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Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Illustrated by Keith Thompson. Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Publication Date October 2009. Reviewed from ARC from BEA.

The Plot: Prince Aleksander, 15, is the only child of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. He is awaken in the middle of the night and flees the palace; his parents have been murdered and, while he is not a direct heir, his life is in danger. Alek is a "clanker" -- part of the world that is all about machines.

Deryn Sharp, also 15, is pretending to be a boy named Dylan to get a chance to fly with the British Air Service. But she's not learning how to fly machines. Deryn is a "Darwinist" -- the part of the world that has created living creatures to fly, to use for messages, as pets.

The assassination of Alek's parents starts a World War. As Alek runs for his life, and Deryn finds danger and adventure on the flying living ship Leviathan, their paths grow closer and closer.

The Good: If you know what "steampunk" is, skip forward in the review. If you don't, here it is, quickly: alternate universe science fiction, set in the past, with fantastical machines; a glorified Victorian age, as it were. OK, yes, I'm sure others have better explanations but that is my quick one. The ARC of Leviathan provides a definition; and while it may just be there for reviewers like me, I hope it stays for readers who may not have heard of "steampunk" and just need that brief explanation. From the ARC: "Steampunk is a genre of science fiction set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used -- usually the nineteenth century, and often set in Victorian-era England -- but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions."

I know what steampunk is; but I haven't really read much of it. For someone like me -- so, I assume, many kids and teens -- this works as a great introduction into steampunk. And if you want to recommend some other steampunk titles to me, please do so.

Westerfeld uses two types of technological inventions. In the Austro-Hungary Empire/Germany, it's about mechanics and machines, all more developed and different from what was in our timeline. For example, instead of tanks with tractor treads there are "walkers", fortified tank-like structures that "walk". In the British Empire and France, instead of mechanical technology, it's scientific technology, with Darwin not being the father of evolution but the father of DNA manipulation, the creation of entirely new creatures for things such as flying airships and messenger lizards and attack bats. One can quickly see that philosophy is involved here, also; making with ones hands versus playing with life.

What also works well is Thompson's illustrations. Both the clankers and Darwinists have machines and creatures we've never heard of; instead of Westerfeld wasting words with trying to describe them (and losing people like me who would be all "um. ok. let's skip to action and dialogue, ok?") we get to actually see what these machines look like (OH, we think, that's how big it is, there are the turrets, that is how it works).

Alek may be a Prince; he may be rich; but right now he's a teenager on the run, and because his father married someone beneath him, Alek cannot inherit. That doesn't mean Alek is ignored with his father's death. Far from it, which is why right now he's adjusting to life without servants. Alek is always sympathetic, even as he does impulsive things. With Alek, we are hunted, staying one step ahead of bigger ships, plunging through forests in a sweaty, noisy walker.

Meanwhile, Deryn is full of adventures, trying so hard to be the boy she pretends to be. She embraces it, charging into danger, having to be the best. We are flying in the sky, enjoying the freedoms, trying not to let it slip that she's a girl, thrilling to battles with aeroplanes.

Alek and Deryn are on two distinct adventures; the reader knows that ultimately they will overlap, because hello, we cannot have two heroes in one book who never meet! It's not till the book is halfway through that we get that meet and greet; before then, we get to know and sympathize with two very different people (and look forward to the meeting.) And yes, the meeting is everything a reader wants. By that point, we are cheering both teens, sympathize with both the clankers and the Darwinists, and wonder how the heck two such opposites can get along.

Westerfeld's end note explains some of the historical changes in this alternate history; for example, that Franz Ferdinand and Sophie didn't leave behind a fifteen year old son named Aleksander. They did leave behind three young children, Sophie, Maximilian, and Ernst; and according to Wikipedia, in the 1930s they were living in Austria, opposed the Nazis, and ended up in Dachau. I cannot find much more than that online; except all three survived. If anyone can recommend a book that covers this in more detail, I'd appreciate it.

Back on topic.

A great adventure pick; and a great book for science fiction readers who don't want fantasy (i.e., unicorns and elves), thank you very much. If a dragon shows up here, it's going to be man-made and engineered. This is book for younger teens; but older teens will enjoy it, also.

Why younger teens? Easy. When a teenage girl is pretending to be a boy and never worries about her period? It's a book that is being marketed to the younger set.

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

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. October 2009. Reviewed from ARC from publisher.

The Plot: Nora Grey's entire life shifts when her biology teacher switches the seating chart, moving her best friend Vee to the other side of the room and instead putting new student, Patch Cipriano, in the seat next to her.

From that moment on, nothing is the same; nothing can be trusted. Not Patch, that's for sure. Not her best friend, Vee, who is hanging out with two boys, Elliot and Jules, that Nora doesn't trust no matter how cute (and rich) they are. Nora cannot even trust her own feelings or memories. Is what she is feeling for Patch real? Why are so many odd things happening in her life? Why does Vee see nothing wrong in Elliot and Jules' odd behaviour? And who is Patch?

The Good: You know, I dislike spoilers as much as the next person. But considering the COVER of Hush, Hush shows a man losing his wings; considering the first chapter is set in the Loire Valley, France, 1565, and involves a young man named Chauncey Duc Langeais who is mind-controlled by a fallen angel; and, well... It's very hard for me not to just SAY IT.

OK. There is a character in this book who is a fallen angel. If you consider that a spoiler, for the love of Mike, don't watch the video about this book at the publisher's website.

Ahem. Moving on.

I loved the dynamics between Patch and Nora. Nora is pretty self assured, and from the start Patch just gets under her skin. And annoys her. So, of course, we know she is falling for him. But Holy Hannah, who wouldn't? Here is Nora's first meeting Patch: "His black eyes sliced into me, and the corners of his mouth tilted up. My heart fumbled a beat and in that pause, a feeling of gloomy darkness seemed to slide like a shadow over me. It vanished in an instant, but I was still staring at him. His smile wasn't friendly. It was a smile that spelled trouble. With a promise."

Nora is drawn to Patch -- attracted yet knowing something isn't quite right. Things start to go weird; while driving her friend's car, she hits a man in a ski mask who then attacks her, destroying the car door. Yet when she takes Vee out to see the damage, the car is good as new. More incidents pile up; and it's connected somehow to Patch. But what is it? Should she fear him? Or trust him?

Obviously, a fallen angel is involved. So there is danger. But who is it Nora needs to fear? Is it those who are new in her life, or those who she has always known?

If you like a quick resolution and people finding out things right away? Be prepared. Fitzpatrick makes us wait 250 pages (!250!) before Nora figures out what is going on. Before that, it's 250 pages of flirtation/ frustration/ action/ danger/ flirtation/ hotness. Because of the structure of the book (the prologue) the reader is one step ahead of Nora, in that the reader knows something supernatural is going on. Nora, however, doesn't have the benefit of cover or prologue knowledge so she resists the idea that something odd -- something not normal -- is happening in her life. But once Nora begins to put the pieces together and starts to believe the unbelievable -- it's another 70 pages (again, with hotness, flirtation, heat, and action) until "the reveal" takes place and the truth is learned (not THAT kind of action. Jeesh. Take your mind OUT of the gutter, Hush, Hush manages to be hot with just glances, touches, wanting....)

As I said, there is also action; things happen, it's not all Nora and Patch trading heated looks. There is also humor; or at least things I thought were funny. Here is Nora, introducing her protective mother to the hot-looking obviously bad-boy Patch: "'This is Patch,' I said, racking my brain for something that would bring the pleasantries to an abrupt halt. But the only things I could think of were screaming Fire! or faking a seizure. Somehow, both seemed more humiliating than braving a conversation between Patch and my mom."

Along with that is language studded with clues or references to what is going on: gloom is described as resembling "escaped and wandering spirits." Which, it turns out, also describes fallen angels. And then there is another quote that I cannot say here because it will be a spoiler. Um, I guess it may be safe to say someone gives someone else the nickname of Angel.

Who will like this? Teens looking for horror; teens looking for romance.

Fitzpatrick has a great website up, including the story behind writing Hush Hush. Be warned; there be spoilers. But it's a fascinating look at the process.

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

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor. Illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo. Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. October 2009. Reviewed from ARC; ARC from BEA.

