play with one's imagination all day, and I am eager to see where Harkness takes them next.
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*More importantly, I don't understand why the author, an academic and therefore an intelligent woman herself, would create such a fictional relationship. I am interested to see how the tension between Diana's own power and Matthew's overprotective instincts plays out.

Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Release Date: April 5, 2011
Publisher: Dutton
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 208

Source: My local library.

Summary:

It’s been three years since the devastating accident … three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia’s home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future—and each other.

Told from Adam’s point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance. (From gayleforman.com)

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I made time for Where She Went back in the craziness of April when school was still in session, and I've been waiting to pull out my notes and rave about it ever since.* Whenever I opened it, I always read for longer than I meant to. That said, there seemed to be many natural stopping points. I rotated between being glued to the pages and wanting to put the book down for awhile, but Gayle Forman's characters and the delightful atmosphere of Where She Went were always on my mind.

The same economical, beautiful prose in If I Stay is present in Where She Went, only Adam plays the narrator, instead of Mia.

*Spoiler alert: People who haven't read If I Stay may want to quit reading now, although the biggest spoiler--the fact that Mia stays--is already evident from the existence of Where She Went. This warning is only a little unnecessary. . .*

I have much respect for Forman's unconventional handling of Mia's and Adam's romance. Where She Went is a funny (at times bitterly so), ultimately feel-good novel populated with realistic, imperfect people who don't always deal with each other and their situations in the best possible ways. Adam's voice comes across as realistically upset and depressed as he makes sense of the downside of rock 'n roll fame and Mia's inexplicable rejection of him. (Translation: He swears. A lot. But never for no reason.)

Where She Went is intense, yet cozy. Even when it's strained, Mia's and Adam's relationship feels like a well-worn pair of shoes. I imagine the coziness is amplified for readers who are already acquainted with these characters, but enough background information is provided for readers to read the two books out of order.

Where She Went is a graceful novel that explores changes and ups and downs in relationships while allowing the reader to vicariously experience the exciting lives of two remarkably successful twenty-one-year-olds: a rockstar and a classical cellist. Forman highlights beautiful details, like how the sounds of the crowds at concerts for Adam's band changed as the band grew in popularity. I recommend Where She Went to readers who like contemporary fiction with a dash of inspiration, as well as readers interested in romance and family dramas. Where She Went is a book that affirms that people can get back together and grow and change. And the writing is GORGEOUS.
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*Any book I made time for in that whirlwind of a month had to be very, very good, and Where She Went was evidently good enough to come between me and my textbooks.

Previously by Gayle Forman: If I Stay

Book Review: The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

Release Date: March 7, 2011

Publisher: Harcourt

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 304

Source: Bought.

 Summary:

The summer of 1889 is the one between childhood and womanhood for Amelia van den Broek-and thankfully, she’s not spending it at home in rural Maine. She’s been sent to Baltimore to stay with her stylish cousin, Zora, who will show her all the pleasures of city life and help her find a suitable man to marry.

Archery in the park, dazzling balls and hints of forbidden romance-Victorian Baltimore is more exciting than Amelia imagined. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset-visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. Newly dubbed “Maine’s Own Mystic”, Amelia is suddenly quite in demand.

However, her attraction to Nathaniel, an artist who is decidedly outside of Zora’s circle, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own- still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him. And while she has no trouble seeing the futures of others, she cannot predict whether Nathaniel will remain in hers.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause. (From the author's website.)

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The Vespertine in three words = mischievous, creepy, and gorgeous.

The mischief starts with the first sentence: "I woke in Oakhaven, entirely ruined." This sentence could lead to a cautionary and/or steamy tale of a young, imprudent Victorian woman, but--thankfully--it introduces the reader to Amelia van den Broek, an only slightly imprudent young Victorian woman, who is locked in the attic of her brother's house in Maine. Author Saundra Mitchell goes on to allow Amelia to tell the reader how she came to be there, transitioning back to her brother's house--from the events to their aftermath, and back again--a couple times throughout the story.

