Chime by Franny Billingsley

I will admit that I read the novel Chime less because it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature than because it was part of this year's controversy surrounding the award. And though I'm sad that its author Franny Billingsley was dragged through an ugly mess that should never have happened, I'm so glad the turmoil put the book on my radar.
This inventive tale about self-perception and memory defies classification, or more accurately, meshes the best elements of many genres seamlessly. It is a coming-of-age story told in first-person by 17-year old Briony Larkin, a self-described witch who believes herself unloveable and controls her awful powers with a combination of strict self-control and self-loathing. It is part historical fiction and magical realism, set in a rural swamp village in England at the height of the Industrial Revolution, where uneducated fishermen, rich businessmen and even the clergy (Briony's father) believe in the Old Ones--the mythical creatures like witches,  pixies, and monsters that control the elements of nature. It is a novel of mystery and suspense as Briony reveals her troubling story: daughter of a distant and oblivious father, twin of a sister whose childlike mentality leaves Briony in the role of constant caretaker, griever of her beloved step-mother whose suspicious death is believed to have been a poisoning. When wild-hearted Eldric arrives in town with his "boy-man" charm and uncomfortable questions, Briony begins to thaw against her will. She finds herself acting like a normal girl when in his company, though always returning to her senses when she remembers how it was her uncontrolled power that caused her sister to fall from a swing and her terrible magic that crippled her step-mother before her death. Briony must ever remind herself she can never have the love story.

While the novel is dense with dialogue and less plot-driven, I was completely riveted by the conflict of Briony vs. Briony and the slowly unraveling mystery of her power and her step-mother's murder. But the true tension comes from the expert use of dramatic irony as I found myself wanting to scream at Briony to realize what was happening at the end...so I suppose the novel is bit horror as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would recommend it highly, especially to those who enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. And do yourself a favor and get this one as an audiobook because actor Susan Duerden is fantastic in this production by Listening Library.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

If I could have coffee with any writer living or dead, high on my list of picks would be Libba Bray. Even if she didn't write witty, irreverant, and often intensely personal blogs and tweets (which she does), I would find her diverse range of characters and unorthodox plots irresistable . As we sat down for lattes, I'd ask her things like: "Libba, you describe A Great and Terrible Beauty as 'a gothic creepfest of a Victorian story with a heroine who could kick butt and take names all in a crinoline and corset' ...did you always want to write a Buffy the bustle wearer-type novel?" Or maybe, "Libba, how exactly does one decide to write a surrealist contemporary novel about a boy's Don Quixote-esque adventure as he descends into the insanity caused by mad cow disease?"
But after reading her latest novel Beauty Queens, I would start our conversation with a giant thank you for writing such a moving and honest book about young women--how they are perceived and what they perceive, how they are treated and how they treat each other.

The book begins with a plane crash (not unlike the popular TV show Lost, one of many pop culture icons parodied in the novel). The survivors are contestants in the Miss Teen Dream USA competition, but through chapters told from alternating characters' perspectives, we discover each young woman has more to offer than her beauty queen package. Unlike their Lord of the Flies and Lost counterparts, these young women manage to work together in suprising ways to survive and even thrive in hostile conditions. But as they begin to discover their own power, they are tested by temptations they discover on the island, temptations that reflect the challenges all young women face in trying to become strong, self-confident, empowered females.

By turns quirky, philosophical, fantastical, and touching, Beauty Queens is definitely the best book I read this summer. I foresee more awards coming Libba Bray's direction. Guess that means we'll have more to talk about when we finally sit down for coffee.

For a fun look at the making of the novel (and a glimpse of the author's personality), read this interview Libba Bray conducted with herself: http://www.omnivoracious.com/2011/04/ya-wednesday-a-conversation-between-libba-bray-and-libba-bray.html.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

From the wonder twin power team of David Levithan and Rachel Cohn comes another hip New York novel about teenagers who are intelligent, witty, and interesting while searching for love and finding themselves. For the audacity to believe that teens can not only can be this but might want to read about this, I commend the authors heartily.

Our two main characters are ostensibly polar opposites. Dash is a pessimistic young man damaged by his parents' nasty break up and lack of  familial connection. He's snarky and bookish and proud of it: "I was a Decemberist, a Bolshevik, a career criminal, a philatelist trapped by unknowable anguish--whatever everyone else was not, I was willing to be."

Lily is naive and starry-eyed and loveable--the much-adored and overprotected baby of her extended, close-knit family. Lily loves Christmas with all the trimmings--she's the kind of person who organizes caroling societies and bakes six kinds of spritz cookies at four in the morning. With her parents out of town this Christmas on a silver anniversary vacation, Lily is bored and lonely until her older brother Langston creates "the notebook"--a beautiful red notebook full of clues that will lead a prospective boyfriend to Lily. Langston leaves the notebook at the famous bookstore The Strand where Dash discovers it and thus, the adventure begins.