The Plot: Three stories that hinge on a kiss. In Goblin Fruit, Kizzy wants to be someone different, somewhere different, she wants to be kissed; In Spicy Little Curses Such As These, Ana wants to be loved and accepted; and in Hatchling, Esme is haunted by memories that are not her own.

The Good: In Goblin Fruit, Kizzy is a girl who should know better. Her people are well aware that goblins are real, even though they live in the modern world and Kizzy knows that ghosts are real. Kizzy wants -- wants what? She wants. And the new boy in school, who is so fine, who seems to want her, may be the answer to her prayers. Taylor takes Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market a step further in time. Fruit out of season may be a clue that the goblin is tempting you; but there are more temptations than fruit.

Ana is cursed at her christening in Spicy Little Curses Such As These. In this twist of Sleeping Beauty, her curse is to kill. Any who hears her voice will die. She is blessed with self-control to never utter a sound. James falls in love with Ana, Ana with James. The battle fields of the Great War taught him to be rational and not believe in miracles and magic. He doesn't believe in curses and wishes she would talk. And instead of the reader being rational and believing as James does, we see what he doesn't. A world where an old lady engages in dangerous trades to save children from Hell and Ana's voice is the price paid.

In Hatchling, Esme has been raised in London by an eccentric mother. Her mother's oddness suddenly makes sense, or at least seems less odd, when Esme awakes to find that instead of two brown eyes she has one brown, one blue. Wolves are hunting them and Esme remembers things she know never happened. At least, never happened to her. Including a kiss. Who is Esme? What secrets does she hold?

I love the twists to tales that Taylor gives; taking Goblin Market to modern times. Creating a Sleeping Beauty who can kill with a whisper -- or a shout. And lastly, a story that seems to be about Esme -- until we find out there is more to Esme than meets the eye.

I kept turning down pages to mark language and phrases:

"The goblins want girls who dream so hard about being pretty their yearning leaves a palpable trial, a scent goblins can follow like sharks on a soft bloom of blood. The girls with hungry eyes who pray each night to wake up as someone else. Urgent, unkissed, wishful girls."

"She wanted to climb out of her life as if it were a seashell she could abandon on a shore and walk away from, barefoot."

"Kizzy felt, for an instant, as if her blood fizzed inside her like champagne."

"Once, he might have believed [his survival] to be the work of Providence, but it seemed to him now that to thank God for his life would be to suggest God had shrugged off all the others, flicked them away like cigarette butts by the thousands, and that seemed like abominable conceit."

Since this an ARC, it didn't have the complete art work. The cover gives a taste. While these are tales about being kissed, or wanting kisses, or the price of kissing, it is not a "romance", per se, though I would give it to people looking for stories about love. Since it's not a traditional romance, then, it doesn't have a traditional romance cover. Rather, the girl you see is one who looks haunted and who will haunt you. Two colors: red and blue. Blue eyes that are striking -- almost disturbing. Otherwordly. And of course the lips are red -- but not smiling. Full, kissable lips -- but not smiling, not inviting, not happy. This is the face of a girl turning into a woman, haunted, haunting, striking, inviting you in yet keeping you at arm's length.

The sketch art for the first story is supplied, relating in pictures the story of Rossetti's Goblin Wood and ending with a portrait of Kizzy. Loved it; and I cannot wait to see the finished book.

What links these stories? Teen girls on a brink -- on a brink of something else, something more.


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

Liar by Justine Larbalestier. Bloomsbury USA. October 2009. Reviewed from ARC. Copy from publisher.

The Plot: Micah is a senior in high school. She lies. She knows she has to stop; and on page one of Liar, she promises to tell you her whole story with no lies.

Micah tells you about herself, her school, Zach (the senior who just went missing), her family. And she tells you the truth. Except when she is lying. She cannot help herself; it's not just a bad habit, it's something she inherited. Her father, she tells us, is also a liar. And with the family illness that got passed down to her, she is almost forced to lie.

But reader... she'll tell you the truth. Or, at least, admit when she's lied. Or when she lies about the lie.

What is true? When can you believe a liar?

And what happened to Zach?