Amelia recounts her arrival in Baltimore, and how she makes friends with Zora, who she is staying with, and Zora's friends, Sarah and Mattie. (I have to mention their names because I feel I know them so well; there are no small parts in The Vespertine.) Zora's family hosts a dinner party shortly after Amelia arrives. Unfortunately, one of the guests cancels at the last moment, leaving thirteen people at the table. Thirteen is an unlucky number, so Zora's parents hire a young man to round out the party. His name is Nathaniel, and he is a starving artist. Of course, he's attractive, and Amelia is instantly captivated and self-conscious. Starving artists are not, of course, marriage material, but Mitchell avoids a cookie cutter forbidden romance by adding a supernatural twist. Nathaniel seems to be everywhere and anywhere, and he seems to appear out of nowhere; he has a secret.

Amelia has a secret, too. On the night of the dinner party, she sees figures in the sunset outside the window. Her vision comes to pass, and soon she and her new friends are testing the limits of her gift. Word travels, and soon Amelia and her friends are entertaining legions of callers and telling their fortunes over tea. It's all good fun until Amelia stops seeing wedding dresses and spies disasters instead. A tangled web of different people's emotions and agendas makes for an intense resolution.

The Vespertine isn't completely dramatic, though; it's fun and funny, too. Amelia and Zora peek at Zora's crush through fence posts, giggle over late night conversations, hold boys' hands without wearing gloves (oh, the scandal!), practice archery, and get up to all sorts of hijinks. And they do it all in tight-fitting, movement-constricting corsets in Mitchell's gorgeous and atmospheric prose. Seriously, nearly every sentence of The Vespertine is a treat to read. I wasn't always glued to the plot, but I was always in love with the language.

I recommend The Vespertine to readers who enjoyed Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, etc.) as well as those who enjoy a dash of the supernatural with their historical fiction. As far as I can tell, Mitchell allows her characters to enjoy unusual adventures without ignoring the realistic consequences of their behavior within late nineteenth-century social rules. I am eagerly looking forward to The Springsweet, a companion novel to The Vespertine, which is due to be released next spring.

Book Review: The Radleys by Matt Haig

Release Date: December 2010

Publisher: Free Press

Age Group: Adult/YA crossover appeal

Pages: 384

Source: My local library.

Summary:

Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one. They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan. They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives.


One night, Clara finds herself driven to commit a shocking—and disturbingly satisfying—act of violence, and her parents are forced to explain their history of shadows and lies. A police investigation is launched that uncovers a richness of vampire history heretofore unknown to the general public. And when the malevolent and alluring Uncle Will, a practicing vampire, arrives to throw the police off Clara's trail, he winds up throwing the whole house into temptation and turmoil and unleashing a host of dark secrets that threaten the Radleys' marriage.

The Radleys is a moving, thrilling, and radiant domestic novel that explores with daring the lengths a parent will go to protect a child, what it costs you to deny your identity, the undeniable appeal of sin, and the everlasting, iridescent bonds of family love. Read it and ask what we grow into when we grow up, and what we gain—and lose—when we deny our appetites. (From Simon & Schuster)
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The Radleys is addictive, funny, and beautifully written. And if you can't already tell, I really really liked it.

While the title characters of the novel, the Radleys, are a family of vampires, their story is less about blood lust than truth, temptation, and family. Author Matt Haig uses vampirism to explore secrets, lies that adults tell children to protect them, and temptations like adultery. Peter and Helen Radley are Abstainers who haven't given into temptation in years. And until an unfortunate incident involving an accidental death in a field, their children, Clara and Rowan, aren't even aware of their peculiar family secret.

Clara and Rowan are understandably upset to find that their parents lied to them. Complete abstinence from both human and vampire blood--Haig's version of the myth allows vamps to drink either one--comes with a price: the Radleys all have to wear SPF 60 sunscreen and they get rashes from the sun. They have difficulties sleeping instead of roaming at night and they always have headaches and feel slightly sick. The one thing that would make them feel better is something that they cannot, in good conscience, take. Instead, Peter and Helen told their kids they had photodermatitis and watched as Clara and Rown went through life as the awkward, sickly kids at school. Now, as teenagers, Clara loves animals but is unable to get close to them because they're scared of her and Rowan is in love with the new girl in school but can't find the confidence to tell her.

Add in a violent and unpredictable uncle, a monumental family secret, and a very tangled web of past actions and you get a thrilling tale packed with dramatic irony. For all the thrills, though, much of The Radleys feels normal. It's a story about a family. Given that the novel is shelved in the adult section, there are swear words, suggestive scenes, and violence, but there isn't anything that outpaces what can be found in young adult novels. The Radleys crosses age boundaries well.