The romance unfolds like a giddy summer camp scavenger hunt in famous locations around New York City with a cast of quirky secondary characters that add to the merriment. For me it was the best kind of romantic comedy where the chemistry is palpable, the dialogue is crisp and smart, and the ending is not a foregone conclusion. Like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (also by Levithan and Cohn), it looks like Dash and Lily may get made into a movie as it currently has a screenwriter and producer attached to the project. Here's hoping they do these likeable characters justice.

Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

I find the nature of friendship fascinating--not unlike new love. There's the giddy beginnings when all the things you have in common with another seem an endless discovery and you want to spend every waking minute getting to know the other as you would yourself. There's the supremely delicate moments a friendship balances on, the ones you don't recognize while they're happening, but that will determine whether this will be a life-long bond of kindred spirits, a casual connection destined to fade, or a love-hate case of friends turned enemies.

The novel Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer explores this topic of friendship with great skill. Seniors Kathryn and Brooke are both talented singers preparing to compete in a prestigious competitition for fame, fortune, and a ticket out of their small town. In chapters alternating between the two girls' perspectives we learn that the bitter rivalry they share began as a friendship during junior year, and through a series of flashbacks the mystery of what went wrong is slowly revealed. On the surface, the girls are remarkably different. Kathryn is tiny and shy and drowning in stress as she tries to please her parents, scrape together money for college, and deal with constant bullying while Brooke is larger than life, popular without effort, searching for the attention of her distant but beloved father and for something more meaningful than the shallowness that is high school.

What I loved best about this book (and there were many things to love) was the depth of the characters. The author makes it impossible to take sides because you hear both girls' versions of what happened and see that they both behave badly, make poor decisions, and misunderstand--as do we all. I also found the ending richly satisfying, nicely balanced between sweet and realistic.

All told, a wonderfully timely tale that has a ripped from the headlines feel with its subjects of music competitions and female bullying (think Glee and Mean Girls for classical music). A great beginning for Sara Bennett Wealer--here's hoping for many more to come!

You can follow Sara Bennett Wealer on Twitter at @sbennettwealer or at her blog: http://sbennettwealer.livejournal.com/.

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have

Andrew Zansky is a big guy. At fifteen years old, he weighs 306.4 pounds. And unfortunately, this is all anybody seems to see in Andrew. Nobody cares that he is funny and smart, and nobody notices that he is a good writer or that he is devasted by his dad's decision to leave his mom. That's what it is to be big in this society. Every moment of every day, Andrew thinks about his weight--whether his jeans will fit in the morning when he gets dressed, whether he will fit between the desk and the chair, whether he can go to his locker without being body checked into his locker by a bully. His pain, his humilitation, his worry--they're all visceral and they make the reader cringe for him.

Enter O. Douglas--that constant of every high school, "the popular quarterback." When O. Douglas takes notice of Andrew and rescues him from a beating, Andrew's life takes a dramatic turn. Without consciously meaning to, Andrew finds himself trying out for the football team--maybe to get in shape, maybe to get popular, maybe to get the girl of his dreams. Even Andrew isn't sure. What he is sure of is that something in his life has to change...the question is will Andrew be able to live with the consequences of change?

I loved the self-deprecating, witty protagonist of this book and found his emotions and situation realistic and touching. A couple of unexpected twists keep the "teenage makeover" plot fresh, and there are laugh-out-loud funny moments sprinkled throughout. This was author Allen Zadoff's first novel, and, based on its quality, this reader can't wait to read is next one out in May.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

As a librarian, I am regularly asked "What is your favorite book." I never have an answer for this. I have many "favorites" depending on my mood and what I need from a book at the moment. However, I will admit to a soft spot for the fantasy genre. I know, I know...it's not for everyone, but the thing is, there's a reason why so many books with cult followings are fantasy. Fantasy like the Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Wheel of Time, and Harry Potter have all the hallmarks of good storytelling--well-developed characters whose lives and fates you care about, suspense, drama, and compelling themes. But on top of the storytelling the writers of good fantasy have the almost other-worldly ability to invent entire worlds that are simultaneously foreign to us and yet recognizable. They develop entire mythologies and histories for the peoples in their books and often new languages, new environments and new cultures. We fantasy fans are so loyal to these invented worlds because we find them so wondrous and believable that we want them to be real.

So yes, generally, fantasy is my "go-to" genre, but I'm picky about what I label "really good fantasy." In the past couple years, I've added Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Fire to this list, along with Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern series and Elizabeth Knox's awesome Dreamhunter Duet. I am happy to say I've recently added another--Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

Incarceron is a prison, created as an experimental closed system to rehabilitate and relocate troublemakers away from the "mainland." The book begins several generations after the invention of Incarceron, when the experiment appears to be going horribly wrong. In the opening scenes we meet Finn, a young man surviving in a gang through ruthlessness and street smarts. Finn can't remember his childhood, but he believes he is from the outside--something those around him dismiss as impossible. Through a chance of fate, Finn comes across an enemy who may be able to get him some answers.

