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Or, some comments on a few noteworthy books I’ve read but haven’t reviewed since May.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Between my lukewarm reaction to Impossible and my review of Perfect Chemistry, I won’t be surprised if people start to think I have really bad taste. Because as over-the-top as Perfect Chemistry is, I adored it. And though I can see why people liked, or even loved, Impossible, it didn’t do much for me.

Publisher’s description:

Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child’s birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won’t be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents and her childhood friend Zach beside her. Do they have love and strength enough to overcome an age-old evil?

So here’s my big problem with Impossible: I could believe Lucy and Zach loved each other, but Werlin didn’t have me believing that they were both actually *in* love until there were only about 50 pages left in the book. That was far, far too long after we were first told that they had feelings for each other, especially considering how essential their romantic relationship is in completing the quests to overcome the curse. And all that telling—about how Zach was in love with Lucy or how Lucy saw Zach without his shirt on and suddenly realized he was hot—did not make me believe they were in love. I think it’s partly due to the third-person omniscient narration (which can be done successfully in romance; see Joan Wolf’s A London Season) as Werlin used it in Impossible, which I felt detracted from the romance. Maybe it’s because when it comes to romances in YA lit, I’m so used to first-person narratives and all the intimacy and emotion it entails, but I just didn’t believe that Lucy and Zach were truly in love for a long time.

Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling
Claire Voyante has long had dreams in which the images she saw “were usually stupid and meaningless, like Henry holding a green umbrella with a frog on it or, say, a bright pink lock—things that I’d see later in front of me but that never lead me to anything groundbreaking.” Call them premonitions, call them extremely vivid dreams, but lately they’ve started to take over her life. Claire’s been dreaming every night only to wake up still exhausted, distracting her from school. Although the things she’s seeing in her dreams are becoming stranger, they might just be what she needs to help a friend.

The mystery aspect was predictable, yet it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. Dream Girl has an appropriately dreamy quality, particularly when it comes to the setting, and I actually wouldn’t mind if we end up seeing another book starring Claire.

Death By Bikini by Linda Gerber
For some reason, when i started reading Death By Bikini, I was under the impression that it took place on a Caribbean island. So when Aphra and Hisako started talking about noni, kava, and kukui nuts, I said, huh, that’s interesting. Then when Junior, the resort’s head of security, started talking in pidgin (excuse me, Hawaii Creole English, for the linguistic sticklers), I got even more confused. I had to flip through the first couple of chapters to see if Aphra mentioned where, exactly, the island is. And she never did.

Anyway, the story is about Aphra Behn Connolly, who lives with her father at the luxury island resort he manages. A family appears at the resort in the middle of the night with no reservations and Aphra’s father begins acting strangely. When the girlfriend of a rock star is strangled, Aphra is determined to solve the crime and discover the truth about their mysterious visitors.

Aside from my initial confusion, Death by Bikini was a pretty entertaining read. Not outstanding, but I have no problem recommending it. Plus, it’s the start of a mystery series for teens, which is nice to see since there’s a dearth of teen mysteries.

Unspoken by Thomas Fahy
Allison receives an email one day, a forwarded newspaper article about the death of a boy she knew. Harold Crawley drowned and was found dead in Meridian, North Carolina. Some people might see it simply as a tragedy that a person died so young. Not Allison. She knows that what Harold feared more than anything else was drowning. Because Allison and the five other children had lived with their parents at Jacob Crowley’s Divine Path cult, and Jacob had warned Allison that in five years, “Your greatest fear will consume you.” After Allison and the other children burned the cult’s compound down, killing all the adults, the kids are separated and taken in by foster families in different states. And five years later they each receive the same email as Allison. Allison worries that Jacob Crowley’s prophecy is coming true, but how can she convince the others, and how can they save themselves?

Unspoken has one abrupt ending. There are a few rather gruesome scenes, but overall, the horror is more psychological. I didn’t find it particularly scary, but it did keep my interest long enough to finish the book in one sitting.