I loved this book and when I brought it back to the library I wanted to wave it in the air and tell everyone I saw to put it on hold right away. I recommend it to anyone who likes solid writing, family dramas, vampire or paranormal novels, and love stories.

Book Review: Foreign Tongue by Vanina Marsot

Release Date: April 2009
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 384

Source: My local library.

Summary:

Paris, the storybook capital of romance—of strolls down cobblestone streets and kisses by the Seine—may not be the ideal location to mend a wounded heart. But pragmatic professional writer Anna, who has been unlucky in love in L.A., has come here with keys to her aunt's empty apartment. Bilingual and blessed with dual citizenship, she seeks solace in the delectable pastries, in the company of old friends, and in her exciting new job: translating a mysterious, erotic French novel by an anonymous author.

Intrigued by the story, and drawn in by the mystery behind the book, Anna soon finds herself among the city's literati—and in the arms of an alluring Parisian—as she resolves to explore who she is . . . in both cultures. (From Harper Collins)
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Vanina Marsot’s novel Foreign Tongue: a Novel of Life and Love in Paris tells the story of Anna, a half-French and half-American freelance writer. Anna believes she’s found The One when she meets Timothy, but in less than six months she discovers that Timothy is involved with other women. Anna walks away from the relationship. Unfortunately, Timothy is difficult to get over because, in Anna’s words, “Timothy became famous. Magazine-cover famous. Pop-culture famous." So Anna flees L.A. for Paris. Luckily—miraculously, really—Anna speaks French and has an aunt willing to lend her an apartment in Paris, rent-free.

Anna explores Paris for awhile and reconnects with her European friends but eventually needs something to do. She is also fired from her freelance job at an American PR firm after a change in management, and she needs money. Anna is browsing through the used books at Shakespeare & Company when she notices a job posting for a translator for an exotic novel at Editions Laveau. Anna hurries to Editions Laveau. Monsieur Laveau is a crotchety old man, and he is quietly amused that Anna misread the job posting: Laveau is looking for someone to translate an erotic novel, not an exotic one. Anna takes the job anyway. Later, while waiting for another chapter to translate at Laveau’s office, Anna meets Olivier. Olivier is a handsome Frenchman. He’s also an actor, just like Timothy. Anna starts a relationship with Olivier but cultural differences complicate their relationship.

I enjoyed this book. The plot moves quickly; Anna is in Paris by page seven. The novel Anna translates also acts as a story within a story. The novel, by an anonymous author, tells the story of one Frenchman’s “great love." Jean-Marc, the first-person narrator, is initially repelling. He keeps two girlfriends, one boring and public and one fiery and secret. The secret one, Eve, is his "great love." Their relationship begins as a sexual one and the love scenes are (uncomfortably) anatomically accurate and odd.

(A little warning, reader-to-reader: this novel is labeled adult fiction for a reason.)

Anna’s world is a little steamy, too: a friend takes her to a Parisian sex club and Anna and Olivier share several intimate scenes. Jean-Marc’s story becomes more readable, however, as he falls in love with Eve and becomes heartbroken when she leaves him, while Anna’s relationship with Olivier mirrors one of the cultural differences remarked on by Anna when she sees a couple kiss in a café. Anna explains that the French “kiss in public, and I mean big, wet, sexy kisses. People of all ages do it, and no one yells ‘Get a room!’ If you don’t like it, you can lump it, or look the other way."

I read Foreign Tongue before visiting France this January, and I noticed this profusion of PDA in Paris.
 
Beyond the plot and cultural dimensions of Foreign Tongue, the novel is largely about language. Marsot discusses the craft of storytelling through Anna from page one, beginning, “I could start like this, third-person omniscient: ‘She chucked it all and moved to Paris.’ . . . . Or no dodge-and-weave, no embroidery, no third-person, no all-knowing voice: I left.” Marsot also peppers her prose with French conversations, and she does not always provide a translation. One does not need much French to follow the story but knowing none would have frustrated me. I would have been on Google Translate at every other page.

 Foreign Tongue is steeped in French language, culture, and Parisian scenery. I recommend it to readers looking for a fun yet realistic romance as well as anyone who is interested in linguistics, writing, travel, and--of course--Paris.

Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Release Date: December 2, 2010

Publisher: Dutton

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 384

Source: Bought.

Summary:
Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt. (From stephanieperkins.com)
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Anna Oliphant is sent to Paris for her senior year of high school by her father, a Nicholas Sparks-ish author who writes "novels set in Small Town Georgia about folks with Good American Values who Fall in Love and then contract Life-Threatening Diseases and Die." Luckily, she makes friends quickly, and even luckier for both Anna and the reader, one of them--Étienne St. Clair--is a Very Hot Boy.*

I can't say enough about this book. A tangle of relationships--friendship, love-gone-wrong, misleading flirtation, friends crushing on friends--compose the plot, and author Stephanie Perkins adroitly juggles her characters' many different dreams, agendas, and feelings. And despite the boarding-school-in-Paris setting (which I loved), the interactions between the characters stem from realistic situations. A person doesn't have to be in Paris to break and repair friendships or fall in love with someone who's already taken.

Anna tells her roller coaster of a tale in funny, clever first-person narration. I would've read this book in one sitting if I'd had the time. The ending is unique, mature, and gorgeous. Anna and the French Kiss left me light and wide-eyed, stuck in warm knits in Paris with the scent of baguettes and a sense of boundless possibility. Anna is a dream of a book--so, so satisfying, yet realistic. And as much as I like him, Étienne St. Clair isn't perfect. He makes mistakes, and there's no idealism here. There are also some faintly stereotypical high school moments and some over-the-top emotions, but over all Anna and the French Kiss left me in post-good book depression because I couldn't find anything to immediately replace the experience of Anna. I wanted to keep wandering Paris with Anna, Étienne, and their friends. I recommend Anna and the French Kiss to anyone who likes contemporary fiction and/or romance, armchair travel, humor, and good writing. I've already started reading Anna a second time.
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*This diminutive text is accidental; Blogger is doing some odd things with font size and will not let me fix it.

Book Review: Visibility by Sarah Neufeld, Illustrated by D. Meister

Release Date: June 2008

Publisher: Bowler Hat Comics

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 320

Source: Review copy from publisher.

Summary:
Natalie is the disappointingly normal daughter of Jayden Irving, a universally reviled woman with the power to turn invisible at will. When Natalie discovers she had inherited more than just her mother’s metallic blue eyes, she decides it’s about time she traveled beyond the boundries of her suffocating life. Desperate to escape Jayden’s indifference and disdain, Natalie soon finds herself pulled into a web of blackmail, false identities, and lies that threaten to turn mother against daughter. (From Bowler Hat Comics.)
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First, even though the cover suggests it, Visibility is NOT a graphic novel. According to the back of the book, it is an "Illustrated Novel." This is an accurate description; illustrations are scattered throughout the novel, but the words do the storytelling. In fact, the illustrations sometimes seem unnecessary, but a few are helpful for visualizing the story. Their greatest contribution lies in lending Visibility an occasional comic book feel that suits the book's superhero plot well.

Natalie Irving's mother, Jayden, has the power of invisibility, but--to the anger of the government and the public--she refuses to use her gift to help others. She's cold, inaccessible, and, as Natalie repeatedly insists in her first-person narration, a terrible mother. Jayden sends Natalie as a representative to meetings she'd rather not attend, and even throws her a rather public birthday party just to show how inept Natalie is with reporters and other humans in general. Jayden seems to find pleasure in making her daughter uncomfortable. She's a difficult woman to read, and while she becomes more interesting toward the end of the novel, she's talked about more than she's seen-- there's a lot of Jayden this, Jayden that. It makes sense when combined with Jayden's power of invisibility and Natalie's own limited knowledge of her mother, but I would've liked an extra scene or two with her.

As for the other characters, Natalie is a likeable narrator, and Peter--her bodyguard/friend--is an appealing character. He's unfailingly kind, intelligent, and always there for Natalie. He also draws a lot, which plays into the novel's illustrations well. I even liked a certain blackmailing police officer, an ambiguous character as far as good and evil go.

In a nutshell, Visibility is a well-paced, well-written, and entertaining novel. Author Sarah Neufeld keeps the plot moving, and introduces plot twists and jolting surprises at perfect moments. It is hard to be bored while reading Visibility. Natalie is an endearing character: living in Jayden's shadow leaves her with little self-confidence, and she feels invisible in a way that many girls without distant parents with the power of invisibility feel. Neufeld explores figurative visibility through literal invisibility--the idea of seeing oneself, seeing others, and being truly seen by others.