Later, we meet Claudia, daughter of the prison warden, and, in some ways, a prisoner herself. She lives in an artificial world where everyone must stay "authentic" to a medieval time period where loyalty to one's lord and king is all. She has been groomed to marry the prince since childhood but knows she is being manipulated. When she breaks into her father's office looking for proof, she finds a key that connects her to Finn. Can Claudia find the door to the prison before her wedding day and without the queen or her father discovering her? Can Finn trust Claudia with his life and the lives of his companions? Ahh...these are just two of the many deliciously suspenseful questions that get answered by novel's end. This book is just full of imaginative detail and wonderful plot twists that will have you holding your breath as you race to end. And kudos to Catherine Fisher for a bang-up finish with an exciting question left to be answered in the next book in the series (I hate this latest trend of first books having a weak or unresolved ending to ensure the need for a sequel). The sequel, Sapphique will be out in stores December 28. I know I'll be there!


To watch the book trailer for Incarceron, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMRFsTwwj_U

Graceling

It's been awhile since I've been this enraptured by a book, and truly, I love Graceling. Kristin Cashore has opened a rich world of seven kingdoms with "seven thoroughly unpredictable kings." In these lands where the kings tend toward tyranny over the people, some individuals are graced with special abilities--some are amazing cooks, others can foretell the future, and some, like Katsa, niece of King Randa of the Midlands, are graced with the ability to kill. Like most of the kings, Randa has claimed Katsa's abilities for his own uses and she finds herself a tool being used to torture and kill the king's enemies. Katsa worries she is becoming a monster and longs to escape her uncle's control. With the help of her mentor and her beloved cousin, she is finding ways to thwart the destructiveness of the kings.

On one such mission to stop an evil plan, Katsa meets Po, a graced fighter and prince of the kingdom of Lienid. Po is a worthy adversary for Katsa and friendship blossoms between them as they practice their fighting. When they join forces to attempt a daring rescue of Po's cousin Princess Bittersblue, new revelations change their relationship and Katsa must confront her feelings and the truth about her abilities...but only after a desperate race for survival through the mountains.

I can't do this book justice in a brief summary. The characters are richly developed and interesting, the plot addictive, the conclusion satisfying without being too neatly wrapped up. Two more books are planned in the trilogy, one a prequel (Fire, out October 2009) and the other a sequel/companion novel following Princess Bitterblue (Bitterblue, in the works).

What I Saw and How I Lied

"When Alice fell down the rabbit hole, she fell slow. She had time to notice things on her way down--Oh, there's a teacup! There's a table! So things seemed normal to her while she was falling. Then she bumped down and rolled into Wonderland, and all hell broke loose."

I love this quote from the opening chapter of What I Saw and How I Lied, not only for its imagery but also for the way it tries to prepare you for the story to come. The narrator, 15 year-old Evie Spooner, is looking back, trying to figure out how her life unraveled in just a few short months. She goes back to the beginning, the day it all started, on a warm day in Queens just after World War II has ended. Joe, the step-father she adores, has returned from the fighting to open appliance stores for a country ready to buy "not only what we needed but what we wanted." Evie and her gorgeous mother are trying to make home life the picture of perfection for him, with roast beef and mashed potato dinners and everything neat and tidy, though it is a strain living under Joe's mother's roof.

Joe comes home from work that day with a wild idea to pack up and drive down to Florida for a vacation...that night. He convinces Evie and her mom with his slick sales skills, and in a few days they find themselves in a half-empty Palm Beach resort during the off-season. There Evie meets Peter, a dashing soldier who makes Evie feel like a woman, her mother light-hearted, and Joe strangely moody. As Evie plots to spend more time with Peter, her mother and step-father's relationship grows tense, and Joe becomes increasingly erratic. Soon events spin into a downward spiral of passion, blackmail, and secrets, and Evie finds the adults in her life are not what they seem. Evie must choose her own path and make a decision that will control all their destinies.

Author Judy Blundell won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for this suspense-filled, noirish, dramatic novel. Those who love attention to detail will revel in the vivid depictions of post-war America, from the fashion (Revlon's Fatal Apple lipstick and nail polish and full-skirted evening gowns) to the dialogue ("Don't be in such a hurry to grow up, baby...it's not all polka dots and moonbeams, you know.") Those who love crime dramas and Bogey and Bacall movies will delight in the stylish mystery and suspense. And for those who appreciate album covers as much as albums, check out the cover, which I thought stunning (and an accurate depiction of the story, something becoming more rare in the book world). I loved this book, which brings me to two years in a row where I thought the National Book Award winner was better than the Printz Award winner.

