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As writers and illustrators the holiday season provides an opportunity to support the publishing industry by buying a few books as gifts for friends and family.

Goodreads announced their 2014 Readers Choice Awards. Click the picture below to review the nominees and the winners in all categories.

Here are 25 YA books that Epic Reads suggests for Adults. How many have you read?

Out of the books pictured above I have read 7 and have 4 bought and ready to be read.

Out of the 25 Adult Books for Fans of YA I have read 4 and 3 are waiting to be read.

From the books pictured above, I have read 23 and 12 are bought and waiting.

There are so many more wonderful books I have read this year. How many of these books did you read? Did you have a book that was your favorite? It doesn’t have to be pictured. I’d love you to share.

Oh, don’t forget the picture books: Each time you buy a picture book you support an illustrator and a writer with your purchase and the book you buy might be the book that puts a child on the path to enjoying books for the rest of their life.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2009. Audio: Brilliance Audio, narrated by Becky Wright. 2009. Reviewed from audiobook supplied by Brilliance.

The Plot: Anax is facing an incredibly difficult examination. She wants to enter the Academy; and is now facing three examiners, in her area of choice, history. Not the far history of the 21st century and the conflict, wars, plagues; not the founding of the isolated island, the Republic, but later, as society tried to adjust to its new way of living, a new civilization. In particular, her speciality is Adam Ford. Every schoolchild knows about Ford; but Anax believes she has a new, unique viewpoint. Will the Academy accept her?

The Good: A entire book that is one character's test to get into school?

Wow, exciting.

Except -- it is. Because it's a history none of us know, even though Anax knows it fully, and we are eager for each detail of her past, our future. An eccentric millionaire who knows enough to buy, populate, and control a remote island and who is called Plato! Can society really be changed by one man? And who is Adam Ford, why is he so important? Is Anax right, to see him in an entirely new light? Why does Ford's imprisonment with a robot matter?

If Anax questions the official history, is she proving herself worthy to the Academy? As we find out about the past and present, and try to figure out what is happening in this world -- discover a past where children would be killed if they weren't going to grow up the right way -- an isolated land that killed the refugees who tried to get there -- we begin to wonder, does Anax's different viewpoint put her at risk? Can she talk her way out of the danger?

Is Adam Ford a hero? A rebel? A murderer?

The entire book is Anax talking to the examiners; weaving bits of history, and her own story, together. Using original documents and holograph recreations to show her view of history. Battling anxiety and fear as the five hour examination continues.

A science fiction book that my be set in a utopia or a dystopia. It's hard to tell, as new things emerge in Anax's story. Along the way, philosophical and ethical questions are raised.

The narration is brilliant; Wright perfectly captures Anax's mix of confidence and questioning. When Anax plays back tapes, sound effects add to the overall mood.

Watchalike: because this is about Anax talking, I was reminded of My Dinner with Andre

Possible spoiler: the ending was extremely satisfying; I had my suspicions, as time went by, as to what Ford did and his impact on Anax's world. Your SF watchers and readers will be very satisfied, not only with the world Beckett creates but also the questions he raises. Also? While chock full of wonderful things, questions answered and unanswered, it is very short, just 150 pages. Short doesn't mean easy; it means concise, and each word, thought, statement matters.






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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. By Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. 2007. Copy supplied by publisher, Random House (imprint: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers).

The Plot:
Naomi and Ely are been best friends since forever; grade school, high school, and even college. Naomi loves Ely, Ely loves Naomi; Ely is gay, but that doesn't stop Naomi from believing that Ely, her best friend, is, well, the one. Despite the evidence to the contrary: gay, remember?

Naomi and Ely have a friendship preserving "no kiss" list; the cute doorman has just been added. Naomi didn't think she had to add Bruce the Second, her current boyfriend, to the list; wouldn't it be obvious?

But Ely kisses Bruce the Second. And it changes everything.

The Good:
Do girls like Naomi exist, for real? Both Naomi and Ely are New York City kids, thru and thru. Naomi is the gorgeous one: you can just imagine that the Eagles song is about her (city girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile.) She's gorgeous, all the guys fall for her, and she can seem like a total bitch.

