— Books I’ve Read in 2017 —
AFTERWORLDS by Scott Westerfeld
Always mind-blowing and borderline creepy in worlds built in the mind on Westerfeld. Nothing new here. Fascinating concepts that chill you to the bone at the same time. I did enjoy the juxtaposition of the two narratives. It added an interesting element, trying to see what influenced which storyline. Fun read.
BELIEVING IS DANGEROUS…
Darcy Patel is afraid to believe all the hype. But it’s really happening – her teen novel is getting published. Instead of heading to college, she’s living in New York City, where she’s welcomed into the dazzling world of YA publishing. That means book tours, parties with her favorite authors, and finding a place to live that won’t leave her penniless. It means sleepless nights rewriting her first draft and struggling to find the perfect ending… all while dealing with the intoxicating, terrifying experience of falling in love – with another writer.
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy’s novel, the thrilling story of Lizzie, who wills her way into the afterworld to survive a deadly terrorist attack. With survival comes the responsibility to guide the restless spirits that walk our world, including one ghost with whom she shares a surprising personal connection. But Lizzie’s not alone in her new calling – she has counsel from a fellow spirit guide, a very desirable one, who is torn between wanting Lizzie and warning her that…
BELIEVING IS DANGEROUS.
In a brilliant high-wire act of weaving two epic narratives – and two unforgettable heroines – into one novel, Scott Westerfeld’s latest work is a triumph of storytelling.
Learn more about Scott Westerfeld here.
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THE SURVIVOR TREE by Gaye Sanders, illustrated by Pamela Behrend
Lovely story. As one who was actually in OKC during the time of the bombing, I found myself getting choked up several times while reading, remembering all the heartache even so many years later. That page turn with the sprout of new growth almost did me in. I had to pause for a moment. Honestly, a great way to bring this story to young readers. And keep them remembering.
This is the debut for one of our own Oklahoma SCBWI members. She talks about her book with us on the blog here.
A family plants an American elm on the Great Plains of Oklahoma just as the capital city is taking root–the little tree grows as Oklahoma City grows until 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, the day America fell silent at the hands of one of its own. With her branches torn and tattered and filled with evidence from the bombing, the charred elm faces calls from some that she be cut down. In the end, as the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Building is cleared, the solitary charred tree remains but only because of a few who marvel that, like them, she is still there. The next spring when the first buds appear proving the tree is alive, the word spreads like a prairie wildfire through the city and the world. And the tree, now a beacon of hope and strength, is christened with a new name: The Survivor Tree. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gaye Sanders here.
Follow Gaye on Twitter here.
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THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas
Brilliant. Powerful storytelling.
One of my favorite reads this year by far. Absolutely loved Starr and her whole family. Such wonderful characters.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Angie Thomas here.
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THE CROWN’S GAME (#1) AND THE CROWN’S FATE (#2) by Evelyn Skye
Dueling with magic to the death? Set in a mythical 19th century Russia? What’s not to love? And let’s not forget that tricky love triangle. Sigh. Loved this book! And the sequel! Really enjoyed meeting Evelyn Skye while she was on an Epic Reads tour with two other authors. She was so friendly.
Plot summary of THE CROWN’S GAME:
Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip-smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love…or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear—the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.
Plot summary of THE CROWN’S FATE:
Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.
Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.
For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.
With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.
Plot summaries from Goodreads.
Learn more about Evelyn Skye here.
Follow Evelyn on Facebook here.
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DREAMLAND BURNING by Jennifer Latham
Fantastic storytelling. Absolutely loved it! As a Tulsan, also appreciated this part of our history being told so thoughtfully.
Some bodies won’t stay buried. Some stories need to be told.
When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family’s property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the past, the present, and herself.
One hundred years earlier, a single violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm. In a country rife with violence against blacks and a hometown segregated by Jim Crow, Will must make hard choices on a painful journey towards self discovery and face his inner demons in order to do what’s right the night Tulsa burns. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Jennifer Latham here.
Follow Jennifer on Twitter here.
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I WISH YOU MORE by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
So poignant reading this after Amy’s death.
Gone too soon.
Some books are about a single wish. Some books are about three wishes. The infallible team of Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld have combined their extraordinary talents to create this exuberant book of endless good wishes. Wishes for curiosity and wonder, for friendship and strength, laughter and peace. Whether celebrating life’s joyous milestones, sharing words of encouragement, or observing the wonder of everyday moments, this sweet and uplifting book is perfect for wishers of every age. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Amy Krouse Rosenthal here.
RAMONA BLUE by Julie Murphy
RELAXED AND GROOVY BOOK CLUB PIC
Perfect balance of kickass and heartbreaking. Real emotional struggles many teens deal with handled so honestly, so fantastically. Absolutely loved Ramona Blue.
Refusing to allow others to define her, to categorize her? What a fabulous character for all teens to be exposed to. Bravo, Julie Murphy! Read full discussion here.
Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever. Since then, it’s been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she’s fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she’s destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family.
Now, with her sister, Hattie, pregnant, responsibility weighs more heavily than ever. The return of her childhood friend Freddie brings a welcome distraction. Ramona’s friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where it left off, and soon he’s talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. But as Ramona falls in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift too, which is the last thing she expected.
With her growing affection for Freddie making her question her sexual identity, Ramona begins to wonder if perhaps she likes girls and guys or if this new attraction is just a fluke. Either way, Ramona will discover that, for her, life and love are more fluid than they seem. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Julie Murphy here.
Follow Julie on Twitter here.
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Follow Julie on YouTube here.
THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE (#1), THE WAR I FINALLY WON (#2) by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and just so touching. I’ve always wanted to know more about the kids who were evacuated during the war. Ada, what a kid after my own heart – fantastic character! This is the perfect story for that. Loved this book! And the sequel!
Plot summary of THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE:
Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.
So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
Plot summary of THE WAR I FINALLY WON:
When Ada’s clubfoot is surgically fixed at last, she knows for certain that she’s not what her mother said she was—damaged, deranged, crippled mentally as well as physically. She’s not a daughter anymore, either. What is she?
World War II continues, and Ada and her brother, Jamie, are living with their loving legal guardian, Susan, in a borrowed cottage on the estate of the formidable Lady Thorton—along with Lady Thorton herself and her daughter, Maggie. Life in the crowded cottage is tense enough, and then, quite suddenly, Ruth, a Jewish girl from Germany, moves in. A German? The occupants of the house are horrified. But other impacts of the war become far more frightening. As death creeps closer to their door, life and morality during wartime grow more complex. Who is Ada now? How can she keep fighting? And who will she struggle to save?
Plot summaries from Goodreads.
Learn more about Kimberly Brubaker Bradley here.
Follow Kimberly on Twitter here.
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Okay, this rarely ever, ever happens. That I like a movie version of a story better than the book, but this time it did. I’m sorry, but I really, really really wanted to love this book. It just didn’t happen. I liked it, I just didn’t love it. And I don’t have any desire to read any further in the series. Sadly.
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Kami Garcia here.
Learn more about Margaret Stohl here.
ENGINEERING AT&T STADIUM by Barbara Lowell
Fascinating read. Very entertaining while learning about something educational. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, is one of the newest and most advanced football stadiums in the country. Engineering AT&T Stadiumdiscusses how the structure was designed, how workers brought the blueprints to life, and how the stadium combines art and architecture to create an exciting experience for fans. Easy-to-read text, vivid images, and helpful back matter give readers a clear look at this subject. Features include a table of contents, infographics, a glossary, additional resources, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Barbara Lowell here.
Follow Barbara on Twitter here.
IF YOU WERE A KID DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT by Gwendolyn Hooks, illustrated by Kelly Kennedy
Great introduction story to the Civil Rights Movement for young independent readers.
Joyce Jenkins has recently moved to a new town with her family, and she will soon be attending a segregated school for the first time. Meanwhile, Connie Underwood is trying to figure out what her twin brothers are planning in secret. Follow along with the two girls as they find themselves in the middle of a civil rights demonstration, and find out how the fight for equality changed the country forever. (plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gwendolyn Hooks here.
Follow her on Twitter here.
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Follow the Brown Bookshelf blog here.
SKELETON TREE by Kim Ventrella
Love the concept of this book, and the opportunity it gives kids to explore feelings about death. All children should have a Ms. Francine in their lives – maybe with a little less borscht.
This debut novel is from one of our very own Oklahoma SCBWI members! Read an interview she did for my blog about her book here.
Twelve-year-old Stanly knows the bone growing in his yard is a little weird, but that’s okay, because now he’ll have the perfect photo to submit to the Young Discoverer’s Competition. With such a unique find, he’s sure to win the grand prize.
But, oddly, the bone doesn’t appear in any photos. Even stranger, it seems to be growing into a full skeleton…one that only children can see.
There’s just one person who doesn’t find any of this weird–Stanly’s little sister. Mischievous Miren adopts the skeleton as a friend, and soon, the two become inseparable playmates.
When Miren starts to grow sick, Stanly suspects that the skeleton is responsible and does everything in his power to drive the creature away. However, Miren is desperate not to lose her friend, forcing Stanly to question everything he’s ever believed about life, love, and the mysterious forces that connect us. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Kim Ventrella here.
Follow Kim on Twitter here.
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PUG & PIG TRICK-OR-TREAT by Sue Gallion, illustrated by Joyce Wan
Another adorable story by Gallion with equally adorable illustrations by Wan. An extra plus for me as a parent of a child with sensory issues was the story line about the costume being uncomfortable and finding a compromise and still enjoying the holiday – always a challenge for our kiddos! Loved it!
Halloween has come to Pug and Pig’s house, and the darling duo is sporting matching costumes. The costumes are cozy. They glow in the dark. And they have masks! There’s only one problem—Pug hates wearing his. So he decides to rip it up and stay home. But Halloween just isn’t any fun for Pig without Pug! Can Pug find a way to be a good friend and get back into the Halloween spirit? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sue Lowell Gallion here.
Follow Sue on Twitter here.
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Follow Sue on Pinterest here.
THE CROSSOVER by Kwame Alexander
Nothing but net. So good! Couldn’t put it down until I reached the end. I picked up this book while in LA at the SCBWI Summer conference and had the pleasure of hearing Kwame Alexander recite some of his poetry. He makes it come alive and breathe like a living thing. It’s amazing. This book read just like that.
“With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering,” announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he’s got mad beats, too, that tell his family’s story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander (He Said, She Said 2013).
Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story’s heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Kwame Alexander here.
Follow Kwame on Facebook here.
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TRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE! by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Zoe Waring
Adorable main character (if somewhat oblivious to his surroundings) and whimsical illustrations. A really fun read.
Goose is all packed for a picnic. Now all he has to do is cross the little road in front of his cottage.
Truck…truck…truck… Will Goose ever get to have his picnic?
With bold and bright illustrations from Zoe Waring and familiar, sparse text from Tammi Sauer, Truck, Truck, Goose is perfect for fans of Duck & Goose! (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
I CRAWL THROUGH IT by A.S. King
So fantastic. A unique experience – like walking into a Dali painting and being able to speak the language of the inhabitants.
Fabulous King at her best.
Four accomplished teenagers are on the verge of explosion. The anxieties they face at every turn have nearly pushed them to the point of surrender: senseless high-stakes testing, the lingering damage of trauma, the buried grief and guilt of tragic loss. They are desperate to cope—but no one is listening.
So they will lie. They will split in two. They will turn inside out. They will build an invisible helicopter to fly themselves far away from the pressure…but nothing releases the pressure. Because, as they discover, the only way to truly escape their world is to fly right into it.
The genius of acclaimed author A.S. King reaches new heights in this groundbreaking work of surrealist fiction; it will mesmerize readers with its deeply affecting exploration of how we crawl through traumatic experience—and find the way out. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about A.S. King here.
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KILL THE BOY BAND by Goldy Moldavsky
Hilarious. Dark and twisted in just the right way. Had me quoting “Heathers” to myself and reminiscing about my personal obsession with Adam Ant.
All hail fangirls everywhere!
Just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near them. That’s why we got a room in the hotel where they were staying.
We were not planning to kidnap one of them. Especially not the most useless one. But we had him—his room key, his cell phone, and his secrets.
We were not planning on what happened next.
We swear.
From thrilling new talent Goldy Moldavsky comes a pitch-black, hilarious take on fandom and the badass girls who have the power to make—or break—the people we call “celebrities.” (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Goldy Moldavsky here.
Follow Goldy on Twitter here.
FROEHLICH’S LADDER by Jamie Duclos-Yourdon
I received a copy of book from the publisher, who I met through our mutual love of books and blogs. It’s a unique and wonderful, magical romp of a story. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I posted a full review here.
Froelich nurses a decades-old family grudge from his permanent perch atop a giant ladder in this nineteenth century madcap adventure novel. When he disappears suddenly, his nephew embarks on a rain-soaked adventure across the Pacific Northwest landscape to find him, accompanied by an ornery girl with a most unfortunate name. In their encounters with Confederate assassins, European expatriates, and a general store magnate, this fairytale twist on the American dream explores the conflicts between loyalty and ambition and our need for human connection, even at the highest rungs. (Plot summary from publisher’s website.)
Learn more about Jamie Duclos-Yourdon here.
Follow Jamie on Twitter here.
CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth
I borrowed this book from a friend who read this on the flight home from LA. That quickly. I have to say, I sped through, too. So good! But what do you expect from the author of the Divergent series? I loved the intensity of the characters and their chemistry was solid. Excellent world-building. Can’t wait for more.
Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.
Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get this brother out alive — no matter what the cost.
The Akos is thrust into Cyra’s world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?
Carve the Mark is Veronica Roth’s stunning portrayal of the power of friendship — and love — in a galaxy filled with unexpected gifts. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Veronica Roth here.
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OUTLANDER (OUTLANDER #1), DRAGONFLY IN AMBER (OUTLANDER #2), AND VOYAGER (OUTLANDER #3) by Diana Gabaldon
So many friends raved about this series. So many friends ordered Starz just to watch the TV adaptation of this series. I had to at least find out what all the fuss was about. I do have to tell you, the first person to tell me about this series was none other than my matronly neurologist. And how did she describe the books? By turning a little red in the face, fanning herself and exclaiming, “Oh, my!”
She wasn’t wrong.
The sex scenes are intense. And while I do see the appeal of the story – I did like Claire and Jamie, don’t get me wrong – I just thought it was a bit drawn out and had, well frankly, too much sex and not enough focus on plot. And the rape scene was just too much for me. It didn’t just make me uncomfortable, which I know is the point, but parts of it felt beyond gratuitous. I was so done with the book by the end, I wanted to throw it across the room. All told, I liked it okay. I’m not sure if I’ll read any more of this series. I may need some time.
Okay, okay, I read two more in the series…I liked them enough to do that then.
Plot Summary of OUTLANDER:
Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.
Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
Plot summary of DRAGONFLY IN AMBER:
For nearly twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones… about a love that transcends the boundaries of time… and about Jamie Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his.
Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart… in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising… and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.
Plot summary of VOYAGER:
Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her… and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.
Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her…the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland… and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite or forever doom her timeless love.
Plot summaries from Goodreads.
Learn more about Diana Gabaldon here.
Follow Diana on Twitter here.
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MILK AND HONEY by Rupi Kaur
I stole this book from my daughter. (Fair’s fair as I did give her the book for Christmas and she kept telling me I HAD to read it, so maybe “stole” is a little strong.)
This poetry is raw and powerful. Devastating and healing all in one mouthful. Beautiful. I absolutely loved it. Can’t wait for her next volume, coming out soon!
milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Rupi Kaur here.
Follow Rupi on Twitter here.
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EAT, SLEEP, POOP written by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Jane Massey
I met Alexandra Penfold several years ago at an SCBWI OK conference when she was still an editor. I even took her out to buy her first pair of cowboy boots. She was so lovely. Now that she’s and agent/author, I just had to pick her first book. I got it as a gift for a friend who’s expecting. Of course, I did have to read it first. 🙂
This is a wonderfully delightful and delightfully human story about baby’s first days. Loved all the clutter and chaos depicted with a bit of whimsy. Great gift for any expectant parents out there.
A hilarious book about the busy life of newborns—an Eat, Pray, Love for the pre-verbal set (and their parents)!
The new baby hasn’t been here very long, but already has a busy schedule:
Eat,
sleep,
and, of course, poop!
This tender look at life inside and outside of the crib from a baby’s-eye view is the perfect present for new parents and siblings-to-be. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Alexandra Penfold here.
Follow Alexandra on Twitter here.
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Learn more about Jane Massey here.
Follow Jane on Twitter here.
Follow Jane on Instagram here.
THE YOUNGEST MARCHER: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist written by Cynthia Levinson, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Vanessa Brantley-Newton. What a national treasure this woman is! She brought me to tears during her keynote speech at the SCBWI LA summer conference. And to hear this woman sing? Oh! Is there nothing she can’t do? I’m so happy I was able to meet er and tell her how much I liked her work. She illustrated one of my friend Tammi Sauer’s books, MARY HAD A LITTLE GLAM, and I was so mad at myself for forgetting my copy at home. They were sold out at the conference. Of course.
So I bought this wonderful book instead. And now I have two books by Vanessa. 🙂
This is a fantastic story brought to life by the vivid illustrations that put you right into the emotions, right into the heart of the tale. Loved it!
Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this moving picture book that proves you’re never too little to make a difference.
Nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks intended to go places and do things like anybody else.
So when she heard grown-ups talk about wiping out Birmingham’s segregation laws, she spoke up. As she listened to the preacher’s words, smooth as glass, she sat up tall. And when she heard the plan—picket those white stores! March to protest those unfair laws! Fill the jails!—she stepped right up and said, I’ll do it! She was going to j-a-a-il!
Audrey Faye Hendricks was confident and bold and brave as can be, and hers is the remarkable and inspiring story of one child’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Cynthia Levinson here.
Follow Cynthia on Twitter here.
Follow Cynthia on Instagram here.
Learn more about Vanessa Brantley-Newton here.
Follow Vanessa on Instagram here.
Follow Vanessa on Facebook here.
DRAW! by Raúl Colón
Raúl Colón was another SCBWI La faculty member. I got to hear him speak on the Picture Book panel with my good friend Tammi Sauer. He was so wonderful. I’d already picked up his book for my son before I heard him speak. I knew he’d just love it. I was right.
I didn’t read this wordless picture book so much as I experienced it. The mesmerizing pictures told the story effortlessly and beautifully, without words getting in the way. My son was also a huge fan and now the book lives in his bedroom, in his bed. I will probably never see it again. That says it all right there.
Based on his own childhood, beloved and award-winning artist Raúl Colón’s wordless book is about the limitless nature of creativity and imagination.
A boy alone in his room.
Pencils.
Sketchbook in hand.
What would it be like to on safari?
Imagine.
Draw!
A boy named Leonardo begins to imagine and then draw a world afar — first a rhinoceros, and then he meets some monkeys, and he always has a friendly elephant at his side. Soon he finds himself in the jungle and carried away by the sheer power of his imagination, seeing the world through his own eyes and making friends along the way. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Raúl Colón here.
THE WALLS AROUND US by Nova Ren Suma
I read this ahead of the SCBWI LA summer conference because Nova Ren Suma was one of the speakers. WOW! This book! So amazing! It was surreal and dark and twisty in the best ways.
And Her breakout session on Unreliable Narrators? Outstanding! I can’t wait to get to my manuscript with a certain unreliable character, now. Huge fan for life!
On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement.
On the inside, within the walls of the Aurora Hills juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom.
Tying their two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries…
What really happened on the night Orianna stepped between Violet and her tormentors? What really happened on two strange nights at Aurora Hills? Will Amber and Violet and Orianna ever get the justice they deserve—in this life or in another one?
In prose that sings from line to line, Nova Ren Suma tells a supernatural tale of guilt and of innocence, and of what happens when one is mistaken for the other. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Nova Ren Suma here.
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BONE GAP by Laura Ruby
My SCBWI OK group read this for their monthly book club. Although I couldn’t attend, I still wanted to read along. Wow. What a fascinating story! I loved the way she used magical realism – so well done. I loved the idea of a town full of gaps where people could just disappear, slip through.
The twist the main character was so interesting, I didn’t see it coming. Loved it.
Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?
Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.
As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Laura Ruby here.
Follow Laura on Twitter here.
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A SINGLE SHARD by Linda Sue Park
I wanted to read some of Park’s books before taking her intensive class this summer at the SCBWI LA conference. I started with this one. Beautiful and classic. So well told. (And by the way, I learned soooo much in her class. She’s a fantastic teacher!)
Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters’ village. For a long time he is content living with Crane-man under a bridge barely surviving on scraps of food. All that changes when he sees master potter Min making his beautiful pottery. Tree-ear sneaks back to Min’s workplace and dreams of creating his own pots someday. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage. Though the work is long and hard, Tree-ear is eager to learn. Then he is sent to the King’s Court to show the master’s pottery. Little does Tree-ear know that this difficult and dangerous journey will change his life forever. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Linda Sue Park here.
Follow Linda on Twitter here.
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WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead
This book has been on my “Need to Read” list forever. I’m so glad I finally got the chance to read it. Touching and heart-wrenching, just the way I like my middle grade – and add in that dash of magical realism? Ah! You’ve won me over!
Four mysterious notes change
Miranda’s world forever.
By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner.
But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:
I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.
The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Rebecca Stead here.
Follow Rebecca on Twitter here.
PUG MEETS PIG written by Sue Lowell Gallion, illustrated by Joyce Wan
Sue Gallion came to speak at our SCBWI OK Tulsa anniversary dinner and she was just so delightful. I absolutely loved the illustrations. So adorable! For anyone who’s ever had their personal space invaded, and then learned to enjoy sharing it. This book is such a heart-warming read.
Meet Pug. Pug is one happy pup. He has his own yard, his own bowl, and his own cozy bed. That is, until Pig moves in! (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sue Lowell Gallion here.
Follow Sue on Twitter here.
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LADY MIDNIGHT and LORD OF SHADOWS by Cassandra Clare
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Cassandra Clare fan. And I think this latest series is one of her best. So much so that right after reading this second book, I immediately started the first book again and read straight through the second book another time. I’ve never done that before. LOVED IT!!! Can’t think of anything I hated except for her putting some of my favorite characters in mortal danger – how dare she! (Just kidding! I just hope they survive in the next book – how will I ever make it to the next one???)
Plot summary of LADY MIDNIGHT:
It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.
Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…
Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago―has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind―and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?
Plot summary of LORD OF SHADOWS:
Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows, the sequel to the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Lady Midnight. Lord of Shadows is a Shadowhunters novel.
Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?
And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.
Plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Cassandra Clare here.
Follow Cassandra on Twitter here.
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THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH by Martha Brockenbrough
RELAXED AND GROOVY BOOK CLUB PIC
I met the beguiling Ms. Brockenbrough at last year’s SCBWI LA summer conference where I got her book signed and I’ve been dying to read this ever since. It did not disappoint. I absolutely loved the premise and her characters were just divine. Read full discussion here.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. HELEN OF TROY AND PARIS. ROMEO AND JULIET. AND NOW . . . HENRY AND FLORA.
For centuries Love and Death have chosen their players. They have set the rules, rolled the dice, and kept close, ready to influence, angling for supremacy. And Death has always won. Always.
Could there ever be one time, one place, one pair whose love would truly tip the balance?
Meet Flora Saudade, an African-American girl who dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earhart by day and sings in the smoky jazz clubs of Seattle by night. Meet Henry Bishop, born a few blocks and a million worlds away, a white boy with his future assured — a wealthy adoptive family in the midst of the Great Depression, a college scholarship, and all the opportunities in the world seemingly available to him.
The players have been chosen. The dice have been rolled. But when human beings make moves of their own, what happens next is anyone’s guess.
Achingly romantic and brilliantly imagined, The Game of Love and Death is a love story you will never forget. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Martha Brockenbrough here.
Follow Martha on Twitter here.
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THE GRISHA Series by Leigh Bardugo
Still awesome the second go round. After reading her SIX OF CROWS ecology and seeing some familiar faces crop up, I wanted to go back and reread this series. It had been just long enough that I couldn’t remember all the details and I loved rediscovering the stories.
Plot Summary of SHADOW AND BONE:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.
Plot Summary of SIEGE AND STORM:
Darkness never dies.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
Plot Summary of RUIN AND RISING:
The capital has fallen. The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.
Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.
Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.
All plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Leigh Bardugo here.
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SIX OF CROWS Duology by Leigh Bardugo
I enjoyed Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy and I was thrilled to return to her Grishaverse in this new storyline. The characters were exciting and so dynamic. I loved the Kaz/Inej relationship – so different, so touching and painfully strained. Great adventure tale that I ripped through in record time. And did I mention the gorgeous design? Red and black pages. And those covers! I’m a sucker for great design.
It inspired me to reread the original Grisha series. I’m sure I’ll reread these stories again soon.
Plot summary for SIX OF CROWS:
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
Plot Summary for CROOKED KINGDOM:
Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.
Plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Leigh Bardugo here.
Follow Leigh on Twitter here.
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ON LOVE by Charles Bukowski
I’m really hit or miss with Bukowski and these poems were not different. I absolutely loved some of them, and others I didn’t care for. Still worth reading. He has a very distinct style I find fascinating.
A companion to On Writing and On Cats: A raw and tender poetry collection that captures the Dirty Old Man of American letters at his fiercest and most vulnerable, on a subject that hits home with all of us.
Charles Bukowski was a man of intense emotions, someone an editor once called a “passionate madman.” In On Love, we see Bukowski reckoning with the complications and exaltations of love, lust, and desire. Alternating between tough and gentle, sensitive and gritty, Bukowski lays bare the myriad facets of love—its selfishness and its narcissism, its randomness, its mystery and its misery, and, ultimately, its true joyfulness, endurance, and redemptive power.
Bukowski is brilliant on love—often amusing, sometimes playful, and fleetingly sweet. On Love offers deep insight into Bukowski the man and the artist; whether writing about his daughter, his lover, his friends, or his work, he is piercingly honest and poignantly reflective, using love as a prism to see the world in all its beauty and cruelty, and his own fragile place in it. “My love is a hummingbird sitting that quiet moment on the bough,” he writes, “as the same cat crouches.”
Brutally honest, flecked with humor and pathos, On Love reveals Bukowski at his most candid and affecting. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Charles Bukowski here.
CARING FOR YOUR LION by Tammi Sauer, Illustrated by Troy Cummings
Laugh out loud funny! I can’t decide what made me laugh more, the deadpan instructions or the fantastic illustrations that took them to the next level. Brilliant storytelling!
(P.S. don’t forget to look under the dustcover for an awesome surprise.)
I had the pleasure of hosting the creative team behind this story on #okscbwichat on Twitter. You can view the conversation here.
What happens when you expect an itty-bitty kitty . . . but get a lion instead?
It’s kitten delivery day, but—SURPRISE. Congratulations on your new LION! We know you ordered a kitten, but we ran out of those. Fortunately, the big cat comes with instructions—like, try very hard NOT to look like a zebra. Or a gazelle. And give your lion PLENTY of space to play. But soon the feathers and fur start flying and everything’s in chaos. Is there any way a lion could actually be a child’s purr-fect pet? (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
Learn more about Troy Cummings here.
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ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Series by Beth Revis
I went about reading this series completely backwards by starting with its companion novel, THE BODY ELECTRIC, which tells the tale of what happens on Earth while Amy and Ender are in space. Naturally, it made me curious about the series, so I had to read it!
In one word? Excellent! I raced through all three books.
Plot summary for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE:
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. When Amy is frozen aboard the interstellar spaceship Godspeed, she expects to be woken in 300 years on a new planet. Instead, someone wakes her up early…and if Amy doesn’t figure out soon, the next people woken up might not survive–including her parents.
Plot summary for A MILLION SUNS:
Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. It’s been three months. In that time, Amy has learned to hide who she is. Elder is trying to be the leader he’s always wanted to be. But as the ship gets more and more out of control, only one thing is certain: They have to get off the ship.
Plot summary for SHADES OF EARTH:
Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Ruled by chaos. Now it’s time to come home. But life on Centauri-Earth is far from perfect. Threats from the planet and from within the colony are tearing them apart, although Elder and Amy do all they can to keep it together. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed–friends, family, life on Earth–will have been meaningless.
Plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Beth Revis here.
Follow Beth on Twitter here.
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DUMPLIN’ by Julie Murphy
Loved everything about this book! Willowdean is amazing and I wish I’d had her confidence when I was younger. Face what scares you head on and throw in a dance number! Honestly, what’s not to love? Cue “Jolene” on repeat.
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin'” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Julie Murphy here.
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THE YOUNG ELITES Series by Marie Lu
I’ve been dying to read this series ever since I met Marie Lu last summer and received my signed copy of the first book. I absolutely loved her LEGENDS series and couldn’t wait for more. She didn’t disappoint! Adelina is such a fascinating character. I thoroughly enjoyed living vicariously through her for awhile. The complex relationships that don’t all turn out the way you think they will (or dare I say, hope they will?) add so many delicious layers to this wonderful series. I couldn’t read fast enough! And those gorgeous covers, ah! Love them.
Plot summary for THE YOUNG ELITES:
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
Plot summary for THE ROSE SOCIETY:
Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.
But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?
Plot summary for THE MIDNIGHT STAR:
There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.
Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained.
When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu concludes Adelina’s story with this haunting and hypnotizing final installment to the Young Elites series.
Plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Marie Lu here.
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DARKEST LIE by Pintip Dunn
I was lucky enough to win an ARC of this book. I’d already finished reading the first two books in Dunn’s FORGET TOMORROW series – amazing! Can’t wait for the next one! This book is very different as it is a contemporary realism story instead of sci-fi/fantasy. Still a really good read.
Intense and suspenseful. Although I loved the mystery aspect, I really enjoyed the messy, complicated relationships presented that exist between parent and child, and how loss can magnify this dynamic. Just made the story so much richer. The flawed main characters with trust issues struggling to love each other while all the scary things were happening around them were also a delight. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!
Clothes, jokes, coded messages…Cecilia Brooks and her mom shared everything. At least, CeCe thought they did. Six months ago, her mom killed herself after accusations of having sex with a student, and CeCe’s been the subject of whispers and taunts ever since. Now, at the start of her high school senior year, between dealing with her grieving, distracted father, and the social nightmare that has become her life, CeCe just wants to fly under the radar. Instead, she’s volunteering at the school’s crisis hotline—the same place her mother worked.
As she counsels troubled strangers, CeCe’s lingering suspicions about her mom’s death surface. With the help of Sam, a new student and newspaper intern, she starts to piece together fragmented clues that point to a twisted secret at the heart of her community. Soon, finding the truth isn’t just a matter of restoring her mother’s reputation, it’s about saving lives—including CeCe’s own…(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Pintip Dunn here.
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SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys
RELAXED & GROOVY BOOK CLUB PIC
I won an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book on Goodreads. I love Sepetys’s storytelling so much I would have bought it even if I hadn’t. This well-crafted tale creates vivid scenes that immerse you right into the bitter cold of Eastern Prussia in 1945, following the lives of four fascinating and complex characters. We not only get caught up in their struggles, but in the mystery that slowly draws them all together. Read full discussion here.
In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer toward safety. Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.
A tribute to the people of Lithuania, Poland, and East Prussia, Ruta Sepetys unearths a shockingly little-known casualty of a gruesome war, and proves that humanity can prevail, even in the darkest of hours. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Ruta Sepetys here.
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I’M NOT YOUR MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL by Gretchen McNeil
Another fun pick from Colleen Houck’s Book Club on Goodreads. I’d been intrigued by the title and I really enjoyed the story, although it did kill an idea for story I had in development – well, I’ll just have to restructure the plot/completely gut it from the beginning, so no big deal. I never would have included the mathematics element – totally brilliant. Although some parts of the story may have been a bit predictable, I didn’t care. I enjoyed the characters enough to keep reading.
Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She’s starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying.
So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically-guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it’s time to use The Formula for herself. She’ll be reinvented as the eccentric and lovable Trixie—a quintessential manic pixie dream girl—in order to win her boyfriend back and beat new-girl Toile at her own game.
Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As The Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to reclaim her true identity, and fix everything she’s messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Gretchen McNeil here.
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GOODNIGHT, GOODNIGHT, CONSTRUCTION SITE by Sherri Dusky Rinker
Who would’ve thought poetry and bulldozers would go together so beautifully? Well-crafted tale that kept my son engaged time and again.
As the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking trucks get ready to say goodnight. One by one, Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator finish their work and lie down to rest — so they’ll be ready for another day of rough and tough construction play! With irresistible artwork by best-selling illustrator Tom Lichtenheld and sweet, rhyming text, this book will have truck lovers of all ages begging for more. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sherri Dusky Rinker here.
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LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET by Matt de la Peña (illustrated by Christian Robinson)
So many medals couldn’t happen to a nicer book! Beautiful story. I’m so glad my son finally allowed me to purchase it and read it with him. He doesn’t always go along with my recommendations! Loved loved LOVED this book!
Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around them.This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the wonderful perspective only grandparent and grandchild can share, and comes to life through Matt de la Pena’s vibrant text and Christian Robinson’s radiant illustrations. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Matt de la Peña here.
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Learn more about Christian Robinson here.
Follow Christian on Instagram here.
Follow Christian on Tumblr here.
KING’S CAGE by Victoria Aveyard
Truly enjoyable read. Very satisfying conclusion to this series.
In this breathless third installment to Victoria Aveyard’s bestselling Red Queen series, allegiances are tested on every side. And when the Lightning Girl’s spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?
Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother’s web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.
As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare’s heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.
When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down. Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Victoria Aveyard here.
Follow Victoria on Twitter here.
Follow Victoria on Facebook here.
LOVER’S DICTIONARY by David Levithan
Who else would attempt and accomplish this seemingly impossible task?
This was initially a story given out to friends for Valentine’s Day – how apropos? I found it both quite charming and insightful. Both funny and biting in equal measure. So very Levithan.
If you enjoy this, you’ll love following his Twitter account, which is actually made up of entries from this book.
How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves?
Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about David Levithan here.
Follow David on Twitter here.
Follow David on Facebook here.
I WILL SAVE YOU by Matt de la Peña
RELAXED & GROOVY BOOK CLUB PIC
Loved this book just as much the second time around.
Kidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but therapy. He doesn’t belong at the beach where he works either, unless he finds a reason to stay.
Olivia is blond hair, blue eyes, rich dad. The prettiest girl in Cardiff. She’s hiding something from Kidd—but could they ever be together anyway?
Devon is mean, mysterious, and driven by a death wish. A best friend and worst enemy. He followed Kidd all the way to the beach and he’s not leaving until he teaches him a few lessons about life. And Olivia. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Matt de la Peña here.
Follow Matt on Twitter here.
Follow Matt on Facebook here.
PARABLE OF THE SOWER (Earthseed #1) PARABLE OF THE TALENTS (Earthseed #2) by Octavia Butler
I can’t remember what led me to Octavia Butler – maybe a list of outstanding science fiction, with a slant on diversity? I don’t know. Whatever brought me to her, I am glad. So amazing! And honestly, reading them now, they seem a little haunting and prophetic.
Plot summary for PARABLE OF THE SOWER:
In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future
Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others. When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author’s estate. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Plot summary for PARABLE OF THE TALENTS:
As America rebuilds itself, bigotry threatens a peaceful haven
Lauren Olamina was only eighteen when her family was killed, and anarchy encroached on her Southern California home. She fled the war zone for the hope of quiet and safety in the north. There she founded Acorn, a peaceful community based on a religion of her creation, called Earthseed, whose central tenet is that God is change. Five years later, Lauren has married a doctor and given birth to a daughter. Acorn is beginning to thrive. But outside the tranquil group’s walls, America is changing for the worse. Presidential candidate Andrew Steele Jarret wins national fame by preaching a return to the values of the American golden age. To his marauding followers, who are identified by their crosses and black robes, this is a call to arms to end religious tolerance and racial equality—a brutal doctrine they enforce by machine gun. And as this band of violent extremists sets its deadly sights on Earthseed, Acorn is plunged into a harrowing fight for its very survival. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author’s estate. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Octavia Butler here.
THIS IS OUR STORY by Ashley Elston
This book was a selection for Colleen Houck’s Book Club on Goodreads in January. I find more interesting, new authors to follow from this book club. This book in particular was right up my alley. I love mysteries and this one was so great. There are alternating chapters told from the killers point of view without letting you know who it is. So clever! I loved reading this book! The pace was intense. I read it in a couple of days and was still trying to figure out the killer right up till the end.
No one knows what happened that morning at River Point. Five boys went hunting. Four came back. The boys won’t say who fired the shot that killed their friend; the evidence shows it could have been any one of them.
Kate Marino’s senior year internship at the District Attorney’s Office isn’t exactly glamorous—more like an excuse to leave school early that looks good on college applications. Then the DA hands her boss, Mr. Stone, the biggest case her small town of Belle Terre has ever seen. The River Point Boys are all anyone can talk about. Despite their damning toxicology reports the morning of the accident, the DA wants the boys’ case swept under the rug. He owes his political office to their powerful families.