The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher by David and Ruth Ellwand
I love Fairie-ality, so I have to admit to being a bit disappointed that this was not like Fairie-ality. It’s darker, atmospheric, more moody. A man is walking in the woods one day when he finds a stone with a hole in the center of it. Looking through it, he sees a ball of light and follows it to a clearing. He finds a chest with unusual things in it, left by a photographer who was trying to prove the existence of fairies. I think it would appeal more to fans of the -ology books than Fairie-ality fans.

Lots of great reviews of this one, especially at A Fuse #8 and Writing and Ruminating.

The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
To start with, I LOVE the cover! It’s perfect for the book, an alternate history set in Scotland. Alfred Nobel still invented dynamite, but Napoleon won at Waterloo, and European powers are engaged in a constant power struggle. In order to support Scotland’s security, IRYLNS (the Institute for the Recruitment of Young Ladies for National Security, pronounced “irons”) takes the best and brightest of Scotland’s female students to “supply Scotland’s leaders (members of parliament, captains of industry, doctors, ministers, and so on) with the highly competent assistants they needed.”

Sophie lives with her great-aunt Tabitha, who helped found the program and has considerable power of her own. Sophie supposes she’ll enter IRYLNS after her schooling is complete, but for some reason great-aunt Tabitha doesn’t want that to happen. Meanwhile, an unknown person or group sets off a bomb outside Sophie’s boarding school, and the psychic hired for great-aunt Tabitha’s recent seance is murdered.

As I said, I loved the cover, and the story is great, too. Sophie is believably awkward and the intrigue is actually intriguing. The tone is suitably foreboding and the worldbuilding excellent. First in a trilogy, I believe, which makes me happily impatient, if such a thing is possible. (Or should that be impatiently happy?) I’m looking forward to the next book, at any rate.

Impulse  by Ellen Hopkins

Narrated entirely in prose Impulse is told through the perspective of three characters Tony, Vanessa, and Conner who meet in a juvie/rehab center.  Tony is a runaway forced to live on the streets as prostitute after being molested as a child.  Vanessa is a bipolar cutter who is trying to come to grips with her mother’s past institutionalization.  Conner is the rich playboy who craves to be loved for who he is not what he’s done. Conner tries to gain this love by manipulating older women with his sexual magnetism.  Although the book may be a daunting 688 pages, teen readers will find the flow of the poetry effortless to read, and storyline often painful but surprising.

Remembering Raquel  Vivian Van Velde

In high school Raquel was the stereotypical wallflower, however upon her death everyone seems to have a story about her.  Remembering Raquel is told from the perspective of several characters who knew Raquel intimately and not so intimately.  As the novel unfolds the reader gets an insight of Raquel’s life through others perceptions of her often revealing the complexity of a person’s life through others eyes.

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Seventeen-year-old Alex Morales is left to fend for his two younger sisters after a meteor crashes into the moon.  At first they are able to survive on can foods and sporadic electicity. However, food begins to run scarce in New York due to the bad weather caused by the moon’s pull.  In addition, Alex’s sister Julie has contracted bronchitis which makes him reluctant to leave the city. However, after a plague hits the city Alex begins to realize that he must find a way to leave the city before they all perish. Pfeffer once again brings a compelling book about the strength of family in the midst of adversity.  Readers will not be able to put this book down, and will think about how they would survive in the depths of hell on earth.

*The main character in The Dead and the Gone is able to survive towards the end by bartering valuables for food.  Thus, after reading this book I began to think about bartering in a city setting that relies mostly on outside sources to provide produce. (This is especially true in Honolulu where almost all of our everyday neccessities are shipped in.) In relation to this check out Matt Kubo’s experimental project OffTheGrid: ActionFunUrbanSurvivalism, which will be part of the Eco/Logic exhibit. Heres a description of the  project:

My contribution to Eco/Logic is a performance/experiment of sorts. I will sustain myself by hunting, gathering, and gleaning in the Honolulu area. I will only allow myself to eat what I am able to find, hunt, or barter for. My tools will include a fruit picker, a fishing pole, and a knife. I plan to commute to field locations by foot and bike, which will be modified to carry my supplies and implements. Locations of successful hunting and gathering will be documented. Field interaction with the community will be paramount, this aspect will be given much consideration and space to evolve.

