YA Fiction

YALLWEST Youth and Young Adult Book Festival In Santa Monica April 30 – May 1

YALLWEST 2016
YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULT BOOK FESTIVAL

YALLWEST_Logo

Don’t miss the amazing line up of authors who’ll be in Santa Monica for this year’s YALLWEST, April 30 through May 1st.

Have fun seeing all your faves while helping a great cause, our schools! RAINBOW ROWELL (giving the Saturday opening keynote), VERONICA ROTH, and RANSOM RIGGS, MELISSA DE LA CRUX, MARGARET STOHL will appear, with MARIE LU & TAHEREH MAFI to co-chair and SANA AMANAT to debut a new track of creatives of different mediums. Following a Friday, April 29th Preview Night at the Santa Monica Main Library, YALLWEST will span the weekend of April 30th – May 1st and will include 60 panels and more than 100 authors, including 62 bestsellers. More than 10,000 teens and people of all ages are expected to attend, so join the festivities. A portion of book sale proceeds will go to school libraries in the Santa Monica Malibu School District, as well as hundreds of books to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. YALLWEST remains largely free and open to the public. Mark your calendars now.

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YALLWEST 2015 Attendees – Photos by Gina Clyne Photography (@ginaclyne)

 

There will be so much going on for readers including a new Story/Makers panel track, the Middle Grade Storyball, the YA Smackdown variety show and lots more!

Click here to check out the author appearance schedule
from the festival’s website.

Click here if you’ve got questions.

Request tickets here.

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Glass Sword (Red Queen, Volume 2) by Victoria Aveyard

GLASS SWORD
Red Queen; Volume number 2
by Victoria Aveyard
(HarperTeen; $19.99, Ages 14 and up)

 

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Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is the next installment of her riveting series Red Queen. The story picks up right where we left off in the previous book. Mare and Cal are now fugitives, having fought their way out of their own executions. Maven, now king after using his mother’s power to force Cal to kill his own father, is in pursuit of Mare and Cal aided by his entire army and a society of Silvers, who have been manipulated to believe in his lies. Mare realizes that the only way to win this fight is to find others like her, those they call “new bloods.”

Aveyard brings in a little bit of an X-Men feel as the “new bloods” are slowly found. They are Reds with Silver abilities but are stronger than the Silvers themselves. They learn how to control and use their powers while preparing for war against Maven. However, Mare is constantly torn between her need to save others, her own self-doubt, and the betrayal that surrounds her. Two things are always constant in this book, lives are always at stake and you never know whom to trust. As Julian, Mare’s former teacher and Cal’s uncle, said repeatedly in Mare’s lessons, “Anyone can betray anyone,” and this mantra remains true as the story progresses.

Mare is searching for the new bloods, but Maven is too, so every venture out to find them is a risk of her life and that of her team. Maven sets trap after trap in order to catch the new bloods and, more importantly, to try and catch Mare. Throughout the novel, the relationship between Mare and Cal is ever intriguing, but it’s not clear what their future holds. This book is hardly predictable, but the one entirely foreseeable element is betrayal, right up until the end. It will be tough to wait an entire year to see what happens next, but I will be on the edge of my seat, eagerly awaiting the next book and what is sure to be an exciting conclusion.

  • Reviewed by Krista Jefferies

Click here to read Krista’s review of Red Queen.

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Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

REBEL OF THE SANDS
Written by Alwyn Hamilton
(Viking BYR; $18.99, Ages 12 and up)

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Join the rebellion!

Rebel of the Sands is an amazing journey through a fantastical world that YA author Alwyn Hamilton has so vividly created. On the cover the main character, Amani, is described as “…more gunpowder than girl.” Well, that was just enough to get me interested, and I’m so glad that my curiosity paid off big time. This is a terrific book!

Amani is living in a town she is dying to get out of. Every day spent in Dustwalk is a day further from her dream of leaving. Amani is amazingly quick and precise with a gun though, and after meeting a handsome stranger at a shooting contest, her life quickly takes a turn towards adventure. Amani’s idea of a better life consists of reaching the town that her deceased mother’s sister lives in, but this girl of the desert has a much bigger life ahead of her. She has a role to play that only she can take on.

In the world that Hamilton has created, the dreams are big, the stakes are high and first beings called immortals are rumored to still roam the earth. There are stories that maybe even djinn are still working magic in the desert. Amani has heard some wild stories in her time, but I don’t think that any of the stories she has heard will ever quite measure up to the one that she gets to live. This adventure tale had me so hooked that I was determined to read it in one day. It’s true, I simply couldn’t put it down. Rebel of the Sands has so much to offer: romance, handsome strangers, girl power, gun powder, shooting contests, secrets, magic, fairy tales, politics. I’d call it a mix of the Wild West meets the Middle East, show downs meet genies in a wonderful, exciting re-imagining of two different worlds united by a desert life. It definitely lives up to the hype it is receiving, and a sequel is in the works! Yay! If you are a fan of Rae Carson’s books or frankly any book where a downtrodden girl finally gets to live her dreams, then this is a great book for you.