But underneath -- Naomi is someone who has been betrayed and let down by almost everyone in her life. Everyone except for Ely. And then what does Ely do? Lets her down by kissing Bruce the Second. By falling in love with Bruce the Second. By falling in love with someone who isn't her. By having someone in his life who is more important than her.

Naomi is a hard girl to like; she can be a bitch. Hey, better to keep people away than to let hem hurt you. I'm not even sure I can say I like her; but do I understand her? Yes. And I'm intrigued that Cohn and Levithan took the risk of having such a hard person to like be at the heart of this book.

Also good: Cohn and Levithan did dual narrators in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist; here, there are multiple narrators, with Cohn and Levithan writing all voices. So we see people as they see themselves, as others see them; the masks they put on successfully, and the ones they don't realize they have on.

This is a book about the break up of a friendship; a friendship that is so close and tight, it didn't have room for anyone else. Oh, Naomi and Ely date others -- but their true loves and soulmates? Are each other. Naomi half realizes it, keeping boys at arms length (she's still a virgin); Ely has had many boyfriends, but it's all short, hot, romances, no real love. Naomi and Ely -- had this book been set in high school, ah, it would have been full of nights out and shared clothes and everyone in school half in awe, half in love with them. A world where NaomiandEly are one word, and they are the it couple who are not a couple. But can that intensity be maintained beyond high school? Should it?

Can that type of friendship survive growing up? Falling in love with someone else? No matter how glam and sexy and smart Naomi and Ely are together -- they are too close. They just don't realize it; until Ely kisses Bruce the Second. And Naomi begins to realize -- not that yes, Ely is really gay and so will never by her first lover or husband; but that yes, Naomi cannot be the most important person in Ely's life forever. And a girl who has been let down by her parents -- well, to Naomi, once she is no longer the most important person in Ely's life, its as if she is no longer the most important person in anyone's life. That's a lonely, cold place.

All too often, in teen books and movies and TV, there is friendship message that, well, friends are and will be BFF no matter what, if they just want to be. They ignore the reality that it is a healthy thing to grow up and perhaps apart; and to let in new people. It's refreshing to see this book address that; and to do so in a way where there are no good guys or bad guys, just flawed and very human teens trying to figure out who they are and what they want and who they want to be.

Other goods: While this is a book about breaking up, it's also a book about falling in love: Ely and Bruce the Second. And it's about Naomi being in love with Ely, and fighting against falling in love with someone who is a bit more available.

Final point: I heard David Levithan read a chapter of this in October. He is a fabulous speaker.

And, yes, it's one of my personal best books this year.

Links:
Kids Lit review
Propernoun review
sea heidi write review
emilyreads haiku
avenging sybil review
worth the trip review
2nd Gen Librarian review

Adios to My Old Life by Caridad Ferrer is the 2007 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Single Title!

The RITA Awards are sponsored by the Romance Writers of America, and it is the romance-publishing industry's highest award of distinction.

And, Adios to My Old Life is a YA title. How cool is that?

Thanks to Smart Bitches, who posted about this book winning. And, apparently, in the Romance world there is a bit of discussion about whether a YA title should have won. I don't know the history of the award or the criteria, but I found the comments very interesting. A lot of discussion (most of it polite & respectful) about what is YA? and what is romance? And is it possible or impossible for a book to be both YA and romance?

I haven't read the book yet; but overall, I think yes, a book can be both YA and romance. I am disappointed by many YA books called "romance" because there is no HEA (that's a new acronym I just learned, it's the Happy Ever After. Love it!) and I think a romance needs HEA. I think YA is a big umbrella, and contains romance, science fiction, horror, etc. Any possible genre can be found in YA (which, btw, is why I don't like using the word "genre" for YA; I don't see it as a genre, but as an age range.)

So I'm looking forward to reading this book, especially since this win makes me strongly suspect I'll get my HEA!

Links
Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels review
Latina YA review
Little Willow/Bildungsroman review & interview

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. Copy from author. Cybils short list 2006. Newbery Honor. My Best Books For 2006 (sidebar).

The Plot: It's 1918; Hattie Brooks is 16; she's an orphan, shuttled from relative to relative. When she finds out that an uncle she didn't know about has died and left her his homestead claim in Montana, she resolves to go, prove the claim, and create a home for herself.

The Good: I adored Hattie Big Sky. And at this point, I do think I am officially the last blogger to review it.