(http://matkubo.blogspot.com/2008/06/introduction.html)

Impulse  by Ellen Hopkins

Narrated entirely in poetry Impulse is told through the perspective of three characters Tony, Vanessa, and Conner who meet in a juvie/rehab center.  Tony is a runaway forced to live on the streets as prostitute after being molested as a child.  Vanessa is a bipolar cutter who is trying to come to grips with her mother’s past institutionalization.  Conner is the rich playboy who craves to be loved for who he is not what he’s done. Conner tries to gain this love by manipulating older women with his sexual magnetism.  Although the book may be a daunting 688 pages, teen readers will find the flow of the poetry effortless to read, and storyline often painful but surprising.

Remembering Raquel  Vivian Van Velde

In high school Raquel was the stereotypical wallflower, however upon her death everyone seems to have a story about her.  Remembering Raquel is told from the perspective of several characters who knew Raquel intimately and not so intimately.  As the novel unfolds the reader gets an insight of Raquel’s life through others perceptions of her often revealing the complexity of a person’s life through others eyes.

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Seventeen-year-old Alex Morales is left to fend for his two younger sisters after a meteor crashes into the moon.  At first they are able to survive on can foods and sporadic electicity. However, food begins to run scarce in New York due to the bad weather caused by the moon’s pull.  In addition, Alex’s sister Julie has contracted bronchitis which makes him reluctant to leave the city. However, after a plague hits the city Alex begins to realize that he must find a way to leave the city before they all perish. Pfeffer once again brings a compelling book about the strength of family in the midst of adversity.  Readers will not be able to put this book down, and will think about how they would survive in the depths of hell on earth.

*The main character in The Dead and the Gone is able to survive towards the end by bartering valuables for food.  Thus, after reading this book I began to think about bartering in a city setting that relies mostly on outside sources to provide produce. (This is especially true in Honolulu where almost all of our everyday neccessities are shipped in.) In relation to this check out Matt Kubo’s experimental project OffTheGrid: ActionFunUrbanSurvivalism, which will be part of the Eco/Logic exhibit. Heres a description of the  project:

My contribution to Eco/Logic is a performance/experiment of sorts. I will sustain myself by hunting, gathering, and gleaning in the Honolulu area. I will only allow myself to eat what I am able to find, hunt, or barter for. My tools will include a fruit picker, a fishing pole, and a knife. I plan to commute to field locations by foot and bike, which will be modified to carry my supplies and implements. Locations of successful hunting and gathering will be documented. Field interaction with the community will be paramount, this aspect will be given much consideration and space to evolve.

(http://matkubo.blogspot.com/2008/06/introduction.html)

in which I only read one YA novel. Two, if you count manga, since I did read Yakitate!! Japan vol. 10 (and is it just me, or did anyone else really want to try Azuma’s kamaboko bread?). All the other books I read were non-fiction and adult fiction. The rest of the month I spent watching sports on TV while I was sick and repeatedly listening to Bon Iver (to say I love For Emma, Forever Ago would be an understatement), Frightened Rabbit, and Santogold, with some Gutter Twins thrown in.

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper
The plot didn’t sound that interesting to me, but I decided to give it a try after realizing it was by the same author as The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney. Kate wins a Shakespeare essay contest, enabling her to spend part of her summer in Verona studying Shakespeare. There are only five other teens in the program, the two other American essay winners and three Italian teens, and their professor feels that answering letters that teens have written to Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet) would be a better way of studying the play than, you know, actually studying the play. A predictable, if enjoyable, book that reads a lot faster than its 400+ page length may initially lead you to believe.

