Young Adult/Contemporary/Problem
Alias
Mary Elizabeth Ryan
Simon & Schuster 0689807899
Toby Chase learned young that his mom won't answer questions about their family. He also learned to go along with the web of lies his mother spins each time they move to a new place with new names and a new look and past for her, a new school for him. After moving to rural Idaho he develops a friendship with Sunny Thieu, the daughter of Cambodian refugees. Assigned to do a report on the Vietnam war, Toby finds clues to his mother's past when looking for information on the Internet.
Seems like there has been a real spate of these kids of Vietnam War era parents lately. Toby is a likable character and his relationship with Sam, his mother's new employer is nicely done.
Young Adult/Science Fiction/Virtual Reality
Virtual War
Gloria Skurzynski
Simon & Schuster 0689813740
This book would make an interesting one to discuss along side Orson Scott Card's classic Ender's Game. In this world a youth is trained to fight a war but because so much of the world has been lost forever to the depredations of war, the war is to be held in virtual reality. Instead of fighting a real war disguised as a video game, Corgan who has spent his life training for this war will compete in a virtual reality "game" that simulates the blood, gore, and violent trauma of a real war while no one is actually injured.
A thought provoking read.
Young Adult/Suspense
The Taking of Room 114
Mel Glenn
Lodestar 0525675485
This is a continuation of the saga of bizarre events happening at Tower High that started with the murder of a teacher in Who Killed Mr. Chippendale. This small volume allows the reader to know several individuals in a classroom full of teens who are held hostage by teacher who has reached the end of his rope. Told in poems, it is amazing how each character, in so few words, is shaped into a fully dimensional person.
Young Adult/Coming of Age
Stranded in Harmony
Barbara Shoup
Hyperion 0786802871
Football captain, Lucas Cantrell is unhappy with his seemingly perfect life. To get away from it all he starts spending time with an elderly bedridden cousin until he meets Allie, an older woman with many secrets who has recently moved to quiet Harmony. Shoup does a fine job as she did in her former title Wish You Were Here. Shoup, like Marsha Qualey, writes literary novels that involve the reader and this book like Qualey's Hometown shows some of the lingering injury caused on the homefront by the Viet Nam War.
Young Adult/Coming of Age
Hometown
Marsha Qualey
Houghton Mifflin 0395726662
Outraged over being uprooted from Albuquerque, his home for the last three years, Border Baker is appalled to be thrust into the small town in Minnesota that his father fled so many years ago when dodging the draft. This look at family and community by the author of this year's Thin Ice again demonstrates her skill at bringing the innermost soul of her characters to light.
Romance/Regency/Spicy
The Arrangement
Joan
Wolf
Warner Books 0446604798
Joan Wolf has once again come up with a smashing love story set in the Regency era but delving into the life and love of a beautiful widowed young cit rather than a prissy miss of the ton. Twenty-seven year old Gail Saunders doesn't have much money but she does have a loving eight year old son Nicky, and loyal retainers that help her so she can run her horse training business. Their lives are forever changed when the dashing Earl of Savile shows up at her establishment with the terrifying news that Nicky has been left a bequest by George, Lord Devane. Savile, as executor of Devane's estate refuses to allow Gail to decline the inheritance she knows will expose her son to the scrutiny of all.
When she loses her lease she and Nicky end up at Savile's country estate where someone seems be trying to kill the lad. Gail becomes the mistress of the earl told in a few spicy but not overly graphic scenes. Readers who like the usual hands off policy of most regencies may be distressed but the love scenes are quite mild when compared to love scenes in some other lengthy historical romances.
Crime/Legal Thriller
The Partner
John Grisham
Doubleday 0385472951
I like Grisham's books. They are solid page turners from a storyteller that keeps one coming back for more even though he can't seem to write a decent ending. In The Partner Danilo Silva is kidnapped from Brazil and brought back to the US where he is charged with many many crimes, among them capital murder for the corpse that was cremated as him when he disappeared four years previously with ninety million dollars.
I decided to read this because I ran across an article in Architectural Digest while camping (ok my sister has very different tastes than mine) that dissed Grisham and popular reading big time. It is true that the publishing industry is rife with problems but the fact that people know they can expect a good story from Grisham is why they buy his books. The article bemoaned the fact that not enough good literature, by which I inferred he/she meant literary fiction was being published due to the colossal amounts put into bestsellers. I'm sure there will always be a market for the masturbatory musings of literary fiction which after all is just another genre in and of itself and that some publishers will continue to publish it. The classics of yesteryear were for the most part popular fiction. When looking at titles that have stood the test of time the thing they have in common is that they are intriguing stories told well.
Young Adult/Contemporary/Assault
The Facts Speak for Themselves
Brock Cole
Front Street 1886910146
Told in a series of flashbacks, this powerful tale tells of thirteen year old Linda's life as she takes responsibility at a very young age for her mother, an elderly step-father, and her two younger brothers. We know from early on that she has been sexually assaulted and that two men are dead. Cole, author of the acclaimed The Goats presents us with an all too realistic story told in raw terms with graphic detail. This is a heart wrenching book that will surely be the target of censors who do not believe that the terrible things that happen to some teens are suitable reading material for any teen. Crosses by Shelley Stoehr is also a gritty portrayal of an unhappy life.
Young Adult/Contemporary/Sports
Painting the Black
Carl Deuker
Houghton Mifflin Company 0395828481
Ryan Ward finds friendship and a weird fascination with his new neighbor Josh Daniels the summer before their senior year of high school. Josh is a talented pitcher and talks Ryan into catching for him as he practices. Ryan, born too early, suffered many health problems as a child and only had a brief period of wellness where he discovered he was a natural athlete before a tragic accident sidelined him. Now he finds that he has talent as a catcher and decides that he will go out for baseball. Inspired by his wise grandfather, he develops into an excellent catcher but along the way he finds he must question the direction his life is taking as well as the meaning of friendship and loyalty.
This exceptional tale well told is typical Deuker. He fleshes out his characters with complexities and develops their personalities through dilemmas and relationships. A great read. While Mr. Deuker hasn't done sequels before, I didn't want my personal relationship with Ryan to end and want to follow what happens to him after the end of the book.
Young Adult/Horror/Vampires
Thirsty
M.T. Anderson
Candlewick Press 0763600482
Chris is shocked and appalled to discover that he is turning into a vampire on the eve of the Sad Festival his community's yearly ritual to keep the Evil Vampire Lord Tch'muchgar locked away on another plane. If he does not kill and feed his bloodlust he will die but if he does attack a victim he will surely be caught and executed. The surreal setting of everyday suburbia is a creepy counterpoint to this tale of teen angst.