When I read this back in the fall, I immediately wanted to pass it along to everyone -- not only does this work for teens, but for younger kids reading up and for adults. One of the ladies I work with came into the library raving about it, saying how it's the first time in a long time she stayed up late reading, and crying. And refused to believe it's a teen book, much less a kids book.

And that shows just how amazing a title this is -- that it can work for multiple readers. I imagine sixth graders reading this, then rereading it ten years later and marveling at the things they didn't pick up on earlier. There is nothing objectionable for younger readers; yet at the same time, there is a lot going on, from politics to depth of character to motivation, that is best appreciated by older readers.

Hattie is alone in her struggle, alone as she has been all her life. Except she's not. She has neighbors who become friends; including a warm, loving German family. Remember the year. World War I is raging, sons have left to fight in the war, sacrifices are being made for the war effort, and a family that speaks German is not popular, to say the least. But this family reaches out to Hattie, and she discovers that family can be people who are not bound to you by blood.

I love the details -- we know exactly how much Hattie has in the bank, how much things cost, we add and subtract and hold our breath, hoping it will work out. $400 is a lot of money -- will it be enough? How can a teenage girl earn more?

The language is wonderful: "The stew tasted of sage and carrots and hope."

Now for some spoiler stuff.

1918 is also the year of the Influenza Epidemic. So the flu visits Hattie and her friends. And yes -- there is a death. I cried, hating the death. But the death had to happen. One of my great grandmother's sons died from the flu; she was pregnant with her last child and just buried her husband. Death happens, it's not fair, and it would have been a lie not to have a death. But man, it tore my heart out.

The ending was note perfect: Hattie starts out wanting to create a home by proving up her claim. She sacrifices, counts pennies, learns to build fences and plant. And at the end of the book, she has create a "home", a sense of belonging -- but not in the way she thought.

And some more spoiler stuff.

S
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You see, Hattie doesn't prove her claim up. Not only that; she ends up in debt. But Hattie has hope; and while some people mock books that end with hope, I love hope that is realistic and earned. Hattie has a sense of belonging now, a sense of home, because of the friends she has made. She doesn't stay with them -- she has to go off on her own to make money to pay down her debts -- but Hattie realizes that if you have people in your heart, if you have people who care about you, that it all that matters.

I cried. I adored it. And that is why it's a book for grown ups. Because by traditional standards she has lost: she has no home, is in debt, is separated from friends and loved ones. Yet in her heart she has won. "Though I should feel a total failure, my time on the prairie has branded this hope on my hear: next year it will be better." And I think I love this book, and Hattie, and Kirby Larson, because that is my own hope.

Links:
My interview with Kirby Larson at The Edge of the Forest.
Bildungsroman/Little Willow interview.
Bildungsroman / Little Willow review.
Newbery and Caldecott medals awarded in Seattle (SeattlePI.com)
Deliciously Clean Reads review.
The Longstockings: About Hattie
Swarm of Beasts review.
AmoxCalli review
Jen Robinson's review
A Fuse #8 Production review
Miss Erin review
bookshelves of doom review

Dramarama by E. Lockhart. Reviewed from ARC.

The Plot: Sadye and her best friend, Demi, have been accepted to the summer drama camp at Wildewood Summer Institute. Sadye (well, technically Sarah, but Sadye is so much better, don't you think?) knows that this will be the best summer of her life, in part because it's getting her out of Brenton, Ohio.

But things don't turn out the way Sadye had hoped. What happens when your whole life is about pursuing a dream -- and you find out that you don't have what it takes?

How much worse is it when your best friend does have what it takes?

The Good:

This is going on my best books of 2007 list.

Sadye had been Sarah, living a boring life, wanting something more, and then she met Demi during the auditions for the drama camp and they instantly click. Before, Sadye loved musicals and drama; and the week before she meets Demi, she gets a new haircut and a new wardrobe, turning herself into someone who (she thinks) is more glam, more drama, less suburban mall. And then she meets Demi and her life falls into place.

Demi loves theatre, loves musicals, and is gay; his parents know, but he's not really accepted. Demi is never going to be able to be himself in his small town; and while Sadye feels like she doesn't fit in in Ohio, Demi really doesn't fit in.

And so, we saved each other, if you can call it saving when it takes the form of body glitter and cast albums and singing "Hot Lunch" in the back of a public bus.
And so, my life was no longer razzle-dazzle deprived but utterly fabulous -- as long as I was with Demi.

Brenton, Ohio is not -- needless to say -- a place where to musical-loving drama kids fit in. At Wildewood, for the first time ever, they find a place where they fit.

Except, spoiler time here, it turns out not to be so true for Sadye. It's a tough realization: she wants to be "The Star" and at best she's in the chorus. It's a hard reality* to face, made tougher as Demi shines. Demi has what it takes to live his dream; and Sadye has to deal with losing hers. Needless to say, Demi increasingly feels "at home" in Wildewood as Sadye feels increasingly the outsider. Can their friendship take this stress?

This is a fascinating look at friendship; how much was Demi's friendship with Sadye based on his loneliness? A loneliness that no longer exists? What about Sadye, left behind, without even a dream?

OK, obviously that's the part that really captured me. But what is great is that all this is happening while at drama camp; so for both Demi and Sadye their is the exhilarating power of freedom and independence (remember your first time away from home, whether summer camp or college), including the freedom to find yourself and be yourself. Add to it the fact that it's a golden time when the biggest worry was love, friendship and happiness? Yes, they are big worries... but it's worries taking place during that time where you don't have to worry about rent/mortgage/food/work. It's almost bliss.

Also good: the mix of friendship and competition. All these students have so much in common; almost too much in common, because only one person can get a role.

Also good: the powerful and pure emotions of love and jealousy.

And finally, the music. If you love musicals, you'll love this book, the songs, the references, it's a pleasure and you find yourself humming and singing along. And digging out old CDs or downloa

Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen, Jeanne d'Arc Umubyeyi. Translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford.

The Plot: A work of fiction about the Rwandan Genocide; based on what happened to the author's adopted daughter, who at age eight survived the Rwandan Genocide.

The Good: My immediate reaction to this book is best summed up: Horrible, horrible, horrible. Where to hide? Nowhere.

Jeanne is eight at the time of the genocide; the book begins with Jeanne at age six, and while at first I thought "this is slow, why," I soon realized that this served several purposes, including as a memorial to a way of life and an extended family that was brutally ended. When the slaughter starts we "know" Jeanne's family. And the loss and horror is much more than if the book had begun on the day the killings started, with the family members only names.

Eight. Think about that. You know an eight year old; protected, perhaps spoiled, watched, loved, supervised. Just like Jeanne. Think about the kids you know who are eight; and watching mother, sister, brother, murdered, yet somehow getting up, walking, searching, going on.

And that child not just living; not just surviving; but creating a full life for herself. Over a Thousand Hills contains short flash-forward chapters of Jeanne in Germany, now a teenager, with loved ones, mourning but also laughing. As the machetes fall, they serve to remind the reader, this one child makes it. Babies didn't survive; people killed their own nephews in the name of tribal purity; adults died; yet this child got up, walked, was buffeted around, lived.

As with Deogratias, this is a must read. It's a good compliment to Deogratias, since Over A Thousand Hills provides so much day to day detail on life, and more background information about what was happening. And, in all honesty? Deogratias is about how people are broken by events; Over A Thousand Hills shows a child who refuses to be broken.

Why is this a YA book? Why not adult, since the point of view of Jeanne's adoptive mother is included? Jeanne may be ages six to eight, but this isn't a child's book; it's not just the subject matter, and length, but it's also the words, the framework, the voice. Not a children's book. But there's something about how the story is framed by those short chapters in the present, of Jeanne as a teenager, that add to this feeling YA-ish.

One thing that is shown very well is "that moment"; the point in time when people realize that they can no longer cling to the pretense of normalcy. That life has changed. The nightmare is permanent. And, with Jeanne's parents, the moment when hope is lost.

And the details.... the father trying to hide with his children, yet knowing it is just a temporary respite. That was the worst; realizing that there was no place to hide, no place to run to. I am haunted by the image of the father, hiding in brush, with his daughter, and another child who he has somehow picked up, minutes after his wife and daughter have been killed; and the murderers getting closer; and this man paying for a few more hours of life for this small band of people. Handing over money and things of value, knowing that more people will come and that nothing will be left to buy these lives for another hour, and seriously -- they are surrounded. There is no where to go. No one to trust.

