Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Release Date: January 10, 2012
Publisher: Dutton Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 336


Source: Bought.

Image from Penguin.com

Summary:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.


Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. (From Penguin.com)

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The diction and characters in John Green's The Fault in Our Stars are as electric as the novel's bright blue book jacket. I finished reading this book a month ago*, and the funny, insightful Hazel and the adorably pretentious Augustus--who chooses his "'behaviors based on their metaphorical resonances'"--still burst in on my thoughts.

Hazel Grace Lancaster meets Augustus Waters at Cancer Kid Support Group. Hazel carries an oxygen tank everywhere she goes, because--in her words--her lungs "suck at being lungs." Hazel was diagnosed with incurable Stage IV thyroid cancer that had also spread to her lungs when she was thirteen. Miraculously, she's still alive at sixteen thanks to Phalanxifor, a fictional experimental drug that keeps the tumors in her lungs from growing. Phalanxifor grants Hazel some extra time, but no one knows how much. Augustus, on the other hand, is in remission from osteosarcoma that left him with a prosthetic leg. Augustus is long, lean, and hot. He invites Hazel to his house the afternoon they first meet, and she says yes.

The Fault in Our Stars is a love story: a beautiful, heartbreaking, luminous love story. While cancer plays a major role in the novel, Green never lets it consume the characters or the plot, showing that sick people are--above all--still people. At one point, Hazel remarks, "You have a choice in this world, I believe, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice." John Green makes the funny choice, too. The Fault in Our Stars is full of hilarious conversation and observations. And when I say hilarious, I mean so funny you want to roar with laughter and read the book out loud to everyone you meet. Or maybe that was just me.


Amidst all this humor, however, Green's characters face tragic, torturous situations. Life isn't fair in reality, and Green does not sugarcoat the reality of cancer. Hazel and Augustus are both forced to contemplate death more often and more seriously than average teenagers, and they are concerned with universal human desires to be remembered, to not truly die, to go on being people. The Fault in Our Stars asks readers to consider the definition of heroism and what it means to do something that matters.


The Fault in Our Stars is also a book about books. When Hazel goes to Augustus's house the afternoon she meets him, they talk about books. Augustus cajoles Hazel into revealing her favorite novel, An Imperial Affliction, which exists only in the fictional world of Green's novel. August announces that he will read it, but adds, "'All I ask in exchange is that you read this brilliant and haunting novelization of my favorite video game.'" Green's characters display an appreciation for different types of fiction, and the novel comments on the place of stories in the face of life and death.

The Fault in Our Stars is one of the best books I have ever read, and I recommend it to readers who enjoy romance, humor, and pitch-perfect prose. I was working at the library the day my branch received our copy, and it was all I could do not to rave about this book to every customer who approached me with a reference question. So I will rave here: The Fault in Our Stars is funny, addictive, quotable, deep, and lovely. And I hope many, many people decide to read it.
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*I happened to pre-order the book from the company that accidentally shipped its pre-orders early . . .

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.

Book Review: Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

Release Date: August 24, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 390

Source: Bought

Summary (STOP READING if you haven't read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, plan to read them, and want to be surprised) :

"My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead."

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.


It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.


The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost. (From Good Reads)
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Last year I read, but did not review, Catching Fire. I didn't read any reviews of it, either, because nothing anybody said was going to stop me from reading that book. I feel the same way about Mockingjay, but I'm reviewing it anyway because I can't stop thinking about it.

Mockingjay is a fitting end to The Hunger Games series, but I can't call it satisfying. Katniss and Peeta have become two of my favorite fictional characters, and it's not a spoiler to say that they--and the reader--endure many difficult scenes in this book. Author Suzanne Collins dials the brutality of the series up a notch, and Katniss is forced to choose how violent she will be outside the arena. Katniss is physically strong, but after the last two novels she's emotionally broken, and Collins doesn't gloss over that; she doesn't grant any of the main characters a magic protagonist bubble, and she bravely allows the logical, dark reality of her fictional world to overshadow what readers may want for the characters. Be prepared for mixed feelings.

That said, the close of Mockingjay isn't without hope, and the novel does have its fun, humorous moments. Readers can also expect a closer look at colorful, hedonistic, and absurd Capitol ideas and customs. (There's a shop that sells fur undergarments.)  As for the writing, I've disliked the pacing in all three Hunger Games books, and for me Mockingjay alternated between unputdownable and annoyingly slow and repetitive. Mockingjay invites many questions about the ethics of revenge and when--if ever--violence is acceptable. Also, a lot of horrible things happen, and people die in unthinkable ways. These scenes, of course, are narrated in Katniss's matter-of-fact voice, and she's too busy fighting and being the face of the rebellion to feel the full emotional impact. And thank goodness the emotions aren't all there, or readers would be nervous wrecks after Mockingjay.

All in all, certain plot elements felt too convenient, and if you're looking for flawless prose, you won't find it here. What you will find, though, are fascinating, fully drawn characters and an entertaining and challenging read that demands thought and discussion about ends, means, and even storytelling. Most readers of The Hunger Games series already have it on their To Be Read list, and anyone who read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and didn't hate the books owes it to themselves to see how Katniss's story--and that awful cliffhanger in Catching Fire--turns out.

Book Review: The Poison Eaters: and Other Stories by Holly Black

Release Date: February 23, 2010
Publisher: Big Mouth House
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 224

Summary:
In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. These stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and have been reprinted in many "Best of" anthologies. The Poison Eaters is Holly Black's much-anticipated first collection of stories, and her ability to stare into the void--and to find humanity and humor there--will speak to young adult and adult readers alike. (From the author's website)
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This book is like an odd and entertaining box of chocolates. I don't read many short story collections, but I picked up Holly Black's The Poison Eaters: and Other Stories because earlier this summer I tried her novel White Cat and loved it.