Visibility stays away from getting too philosophical, though. It's a superhero story with a realistic twist at heart, complete with humor, secret missions, and enough action to keep readers in suspense. It's a wonderfully quick read, and I'm warning you now that reading it may interfere with small things like housework and sleep. Overall, it's an entertaining and original story. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys superhero stories, coming-of-age tales, or fast, exciting reads.

Book Review: Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart by Maud Hart Lovelace

Release Date: October 12, 2010 (reprint)

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Age Group: YA/children's/crossover
Pages: 448

Source: Review copy from publisher.

Summary:

It is the summer of 1911 and Carney Sibley is back home in her beloved town of Deep Valley, Minnesota. She's looking forward to hosting a month-long house party, with guests including her Vassar college roommate Isobel Porteous and old chum Betsy Ray. With lots of the old Crowd and a new friend -wealthy, unkempt but lovable Sam Hutchinson-around, the days are filled with fun. And romance seems to be in the air. But Carney can never be romantic about anyone but Larry Humphreys, her high school sweetheart, who moved to California four years ago. Then Larry returns to Deep Valley and sets the town abuzz. Will Larry propose? And will Carney say yes?
Included with Carney's House Party is the bonus children's novel by Maud Hart Lovelace, Winona's Pony Cart. Winona Root is almost eight years old. More than anything in the world, she wants a pony for her birthday. She wishes so hard for a pony that she's sure to get one-at least, that's what she tells her friends Betsy, Tacy and Tib. It's only when the exciting day grows near that Winona begins to wonder: What if her father meant it when he said she couldn't have a pony? (From HarperCollins)
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Carney and Winona* are characters from Maud Hart Lovelace's wildly popular Betsy-Tacy books. If you haven't heard of the series, you're not alone--the series began in 1940. Carney and Winona were first published in 1949 and 1953, respectively. The Betsy-Tacy books have maintained a loyal following ever since.** And from what I can tell, the people who like Maud Hart Lovelace's books really like them.

Carney and Winona join Emily of Deep Valley in a reprint of Two Deep Valley Books featuring characters from the Betsy-Tacy series. I recently read Emily and fell in love with Deep Valley, the setting of Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy books.

I expected to like Carney, and I did. The beginning of the book finds Carney at Vassar, finishing her sophomore year of college. There are pompadours, class day dresses, massive daisy chains, and hot cocoa parties. Everything about this novel is cute and cozy, yet smart. Lovelace brings up complex, real-life problems and offers insightful ideas that, as far as I can tell, are standing the test of time. (About sixty years, anyway.) Carney has been in love with Larry, who moved to California while the two were in high school, for years. They've been faithful pen pals, and she's sure he's the one. Like life, though, things don't always go how one expects. I won't spoil the story, but I will say that the romance is squeal-worthy. Carney contains one of my new favorite kissing scenes.

Maud Hart Lovelace based her books on her childhood, but she knew how to combine reality and fiction to make a good story. My favorite thing about the character of Carney is her ability to think and reason through her feelings. She's a strong, self-confident young woman.

Winona is short, sweet, and funny. Basically, Winona wants a pony. She also wants to invite lots of people to her birthday party. Misunderstandings both embarrassing and hilarious give way to a satisfying ending. Both Carney and Winona are written clearly (with younger readers in mind) and with the same sweet humor that stays just shy of too sugary. Carney was my favorite work of the two, but Winona seems like she'd be a favorite with children, especially when read aloud. In any case, don't let the children's lit category put you off these books. Carney's House Party and Emily of Deep Valley are easily some of the best books I've read in the last few years. They've earned the right to be called modern classics, and they possess enough humor and insight to satisfy all ages.***
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*I keep wanting to call her Ramona; it's easier to type.
**The Betsy-Tacy Society in Mankato, MN. How many series with full blown historical societies do you know of?
***This book also contains a foreword from Melissa Wiley, another reader who discovered Lovelace's works as an adult. If you've ever wondered what prefacing a favorite--and classic--book is like, check out my interview with Mitali Perkins on prefacing Emily of Deep Valley.