Race: A History Beyond Black and White by Marc Aronson
I read this at the beginning of the month the night before it was due, so here’s what I can remember: Aronson attempts to explain the origins of the concept of race and how racism emerged from it. He definitely takes a historiographical view, with practically no psychological or anthropological perspective (okay, as someone who majored in psychology and anthropology, I’m biased), but I appreciated how he discussed his reasons for this early on in the book. While Aronson never convinced me of the relationship between anti-Semitism and racism, I still found his discussions of anti-Semitism extremely interesting. And I highly recommend this book. It covers an important topic in a conversational way, includes lots of pictures, and is meticulously footnoted (and the footnotes include Aronson’s thoughts on the works he’s citing and recommendations of which books are suitable for teens).

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann-Marie Fleming
I first learned of this book from Chasing Ray. I think it was the Chinese magician bit that initially drew my interest, but once I started reading, I was hooked. Ann-Marie Fleming discovers an old 16 mm film of her great-grandfather, Long Tack Sam. To Fleming’s amazement, she discovers Long Tack Sam was a famous magician. At a magic collector’s convention, she meets magicians who had seen Long Tack Sam perform, who had performed with him. As she puts it, “I didn’t know anything about that world, and suddenly, I’m introduced to all these magicians, who want to help me find the history of my great-grandfather, and their own history before it slips away.”

Fleming turned her search for information about Long Tack Sam into a documentary film. Using illustrations, photographs, and what I assume are stills from the documentary, she’s created a funny, fascinating, and touching memoir. More than just a compelling investigation into life of Long Tack Sam, it’s also a thoughtful examination of family and race. I rarely read memoirs, but really enjoyed this. Between the graphic format and the themes of family and identity running through the book, it will definitely appeal to teens. I don’t have a copy of it in my library yet, but I’m planning on buying one. I have a feeling it’d get lost on the shelves since it’s cataloged with books on magic in the 793s, but it has so much appeal to both adults and teens (it would be excellent for booktalking) that you would just need to briefly talk it up to people to get it into the hands of readers.

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
Definitely not a teen book, but readable and accessible enough for teens interested in the topic, including those who may have read Klein’s article in Rolling Stone. Klein’s thesis is that free market capitalism has used, and sometimes created, disasters to take advantage of shocked populations who would otherwise oppose the loss of land, public services and utilities, and nationalized industries to privatization. Hence Klein’s term “disaster capitalism.” Powerful and provoking stuff. I think the paperback is coming out this month, and I might just have to get a copy of it for myself because I didn’t have the time to reread it like I wanted to. (I was on the waiting list for months for this.)

Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman
I was originally going to write about this with my April roundup, even though I read it in May, because of Yrsa Sigurdadóttir’s Last Rituals, which I read in April. But that roundup started to get really long, so I cut the adult books. Anyway, a TV show that will air on basic cable is being produced in Baltimore. Tess is asked to watch the lead actress when the actress is not on set because of pranks that have occurred and, later, the murder of a producer’s assistant. I said last year that part of what makes Lippman so great is that she is so consistently good. I think if almost any other author had written this, I would have said it’s a really good book, but as it is, I consider it an average (though better than a lot of what else is out there) Tess book. Judging by reviews at online bookstores, I’m in the minority who thinks What the Dead Know was better than Another Thing to Fall. Though I do hope we see Mrs. Blossom in future books.

The reason I was going to write about it last month is that Yrsa Sigurdadóttir has written five children’s books, and in Publishers Weekly, Lippman said, “I sometimes think that I’m just a YA writer who lost my way.” She should totally write a YA book! I can’t be the only person who would read it. And teenage characters are an important part of a lot of her books already.