The tales contained in The Poison Eaters vary in length and subject, but are all wonderfully odd and beautifully written. Black displays a knack for creating vivid scenes and a perfect fairy tale tone. One tale in the anthology, "The Dog King," opens with a story about wolves who come down from mountains to attack villages:

Some say that they can rise up on two legs and speak as men, that nimble fingers can chip away at hinges, that their voices can call promises and pleas through keyholes, that they are not quite what they seem.

Shivery and well-done.

If you haven't guessed, "The Dog King" is a werewolf story. In addition to that, The Poison Eaters contains an interesting take on vampires, Greco-Roman mythology, faery tales, and even a unicorn. Two of the faery tales take place in the world of Black's Tithe books. I haven't read those, so I'm sure there's much I missed, but I was still able to enjoy the stories.

My favorite stories in the collection--what I also consider the two best reasons to track down a copy of The Poison Eaters--however, are "The Night Market," a tale of two sisters and an elf in the Philipines that reminds me of Christina Rossetti's poem "Goblin Market," and "Paper Cuts Scissors," a screamingly funny story about a library science student whose girlfriend (who is able to put things in books--cool, right?) became upset after a fight,

and put herself into a fat Russian novel.

What follows is a mingling of fictional characters both classic and contemporary and some very messed up storylines.

Bottom line? The Poison Eaters is a fun, often funny, collection of creepy and surprising stories. I wished a few of them were longer, I thought a few of them had some weak points, but all and all, it's a solid collection. I recommend it to fans of Black's other novels and anyone looking for a quick, quirky read.

Book Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Release Date: March 16, 2010
Publisher: Bantam Books
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 288

Book Source: My local library.

Summary:

Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew, she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor, Julia Winterson, bakes hope in the form of cakes, offering them to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth—but also in the hope of rekindling a love she fears might be lost forever. Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily’s backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in. (From the author's website)
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This book is sugary sweet summer fun that comes complete with a dash of family secrets, a quirky little town, and two intriguing romances. It's also addictive; I was a little sad every time I had to put it down, and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.

Emily Benedict moves to Mullaby, North Carolina a few months after her mother's death to live with her grandfather. Dulcie, Emily's mother, told her nothing about her childhood in Mullaby and the mysterious scandal she ran away from. Mullaby is a small town steeped in tradition, and Emily is mystified when her new neighbors and potential friends exclude her and treat her like a copy of Dulcie.

Win Coffey is a boy about Emily's age whose family was hurt by Dulcie's mysterious sin. In accordance with family tradition and his father's will, Win should have nothing to do with her, but after meeting Emily he strikes up a friendship that aims to rewrite history. He's also hot, and Emily notices.

Emily's first friend in Mullaby is her neighbor, Julia Winterson, a smart thirty-something woman with a talent for baking and a few secrets of her own. The book begins with Emily's story, but it quickly grows to include Julia's, and the two plotlines come together to produce surprising insights into how the past impacts the present and how important a full picture of it is.

In addition that, The Girl Who Chased the Moon is funny, fantastical, and a delight to read. I fell in love with Mullaby and Emily's grandfather's house at first sight:

It had probably been an opulent white at one time, but now it was gray, and its Gothic Revival pointed-arch windows were dusty and opaque. It was outrageously flaunting its age, spitting paint chips and old roofing shingles into the yard.

It has such a personality.

In a nutshell, I loveloveloved this book, and I won't hesitate to recommend it to both teen and adult readers who enjoy books with magic realism, romance, family secrets, and enough complexity to keep the story in one's mind long after one finishes reading it. For readers of Sarah Addison Allen's other books, Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen, this a don't-miss title. It's easily my favorite of the three and is full of the quiet magic, fascinating characters, and delicious language I've quickly come to expect in Allen's work.

Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Release Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher: Dial Books
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Book Source: My local library.

Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery sister Bailey. But when Bailey dies suddenly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding. (From Jandy Nelson's website)
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This is a beautiful book. For about the first half, however, I thought differently.

Lennie spends a lot of time obsessing about her tragically dead sister--I get this, and it's even well done. My problem was Lennie's constant marvelling at her sudden awareness of boys and her new sexy thoughts. What really took the cake, though, was Lennie's repetitive whining about her guilt over kissing Bailey's (the dead sister's) boyfriend, Toby, while developing a relationship with a new boy named Joe and shutting her family and friends out of the whole sorry mess.

I contemplated putting the book down several times, but I kept reading out of a mad desire to know how and if Lennie's various train wrecks would be sorted out and because, for a story with such loss and grief in it, it's surprisingly funny. Also, Joe. He's handsome, musical, and a good reason to keep reading anything.

At one point, I wanted to put the book down not because Lennie was annoying me, but because I couldn't stand the pain she was about to go through in the Toby-Joe climax. That's when I knew this was a well-crafted story; I was starting to care about Lennie. I was uncomfortable and embarrassed and falling apart inside with her, for her.

From there the book becomes amazing. Everything deepens from the first to the second half, and I couldn't put Part Two down. The increasingly sophisticated plot threads and relationships between characters reflect Lennie's growth. Beyond first love and agonizing loss, Lennie also gains insights into her family. She lives with her Grandma and her Uncle Big, who are both strong characters.  It's a book that starts narrowly and becomes--to be corny here--as big as the sky.

There's something here for teens through senior citizens; death impacts everyone. The Sky is Everywhere is an incredible book, and I get chills looking back on it. It's a love story, a family drama, and a great read. I'm slightly upset that it didn't occur to me to read it sooner.

Lastly, here's the delightful UK book trailer for The Sky is Everywhere. The U.S. one is okay, but this one is too gorgeous to beat: