Vol. 10 #4
Just a reminder, the books reviewed here are recommended. I can't see wasting time reading a book I don't like when there are so many fabulous reads out there. Every book here kept me reading instead of dropping it and going on to the next book.
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YA/ Issues
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Zoe has plenty of stress in her life, what with an alcoholic mother who has stopped working and paying bills so when an obnoxious teacher calls her Zo rather than Zoe she comes unglued. Beautifully paced the reader begins to know Zoe and gains affection for her as the damaging effects of her sad life unfold. Zoe is one of those kids, who with no support from family, tries to perform well in school, rise in her tennis team rankings, take care of her drunken mother, and maintain her job as a waitress in a diner. Her outburst against the teacher puts her in pointless counseling and imperils her future on the tennis team. One day when taking a shortcut to work she sees a room for rent, on Lorelei St. When the landlady lowers the price, Zoe decides to move out on her own drawing the ire of her grandmother. This is a true to life touching and poignant tale of a girl whose resources are all internal, who does the best she can, and finds it isn’t enough. This is no doubt one of the most powerful books of the year.
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Historical Mystery
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This most unusual and not at all formulaic mystery starts in 1929 when Maisie Dobbs hangs out her shingle as a private investigator in London. In what starts out looking like a routine case, Maisie is hired to discover where a wealthy man’s wife goes two days a week. What she finds in a cemetery full of World War I dead including many who died years after the end of the war. Her curiosity is piqued by a stone marked simply, Vincent. The next section of the book thrusts us back in time and shows how Maisie, the daughter of a widowed costermonger, takes employment in the home of Lady Rowen at age thirteen and how she finds a mentor, goes away to university, and makes her way to the war front. The third section ties the two first sections together. The brilliance of this book is not only the beautifully depicted times and places but the way that Winspear builds an intricate labyrinth of people and plot then artfully leads the reader through picking up tidbits of information along the way to create an understanding of Maisie’s world. This Penguin edition includes discussion questions and a “conversation” with the author adding to its immense appeal for book discussion groups. There are two recent YA novels dealing with World War I that will appeal to both teen and adult readers who are fascinated by the time period, Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful and Remembrance by Theresa Breslin.
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YA/ Historical
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His country has been at was since before he was born so Prince Florin of Moltovia is thrilled to receive word from his father that a truce has been made and he is to travel to the rival king’s court in Vinland to meet him. Separated from his retinue at the doors of the palace he still finds nothing amiss until he is taken into the feasting chamber and witnesses the court jester dumping offal on his shackled father’s head. King Theodo who abused a request to parley by taking King Philip and his most loyal retainers hostage, sends Florin to the Monkey Tower to be trained by Mimus, the court jester. Mimus, the name given to all Fools in this castle is also bestowed on Florin. The Monkey Tower is filled with the king’s menagerie and the fools are treated like the monkeys, bear, and wolf with whom they share living space. Florin discovers he isn’t even considered human enough to attend mass. In order to survive to attempt to free his father, Florin must learn the skills of a jester. If he performs well he is rewarded with a tidbit of food. If he doesn’t he can be sent to the dungeons to be flogged by the dungeon master. Masterful plotting never lags and readers will be riveted by this fast-moving tale. Fantasy readers will also enjoy it because of the medieval setting and total other worldness created by Thal.
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Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ Short Stories
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Yolen and Nielsen Hayden have put together a top notch anthology of stories published in 2004 (plus one golden oldie) that appeal to teen readers. The truth, of course, is that when it comes to fantasy and science fiction adults and teens most often read and love the same stories. Usually in an anthology, even in ones that claim to be selections of the year’s best, there are a few stories I love and several that just ok. That is not the situation with this anthology. The very first story in the collection, Kelly Link’s “The Faery Handbag”, is so good it whomped me over the head like Connie Willis’s “Letter from the Cleary’s” read first so many years ago but still vividly remembered. The story about a girl's search for her grandmother's missing handbag that housed an entire village was chosen by the editors months before it won both the Hugo and Locus Awards for best short story. The anthology ends with the novella “Sergeant Chip” by Bradley Denton that is a war story featuring a telepathic dog and is as unforgettable as “The Faery Handbag” Between those two stories are tales of a brother hatched from and egg and one who is a faerie changling. There is an urban fantasy tale that shows a different side of the New York Public Library and a horrifying tale of a decaying world shrouded in darkness as well as many more. The editor’s truly were on the mark when they called this book The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teen.” I can hardly wait for next year’s edition.