Nightkeepers by Jessica Andersen
I believe this is Andersen’s first single title, which makes it even more impressive. It’s long, but doesn’t feel padded. There’s a lot of plot and backstory, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It’s the first in a series, so while Andersen obviously lays the groundwork for future books in terms of the overarching plot, as far as the supporting characters go, there was not much sequel-baiting. And if I didn’t completely buy into Strike and Leah’s relationship (at least, not enough for Strike to risk such, well, apocalyptic catastrophe for it), I still finished the book exhilarated and feeling more excited about a romance novel than I’ve been in a while. I’ve already recommended this to a romance-reading library patron, which is something I never do. You know, because of that have not been very excited about any romance in ages thing. Now I just have to wait until NEXT YEAR! for the next book.

The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn
The thing about me and Julia Quinn is that, while I haven’t read all of her books and while I do tend to like the ones I’ve read, I never seem to like them as much as everyone else. So although I did enjoy The Lost Duke of Wyndham and felt that it was, in a way, her most mature book yet (though the most recent of her books I’ve read are Hyacinth’s and Colin/Penelope’s, so I could be wrong), I never moved beyond liking into really liking, or more, the book. Yes, Jack was charming. And, yes, Grace was admirable. But I found Thomas the most interesting. This is not so much a criticism of JQ’s writing as it is Thomas’ situation intriguing me. After all, Jack is not the first missing nobleman to be found, nor the first charming highwayman. But I can’t recall reading a romance about a displaced Duke before, especially one who was so prominent a part of a previous book.

How to be Bad (E Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle)

Written by three very talented young adult authors, How to be Bad is told through the perspective of three very different characters. Vicky is the resident “badass” of the group, Mel is the new girl in town who avoids being sterotyped by hiding her family’s wealth, and Jesse is a good christian girl who wants everyone to practice what she preaches. The three girls go on a road trip to visit Vicky’s estranged boyfriend in Miami.  Along the way they find out about each other and learn a lot about their friendship. Overall a great fun chick lit read, especially for summer! Also for more info on the book refer to Lockhart’s interview on this blog.

The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies (Lizabeth Zindel)

Like Girl of the Moment  Zindel once again focuses on the young elite of New York City.  After her parents divorce Maggie moves from Jersey to Manhatten to attend the all girls posh Berkley Prep.  At first Maggie is snubbed by the other girls due to her newbie status.  However, after sneaking into the popular clique’s party she is invited to join the most powerful secret society in school, The Revelers. The secret group is led by Victoria the most popular and wealthiest girl in school.  The main goal of The Revelers is to collect their classmates secrets and record them on a wall located in Victoria’s secret room. In the beginning Maggie is happy to be a part of the popular clique and is dazzled by The Revelers wealth and sophistication.  However, after Victoria forces her to perform a task that she feels is unethical Maggie begins to have second thoughts.  A great page turner and it reminded me of a smarter version of Mean Girls.

Gods of Manhatten (Scott Mebus)

Thirteen year old Rory Hennessy’s world changes once his eyes are opened to a secret world called Mannahatta, which is a spiritual world of Manhattan.  The city is made up of dead legends turned into gods, warrior roaches and their sidekick rats, and ancient Indians.  Rory must save the ancient Indians in order to save modern Manhattan.  At first glance, the premise for this book might sound exciting but it’s really not.  I found the endless historical references tedious and uninteresting and it felt like filler to make the story more exciting.   In addition, the gods who were former legends did not reflect the historical diversity of New York’s rich cultural history. Where was the Asian god of Chinatown or the Falafal god of hummus?  Fuse #8  does a better job on tallying up the ethnic count in this book.

 Truancy (Isamu Fukui)

Fifteen year old Tack is trying to survive in a world where the education board rules the city with an iron fist.  In this alternate world students live in a prison like society where children should be seen and not heard.   In the past when a student strayed from the educational system they were just given a slap on the hand. However, lately the board has begun to pass out death warrants to unruly students.  In addition,  a group of defected students called the Truancy are trying to take down the tyrannical government through terroistic violence.  Tack finds himself caught in the middle of it all after he joins the Truancy to avenge a family member’s demise.  It is in the hive of the Truancy where he meets Zyid the enigmatic leader of the group and the person who killed his family member. It’s hard to believe that Fukui was just fifteen years old when he wrote this book. The narrative in this book flows smoothly and Fukui is able to set up a world that is a commentary on society and what we could become if we let violence and a militaristic government take over.  I would describe this book as a cross between Lord of the Flies and less twisted version of Battle Royale.