Kate won’t let that happen. Digging up secrets without revealing her own is a dangerous line to walk; Kate has her own reasons for seeking justice for Grant. As she and Stone investigate—the ageing prosecutor relying on Kate to see and hear what he cannot—she realizes that nothing about the case—or the boys—is what it seems. Grant wasn’t who she thought he was, and neither is Stone’s prime suspect. As Kate gets dangerously close to the truth, it becomes clear that the early morning accident might not have been an accident at all—and if Kate doesn’t uncover the true killer, more than one life could be on the line…including her own. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Ashley Elston here.
Follow Ashley on Twitter here.
Follow Ashley on Facebook here.
BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
I don’t think any more awards could fit on the cover of this book. Still, I was struck by the title. I was transported by the imagery and moved by the emotions they evoked. Beautiful book.
Raised in South Carolina and New York, I always felt halfway home in each place. In these poems, I share what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and my growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.
It also reflects the joy of finding my voice through writing stories, despite the fact that I struggled with reading as a child. My love of stories inspired and stayed with me, creating the first sparks of the writer I was to become.
WHERE IT TAKES PLACE:
Columbus, Ohio, Greenville, South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York
WHERE I WROTE IT:
In all of those places but mostly in Brooklyn.
WHY I WROTE IT:
I wanted to understand who my mom was before she was my mother and I wanted to understand exactly how I became a writer. So I started researching my life, asking relatives and talking to friends – and mostly, just letting myself remember. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jacqueline Woodson here.
Follow Jacqueline on Twitter here.
Follow Jacqueline on Facebook here.
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING by Nicola Yoon
I had so many writer friends recommending this book to me, I knew I had to read it. As usual, they were right. This book was fantastic. I was so wrapped up in the characters and the story, I didn’t even see the big twist coming, which is pretty unusual for a writer – still didn’t care. Actual made me enjoy it even more.
There’s now a movie version coming out. And I’m looking forward to reading more by this talented author!
Madeline Whittier is allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left the house in all of her seventeen years. She is content enough—until a boy with eyes the color of the Atlantic Ocean moves in next door. Their complicated romance begins over IM and grows through a wunderkammer of vignettes, illustrations, charts, and more.
Everything, Everything is about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Nicola Yoon here.
Follow Nicola on Twitter here.
Follow Nicola on Instagram here.
TWO YEARS EIGHT MONTHS AND TWENTY EIGHT NIGHTS by Salman Rushdie
I received this book as part an event Mr. Rushdie participated in for Booksmart Tulsa during Banned Book Week in 2015. I also was able to hear him speak and to meet him (very) briefly as he signed my copy. Fantastic experience. He was a wonderful and inspiring speaker.
I really enjoyed this book – even though it sent me to the dictionary more than a few times. (I now know what words like solipsistic and susurration mean.) He has a great sense of humor and an amazing imagination. I’m always awed by his storytelling.
From one of the greatest writers of our time: the most spellbinding, entertaining, wildly imaginative novel of his great career, which blends history and myth with tremendous philosophical depth. A masterful, mesmerizing modern tale about worlds dangerously colliding, the monsters that are unleashed when reason recedes, and a beautiful testament to the power of love and humanity in chaotic times.
Inspired by 2,000 years of storytelling yet rooted in the concerns of our present moment, this is a spectacular achievement–enchanting, both very funny and terrifying. It is narrated by our descendants 1000 years hence, looking back on “The War of the Worlds” that began with “the time of the strangenesses”: a simple gardener begins to levitate; a baby is born with the unnerving ability to detect corruption in people; the ghosts of two long-dead philosophers begin arguing once more; and storms pummel New York so hard that a crack appears in the universe, letting in the destructive djinns of myth (as well as some graphic superheroes). Nothing less than the survival of our world is at stake. Only one, a djinn princess who centuries before had learned to love humankind, resolves to help us: in the face of dynastic intrigue, she raises an army composed of her semi-magical great-great–etc.–grandchildren–a motley crew of endearing characters who come together to save the world in a battle waged for 1,001 nights–or, to be precise, two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Salman Rushdie here.
Follow Salman on Twitter here.
— Books I’ve Read in 2016 —
FORGET TOMORROW (Forget Tomorrow #1) REMEMBER YESTERDAY (Forget Tomorrow #2) and BEFORE TOMORROW (Forget Tomorrow Prequel) by Pintip Dunn
I came across the first book in this series while participating in a YA Scavenger Hunt. The cover was just gorgeous and the story was right up my alley. I finally took it off my TBR pile and then couldn’t stop following the series straight through to the bonus prequel. Loved it all! Now I’m dying to read the final book! The torture!
Plot summary for FORGET TOMORROW:
It’s Callie’s seventeenth birthday and, like everyone else, she’s eagerly awaiting her vision―a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they’re meant to be. A world-class swimmer. A renowned scientist.
Or in Callie’s case, a criminal.
In her vision, she sees herself murdering her gifted younger sister. Before she can process what it means, Callie is arrested and placed in Limbo―a hellish prison for those destined to break the law. With the help of her childhood crush, Logan, a boy she hasn’t spoken to in five years, she escapes.
But on the run from her future, as well as the government, Callie sets in motion a chain of events that she hopes will change her fate. If not, she must figure out how to protect her sister from the biggest threat of all—Callie, herself.
Plot summary for REMEMBER YESTERDAY:
Sixteen-year-old Jessa Stone is the most valuable citizen in Eden City. Her psychic abilities could lead to significant scientific discoveries―if only she’d let TechRA study her. But after they kidnapped and experimented on her as a child, cooperating with the scientists is the last thing Jessa would do.
But when she discovers the past isn’t what she assumed, Jessa must join forces with budding scientist Tanner Callahan to rectify a fatal mistake made ten years ago. She’ll do anything to change the past and save her sister―even if it means aligning with the enemy she swore to defeat.
Plot summary for BEFORE TOMORROW:
In a world where all seventeen-year-olds receive a memory from their future selves, Logan Russell’s vision is exactly as he expects—and exactly not. He sees himself achieving his greatest wish of becoming a gold-star swimmer, but strangely enough, the vision also shows him locking eyes with a girl from his past, Callie Stone, and experiencing an overwhelming sense of love and belonging.
Logan’s not sure what the memory means, but soon enough, he learns that his old friend Callie is in trouble. She’s received an atypical memory, one where she commits a crime in the future. According to the law, she must be imprisoned, even though she’s done nothing wrong. Now, Logan must decide if he’ll give up his future as a gold-star swimmer and rescue the literal girl of his dreams. All he’ll have to do is defy Fate.
All plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Pintip Dunn here.
Follow Pintip on Twitter here.
Follow Pintip on Facebook here.
Follow Pintip on Instagram here.
ILLUMINAE (The Illuminae Files #1) and GEMINA (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (illustrations for GEMINA by Marie Lu)
Although I’d heard about the first book, and I’d been intrigued, I’d stayed just on the verge of buying it. I must admit, I didn’t start reading the series until the second book came out and I saw Marie Lu contributed the illustrations. Then I was completely sold. I made the mistake of getting the first book in ebook format – so hard to view all the goodies this way! I caved and later got it in hardcopy, too – no regrets! Great heart-pounding tension and gut-wrenching story-telling throughout the two books. Loved the multi-media format. Didn’t take away from the character development or story. Can’t wait for the next book!
Plot summary for ILLUMINAE:
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again!
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes. (Plot Summary from author’s website.)
Plot summary for GEMINA:
Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.
The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminaecontinues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.
Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.
When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.
But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.
Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Amie Kaufman here.
Follow Amie on Twitter here.
Follow Amie on Facebook here.
Follow Amie on Instagram here.
Learn more about Jay Kristoff here.
Follow Jay on Twitter here.
Follow Jay on Facebook here.
DARING AMELIA by Barbara Lowell (illustrated by Jez Tuya)
Wonderful story about one of my childhood heroes! I loved learning more about her journey. (Still after all these years, I wanted a different ending for her.) Great book for ALL young readers! (This is also the second book to be published by my lovely critique partner – go, Barbara!)
Soar to new heights with the story of the world’s most famous female pilot, Amelia Earhart!
Even as a kid, Amelia Earhart was always looking for adventures. She had mud ball fights, explored caves, and even built a roller coaster in her backyard. And the adventures continued as she grew up. She took flying lessons and was soon performing stunts in the sky. She became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Still, she wanted to achieve more. So Amelia set out to fly around the world. She took off and made stops on several continents. But tragedy struck. She was unable to find the small island in the Pacific Ocean that she needed to land on. Despite rescue efforts, she was never found. But Amelia Earhart is still remembered today as a daring explorer who loved to fly. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Barbara Lowell here.
Follow Barbara on Twitter here.
(GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL FIELD DAY by Tammi Sauer (illustrated by Lynn Munsinger)
The follow up to the first Ginny Louise story is just as lovable as the first one. Three cheers for Ginny Louise!
A good dose of optimism and unflinching kindness in the face of bullies is just what the world needs. Ginny Louise knows how to spread the love and make everyone feel like a winner! Even the bullies. She remains my favorite hedgehog.
Nobody loves Truman Elementary more than Ginny Louise. She didn’t think school could get any better until–
School Field Day! Ball throws, long jumps, tug-of-war, and, to top it all off, a sack race! Ginny Louise is game for it all. But the Truman Elementary Troublemakers, Cap’n Catastrophe, Destructo Dude, and Make-My-Day May, aren’t playing fair. When they go too far, can Ginny Louise use her irrepressible good humor to give everyone a reason to cheer?
Jaws will drop and eyes will pop before this School Field Day crosses the finish line. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
DECEPTION (Defiance #2) and DELIVERANCE (Defiance #3) by C.J. Redwine
I started this series with the first book, DEFIANCE, as part of Colleen Houck’s Goodreads Book Club some time last year, and I really wanted to finish the series. Fast-paced and intense, I read through these last two books quickly. I couldn’t wait to see how Rachel and Logan would survive the next catastrophe.
Plot summary for DECEPTION:
Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander’s whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father’s death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it’s up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington’s army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.
But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn’t long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.
In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.
Plot summary for DELIVERANCE:
Everything hangs in the balance, and nothing is certain: Rachel has been kidnapped by enemy forces and is being taken to Rowansmark while Logan, imprisoned and awaiting trial, is unable to leave Lankenshire. Separated from each other and their Baalboden comrades, each must find a way to achieve what they desperately want: to rid their world once and for all of the Commander and the tech that controls the deadly Cursed One.
Fighting through her pain and embracing the warrior she’s become, Rachel will do whatever it takes to escape her enemies’ clutches and join Logan in his fight. But when she learns a secret that changes everything, she realizes that escaping Ian and his tracker friends is no longer an option if she wants to save the people she loves. Instead, she’ll have to destroy Rowansmark from the inside out—if she can survive the journey through the Wasteland.
Logan needs allies if he wants to thwart Rowansmark’s power grab and rescue Rachel. But securing allies will mean betraying his beliefs and enlisting the help of the man he hates more than anyone: Commander Jason Chase. Driven by his fierce love for Rachel and his determination to make their world safe, Logan may be just the weapon the city-states need to defeat the Cursed One.
But as Rowansmark bears down and uneasy alliances are tested, will Rachel and Logan’s love for each other be enough to surmount the unbelievable odds against them? (Plot summaries from author website.)
Learn more about C.J. Redwine here.
Follow C.J. on Twitter here.
Follow C.J. on Facebook here.
ECHO by Pam Muńoz Ryan
I saw Ms. Ryan speak in LA this year and really enjoyed her talk. I bought her book ahead of time looked forward to reading it. I wish I had enjoyed it more. I really wanted to. For me, it fell short of its promise. It still was a decent read, but i found it wanting – I know, I know, Newbery Honor and all. Still, it started strong and with promise and there were enough moments I liked that I would give her another chance in a heartbeat. Many who have listened to the audiobook have been blown away. Maybe I should have tried that version.
Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.
Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.
Richly imagined and masterfully crafted, this impassioned, uplifting, and virtuosic tour de force will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Pam Muńoz Ryan here.
Follow Pam on Twitter here.
THE THANK YOU BOOK (Elephant & Piggie #25) by Mo Willems
My son has enjoyed every single one of these books and I’ve enjoyed reading them out loud with him. Love these characters. Love Mo Willems. Thank YOU, Mr. Willems, for all the great books.
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In The Thank You Book!, Piggie wants to thank EVERYONE. But Gerald is worried Piggie will forget someone . . . someone important. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Mo Willems here.
Follow The Pigeon on Twitter here.
YOUR ALIEN RETURNS by Tammi Sauer (Illustrated by Goro Fujita)
Gleep! What a beautiful continuation of the saga of a stellar friendship! Makes me want an alien friend of my very own. Loved how Sauer nailed the range of emotions one feels when visiting somewhere new and trying to fit in. And again with those far out illustrations from Goro Fujita! To die for! I highly recommend this book to all readers, young and young at heart.
Come along on an out-of-this-world experience! In this heartwarming sequel to the critically acclaimed Your Alien, it’s the human boy’s turn to visit the extraterrestrial’s home planet—and to feel like an outsider. But with a little help from his very best friend in the whole universe, our young hero finds a way to fit in. Like the two irresistible characters, readers will have the ride of their lives. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven
Beautiful. Funny. Surprising. Broke my heart in such a fantastic way. Up close and personal view of what it feels like to live with depression and thoughts of suicide, and what happens when those thoughts overwhelm you. Loved Violet and Finch so so much.
An exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he thinks of ways he might die, but every day he also searches for—and manages to find—something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her small Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school—six stories above the ground—it’s unclear who saves whom. And when the unlikely pair teams up on a class project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, they go, as Finch says, where the road takes them: the grand, the small, the bizarre, the beautiful, the ugly, the surprising—just like life.
Soon it’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a bold, funny, live-out-loud guy, who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet forgets to count away the days and starts living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
This is a heart-wrenching, unflinching story of love shared, life lived, and two teens who find one another while standing on the edge. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jennifer Niven here.
Follow Jennifer on Twitter here.
Follow Jennifer on Facebook here.
Follow Jennifer on Instagram here.
RED QUEEN (Red Queen #1) and GLASS SWORD (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard
Great fun, fast-paced adventure stories with strong female lead with fantastic flaws – what’s not to love? Unique world-building as well. I raced through these two books in a matter of days. Just the thing after reading two powerfully emotional and psychologically heavy books. Nothing wrong with fun reading! I’m even looking forward to the next book coming out early 2017.
Plot summary for RED QUEEN:
This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.
Plot summary for GLASS SWORD:
If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different.
Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.
The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.
Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.
But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.
Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?
The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.
Plot summaries from Goodreads.
Learn more about Victoria Aveyard here.
Follow Victoria on Twitter here.
Follow Victoria on Facebook here.
CHALLENGER DEEP by Neal Shusterman
I had the honor and privilege of listening to Neal tell the deeply personal story behind this book at this year’s LA SCBWI Summer conference. Let me tell us, it was phenomenal. I couldn’t wait to read my signed copy when I got back home.
Powerful storytelling. Insightful and empathetic view of the world of mental illness. That’s this book at its core. But they way Neal tells this story puts you right in the mind of someone with mental illness. You have no choice but to experience it. And it is life-altering.
Caden Bosch is on a ship that’s headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.
Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.
Caden Bosch is designated the ship’s artist in residence, to document the journey with images.
Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.
Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.
Caden Bosch is torn. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Neal Shusterman here.
Follow Neal on Twitter here.
Follow Neal on Facebook here.
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BELOVED by Toni Morrison
Powerful, mesmerizing storytelling at its best.
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.
Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Toni Morrison here.
Follow Toni on Facebook here.
BEAUTY QUEENS by Libba Bray
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Even better the second go around, this book delivers more than superficial good looks.Still a very relevant commentary on girl culture and a must-read for every young woman. Find full discussion here.
Teen beauty queens. A desert island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to e-mail. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Libba Bray here.
Follow Libba on Twitter here.
Follow Libba on Tumblr here.
Follow Libba on Facebook here.
MARY HAD A LITTLE GLAM by Tammi Sauer (Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton)
I love a rhyming book that’s fun to read out loud, and this one has so much flair! Mary knows how to show her classmates and the readers a good time.
This little Mary has STYLE! In this fun take on Mother Goose, fashion-forward Mary helps some of childhood’s most beloved characters go glam. From the kid who lives in a shoe (and dons some fab footwear, too) to Jack, who breaks his crown but gets a great new one, Mary’s school friends look fantastic in their finery. But are they now too well dressed for recess? Not to worry—Mary always shows her flair for what to wear! (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT by Drew Daywalt (Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers)
Although I saw this book everywhere, I didn’t pick it up to read until after I heard Drew speak at the LA SCBWI Summer conference. And I was suddenly really curious. Great story, so irreverent and funny. My kind of picture book for sure!
Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun.
What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best? (Plot summary from book’s website.)
Learn more about Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers here.
Follow Drew on Twitter here.
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Follow Oliver on Twitter here.
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THE RAVEN KING by Maggie Stiefvater
This was a very satisfying ending to a fantastic and unique series. I will miss reading about Blue and the Raven boys. Although, Ms. Stiefvater has alluded to a new Ronan-centric series in the works. I could really get into that!
Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.
For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.
Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Maggie Stiefvater here.
View Raven Cycle series own website here.
Follow Maggie on Twitter here.
Follow Maggie on Tumblr here.
GEORGE by Alex Gino
I had heard so many positive reviews of this book, I just had to read it.
Wow.
This book may be little, but it is mighty.
I cried so hard at the end and hugged it close to my heart. What an important book to add to the world and to put out there for MG readers. Fantastic story that needs to be read.
When people look at George, they see a boy. But George knows she’s a girl.
George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part … because she’s a boy.
With the help of her best friend Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte – but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.
GEORGE is a candid, genuine, and heartwarming middle grade about a transgender girl who is, to use Charlotte’s word, R-A-D-I-A-N-T! (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Alex Gino here.
Follow Alex on Twitter here.
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THIEF OF LIES (Library Jumpers #1) by Brenda Drake
This is the first book in a series by the wonderful and charming Brenda Drake, the YA author behind the Pitch Wars phenomenon. I loved the premise and the feisty female lead character. Drake does an excellent job with world-building and her fast-paced story has you racing to the end.
I look forward to the next installment.
Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.
Jumping into some of the world’s most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik’s world and her own, before both are destroyed. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Brenda Drake here.
Follow Brenda on Twitter here.
Follow Brenda on Facebook here.
ARE WE THERE YET? by Dan Santat
This is a fun read and would definitely spice up a boring car ride with this wildly imaginative trip care of Santat’s outrageous creativity.
“Are we there yet?” Every parent has heard this classic kid question on a long car ride–and after reading this astonishingly inventive new book (that even turns upside down for several pages!), you’ll never look at being bored the same way again.
Let’s face it: everyone knows that car rides can be boring. And when things get boring, time slows down. In this book, a boy feels time slowing down so much that it starts going backward–into the time of pirates! Of princesses! Of dinosaurs! The boy was just trying to get to his grandmother’s birthday party, but instead he’s traveling through Ancient Egypt and rubbing shoulders with Ben Franklin. When time flies, who knows where–or when–he’ll end up. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Dan Santat here.
Follow Dan on Twitter here.
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Follow Dan on Instagram here.
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I LOVE CAKE!: Starring Rabbit, Porcupine, and Moose by Tammi Sauer
I laughed, I cried, I ran out and bought myself some cake so I could read this book again. Loved the humor of this story. Great way to show how we all get it wrong sometimes and it’s okay as long as there’s cake, and friends to share it with.
Moose may be my new favorite picture book character, now that Mo Willems has retired the Gerald & Piggie series. (A moment of silence, please.) Yes, I know, that is high praise. Read the book and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Bestselling author Tammi Sauer’s characters are both lovable and mischievous. In I Love Cake!, the first picture book featuring irrepressible Moose, orderly Rabbit, and fun-loving Porcupine, Rabbit plans a fabulous birthday party with fun activities and a delicious cake. Porcupine and Moose come to enjoy Rabbit’s big day, but everything goes south when impulsive Moose loses control of his appetite!
With hilarious bits of dialogue throughout, I Love Cake! is not only a dynamic read-aloud, it works as an inspiration for a short play. Themes of friendship and forgiveness come through on every page—and the birthday theme makes I Love Cake! an excellent choice for a birthday gift! (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
TINY STITCHES: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas by Gwendolyn Hooks, illustrated by Colin Bootman
Gwen Hooks is a talented writer whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing through SCBWI OK. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her fascinating book about this talented and humble man who deserved to have his story told. The beautiful illustrations by award-winning illustrator Colin Bootman enhance the wonderful storytelling.
Read my interview with Gwen where she talks about her book here.
Vivien Thomas’s greatest dream was to attend college to study medicine. But after the stock market crashed in 1929, Vivien lost all his savings. Then he heard about a job opening at the Vanderbilt University medical school under the supervision of Dr. Alfred Blalock. Vivien knew that the all-white school would never admit him as a student, but he hoped working there meant he was getting closer to his dream.
As Dr. Blalock’s research assistant, Vivien learned surgical techniques. In 1943, Vivien was asked to help Dr. Helen Taussig find a cure for children with a specific heart defect. After months of experimenting, Vivien developed a procedure that was used for the first successful open-heart surgery on a child. Afterward, Dr. Blalock and Dr. Taussig announced their innovative new surgical technique, the Blalock-Taussig shunt. Vivien’s name did not appear in the report.
Overcoming racism and resistance from his colleagues, Vivien ushered in a new era of medicine—children’s heart surgery. This book is the compelling story of this incredible pioneer in medicine.
Learn more about Gwendolyn Hooks here.
Follow her on Twitter here.
Follow her on Facebook here.
Follow the Brown Bookshelf blog here.
Learn more about Colin Bootman here.
MY FRIEND MAGGIE by Hannah E. Harrison
I received an advance copy of this wonderful story from the lovely Hannah Harrison during our spring SCBWI OK conference. I was so excited to see her latest work! My son carries one of her books around with him every single day – yes, he has his own copy.
This is such a fantastic story of friendship put to the test. Harrison’s vibrant and clever use of color and perspective enhance the emotional impact. It’s a truly great read! And because Maggie’s an elephant, my son’s favorite animal, (and the artwork is so awesome!) he’ll soon be carrying this one around with him every day, too.
Paula and Maggie have been friends forever. Paula thinks Maggie is the best—until mean girl Veronica says otherwise. Suddenly, Paula starts to notice that Maggie is big and clumsy, and her clothes are sort of snuggish. Rather than sticking up for Maggie, Paula ignores her old friend and plays with Veronica instead. Luckily, when Veronica turns on Paula, Maggie’s true colors shine through.
This moving friendship story has all the heart and emotion of The Giving Tree and Kevin Henkes’s Chrysanthemum. The gorgeous artwork and important message make this a book to treasure. It’s truly a classic in the making. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Hannah E. Harrison here.
Follow Hannah on Facebook here.
THE BANE CHRONICLES by Cassandra Clare
As a serious fan of all things Shadowhunter, I couldn’t resist getting to know one of my favorite characters in the series. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes peek at the life of Magnus Bane and the illustrations – I only wish there had more more! The tales answered some questions and raised some others. The only drawback is now I feel compelled to reread the entire series of books. What’s a booklover to do?
Fans of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices can get to know warlock Magnus Bane like never before in this collection of New York Times bestselling tales, in print for the first time with an exclusive new story and illustrated material.
This collection of eleven short stories illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality, flamboyant style, and sharp wit populate the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.
Originally released one-by-one as e-only short stories by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan, this compilation presents all ten together in print for the first time and includes a never-before-seen eleventh tale, as well as new illustrated material. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Cassandra Clare here.
Follow Cassandra on Twitter here.
Follow her on Tumblr here.
ALL AMERICAN BOYS by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
So much buzz about this book as THE book to read this year brought this title to my attention. And now I know why.
Fantastic.
Timely.
Heartfelt.
Such an important topic and so well handled by these two incredibly talented authors. Bravo!
Critically acclaimed authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely have joined forces to write an explosive new novel, ALL AMERICAN BOYS, inspired by recent controversial events and the national firestorm over police brutality.
Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins are two young men, one black and one white, whose lives are forever changed by an act of extreme police brutality. Rashad wakes up in a hospital. Quinn saw how he got there. And so did the video camera that taped the cop beating Rashad senseless into the pavement. Thus begins ALL AMERICAN BOYS, written in tandem by two of our great literary talents, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. The story is told in Rashad and Quinn’s alternating perspectives, as they grapple with the complications that spin out of this violent moment and reverberate in their families, school, and town. Over the course of one week, Rashad tries to find the strength to accept his role as the symbolic figure of the community’s response to police brutality, and Quinn tries to decide where he belongs in a town bitterly divided by racial tension. Ultimately, the two narratives weave back together, in the moment in which the two boys, now changed, can actually see each other—the first step for healing and understanding in a country still deeply sick with racial injustice. Reynolds pens the voice of Rashad, and Kiely has taken the voice of Quinn.
“As a black man and a white man, both writers and educators, we came together to cowrite a book about how systemic racism and police brutality affect the lives of young people in America, in order to create an important, unique, and honest work that would give young people and the people who educate them a tool for talking about these difficult but absolutely vital conversations,” said Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jason Reynolds here.
Follow Jason on Twitter here.
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Learn more about Brendan Kiely here.
Follow Brendan on Twitter here.
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THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS SERIES by Cassandra Clare
I have some type of addiction to these stories. I can’t get enough of them! So as a mental break from all of my have-to reading, I read the first story for the millionth time because I wanted to. And I still enjoyed it. And I still read it as fast as the first time. Then, I couldn’t stop myself.
Thank you, for the Shadowhunters and all their friends, Ms. Clare. What a gift.
Plot summary for CITY OF BONES:
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it’s hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.
Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary’s mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon.
But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know….(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Plot summary for CITY OF ASHES:
Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.
To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?
Plot summary for CITY OF GLASS:
To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters — never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and her best friend, Simon, has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.
As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City — whatever the cost?
Learn more about Cassandra Clare here.
View Shadowhunters Novels site here.
Follow Cassandra on Twitter here.
Follow her on Tumblr here.
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Sáenz Alire
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The way Sáenz paints with language gets me every time. He uses evocative language so well to hit right to the heart of the emotional moment of every scene. And his characters Ari and Dante are just the greatest. I loved this book even more the second time around. Find full discussion here.
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Benjamin Alire Saenz here and here.
Follow Benjamin on Twitter here.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins
Another book many of my writing friends were ranting about, so I threw it on the TBR pile. Interesting read. It was a little bit of a slow-starter for me, honestly. Which surprised me, since everyone seemed to be talking about what an intense, fast-paced story it was. I think my problem was I didn’t much like Rachel in the beginning – I didn’t find her character very sympathetic. That’s one thing editors are always talking about, isn’t it? Make us care about your character. well, it took me a little while to feel anything positive for her.
Then the story really took off.
I did enjoy the book. And I did end up warming to Rachel. I also managed to do something I don’t do too often when reading mysteries – I figured out the plot way early. I still enjoyed the story, and I wasn’t totally sure about my hunch, so it kept me reading. It was a subtle thing the author did that I picked up on, but I think reading so much and being an author helped me see it.
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Paula Hawkins here.
Follow Paula on Twitter here.
Follow Paula on Facebook here.
CAREER OF EVIL (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling)
There’s nothing like a hard-boiled mystery novel, is there? I really enjoy reading these books by Rowling, er, Galbraith. Just a fun read. I know, I know, murder and mayhem, fun? I may be a little weird. Either way, I read through this book in a flash to find out whodunit.
When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible- and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…
Career of Evil is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, it is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Robert Galbraith here.
Follow Robert on Twitter here.
Follow Robert on Facebook here.
(I’m sure you know how to find J.K. Rowling, but here’s her other main site, just in case, here.)
WHAT THE LADY WANTS: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age by Renee Rosen
I read Rosen’s DOLLFACE a few years ago and really enjoyed it. While this novel is also set in historic Chicago, and while it starts out strong, it left much to be desired as far as the story. I’m afraid it rambled on too long and the main character was not as strong as I like mine – things tended to happen to her – time passing, waiting for people to die to remove obstacles to her desires – instead of her taking charge of her life. Blech.
I did enjoy reading about the great fire that leveled Chicago and Rosen always writes the historic details with flair, I just didn’t care that much for the actual story this time.
In late 19th century Chicago, visionary retail tycoon Marshall Field made his fortune wooing women customers with his famous motto: “Give the lady what she wants.”
His legendary charm also won the heart of socialite Delia Spencer, and led to an infamous love affair.
The night of the Great Fire, as seventeen-year-old Delia watched the flames rise and consume what had been the pioneer town of Chicago, she couldn’t imagine how much her life, her city, and her whole world was about to change. Nor would she have guessed that the agent of that change would not simply be the fire, but more so the man she met that night…
Leading the way in rebuilding after the fire, Marshall Field reopens his well-known dry goods store and transforms it into something the world has never seen before: a glamorous palace of a department store. He and his powerhouse coterie— including Potter Palmer and George Pullman—usher in the age of robber barons, the American royalty of their generation.
But behind the opulence, their private lives are riddled with scandal and heartbreak. Delia and Marshall first turn to each other out of loneliness, but as their love deepens, they will stand together despite disgrace and ostracism, through an age of devastation and opportunity, when an adolescent Chicago was transformed into the Gleaming White City of the Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Renee Rosen here.
Follow Renee on Twitter here.
Follow Renee on Facebook here.
BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates
I can’t count how many people recommended this book to me. Everyone who read it was moved in a profound way. Obviously I signed up to read it.
Powerful doesn’t begin to describe this story.
Coates puts you immediately in the conversation and lets you explore the fear and worry and anger and enlightenment from the point of view of a parent teaching a son how to come to terms with the same. A must-read book for sure.
“This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.”
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Ta-Nehisi Coates here.
Follow Ta-Nehisi on Twitter here.
THE ORPHAN QUEEN duology by Jodi Meadows
I read Jodi Meadows’s debut novel INCARNATE a few years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. I loved the whole Incarnate series and I know I won’t be disappointed when I reach for one of her books. I did torture myself by waiting to read this book until the second book was coming out because I know how she likes a good cliff-hanger.
The first book in the series was no exception!
Right after I closed this one, I immediately purchased the sequel (and the conclusion to this duology. I haven’t read many of these!) That is the sign of great writing in my book – when you want to find out what happens next. Without delay.
Plot summary for THE ORPHAN QUEEN:
Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.
She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.
She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.
She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.
Plot summary for THE MIRROR KING:
Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies.
Her friends have turned. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right.
Her magic is uncontrollable. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her.
Her heart is torn. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.
Learn more about Jodi Meadows here.
Follow Jodi on Twitter here.
Follow Jodi on Facebook here.
Follow Jodi on Instagram here.
Follow Jodi on Tumblr here.
EVERY DAY by David Levithan
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Not your average story right from the start. And it just gets better. The character Leviathan has created is amazing. The situation he’s put in, switching lives every day, allows ‘A’ to comment on the human condition in a unique way and offer up fantastic insights. Find the full discussion here.
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
In his New York Times bestselling novel, David Levithan introduces readers to what Entertainment Weekly calls a “wise, wildly unique” love story about A, a teen who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
With his new novel, David Levithan, bestselling co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. (From author’s website.)
Learn more about David Levithan here.
Follow David on Twitter here.
Follow David on Facebook here.
REQUIEM (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver
I read the first two books in this series about three years ago and then I somehow missed the last book until now. (I think I was waiting for it to come out in paperback.) Great series. So glad I finally got to find out what happened to Lena.
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.
As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana’s points of view. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Lauren Oliver here.
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LADY MIDNIGHT by Cassandra Clare
I absolutely love the Shadowhunters series from Calre. I’ll read these books over and over and never tire of them. So excited about finally getting to read more about Emma and Julian and all of the LA shadowhunters. Fantastic story, which I devoured only too soon.And that cover! Too die for!
In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other — but they can never fall in love.
Emma Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, one in a long line of Shadowhunters tasked with protecting the world from demons. With her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of an secret Los Angeles where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries start turning up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were murdered years ago, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge — and Julian’s chance to get back his half-faerie brother, Mark, who was kidnapped five years ago. All Emma, Mark and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks . . . before the murderer targets them.
Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. As she uncovers the past, she begins to peel away the secrets of the present: What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents — and can she bear to know the truth?
The magic and adventure of the Shadowhunter Chronicles have captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Fall in love with Emma and her friends in this pulse-pounding, heart-rending new volume sure to delight new readers and longtime fans. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Cassandra Clare here.
Follow Cassandra on Twitter here.
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GLORY (The Dust Chronicles #3) by Maureen McGowan
This is the final book in the series that I started late last year. Nice to finish it and read the ending of Glory’s journey. Good read. Really enjoyed the series.
Glory is a Deviant. That is what she was always taught, growing up in the domed city of Haven. She has the power to kill with her gaze, but she’s learned to control this power and use it only against the monstrous Shredders who survive on the asteroid dust that mutated their DNA.
Now, living in a settlement Outside, Glory has the chance to embrace her “Gift” and reunite her remaining family. But she can’t hide from the threat of Shredder attacks or the knowledge of what Management is doing to the employees of Haven.
Can she face losing everything she has left to bring freedom to Haven? Will she choose the familiar safety of Cal’s love or risk Burn’s dangerous passion? Ultimately, Glory must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe, and what it really means to be a monster.
This is the thrilling finale to The Dust Chronicles trilogy. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Maureen McGowan here.
Follow Maureen on Twitter here.
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SUNSETS AND HAIKU by Una Belle Townsend
I received a copy of SUNSETS AND HAIKU from Una Belle herself, when she read about the reading challenges I am attempting this year. So thoughtful! I wrote a review of her book. Find the full discussion here.
Ever-changing. Exotic. Thought-provoking.
In this exquisite photography collection, Una Belle Townsend, author and photographer, captures nature at its most elusive–when the sun, earth, clouds and atmosphere collide to create stunning tableaus from firecracker red prairies to picture-perfect pastel skies. Famous worldwide, Oklahoma sunsets explode in a kaleidoscope of colors as the sun disappears beyond the horizon. Paired with her stunning photos is a Japanese poetry form, haiku, which traditionally calls to mind nature and its seasons. (Plot summary from publisher’s website.)
Learn more about Una Belle Townsend here.
Follow Una Belle on Facebook here.
HOLES by Louis Sachar
Just about every one of my writing friends could not believe I’d never read this book. “I’ve seen the movie” was not good enough. I promptly agreed to read this book as soon as possible. I’m glad I did. It’s a fantastic story and well told by Sachar. (And of course it’s better than the movie – which was pretty darn good.)
Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.
It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Louis Sachar here.
Follow Louis on Facebook here.
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S King
FEBRUARY RELAXED & GROOVY BOOK CLUB PIC
King has become one of my must-read authors, and I am knocked out by each new novel she publishes. She is a master at using magical realism with astounding impact. This book is where it all began, and it won her a Michael L. Printz honor in 2011. Find the full discussion here.
Eighteen-year-old Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.
So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, or even the police. But will she emerge and clear his name? Does she even want to?
An edgy, gripping story, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about A.S. King here.
Follow A.S. King on Twitter here.
THE FIVE RED HERRINGS by Dorothy L. Sayers
I enjoy a good old fashioned murder as much as the next person. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading my first Dorothy Sayers novel last year, STRONG POISON. This one, I’m sorry to say, fell a little flat for me. Missing not only the fantastic chemistry with Harriett (whom I hope returns very soon!) but also missing was clarity. In understandable dialect for one thing! The Scottish vernacular was so thickly shown that I had difficulty discerning what was being said much of the time – NOT ideal in a mystery novel! And the plot was a little lackluster as well. Still, I did adore the scenes with Lord Peter in them, especially when he was full of enthusiasm for a good murder. I hold out hope that the next book in the series will show this one to be a mere stumble.
During a painting retreat, a killer takes a creative approach to the ancient art of murder
The majestic landscape of the Scottish coast has attracted artists and fishermen for centuries. In the idyllic village of Kirkcudbright, every resident and visitor has two things in common: They either fish or paint (or do both), and they all hate Sandy Campbell. Though a fair painter, he is a rotten human being, and cannot enter a pub without raising the blood pressure of everybody there. No one weeps when he dies. Campbell’s body is found at the bottom of a steep hill, and his easel stands at the top, suggesting that he took a tumble while painting. But something about the death doesn’t sit right with gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. No one in Kirkcudbright liked Campbell, and six hated him enough to become suspects. Five are innocent, and the other is the perpetrator of one of the most ingenious murders Lord Peter has ever encountered. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Dorothy L. Sayers here.
KIKI AND JACQUES by Susan Ross
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This was a debut novel that had an intriguing premise, although it mostly fell flat for me. I reviewed this book in detail on the blog.
All in all, it wasn’t a great read for me, just an okay read.
Twelve-year-old Jacques’s mother has passed away, his father is jobless and drinking again and his grandmother’s bridal store is on the verge of going out of business. Plus he’s under pressure from an older boy to join in some illegal activities. At least Jacques can look forward to the soccer season. After all, he’s a shoe-in for captain.
But the arrival of Somali refugees shakes up nearly everything in Jacques’s Maine town, including the soccer team. So Jacques is surprised to find himself becoming friends with Kiki, a cheerful and strong-minded Somali immigrant. Despite their many differences they are able to help one another triumph over problems with friends, family and growing up.
(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Susan Ross here.
Follow Susan on Twitter here.
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ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD by Kendare Blake
An agent who read the beginning of one of my WIPs suggested this book to me as a comp title. I have to say, it was enlightening, and it did help give me some great ideas for my own story. I don’t read too many horror novels, so it was nice to branch out and read a good book in a different genre.
The cover had a quote from a famous YA author I like, touting this book as, “spellbinding and romantic”. While I did really enjoy it, I didn’t exactly find it romantic. At all. It was still definitely well worth the read…just maybe keep the lights on. ALL the lights.
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
Yet she spares Cas’s life.
(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Kendare Blake here.
Follow Kendare on Twitter here.
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WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart
My daughter recommended this book to me. She rarely steers me wrong. This one was no exception. I love when a book surprises me and moves me.
This one did both.
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate,
political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about E. Lockhart here.
Follow E. Lockhart on Twitter here.
Watch E. Lockhart read the opening of WE WERE LIARS here.
Follow the WE WERE LIARS Tumblr page here.
ORBITING JUPITER by Gary Schmidt
This is another perfect, beautifully written book.
Schmidt crafts a wonderful and heartbreaking story that draws you in and makes you feel everything for Jack and Joseph and want so much more for them.
I love when I close a book with tears still fresh in my eyes. Ah! such a great story!
When Jack meets his new foster brother, he already knows three things about him:
Joseph almost killed a teacher.
He was incarcerated at a place called Stone Mountain.
He has a daughter. Her name is Jupiter. And he has never seen her.
What Jack doesn’t know, at first, is how desperate Joseph is to find his baby girl.
Or how urgently he, Jack, will want to help.
But the past can’t be shaken off. Even as new bonds form, old wounds reopen. The search for Jupiter demands more from Jack than he can imagine.
This tender, heartbreaking novel is Gary D. Schmidt at his best. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gary Schmidt here.
SHATTER ME SERIES by Tahereh Mafi
I was drawn to the cover and the description of a character who’s touch is deadly. I wanted to know her story. Then this series fit in with the Read Harder Challenge as my selection for the challenge to read the first book in a series by a person of color. Of course, once I read the first book, I couldn’t just stop; I read the entire series, including the two novellas told from the two main male characters, Warner and Adam.
Mari has such a unique writing style. She has a beautiful use of language that paints vivid emotional pictures, and really draws you in to her story. Her heroine, Juliette was fantastic. I loved following her struggle to self-discovery and finding her own inner strength. Such a wonderful series.
Plot summary for SHATTER ME:
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice:
BE A WEAPON. OR BE A WARRIOR.
Plot summary for DESTROY ME:
This novella-length digital original bridges the gap between Shatter Me and Unravel Me from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.
Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.
Plot summary for UNRAVEL ME:
Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.
She’s finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.
Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.
Plot summary for FRACTURE ME:
Set during and soon after the final moments of Unravel Me, Fracture Me is told from Adam’s perspective.
As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam’s focus couldn’t be further from the upcoming battle. He’s reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend’s life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James’s safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It’s time for war.
On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam’s newly discovered half brother, won’t be that easy. The Reestablishment can’t tolerate a rebellion, and they’ll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.
Plot summary for IGNITE ME:
With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.
All plot summaries from author’s website.
Learn more about Tahereh Mafi here.
Follow Tahereh on Twitter here.
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SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Abertalli
I was intrigued by the title and the cover and by all of the online love this book received by writers I respect. This debut novel was well worth the time. I really enjoyed the secret relationship Simon had with Blue and how honest he could be with someone he didn’t really know. The lengths he went through to protect this relationship from being harmed – what made this one more real than others in his life? Great concept and so well executed.
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Becky Abertalli here.
Follow Becky on Twitter here.
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THE SKIN GAME (The Dresden Files #15) by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher really knows how to layer a story with complex plots and how to keep you guessing to the very end. One thing I love more than anything is his use of humor. Even in the midst of the worst moments, his main character, Harry, can throw out a fantastic quip that has me rolling and also wondering if he isn’t just a bit insane. I absolutely love this series, and I am fascinated by the depth of characters and story lines that Butcher weaves into each one. The dynamic between Harry and his badass pint-sized sidekick Murphy is pure genius and she is also one of my favorite female characters in this genre – yep, the vanilla human with no magical powers who dares to fight monsters.
Butcher is the king of taking his characters so close to what they want and having it ripped away from them, just to be put through the worst possible scenarios while taking a hell of a beating as they try to survive by any means necessary. On occasion they don’t survive, which breaks our hearts even more. And yet, I still can’t stop reading each book at a break-neck pace. I’m already anticipating the release of PEACE TALKS later this year.
Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day….
Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it’s something awful.
He doesn’t know the half of it….
Mab has just traded Harry’s skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Harry’s most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone—to break into the highest-security vault in town so that they can then access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever.
It’s a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world—which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character. Worse, Dresden suspects that there is another game afoot that no one is talking about. And he’s dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Especially Harry.
Dresden’s always been tricky, but he’s going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this mess—assuming his own allies don’t end up killing him before his enemies get the chance…(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jim Butcher here.
Follow Jim on Twitter here.
THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker
This is a book I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. What finally made me pick it up hearing how much the book impacted one particular reader. Author Matt de la Peña mentioned how influential this book was on him personally, and how surprised he was to see similarities in his life with that of Celie, the main character. Good enough recommendation for me.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and watching Celie discover her own inner strength and see her way to forgiveness over bitterness. Beautiful story.
Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to “Mister,” a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister’s letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Alice Walker here.
INTO THE STILL BLUE (Under the Never Sky #3) by Veronica ROSSI
I picked up the first book in this series after hearing the author speak at an SCBWI LA Summer conference a few years ago. The first book, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, was part of my 2015 PBR Pile Challenge and I wrote a review of it here.
Spoiler Alert: I loved, loved, loved it!
I read through the entire series in less than a week. The last book, INTO THE STILL BLUE, is the first book I finished reading for 2016.
One of my favorite dystopian series by far.
Seriously.
That good.
The race for survival comes to a thrilling close in the earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi’s New York Times bestselling Under the Never Sky trilogy.
Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it’s time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to find the fabled Still Blue and bring balance to their world. (Plot summaries from author’s website.)
Learn more about Veronica Rossi here.
Follow Veronica on Twitter here.
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— Books I’ve Read in 2015 —
UNDER THE NEVER SKY & THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT (Under the Never Sky #1 & #2) by Veronica ROSSI
I picked up the first book in this series after hearing the author speak at an SCBWI LA Summer conference a few years ago. This first book was part of my 2015 PBR Pile Challenge and I wrote a review of it here.
Spoiler Alert: I loved, loved, loved it! I read through the next two books in the series in less than a week. Two made it into this year’s list. The last book, INTO THE STILL BLUE, will be the first book I finish for 2016.
One of my favorite dystopian series by far. Seriously. That good.
Plot summary for UNDER THE NEVER SKY:
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive. A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption.
In alternating chapters told in Aria’s and Perry’s voices, Under the Never Sky subtly and powerfully captures the evolving relationship between these characters and sweeps readers away to a harsh but often beautiful world.
Plot summary for THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT:
It’s been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don’t take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe’s precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.
Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night? (Plot summaries from author’s website.)
Learn more about Veronica Rossi here.
Follow Veronica on Twitter here.
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Follow Veronica on Instagram here.
LAIR OF DREAMS by Libba Bray
I would read a 500 page operator’s manual on how to build a piece of Ikea furniture if the incomparable Ms. Libba Bray wrote it. I love her that much. This highly anticipated sequel to THE DIVINERS was well worth the wait. I devoured this story slowly and with much eerie delight. I just adore these Divine characters and the supernatural setting Bray has placed them in. I will wait as long as necessary for the conclusion of this wonderful tale.
After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to “read” objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners’ abilities…
Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Check out the Diviners website here.
Learn more about Libba Bray here.
Follow Libba on Twitter here.
DEVIANTS & COMPLIANCE (Dust Chronicles #1 and #2) by Maureen McGowan
I won this book, along with the sequel COMPLIANCE, during the Kidlit Cares for Oklahoma fundraiser a few years ago when that devastating tornado hit the OKC/Moore area and destroyed the elementary school. The first book was part of my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge. I wrote a review of DEVIANTS here.
I enjoyed the series so much, I read through the second book as quickly as the first. (And then I had to order the final book, GLORY, so I could find out how everything ends!)
Plot summary for DEVIANTS:
Glory, a sixteen-year-old orphan whose emotions can kill, lives in a domed city where her ability means Deviant—and dead. For generations, Earth has been buried in asteroid dust that’s mutated the DNA of some humans. To survive, Glory must hide her Deviant ability—and her paraplegic brother—from the authorities. When her boyfriend joins the secret police, she must flee the dome and outrun the sadistic, scab-covered Shredders living outside in the dust. Can Glory trust a mysterious boy with a dangerous Deviance of his own?
Plot summary for COMPLIANCE:
The slogan reads: Haven Equals Safety.
But for Glory, life inside the domed city of Haven is anything but safe. After rescuing her brother, Glory returns to Haven as a double agent to locate and save fellow Deviants. Far from her family, Glory faces danger at every turn as she trains to be a Compliance Officer–to track down and expunge her own kind–while she works undercover to rescue as many Deviants as she can. When people she trusts turn against her, Glory questions everything in which she believes and can no longer tell her allies from her enemies.
(Plot summaries from author’s website.)
Learn more about Maureen McGowan here.
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THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate
Too many people recommended this book recently for me NOT to read it. Beautifully touching story.
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.
Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about the real Ivan’s story and about the author, Katherine Applegate here.
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THAT SUMMER by Sarah Dessen
I read this as part of my 2015 TBR Challenge and I posted a review of this book here. This is my first Sarah Dessen novel, and coincidentally, it is also her first book. I’m sure I will read more by her in the future.
The more things change…
As far as Haven is concerned, there’s just too much going on.
Everything is changing, and she’s not sure where she fits in.
Then her sister’s old boyfriend shows up, sparking memories of the summer when they were all happy and everything was perfect…
But along the way, Haven realizes that sometimes change is a good thing. (Plot summary from Goodreads website.)
Learn more about Sarah Dessen here.
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CRAZY BRAVE by Joy Harjo
I picked this book up after reading about Harjo winning a lifetime achievement award for her poetry and learning that she was from Tulsa. I absolutely loved this book and wrote a review post about it here.
In this transcendent memoir, grounded in tribal myth and ancestry, music and poetry, Joy Harjo, one of our leading Native American voices, details her journey to becoming a poet. Born in Oklahoma, the end place of the Trail of Tears, Harjo grew up learning to dodge an abusive stepfather by finding shelter in her imagination, a deep spiritual life, and connection with the natural world. She attended an Indian arts boarding school, where she nourished an appreciation for painting, music, and poetry; gave birth while still a teenager; and struggled on her own as a single mother, eventually finding her poetic voice. Narrating the complexities of betrayal and love, Crazy Brave is a memoir about family and the breaking apart necessary in finding a voice. Harjo’s tale of a hardscrabble youth, young adulthood, and transformation into an award-winning poet and musician is haunting, unique, and visionary. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Joy Harjo here.
Follow Joy on Facebook here.
Subscribe to Joy’s YouTube Channel here.
LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
CAUTION! Do NOT listen to the audio version of this book while driving! You will crash and die. Seriously almost happened to me when someone was just reading aloud one chapter. Tears from laughing so hard blinded me and I had to pull over. Pretty sure I didn’t kill anyone.
For fans of Tina Fey and David Sedaris-Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, makes her literary debut.
When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.
Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments-the ones we want to pretend never happened-are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jenny Lawson here.
Follow Jenny on Twitter here.
Follow Jenny on Facebook here.
ALL THE RAGE by Courtney Summers
I read this book in anticipation of hosting Courtney on our monthly #okscbwichat for October of the this year. I wanted to get a feel for her writing and be able to ask intelligent questions.
Wow!
I was just blown away by her writing. The intensity and rawness of emotion evoked Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK, and yet it was it’s own very distinct creature. I loved this book!
The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything–friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her past there. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time–and they certainly won’t now–but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.
With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women in a culture that refuses to protect them. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
She splashes the color red not just on her MC’s nails, but drips it on every page. Gut-wrenching all the way through, and yet still loved every minute of it. I look forward to the next book.
Learn more about Courtney Summers here.
Follow Courtney on Twitter here.
Follow Courtney on Facebook here.
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ROAR! by Tammi Sauer
What else can I say about this delightful and surprising picture book? I covered it at length in this blog post here.
I love the fresh concept and how the characters work out their problem together. while reading it, I immediately wanted to create my own dragon costume and make my dogs play with me. (I don’t have a cat.) Fantastic storytelling and outstanding illustrations! Loved this book so so much!