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Christian Mystery |
Jo Tulip loves her job. She took over her grandmother’s helpful hints newspaper column after helping with it all through high school and college. Now she is planning a week of great columns from the past while she has her dream wedding and honeymoon. Danny Watkins her best friend since childhood lives right across the back fence and has finally agreed to stop trying to talk her out of her incipient nuptials. The very morning of her wedding she is yanked out of bed by the police because Edna Pratt has been found dead in strange circumstance and the photographer (who happens to be Danny) has said that many of the oddities of the scene look like something the local helpful hint maven would know about. After Jo rules out such oddities as a lamp burning in a drawer (it fixes stuck drawers by drawing out the moisture in them) tomato juice and a plastic shower cap on the victim’s head (removes chlorine from the hair of swimmers) and the socks on the victim’s hands (for cleaning blinds) the cops are ready to mark it an accidental death. Jo is not convinced. Even though the goofy things around the scene are legitimate she finds it incomprehensible that someone who was so up on all her advice would ever mix two common cleaners that turn deadly when together. If being called to the scene of a possible murder was not enough of an omen for her wedding day Jo’s dress becomes caught in a car door leaving it torn and marked. Of course she has the situation under control using common household articles. The one thing she can’t fix is at the altar when her betrothed opts out of the wedding and runs out of the church. Edna’s daughter hires Jo to clean out the house and sell, donate, or ship everything which will give Jo an opportunity to snoop at will and perhaps find some clues that will convince the police that Edna’s death was murder not an accident. In a secret compartment under the bathtub, Jo finds some mysterious items including photographs featuring the face of the same man, never aging, over a hundred years. Clark does a great job with the mystery details keeping the reader guessing until the denouement. While this is an evangelical Christian novel, it is not preachy and the characters’ faith or lack thereof is gracefully worked in.
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YA/ Fantasy/ Alternate Worlds
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Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries, the protagonists of Oppel’s Printz Honor book Airborn, are back in an other high-flying adventure featuring new species, treasure, pirates, and non-stop action. Matt, now attending the Airship Academy is on his two week training tour on a dilapidated and poorly captained freighter, barely avoids death when the airship escapes disaster and ends up far above where it should be flying. There he catches sight of a fabled lost ship. Back in Paris, after his disastrous voyage, it seems that everybody who has heard of his sighting of the Hyperion wants him to divulge its coordinates. Nadira a gypsy girl saves Matt from a pirate masquerading as a gentleman and together they escape over the rooftops. Matt, Nadira, and Kate join up with Hal the captain of a ship specially designed for high flying salvage work and his crew of Sherpas. Each has something necessary for the expedition, Matt the coordinates, Nadira, an intricate key that will unlock the fabled treasure aboard the Hyperion, Kate, the money to fund the expedition, and Hal, a ship that seems designed for this particular mission. Oppel proves that an exciting adventure with likable characters can meet the highest literary standards and entice readers of all ages.
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YA/ Issues/ Mental Illness YA/ Historical/ 1960s
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In an undefined time, one that feels like the early 1960’s, talented twelve-year-old artist Sara Goldman tries to cope with her beloved but mentally ill father. Her very best drawings come to her when Papa tells the stories of the others who lived with him under a barn in the French countryside during the Holocaust. When Papa is healthy he is an accomplished architect but sometimes he sinks into the traumatic world he lived in from age 10 to 12 and he doesn’t know which of his friends from that time were real and which were imaginary. Sara is always treading on eggshells trying to keep from setting him off but when she takes one of the pictures she drew to a school art competition promising to bring it back safe and sound, events start to spiral out of control because her drawing of Lili is defaced and the judges determine that the drawing could not have been done by a twelve-year-old. This is an unusual book and will appeal to mature middle grade readers as well as to thoughtful teen readers. Lowenstein writes outside the box. This compelling tale is definitely unique and memorable. The illustrations in the form of a fold out at the end of the book are a perfect compliment to the text.
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Fantasy/ Fairy Tale/ Familiar |
Ever wondered what happened to the youngest one of the six princes who were turned into swans and when their sister was able to break the spell the smallest shirt was lacking one sleeve which left the prince with one swan wing instead of an arm? Birdwing is the story of Ardwin who refuses to allow the lack of a left arm and the chaos created by a great flapping wing stop him from excelling at princely pursuits. Overcoming pain and awkwardness he masters the bow and arrow as well as the spear and learns to live with his wing. The one advantage the wing gives him is the ability to understand and speak to animals. Everything changes when a magical prosthetic arm is sent from a wicked neighboring king who wants Ardwin to lop off the wing, don the golden arm, and wed his daughter. Ardwin, in charge of his own destiny, sets out secretly with his two best friends on a quest to reconnect with his swan self and to find the sorceress queen who bespelled him and his siblings so long ago. The adventures keep on coming as Ardwin meets a magician, a goose girl, and a gallant horse. For a tale so filled with adventures the pacing is slow and uneven but the wealth of interconnected incidents come together making this a wonderful escape for readers who love novels based on fairy tales. The characters are extremely well drawn and the intricate plot echoes the labyrinth created by the magician with the author serving as the glowing string to lead one through to the end.
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