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
As enjoyable as I find fairy tale retellings, I tend not to read them with much urgency. For me, familiarity with the source material often makes the retelling less compelling, more predictable. This was definitely not the case with A Curse Dark As Gold, which had me impatient, anxious, and racing through the pages to discover what would happen next. It’s not that there’s a lot of action, but the tension. Knowing that the story is based on Rumpelstiltskin actually made it more compelling as I wondered how Elizabeth C. Bunce would integrate the various motifs and characters of the fairy tale into her story.

Charlotte Miller is left to run her family’s financially troubled wool mill, Stirwaters, after the death of her father. Charlotte loves Stirwaters and understands how important it is to the village of Shearing. But no matter how hard she and her younger sister, Rosie, work, it seems as if they will lose the mill. Until a strange man calling himself Jack Spinner appears.

This is a fantastic book that deserves a full-length review, if only I could figure out how to write one that actually conveyed how good it is and how much appeal it has for both teens and adults. But it has been reviewed by a number of other bloggers, including Miss Erin, who also brought us this excellent interview, Bookshelves of Doom, and Teen Book Review, among others. Oh, and here’s another interview, this one with Elizabeth C. Bunce’s editor, Cheryl Klein.

The Swan Kingdom by Zoë Marriott
I have mixed feelings about the cover of this book. It does reflect the story well but there’s just waaaaay too much going on. Then again, maybe that makes it an even better match for the book itself, which is another fairy tale retelling (The Wild Swans). Not as good as A Curse Dark as Gold, partly due to the predictability factor, but also because there’s a bit too much going on, just like the cover. However, it is in some ways a more vibrant read than Curse, largely because of Marriott’s voice. And the cover is vibrant, too…

Anyway, Alexandra is devastated when her mother dies. Her father is also heartbroken, but one day he returns from a hunt with a strange woman, proclaiming his love for her and his intention to marry her. The woman, Zella, seems to have a mysterious ability to win over everyone in the kingdom except for Alexandra and her brothers. It’s a very dangerous ability since Alexandra’s father is the king and Zella’s desires have disastrous effects on the kingdom’s wealth, land, and the lives of Alexandra and her brothers.

I was probably trying to read too much into Marriott’s intentions, but in early parts of the book I did wonder if she was trying to make a statement about the environment and women’s roles in fairy tales. Then I decided that, yes, I was reading too much into it because if there was a message, it was getting very mixed.

Also reviewed at Scholar’s Blog.

Empire by James Laxer
Empire is part of the Groundwork Guides series of non-fiction. According to the publisher, “The Groundwork Guides provide an overview of key contemporary political and social issues. Engaging, concise and clearly written, these books tackle pressing and sometimes controversial topics, offering both a lively introduction to the subject and a strong point of view.”

This description definitely applies to Empire, which examines empires from the ancient world through the contemporary U.S. I found parts of it overly simplistic (especially the Red State/Blue State section in chapter 3, “The American Empire”—this was no Barack Obama 2004 Democratic convention speech—but at the same time it raised issues I hadn’t considered before), not surprising for a book so small and slim, and I don’t actually recall seeing a discussion of the French Empire in the section that was supposedly about British and French Empires. That said, it lived up to the concise, lively, and engaging billing. The author’s bias is obvious, but I thought it made the book more readable. (Although it probably didn’t hurt that I basically have the same point of view.) It’s Canadian, which gives it a slightly different perspective I appreciated, and while it’s exactly the kind of YA non-fiction I would have wanted to read as a teen, it won’t be flying of your shelves, either. Limited appeal, but solid stuff for those teens who are interested.