Alwyn Hamilton is an amazing author. Awesome just rode into town and I think she’s not going anywhere! What a debut book! Rebel of the Sands is such a gripping read that I think if you start reading it, someone you love will try to get you to take a break. Don’t listen. While you know you love them, it’s okay to love this book a lot, too. Make plans for sandwiches and snacks before diving into this novel because it’s truly one book you won’t be able to put down!

  • Reviewed by Hilary Taber

 

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Inherit The Stars by Tessa Elwood

INHERIT THE STARS
by Tessa Elwood
(Running Press Teens; $9.95 Trade Paperback, Ages 13+)

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In her debut novel, Inherit the Stars, book one in a duology, Tessa Elwood creates her own little universe that consists of several inhabited planets, feuding families, an economic crisis, and a political hierarchy all wrapped up in both a tale of adventure and a classic love story. The protagonist, Asa, lives on Urnath, a planet that becomes contaminated. Forced to ration both food and fuel, the inhabitants revolt against those who govern including The House of Fane, which happens to be Asa’s family. When Asa’s oldest sister Wren is caught in the crossfire, Asa tries to save her sister, but struggles. In fact Asa finds she struggles to succeed in most things. Asa’s father and sisters have very little faith in Asa’s abilities and maturity. However, in order to save her family and her people, Asa forces her way into the most difficult role of her life, marrying into the House of Weslet and trapping herself in a “blood bond” filled with insufferable expectations. Once the merger is complete with the marriage of Asa and Eagle, the two have to find a way to coexist with each other and to trust each other, which ultimately leads them to depend on each other.

Although it took a while to get absorbed into Elwood’s Sci-fi world, once I did there was no turning back. I became engrossed in the love story between Asa and Eagle and couldn’t put it down. While I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and, perhaps, unnecessarily rushed, I was merely disappointed that such an enjoyable story was over. I look forward to reading the sequel and hope to see the bond between Asa and Eagle grow. I can only begin to imagine what other trials they will overcome together and am certain Elwood will deliver a most satisfying conclusion to this engaging read.

  • Reviewed by Krista Jefferies

 

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Normal Norman by Tara Lazar Blog Tour & Guest Post

THE NORMAL NORMAN BLOG TOUR
including
A Guest Post from Author Tara Lazar & Giveaway

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NORMAL NORMAN
Written by Tara Lazar
Illustrated by S. Britt
(Sterling Children’s Books; $14.95, Ages 4 and up)

Normal Norman by Tara Lazar with illustrations by S. Britt, is an ode to individuality, and a wonderfully wild and wacky way to reinforce the message to children that there’s no such thing as normal. Good Reads With Ronna asked author Tara Lazar to speak to this topic, wondering how she embraces her own unique brand of non-normality in her every day life. Oh, and since I haven’t said it yet, I recommend you unicycle, not run to your nearest bookstore to get a copy of Normal Norman AND enter our giveaway, too! 🍌

GUEST POST BY TARA LAZAR:

I am not normal.

Tara Lazar & Norman - Author Pic
Normal Norman author Tara Lazar alongside the personable, purple orangutan. Photo courtesy of Autumn Lazar ©2016.

I unexpectedly launch into foreign accents while talking. Think a “cawfee tawk” Linda Richman, morphing into a good ol’ cajun creole, followed by a dashing foray in the King’s English. (I’ve been brushing up on Nana’s Irish brogue, but it’s not quite there yet.)

I don’t dress like a 40-something, either. I know that What-Not-to-Wear show cautions against mini-skirts, Mickey Mouse sweatshirts and combat boots—especially all at the same time—but I don’t care.

Since I don’t walk very well, I’ve got a mobility scooter. I painted flames on it. Its max speed is 5mph, so the flames make me feel as close to being Danica Patrick as I’m gonna get.

I hate coffee, and I’m a writer. How weird is that? And, what’s even worse, I don’t care for chocolate. If you offered me a dish of ice cream or a plate of cheese, I’d cut the cheese every time.

Yes, I just made a fart joke. And I think it’s hysterical.

I told you, I’m not normal. And that’s precisely the way I like it.

Being normal is overrated. But when you’re a kid? Being normal is EVERYTHING! The slightest cowlick and you’re branded a nerd, a weirdo, a wackadoo. Wear glasses? Geek! Don’t even get me started on being pegged as the teacher’s pet! That was me all through my school years. I was taunted and teased, and one girl bullied me from 2nd grade all the way to senior year in high school. I didn’t dress normally enough or act normally enough for her.

I’ve tried to figure out why kids want everyone around them to conform. Maybe things are more predictable and safe that way. There’s nothing to be frightened about. Nothing will jump out suddenly, like a jack-in-the-box. You stay in your corner and I’ll remain in mine and we’ll get through this just fine.

I get it. Life is scary.

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Tara Lazar doing her best mannequin-style Stop In The Name of Love.

But my mission in life is to make everything fun. If that means stopping in the name of love to snap a photo with mannequins at the mall, so be it. And if it embarrasses my 12-year-old, let her turn red. Let her see that things shouldn’t be so serious all the time. Let her learn to find joy in the most miniscule things–or a medley of 6-foot plaster mannequins.

When I wrote Normal Norman, I didn’t necessarily set out to write some grand statement about all this. I just wanted Norman to be funny and to have fun. What emerged was a character who did just as he pleased and loved every minute of it. What emerged, I suppose, is me—in purple orangutan form!

Norman's normal home
Reprinted with permission from Normal Norman © 2016 by Tara Lazar, Sterling Children’s Books, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Illustrations © 2016 by Stephan Britt.

The message to children, buried beneath the hilarity, is that there’s really no such thing as “normal”. With all of us being so different, how could there be only one “normal” expectation to live up to? The real normalness is being your true, normal self, in all its wonderful wackiness. Just like Norman…and me!

NN Blog Tour Schedule - FINAL

 

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Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

 

LIBRARY OF SOULS 
THE THIRD NOVEL OF MISS PEREGRINE’S PECULIAR CHILDREN
By Ransom Riggs
(Quirk Books; $18.99, Ages 13 and up)

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The Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs is an intriguing tale of mystery and magic, inspired by a collection of inexplicable vintage photographs. The story that began in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and continued in Hollow City, comes to an electrifying end in Library of Souls. Having traveled to a mysterious island off the coast of Wales to try to make sense of his grandfather’s untimely and cryptic death, sixteen-year-old Jacob Portman discovers his grandfather’s oldest and most peculiar friends, including his dearest love, Emma. Jacob fights alongside her and the other peculiars against unimaginable enemies and monsters that threaten their world. When their headmistress, Miss Peregrine, and all her fellow ymbryne leaders of Peculiardom are abducted, Jacob allies with the peculiar children and discovers he has power of his own.

Library of Souls opens as the children are trying to escape their enemies (and the monsters they control) while attempting to rescue their ymbrynes and the many other peculiar children who have been captured. Their journey takes them to Devil’s Acre, a sinister labyrinth of dark alleys and mysterious characters. We struggle along with Jacob and Emma, not knowing whom to trust and fearing the worst for their beloved friends. As Jacob discovers the strength of his powers, he also discovers true friendship and a love he never knew existed. While this particular leg of the story is a maze in itself and takes more than a few twists and turns, it remains a captivating series that comes to a fulfilling end, allowing readers to truly appreciate the extraordinary.

Click here for more information about the boxed set of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

  • Reviewed by Krista Jefferies

 

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Best Halloween Books for Kids

BEST HALLOWEEN BOOKS FOR KIDS 2015
A Round Up of Wickedly Wonderful Halloween Books for Boos & Ghouls
{Part 2}

 

BOOKS, THE BEST TREAT OF ALL!!

FancyNancyCandyBonanzaFancy Nancy Candy Bonanza 
Based on the creation of Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser (Harper Festival; $4.99, Ages 4-8)
Fancy Nancy fans and those newly acquainted avec la petite fille adorable, will be in for a treat with this newest addition to the beloved series. Dressed up as, no surprise, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Fancy Nancy’s going trick-or-treating but must not overdo it as her mom has requested. How much candy will go in her pail versus in her mouth is the big question because everything Fancy Nancy gets looks scrumptious?! Stickers are a bonus to keep or give out to friends this Halloween.

Itsrainingbats&frogsIt’s Raining Bats & Frogs
Written by Rebecca Colby and illustrated by Steven Henry (Feiwel & Friends; $16.99, Ages 4-8)
This unique story idea and imaginative artwork will have your kids rethinking rain just like the little witch Delia does in It’s Raining Bats & Frogs. As the title hints, the problem is each time Delia casts a spell and changes the rain into something else to make the Witch Parade less boring, like cats & dogs, hats & clogs or bats & frogs, pandemonium ensues! Maybe some water isn’t so bad after all when you consider (or actually experience) the alternatives!

 

HappyHalloweenWitchesCatHappy Halloween, Witch’s Cat!
Written and illustrated by Harriet Muncaster (Harper Collins Children’s Books; $15.99, Ages 4-8)
This new picture book is visually delightful. You may even find yourself wanting to try recreating a scene as a craft project with your child or making up your own scene. Muncaster has created the artwork for Happy Halloween, Witch’s Cat incorporating “… handcrafted miniature three-dimensional scenes using paper, foil, fabric, and other materials.” She then adds lighting, takes photos and voilà, a unique and exciting spread is created. The book’s as much a story about mommy and daughter together time as it a Halloween tale. “My mom is a witch, and I am her special witch’s cat.” Together the two go in search of the perfect costume for the young girl although nothing is just right. And, after all the hunting, in the end, a simple switcheroo turns out to be the best idea yet! Mom can be the witch’s cat and the daughter can be the witch. Problem solved in a most magical way.

IWanttoEatYourBooksI Want to Eat Your Books
Written by Karin LeFranc and illustrated by Tyler Parker (Sky Pony Press; $16.99, Ages 3-6)
I can never read enough books about libraries, bookstores and books themselves and LeFranc’s debut, I Want to Eat Your Books, satisfied that desire with a story not too scary for little ones, yet cute and humorous enough to keep ’em wanting to hear more. This read aloud rhyming picture book introduces a book chomping, bulgy-eyed, zombie boy whose goal is to devour all the library books at school! “The creature marches down the aisle and stops at Sci-Fi with a smile. Such crispy pages strewn with words. Our creature’s craving seconds – thirds!” But a clever student manages to turn the zombie’s hunger to eat books into one eager to hear them read aloud instead. Once instilled with an appreciation of the written word, it’s the zombie who saves the school from a mummy on the loose who easily gets wrapped up in a great story shared by zombie boy.

RiseoftheZombieRabbitRise of the Zombie Rabbit: Undead Pets #5 
Written by Sam Hay and illustrated by Simon Cooper (Grosset & Dunlap; $5.99, Ages 6-8)
How did I not read numbers 1-4 of this hit series before picking up the latest? Ideal for reluctant readers and those looking for a quick, fun read, Rise of the Zombie Rabbit, kept me thoroughly entertained. It’s light on unsettling frights making it fine for nighttime reading. Main character, Joe, frequently gets visited by Undead Pets and this time it’s Fluffy rabbit who steals the show when she suddenly appears in a magic trick at Joe’s sixth-grade talent contest. This zombie bunny, however, won’t go away and leave Joe in peace until she gets Joe to help her find her owner’s lost necklace. Well actually the necklace had been borrowed which is the reason for the urgency in tracking it down. But how is Joe supposed to find it when the lawn it may be lost on belongs to Mr. Steel, Joe’s new neighbor who also happens to be a police officer?

BellaDonnaCovenRoadBella Donna: Coven Road
Written by Ruth Symes and illustrated by Marion Lindsay (Sky Pony Press; $7.99, Ages 7-10)
What’s Halloween without some witches? Bella Donna and Sam are orphans living at Templeton Children’s Home. Bella Donna has wanted to be a witch since she can remember. Sam’s into all things creepy, crawly and wants a family that won’t mind his passion for worms and bugs. However both kids are told to keep these interests private. Then Lilith visits the orphanage and it’s clear she’s looking to adopt a child with Bella Donna’s “unique special skills.” Does she know the little girl’s actually a witch? Could Bella Donna be the perfect girl Lilith would want to keep after the trial month? It’s only when Bella Donna comes home early from school that she discovers Coven Road, with its thirteen houses, has changed drastically, and it could only mean one thing. The road, like its residents, is magical, and just the right place for a witchling (a young witch in training) like Bella Donna. This paperback has ten chapters all featuring black and white illustrations (my fave is the one of Coven Road) and is a quick read. It’s the first in a new series, and is sure to attract the interest of kids tweens into witchy adventures. Check out the book’s website at BellaDonnaOnline.co.uk to find out more about Bella Donna, her friends and the next book in the series, Too Many Spells.

SlasherGirls&MonsterBoysSlasher Girls & Monster Boys
Stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke (Dial; $17.99, Ages 12 and up)
Caution: do not read at bedtime or while home alone. Then again, for those of us who thrive on thrillers, go ahead, read it in the dark, play some foreboding organ music, and prepare to be unnerved by this fabulous collection of short stories certain to keep you coming back for more. This “powerhouse anthology featuring  some of the best thriller and horror writers around” includes stories from Marie Lu, Carrie Ryan, Leigh Bardugo and Jonathan Maberry. The fourteen tales offer something eerie or supernatural for everyone, not only for Halloween, but year ’round if you prefer to be scared silly in spring or summer instead. Creaking floorboards, blood, chicken bones, lightning and pelting rain, they’re all here to unsettle us and they do so exquisitely. Finish a story and find the source of its inspiration at the end, upside-down. You’ll find influences as varied as Stephen King’s Carrie to Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and will be impressed by the talent that’s been brought together to totally creep you out. Enjoy!

 

  • Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

Buy these great books by clicking here.

Other Books You Should Definitely Read at Halloween:

TheRunaway PumpkinThe Runaway Pumpkin: A Halloween Adventure Story
Written by Anne Margaret Lewis and illustrated by Aaron Zenz
(Sky Pony Press; $15.99, Ages 3-6)

 

 

 

CarlsHalloweenCarl’s Halloween
Written and illustrated by Alexandra Day
(Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux; $14.99, Ages 3-7)

 

 

 

 

ScaredyCatSplatScaredy-Cat, Splat!
Written and illustrated by Rob Scotton
(Harper Collins Children’s Books; $9.99, Ages 4-8)

 

 

OtterLovesHalloweenOtter Loves Halloween! 
Written and illustrated by Sam Garton
(Balzer + Bray; $9.99, Ages 4-8)

 

 

 


SeenandNotHeardSeen and Not Heard
Written and illustrated by Katie May Green
(Candlewick Press; $15.99, Ages 5-8)

 

 

 

Mr. Pants: Trick or Feet!
Written by Scott McCormick and illustrated by R.H. Lazzell
(Dial Books for Young Readers; $12.99, Ages 5-8)

 

 

 

 

ScreamStreetFlameoftheDragonScream Street: Flame of the Dragon
Written by Tommy Donbavand
(Candlewick Press: $5.99, Ages 8-12)

 

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Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING
Written by Nicola Yoon
(Delacorte Press; $18.99, Ages 12 and up)

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⭐︎ Starred Review – School Library Journal

Madeline Whittier has read more books than you, but she hasn’t been outside her house for as long as she can remember. The protagonist in Nicola Yoon’s #1 New York Times Bestseller, Everything, Everything, lives an air-locked, filtered existence, with no outings and virtually no visitors, because she’s “basically allergic to the world.” She has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, or “bubble baby disease.” While she could have grown to be a weird or bitter eighteen-year-old, it’s clear from the funny drawings and comments with which she annotates her life that she has remained sweet, optimistic and thoughtful.

Since Madeline’s father and brother were killed in an accident when she was a baby, Madeline and her mom are almost everything to each other. Then Olly moves in next door, with his all-black wardrobe, his parkour litheness, and his off-the-wall sense of humor. Madeline realizes she won’t really have everything unless she can leave her germ-free house and be Outside with Olly.

I enjoyed the unusual format of the book, its short chapters that don’t necessarily follow each other, the hand-written notes and drawings. Appropriate as well as charming, the format reinforces how Madeline feels about herself: “If my life were a book and you read it backward, nothing would change.” Before Olly, her “life was a palindrome — the same forward and backward.”

That being said, eventually sequence matters, and the real “Book of Maddy” — Everything, Everything — is different if read backward. In the interest of not giving away too much, I won’t tell you the questions the book made me ask beyond “What would it be like to be a bubble-baby?” But rest assured Yoon’s novel provokes other thoughts as well, about the nature of love, and risk, and life itself.

  • Reviewed by Mary Malhotra
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Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

SAINT ANYTHING
Written by Sarah Dessen
(Viking Books for Young Readers; $19.99, Ages 14 and up)

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★Starred Review – Publishers Weekly
-A New York Times bestseller
-Kids’ Indie Next List Pick (Summer 2015)

Sarah Dessen’s many fans won’t need to be cajoled past the slow start of her new YA novel, SAINT ANYTHING (May 2015, Viking; $19.99). New Dessen readers, however, should know that the beginning is there to provide contrast, like the black-and-white opening of the Wizard of Oz movie. The detached vibe reflects how main character Sydney Stanford’s home life feels until she meets the Chatham family. The Chathams and their restaurant Seaside Pizza are full of warmth, acceptance, and music, and the pace of the book picks up as soon as the family appears. Layla Chatham becomes Sydney’s new best friend. Since she has a big sister who is a skating-star-turned-drug-addict, Layla understands what it’s like for Sydney now that her brother Peyton is in prison. Peyton was the Stanford family’s “Golden Child” before he drove drunk and crashed into a pedestrian.

Layla invites Sydney to join her group of friends, which includes her brother Mac. They all hang out at Seaside after school, eating pizza and practicing retro pop covers for an upcoming band showcase. Sydney feels herself falling for Mac, despite Layla’s warning that she can’t abide her friends dating her brother. But how can you draw a line between friendship and romance when you meet the right guy? The times Sydney and Mac find to be alone — usually while delivering pizza in Mac’s not-so-reliable old truck — are some of my favorite moments in the book. I enjoyed reliving the sweet excitement of a potential new relationship. I also related to Sydney’s discomfort when her brother’s friend keeps popping up to hang out with her, especially when her parents aren’t around. It’s hard to ask for help when an older guy creeps you out for reasons you can’t name and therefore can’t report.

The heart of the book for me centers on Sydney’s feeling of guilt about the young teen, David Ibarra, her brother Peyton injured. Sydney learns everything she can about David’s life before and after the accident. A friendly, caring guy nicknamed “Brother,” he’s going to be in a wheelchair for life, and Sydney feels like she’s the only person in the family wanting to make amends. Her mother, Julie, only thinks about Peyton and how the aftermath of the accident affects him. As a parent, I laughed out loud as Julie, stuck in helicopter-parent mode, tries to organize families of Peyton’s fellow prisoners as if she were the president of a prison PTA. I was touched, though, when Sydney and Peyton start talking on the phone, finally getting to know each other as individuals outside of their family roles, ready to take responsibility for their own lives.

SAINT ANYTHING is peopled with teens who feel real, none of them perfect and all of them passionate about something, whether music, school, or French fries. The book is a comfortable place to hang out even while facing uncomfortable situations with the more caricature-like adults. I recommend this book to fellow fans of quiet YA, those of us who’d like to peek inside a house when delivering a pizza, trying to figure out what life’s like behind that half-open door.

  • Reviewed by Mary Malhotra
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Finding Forever by Ken Baker, A Blog Tour

FINDING FOREVER: A Deadline Diaries Exclusive
Written by Ken Baker
(Running Press Teens; Trade paperback, $9.95, Ages 13 and up)

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In Finding Forever, E! News Correspondent and SoCal resident, Ken Baker, has used his entertainment news background to enthrall readers with a riveting fictional tale of life inside the celebrity scene and its fascination with Hollywood’s Holy Grail, the elusive fountain of youth. His main character, a teen blogger named Brooklyn Brant, covers celebrity news in her blog Deadline Diaries, but in her latest quest she uncovers more than she bargained for.

When sixteen-year-old celebrity sweetheart Taylor Prince goes missing from her birthday party in L.A., tabloid blog STARSTALK splashes headlines that Taylor is in rehab for drug addiction. Taylor’s assistant, Simone, enlists the help of Brooklyn Brant to help find the missing starlet, as she insists Taylor is not on drugs and this is more of a conspiracy. However, with Simone’s shady past, it’s hard to know whom to trust. Brooklyn must use her sleuthing skills to uncover the truth before time runs out on Taylor.

While the mystery behind Taylor’s disappearance had my attention, what really drew me in was Brooklyn’s backstory, including her late father’s mysterious death and his legacy she is trying to uphold. As a police officer, Brooklyn’s father believed in getting at the truth. Ever since his death, Brooklyn has tried to follow in her father’s footsteps, finding the truth and revealing it with integrity, but as a journalist not a cop, trading the gun for a pen. Her blog Deadline Diaries began as an outlet for her to cope with his passing, but it grew into a passion and potential future. And the story of Taylor Prince’s disappearance, in all its web of secrets and lies, is perhaps the big break in her budding career that she’s been looking for.

Using a dual narrative, bouncing back and forth between Taylor’s and Brooklyn’s points of view, Baker kept me wondering what was going on and what would be revealed next. The more I read, the more I began to see that the rehab place was suspect and almost cult-like, and its head, Dr. Kensington, creepily Peter Pan obsessed. I found myself rooting simultaneously for Taylor to escape and for Brooklyn to save her. While the ending seemed a little rushed, it still provided the satisfying closure I would expect as a reader, and reinforced the fact that eternal youth is as much a façade as a Hollywood set.

Read more about Ken Baker here.

  • Reviewed by Krista Jefferies

 

 

 

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Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

 

 RED QUEEN
written by Victoria Aveyard
(HarperTeen; $17.99, Ages 14 and up)

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In yet another riveting tale that falls somewhere in-between the Dystopian and Fantasy genres, we see The Hunger Games, The Selection, and Divergent collectively mirrored in Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen, particularly in the unbalanced caste system, a displaced protagonist, an alluring romance, widespread uprising, and unbridled betrayal.

Mare Barrow is a young girl working to survive in a society with two castes, the silver-blooded elite and the red bloods who serve them. The Silvers are the upper echelons of society with superhuman powers, but perhaps the most important ability they have is to keep the Reds in their place. Mare gets mistakenly drawn into the walls of palace life where she discovers that she, too, has powers of her own. What she really wants, however, is the power to take down the Royals who keep her family and the rest of the Reds nearly starving and struggling to survive. While one of the most difficult things to endure is leaving her family and worrying about their safety, Mare finds that what’s even harder is discovering who she is and whom she can trust.

While some parts were a bit predictable, others had surprising little twists that kept me quickly turning pages to see what would happen next. I found myself rooting for Mare Barrow and the Reds, and I’m looking forward to Aveyard’s next installment of this colorful saga.

– Reviewed by Krista Jefferies

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The Heir by Kiera Cass

 

The Heir
Written by Kiera Cass
(HarperTeen; $18.99, Ages 14 and up)

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Kiera Cass has captured the hearts of readers worldwide with her #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series, and she continues to keep us captivated with her fourth book in the series, The Heir. The collection itself has become widely known as The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games with a bit of Cinderella mixed in.

Books 1-3 center around Prince Maxon and his endeavor to find a wife, who will be his queen once he becomes King of Illéa (essentially the United States post war). One of the 35 contestants is America Singer, a young lady of a lower caste than most of the other girls. While the others are vying for a place in the palace as well as in Maxon’s heart, America resists because, while a life with Maxon would mean raising her family’s status, it would also mean denying her true love whom she must leave behind. America soon discovers, however, that a life with Maxon is exactly what she wants and more than she could have dreamed of, and she must fight to the end to attain it.

Book 4, The Heir, is set twenty years later and tells a similar tale through Princess Eadlyn, daughter of King Maxon and his bride, Queen America. Though Eadlyn is also resistant to the Selection from the start, like her mother had been, she begins to learn that perhaps love is possible in the most unlikely of circumstances, and maybe happily ever after is meant for her after all. Much like her parents did in the past, Eadlyn faces much political and personal turmoil during the selection process.

Cass leaves us on the edge of our seats at the cliffhanger ending of this book as we await the fifth and final volume of the series, which is due to be released in the spring of 2016. These books will draw in readers of all ages. In fact, they were recommended to me by my 14-year-old niece, an avid reader who said these were her favorites of any books she’s ever read. Though there are more than 20 years between us, I too was enchanted by this ongoing saga, so much so that I read all four novels in just three days! Though I am disappointed that I have to wait months to read its conclusion, I will be much more disappointed when it’s over.

–  Reviewed by Krista Jefferies

 

 

 

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Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE
Written by Andrew Smith
(Speak; $10.99, Ages 14 and up)

 

✭Starred Review – Kirkus Reviews

GrasshopperJunglecvr.jpgIf you’re a YA reader and haven’t read Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith yet (in trade paperback as of February 2015, Speak; $10.99) — in spite of all the buzz, like a 2015 Michael L. Printz honor and news of an Edgar Wright movie adaptation — get to it! Maybe you don’t like science fiction. No problem; the six-foot tall man-eating praying mantises come off as campy rather than horrific. Maybe you don’t like troubled narrators who use expletives every other word. Well, if Holden Caulfield didn’t help you get over that, maybe Austin Szerba will do it for you. Austin’s horny all the time, smokes most of the time, and often breaks rules just for the heck of it. But in spite of the trouble he gets into and the bad decisions he makes, he’s likable and sincere, and his adolescent mistakes provide a thought-provoking contrast to the nightmares the full-grown adults in his world engender — in their personal lives, in politics, and in ethics-impaired science.

Austin’s story takes place in small-town Ealing, Iowa in the early twenty-first century U.S. His brother is fighting in Afghanistan, and the economy is failing. The Ealing Mall, along with the neighboring field that Austin and his best friend Robby named Grasshopper Jungle when they played there as younger kids, has turned mostly into a junkyard. When Austin and Robby sneak into a locked office in one of the few remaining stores, they discover specimens from a 1960’s era Department of Defense research project. The specimens, accidentally unleashed by Austin (or, one could argue, by the bullies who steal the specimens after Austin finds them), develop into Unstoppable Soldiers, the aforementioned monstrous bugs that do indeed look more like praying mantises than grasshoppers, in spite of their provenance in Grasshopper Jungle.

Keeping notebooks with drawings and text about everything he experiences, Austin defines himself as a historian. His voice is fresh and humorous but also full of pain and sadness for his own hurts and those of generations past. Although he frequently uses an Anglo-Saxon term for “excrement” and drops a few f-bombs, Austin enjoys speaking eruditely and notices when anyone else uses even slightly elevated language, too. “She used words like moment,” he says about his girlfriend Shann. “The way she talked made me horny.”

That’s Austin in a nutshell. Almost everything makes him horny, but the way he reports this feels natural, not uncomfortable. Austin doesn’t consciously focus on sex. It’s just there, all the time, whether it’s convenient for him to be thinking about it or not. And he’s dealing with the fact that he’s overflowing with sexual feelings not just for Shann, but also for Robby, who is gay. Austin is confused, “…wondering how it was possible to be sexually attracted and in love with my best friend, a boy, and my other best friend, a girl…. There had to be something wrong with me. I envied Shann and Robby both so much for being confident in who they were and what they felt.”

Readers who identify with Austin’s confusion — whether over sexuality or one of the many other dilemmas he deals with — will enjoy this book. Readers who love the outrageous visuals of low-budget sci-fi horror will relish the scenes with huge bugs hatching out of human beings and feasting on what’s left of them, alongside destroyed cop cars and exploding bridges; there’s also a really cool underground bunker. Readers looking for a philosophical take-away will think about science, and responsibility, and history.

Author Andrew Smith is a social studies teacher, and for me the biggest growth in Austin and the biggest takeaway from Grasshopper Jungle is a developing understanding about the purpose of recording history. Austin tells us history has “to be an abbreviation. Even those first men…who painted on cave walls in Lascaux and Altamira, only put the important details down. We killed this big hairy thing and that big hairy thing. And that was our day. You know what I mean.” The novel circles back to this idea again and again, asking the questions: which details are the important ones? And what should we do about them if we ever figure that out? These are important questions, and Smith’s book is a satisfying way to explore them.

– Reviewed by Mary Malhotra

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Half-Life by Tina Ferraro Book Blitz

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Half-Life by Tina Ferraro
Leap Books, 2015 (March 24),
108 pp., Kindle Edition $1.99
& Rafflecopter Giveaway

 

Probably not a good idea to take advice from your dead twin sister.

Half-Life, Tina Ferraro’s new YA novella from Leap Books, is my favorite kind of ghost story: one in which the ghost is someone you are happy to see and wish would stick around. I’ve read several of Ferraro’s teen romances — she’s been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA award twice — and while the supernatural twist is new, the elements I enjoy most in her books are all here: a main character who is frank, funny, and a bit clumsy; family dynamics that are real and give the story depth; and a sweet, good-hearted love interest. Thankfully, the love interest is not the ghost in question (that could get awkward!). Rather, the ghost is main character Trisha Traynor’s identical twin sister Chessie, who died from a virus when the twins were just five. Soon after Chessie died, Abby Lowe became Trisha’s best friend, helping fill the void Chessie left in Trisha’s life.

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Now that Trisha and Abby are sophomores in high school, Abby is obsessing over a new boyfriend, and Trisha feels like she’s been dumped. Who can you turn to when your best friend turns away? Trisha’s mom is always super busy, determined to live exclusively in the present so she doesn’t have to address her grief and guilt over the death of her child. Since Mom’s no help, Trisha finds support in a very unexpected place. On Halloween night, Chessie appears as a reflection in a mirror with a plan to help Trisha fix her friendship with Abby. The first action item: get Trisha a boyfriend of her own, pronto.

Sensing a supernatural time limit (Chessie keeps consulting an invisible wrist watch), Trisha sets her sights on attainable Chadwick O’Reilly instead of her longtime crush, drop-dead gorgeous Kirk Maxwell. But Trisha’s choices aren’t all working out so well. The more she sees of Chadwick, the creepier he looks. She assumes Kirk is out of her league, but maybe he’s actually interested? And not even Chessie can understand why Trisha is willing to risk everything to get on the good side of her mean-spirited next-door neighbor, Dawn Dupree.

– Reviewed by Mary Malhotra

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tn3Author Bio: Tina Ferraro been writing since she learned to hold a pencil, and sold upwards of a hundred short stories to national magazines before turning to novels. She is the author of three Random House novels, The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, How to Hook a Hottie and Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, which have received distinctions such as the ABA Book Sense Award and two RITA nominations.

Her fourth YA, The Starter Boyfriend, has spent time on Amazon’s Top 100 Lists. She lives in Los Angeles with her rocket scientist husband, two cats and whichever of their three young adult children is in town. When not writing, she enjoys playing Facebook Scrabble, swimming, and chasing coyotes out of her neighborhood.

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Others on the Blitz:

March 16th

Word to Dreams

A Little Bit of R&R 

Twinning for Books 

March 17th

Tattered Book Blog 

Somewhere Over Yonder 

Forever Lost In Other Worlds 

March 18th

After the Last Page 

Electively Paige 

Queekie Girl Reads 

March 19th

Reese’s Reviews 

CiCi’s Theories 

Girl With Pen 

March 20th

Michelle’s Minions 

Lindsay and Jane’s Views and Reviews 

Good Reads with Ronna 

March 23rd

Jessica Bayliss 

Ali’s Books 

Emma Michaels 

 

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Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

An Epic Journey

SHADOW SCALE
by Rachel Hartman

(Random House Books for Young Readers; $18.99, Ages 12 and up)

★ Starred Reviews – Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, & Booklist

Shadow-Scale-cvr.jpgIn this stunning sequel to Hartman’s first book, Seraphina, the author revisits the kingdom of Goredd. In the previous book the court musician, Seraphina, had to come to terms with the stigma surrounding her half dragon, half human ancestry. This book begins with Seraphina’s search for others of her kind, called the ityasaari. Seraphina hopes that gathering all the ityasaari together will help to protect the kingdom from the ongoing dragon-against-dragon wars. To find the other ityasaari, Seraphina must journey through many different kingdoms. However, with every ityasaari found, she comes closer to being controlled by one of her own. Jannoula, a powerful and highly manipulative half dragon, tries again and again to gain control of the minds of all the ityassari. It will take all that Seraphina has learned from her dragon uncle, Orma, and everything that she will learn along the way, to defeat Jannoula. Along the journey Seraphina encounters defeat, loss and hardship. Perhaps the greatest thing Seraphina learns is that set backs seldom mean defeat and that help can arise from the most unlikely places.

Hartman’s world is fascinating, complex and detailed. Spanning four kingdoms, each with its own unique customs, food, and sometimes even religion, Seraphina’s journey is a sprawling quest. Readers of the first book will remember her love interest with Prince Kiggs, which only grows more complex in this second installment. Seraphina’s dragon uncle and mentor, Orma, is mysteriously missing which also adds to the necessity of Seraphina’s search. With this parting of the guide, Seraphina must learn to navigate the world as an adult. Hartman examines the origin and function of religion in society to work for good or for evil closely in this sequel, which makes for a fascinating read. Shadow Scale is a tribute to the power of a talented author to create a fully realized fantasy world full of danger, tradition, sacrifice and love.

– Reviewed by Hilary Taber

Read our review of Seraphina here.

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