While it has nothing to do with the substance of the story, I also liked that the author is German and this book is a translation from German; that Jeanne's safe haven was Germany. Because sometimes YA and children's books are a little too American-centric; I know that part of the reason is that the true story is a child adopted by a German family, but seriously -- look at Sold, a great book where the child is saved by an American. Almost every book published in the US about emigration from a homeland to a "new life" has those people go to the US. I understand why this happens; but it's not entirely accurate. It's refreshing to read something so not US-centric, and that shows lives in other countries (not just Rwanda, but also Germany.)

The quote that stays with me: "Only at the very worst moment can you tell friend from foe." Jeanne lives because of friends and foes who for no known reason don't kill her. Her survival is random; but it's also due to the strength of spirit.

Links:

My review of Deogratias, including links about the Rwandan Genocide and the current atrocities in Darfur.
Talking with Hanna Jansen (PDF) (at author's site).
Propernoun review.
Left to Tell : Discovering God Amidst the Rwaandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza, an autobiography about a college student who survives physically by hiding in a small bathroom with many other women; and survives mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by faith, including coming to a place of forgiveness.

Bloodsong by Melvin Burgess, sequel / companion to Bloodtide. Copy supplied by publisher. The first image is the UK version; the second is the US version. Review based on uncorrected book proof.

The Plot: Sigurd is born to be a hero; and Bloodsong begins with Sigurd facing the classic hero quest: slay the dragon.

The Good: Loved it. A Best Book for 2007.

Bloodtide and Bloodsong are set in a future that's barely recognizable. It's a post--apocalyptic world that is as bloody and brutal as anything out of the medieval past. It's a world of death and violence. Science has made magic real; with cloning and machines, and "magic rings" studied under microscopes.

Yet magic is not lost; gods such as Odin and Loki are real (or are they the result of some high tech machine?) For example, Sigurd says he is born to do great things: "You think I'm arrogant; I'm not. I was made for this -- literally. My father designed me for it. Every gene in my body was picked for this purpose. My mother brought me up for it; the gods shaped me as the keystone for this time and place. It's no credit to me. I have less choice than anyone." Magical swords coexist with people that are part pig and part dog because of DNA manipulation.

Bloodsong is about adventure; love; greatness; weakness. It is bloody and violent and heartless. And it's realistic, in the sense that things don't always work out they way you think they should or the way you want them to. Bloodsong takes some unexpected twists and turns, changing the story entirely. I never knew what was going to happen next, which is refreshing. And it's why I won't tell anything of the plot beyond Sigurd is off to slay a dragon.

Burgess often shifts POV; mixing it up, so sometimes it's first person, other times third person, and it's not consistent. It's a bit unsettling at first; but it works because it means that, despite the UK cover ("one hero. one kingdom. one chance to make it his own"), there is no one hero; we see Sigurd's view of himself, as well as how others view him; we get into the heads of all the characters, as well as seeing them more objectively. Which makes the violence, the betrayals, the hope and lost hope all the more real and all the more heart-shattering.

The US cover says "a legacy's final heir. a country's only hope." As mentioned above, Burgess provides a slick mix of Sigurd being the heir and the hope not just because the gods say so, but also because Sigurd himself has been genetically engineered to be heir and hope.

Do you have to read Bloodtide to read Bloodsong? No; I read Bloodtide when it first came out and had forgotten much of the details. While I want to reread it, I didn't have the time. No worries; while there are some connections I may have missed, for the most part Bloodsong stands alone. Actually, anyone reading Bloodtide expecting a true sequel may be disappointed; Bloodsong does not continue the story of Bloodtide, but rather tells the story of Sigurd, son of Sigmund, one of the characters in Bloodtide. It's like first reading the story of Henry II and then reading a book about Richard I.

While my copy of Bloodsong didn't mention it, these books are based on the Volsunga Saga. Many of the names are the same; others are close: Sigurd is a Volson, for example. Those of you familiar with the saga will be less surprised than I at the twists and turns of Sigurd's story, and instead will take greater enjoyment at how that story is reborn, retold and reimagined.

Links, all of which refer to the source material so all are highly spoilerific
The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga)
More on the Volsunga saga.
Interview with author. (video interview)