The Good:

Larbalestier creates such a sense of foreboding -- of impending doom -- that the reader can almost taste it. Something bad has happened. Something bad will happen. What is it? What secrets have turned Micah into such a liar? As Micah says, "Weaving lies is one thing; having them weave you is another."

Then, suddenly, half way through the book, Micah shares it. Her secret. The reason she lies. Suddenly, it makes sense. All the clues are there for the reader to figure it out. Finally, the reader can breathe easier. Now we know. We know and we can trust again. And the book shifts to mystery, a different type of suspense, the tone changing dramatically, as Micah tries to figure out what happened to Zach, and, now that she's being honest with us, her role in it.

Except.... is she telling the truth?

First person narrators aren't always unreliable. Sometimes, they are used to make something more immediate, to create a stronger connection between reader and story. At other times, such a narrator may not know the whole story, and the reader, wiser, more removed, is supposed to know more, see more, and to figure things out before the narrator. And sometimes...they play with us. They know the story. They decide what parts to tell us. Or not tell us.

Here, the narrator lies.

Micah lets us know, up front: Lies. Liar. And at the end of the book, the question for the reader becomes -- when do you believe Micah? When do you not? And what does that say about you?

Larbalestier's writing is brilliant; Micah's voice seduces us, tricks us, makes us want to believe in her, yet we are also afraid, unsure, uncertain. We know her; her school; her family. Or do we? Just how good a job does Larbalestier do? While I know Micah is manipulating me, the reader -- I never feel like Larbalestier, the author, is.

The wonder of this book, the beauty with how it is crafted, demands that you, as the reader, do not say "Rosebud was a sled" to people who haven't read this book. Wait until they are done; find a secure, sound proof room; and then talk away, about Liar and Micah and Zach.

Links:

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The Original US Cover:

My post, Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover, pretty much sums up my opinion of the controversy. As a quick recap, the image to the left of a white teen was originally planned for the US cover. This created a lot of controversy (see my link above), and ended up being resolved by the publisher creating a new cover, the one you see at the top of this post.

I'll add this: I still believe there is a larger issue here. If publishers and bookstores truly believe that books with people of color on the cover (or books about people of color) don't sell, the easy way to counter that opinion is to buy, read, review, display, and book talk all books. It's a business; and if the sales and money show the publishers and bookstores a different reality, they'll believe it.





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

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor. Illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo. Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. October 2009. Reviewed from ARC; ARC from BEA.

Three stories that hinge on a kiss. In Goblin Fruit, Kizzy wants to be someone different, somewhere different, she wants to be kissed; In Spicy Little Curses Such As These, Ana wants to be loved and accepted; and in Hatchling, Esme is haunted by memories that are not her own.

I love the twists to tales that Taylor gives; taking Rossetti's Goblin Market to modern times. Creating a Sleeping Beauty who can kill with a whisper -- or a shout. And lastly, a story that seems to be about Esme -- until we find out there is more to Esme than meets the eye.

The language is haunting and memorable. "She wanted to climb out of her life as if it were a seashell she could abandon on a shore and walk away from, barefoot."

What links these stories? Teen girls on a brink -- on a brink of something else, something more.

Twitter Review.

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

Liar by Justine Larbalestier. Bloomsbury USA. October 2009. Reviewed from ARC. Copy from publisher.

Micah is a liar. She tells you so right on page one: "My father is a liar and so am I." And on the same page, she says: "I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions." Micah is a senior. Zach, another senior, has gone missing. Micah may (or may not) have been dating him. Micah may (or may not) have been the last person to see him. Micah is a liar...and you're never sure when she's telling the truth. Does Micah even know what is true? What is a lie? And what has happened to Zach?

Without giving anything away (and leaving my full review for closer to the publication date), I will also add: this is a wonderful tale of suspense, with multiple mysteries, and a sense of foreboding and doom in the first half of the book that you can practically taste. It is not only being added to my Favorite Books Read in 2009 list; it's also going on my list of books I think are potential award winners.

Post that made me read this book: from Librarilly Blonde.

Teaser: A mini post about a book I've read that won't be published for several months. The full review will be posted closer to the publication date.

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