Ten Cents a Dance

Ten Cents a Dance, the second novel from Christine Fletcher, is a riveting tale about a 15-year old girl living near the slaughter yards in 1940s Chicago. When her Polish-American father died, her Irish-American mother went to work for a meat-packing house, doing dangerous, thankless work for very little pay to support her daughters. When she is nearly crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, it is up to Ruby to quit school and support her family. Ruby quickly sees that this work will make her old in just a few years and will never earn them enough to get out of debt and poverty and when local bad boy Pauly tells her she could be making $50 bucks a week taxi dancing, Ruby jumps at the chance. But taxi dancing, or dancing with men for ten cents a dance plus tips at a dance hall, is not considered respectable work, and Ruby must hide what she does from her family while providing them with the money they need to improve their lives.

Ruby grows up quickly in this world of men, racism, jazz clubs, and chop suey joints, learning that the only way to make the big money is to reel in the "big fish" who will pay for dinners, clothes, and other luxuries. Ruby has talent and could be the best of the bunch, but is she willing to pay the price to get there?

Interestingly, the author wrote the book after learning that one of her ancestors had worked as a taxi dancer in secret, which led her to research the "ten cents a dance" girls. Rich in period detail, this fascinating and fast-paced novel had me hooked from page one. It has drama, suspense, history, and romance all rolled up into one and this book would certainly get my vote for a Printz award. This is an author to keep your eye on.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

From the always funny E. Lockhart comes her latest novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. The title character is one of those smart, sassy heroines you often find in YA novels, who are identifiable, and sort of remind you of a cooler version of yourself. Frankie, at age 14, was a gangly, kinda geeky-but-not-a-social-outcast girl attending the private boarding school her father went to. Frankie at 15 is about to return to her private boarding school with a newly developed body and a self-possession that means she knows what she wants and she's going to go after it. Within no time she's landed a hot senior boyfriend and is hanging with the coolest group of kids in the school. But deep-down, Frankie worries that Matthew only likes her when she's not taking the lead or being the center of attention, and she knows he's keeping a big secret from her. When she can't get him to share his secret all-male society, she decides she will teach these boys a lesson they won't soon forget. Of course, in the process, she begins to lose track of herself, and things don't wind up quite like she'd imagined.

Disreputable is an interesting look at one girl's desire to be one of the boys without losing her femininity or self-respect. While the plot is less dark and traumatic than John Green's Looking for Alaska, the common setting of a private boarding school make for a few interesting parallels. Whether you find yourself rooting for Frankie or not, you'll enjoy the game.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

On a recent road trip to Chicago, I read Sherman Alexie's National Book Award-winning The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian. As my husband can attest, I laughed out loud throughout the book, frequently turning off his book-on-CD to make him listen to particularly funny passages. But this is not the stupid-funny, throw away-funny that rules in our modern culture. Like Alexie's previous books for adults (e.g. Flight, Reservation Blues), this young adult novel's humor is part healing mechanism, part coping mechanism, and part means of looking at the world. The first-person narrator, Arnold Spirit, Jr., is a member of the Welpinit tribe on the Spokane Indian reservation. "Junior" is an outcast with loads of medical issues due to being born hydrocephalic. His scrawny body and love of reading and drawing comics make him "a natural for the black eye of the month club." But in some ways, he is like most of classmates--poor, hungry, a child of alcoholic parents with no chance of escaping this fate if he stays on the reservation. Unlike his friends and parents and most all of the tribe, Junior has hope and ambition and commitment. And with these traits he decides to transfer to the off-rez high school 22 miles away. Doing so makes him the enemy of his best friend and a traitor to his tribe. Doing so means he must be the lone Indian in a school full of affluent white kids. His courage, his faith and his hopes are tested over and over by heartbreaking tragedies. And though some of the book's message is bittersweet, there is a sweet, pure joy in Junior's strength of character and his victories. This is a great book.

An Abundance of Katherines

If you'd told me 5 years ago that I'd be reading a YA book that included graphs, footnotes, mathematical equations, and anagrams galore, AND that I'd LOVE it, I'd have understandably said...well that's crazy talk. Nonetheless, here I am, telling you I love An Abundance of Katherines by John Greene, of Brotherhood 2.0 and Nerdfighter fame.

If you like your characters funny and smart, you're gonna love this cast of misfit characters. Colin Singleton is a former childhood prodigy already washed up at the age of 17, who has been dumped by 19 girls named Katherine. His math genius buddy Hassan (who refuses to go to college--he'd rather watch Judge Judy) takes Colin on a roadtrip to get over his latest dumping. They find their way to Gutshot, Tennessee where the (not-Katherine) Lindsay helps Colin sort out his life...and he hers. The book asks all sorts of interesting questions about life, love, and what really matters...and lets you laugh along the way.