With scissors and tape a boy transforms himself into…a dragon! “ROAR!” he says. He is BIG. He is SCARY. Well, not really. When two dragons come over for a play date, what on earth will these three find to do together? The boy doesn’t have big teeth and he can’t breathe fire. He is just a boy. And the dragons can’t eat ice cream or do cartwheels. They are just dragons. Luckily, the dragons care more about what they all can do together, like make silly faces and do the funky monkey dance. What they really care about is being friends. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Follow Tammi’s group blog Picture Book Builders here.
Read my review with Tammi here!
THE REVENANT SERIES by Amy Plum
I won the first book in this series, DIE FOR ME, last year after participating in an online chat with the Colleen Houck Book Club on Goodreads. We talked with Amy Plum about the first book in her latest series, AFTER THE END. (It is also fantastic, and I highly recommend it, too.)
This was such an intense, fast-paced and heart-felt read. I tore through this first book and continued on through the rest of the series in less than a week. Such wonderfully developed characters and rich story lines, it was a wonderful world to get lost in for awhile. I just loved it. The first book was also a selection for my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge and I wrote a review for it here.
Plot summary for DIE FOR ME:
In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity. When Kate Mercier’s parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.
Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate’s guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he’s a revenant–an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.
Plot summary for UNITL I DIE:
Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love. As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.
Plot summary for IF I SHOULD DIE:
I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself. Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.
It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.
After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?
(All plot summaries from author’s website.)
Learn more about Amy Plum here.
Follow Amy on Twitter here.
Follow Amy on Facebook here.
Follow Amy on Instagram here.
READ BETWEEN THE LINES by Jo Knowles
I first fell in forever reader-love with Jo Knowles after reading SEE YOU AT HARRY’S. OMG. That book! Seriously, if you haven’t read it, you must do so ASAP. Anyway, I had to pick up Knowles’s latest book as soon as I could, which is just another awesome exercise in literary greatness.
Does anyone ever see us for who we really are? Jo Knowles’s revelatory novel of interlocking stories peers behind the scrim as it follows nine teens and one teacher through a seemingly ordinary day.
Thanks to a bully in gym class, unpopular Nate suffers a broken finger—the middle one, splinted to flip off the world. It won’t be the last time a middle finger is raised on this day. Dreamer Claire envisions herself sitting in an artsy café, filling a journal, but fate has other plans. One cheerleader dates a closeted basketball star; another questions just how, as a “big girl,” she fits in. A group of boys scam drivers for beer money without remorse—or so it seems. Over the course of a single day, these voices and others speak loud and clear about the complex dance that is life in a small town. They resonate in a gritty and unflinching portrayal of a day like any other, with ordinary traumas, heartbreak, and revenge. But on any given day, the line where presentation and perception meet is a tenuous one, so hard to discern. Unless, of course, one looks a little closer—and reads between the lines. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
I love how each story intertwines with all the others, and makes you think about what you’ve already read, and makes you RETHINK about what you’ve already read. Great story, as always.
Learn more about Jo Knowles here.
Follow Jo on Twitter here.
Follow on Facebook here.
Follow on Tumblr here.
LEONA MITCHELL: Opera Star by Gwendolyn Hooks
I received a signed copy of each book in this series from these lovely women for doing the interviews on the blog for them. Although it was my pleasure, I was so happy to receive the books! They are so beautiful and all have a ton of interesting, high-quality photographs. The Oklahoma Heritage Association Publishing did an outstanding job on each book. I just love them.
I learned so much about each and every person from Oklahoma in the collection. I was so proud to read about them all. I do hope they continue this series!
Leona Mitchell was a regular little girl growing up in Enid, Oklahoma, except that she sang in the church choir at the age of 4, performed solos at the age of 8, and directed the choir at the age of 14. She always thought she was a good singer, even when her brothers teased her that she could not sing.
When Leona sang for the first time in her high school choir class, she began to realize her voice might be something special. With the help of Mrs. Priebe, the choir director, Leona stepped into the world of opera. She went from a good singer to an opera star, traveling the world, sprinkling her sparkle on audiences everywhere, including the Prince’s Palace in Monaco.
Reader’s will delight in Leona Mitchell’s story as they follow her from Enid to the stars. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gwendolyn Hooks here.
Follow her on Twitter here.
Follow her on Facebook here
Follow the Brown Bookshelf blog here.
Read her interview on my blog here.
TE ATA: Oklahoma Cultural Treasure by Pati Hailey
I received a signed copy of each book in this series from these lovely women for doing the interviews on the blog for them. Although it was my pleasure, I was so happy to receive the books! They are so beautiful and all have a ton of interesting, high-quality photographs. The Oklahoma Heritage Association Publishing did an outstanding job on each book. I just love them.
I learned so much about each and every person from Oklahoma in the collection. I was so proud to read about them all. I do hope they continue this series!
Born in 1895 in Indian Territory, Te Ata grew up during a time when Chickasaw children were not allowed to speak their native language in their own schools. They could not tell the stories or play the games of their culture. This was true for the children of many tribes throughout North America.
Te Ata worried the traditions of Native Americans would be lost or forgotten forever. For more than seventy years, she used her acting talent to show people around the world the beauty and wisdom of Native American cultures. She helped change attitudes toward Native Americans. Oklahoma honored her dedication in two important ways. She is in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. And she was named the first Oklahoma Cultural Treasure. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Loved learning so much about this fascinating woman. Well written and so much great detail!
Read her interview on my blog here.
WILL ROGERS: Oklahoma’s Favorite Son by Darleen Bailey Beard
I received a signed copy of each book in this series from these lovely women for doing the interviews on the blog for them. Although it was my pleasure, I was so happy to receive the books! They are so beautiful and all have a ton of interesting, high-quality photographs. The Oklahoma Heritage Association Publishing did an outstanding job on each book. I just love them.
I learned so much about each and every person from Oklahoma in the collection. I was so proud to read about them all. I do hope they continue this series!
Will Rogers, Oklahoma’s Favorite Son, was a man like no other. Shy and humble, he grew up on a cattle ranch near Oologah, Oklahoma. At an early age, he learned how to ride a horse and throw a lariat, and eventually he became one of the most famous lariat artists of all times performing on stages all over the world. When he added humor to his performances by joking about world politics, government leaders, and even presidents, his audiences loved it.
Along with being a lariat artist and an American humorist, he became an international star, the highest-paid actor of his time, the highest-paid radio host of his time, an author, and a caring humanitarian who traveled the world helping people in times of need. He truly had a heart of gold and the entire world loved him. So how did this shy, high school dropout attain such worldwide stardom and love? Welcome to the world of Will Rogers…(Plot summary from Goodreads.)
What a delightful story. I learned so much about Will Rogers. Incredible life of a fascinating man.
Learn more about Darleen Bailey Beard here.
Follow her on Facebook here.
Read her interview on my blog here.
BILL WALLACE: Author of Adventure and Animal Stories by Jane McKellips
I received a signed copy of each book in this series from these lovely women for doing the interviews on the blog for them. Although it was my pleasure, I was so happy to receive the books! They are so beautiful and all have a ton of interesting, high-quality photographs. The Oklahoma Heritage Association Publishing did an outstanding job on each book. I just love them.
I learned so much about each and every person from Oklahoma in the collection. I was so proud to read about them all. I do hope they continue this series!
Bill Wallace, an award-winning author of children’s books, was known worldwide for his writings. Readers thrilled at the adventurous situations in which he sometimes placed his characters. Some of Bill’s other books were funny with animals as the main characters. He wrote a total of 38 books. Seven of those he wrote with his wife, Carol.
Bill also traveled all over the United States, giving speeches about his books. Schools would often have him speak to various grades where students would learn about his life and his writing. He was an entertaining speaker, as well as a caring person. He tried to answer every letter he received from his fans, which could be from 500 to 1,200 letters a month. (plot summary from Goodreads.)
Read her interview on my blog here.
JORDAN TANG: Think…Create…Discover by Cheryl Schuermann
I received a signed copy of each book in this series from these lovely women for doing the interviews on the blog for them. Although it was my pleasure, I was so happy to receive the books! They are so beautiful and all have a ton of interesting, high-quality photographs. The Oklahoma Heritage Association Publishing did an outstanding job on each book. I just love them.
I learned so much about each and every person from Oklahoma in the collection. I was so proud to read about them all. I do hope they continue this series!
Dr. Jordan Tang is a world class medical research scientist. His work in the laboratory is the first step to finding cures for disease. He has been at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in Oklahoma City for over fifty years. His biggest thrill as a scientist is to see his work on its way to treating and helping people.
Although Dr. Tang has committed his career to research, he is also a talented artist and musician. In addition, he makes time to speak to students all over the world. Dr. Tang hopes to inspire a new generation of young scientists to think, create, and discover. (plot summary form Goodreads.)
Learn more about Cheryl Schuermann here.
Read her interview on my blog here.
HOUND DOG TRUE by Linda Urban
I read this in anticipation of our fall retreat where Linda was our guest speaker. It was the only middle grade of hers I hadn’t read, yet. I truly enjoy her way with character and the time she takes with story development. This is such a great book about the painfulness of being shy and not knowing how to share yourself with another person. Loved it!
And now I have a new Linda Urban book to read that I picked up at the retreat! Woohoo! She is truly amazing. And you should all read every one of her books. Seriously.
Do not let a mop sit overnight in water.
Fix things before they get too big for fixing.
Custodial wisdom: Mattie Breen writes it all down. She has just one week to convince Uncle Potluck to take her on as his custodial apprentice at Mitchell P. Anderson Elementary School. One week until school starts and she has to be the new girl again. But if she can be Uncle Potluck’s apprentice, she’ll have important work to do during lunch and recess. Work that will keep her safely away from the other fifth graders. But when her custodial wisdom goes all wrong, Mattie’s plan comes crashing down. And only then does she begin to see how one small, brave act can lead to a friend who is hound dog true.
Learn more about Linda Urban here.
Follow Linda on Twitter here.
CLAYTON STONE, AT YOUR SERVICE by Ena Jones
I received a copy of CLAYTON STONE, AT YOUR SERVICE from the publisher, Holiday House. It’s one of the new releases from their Fall catalog. I love a good middle grade mystery. Throw in some fast-paced action, along with a surprisingly large dose of heart, and you have the makings of a pretty good story.
This is more than your average spy guy story. Clayton is such a wonderful character. You really feel his struggle as he tries to work through the discovery of this exciting new world before him, how he can connect with the lives of his parents and this grandparents, and yet how not to disappoint his friends who don’t understand why he’s suddenly changed and why he’s letting them down.
When the President calls asking him to help catch a kidnapper, 12-year-old Clayton’s life is hijacked into the family business his grandmother has worked hard to keep him out of—the secret agent business.
In an instant, Clayton’s world has changed. As the mystery of finding and catching the kidnapper escalates, it begins to mean even more than risking Clayton’s life. It means lying to his best friend, putting the lacrosse season in jeopardy, liking the girl he hates, and then risking his life again.
Join Clayton as he races against time to save a senator’s family. (plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Ena Jones here.
Follow Ena on Twitter here.
THE SIN EATER’S CONFESSION by Ilsa J. Bick
I won this book in an online contest a few years ago. This book is now the eighth TBR Pile Challenge books I’ve read this year. (Here is the review.) Intense is the one word that comes to mind after finishing this book. Thought-provoking is another. (Is hyphenating two words cheating?)
This is not a book for the faint of heart, or for those who like easy answers, and a cut and dried ending. As the cover suggests, this book is about life in all its messiness, and how deciding what to do can sometimes not be so simple as choosing between right or wrong.
I really enjoyed this book, especially how it shows the way we make subtle choices in our lives that didn’t seem like such a big deal at the time, but we soon wish we could take back or do over.
People in Merit, Wisconsin, always said Jimmy was . . . you know. But people said all sorts of stupid stuff. Nobody really knew anything. Nobody really knew Jimmy.
I guess you could say I knew Jimmy as well as anyone (which was not very well). I knew what scared him. And I knew he had dreams—even if I didn’t understand them. Even if he nearly ruined my life to pursue them.
Jimmy’s dead now, and I definitely know that better than anyone. I know about blood and bone and how bodies decompose. I know about shadows and stones and hatchets. I know what a last cry for help sounds like. I know what blood looks like on my own hands.
What I don’t know is if I can trust my own eyes. I don’t know who threw the stone. Who swung the hatchet? Who are the shadows? What do the living owe the dead? (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Ilsa J. Bick here.
Follow Ilsa on Twitter here.
THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson
I’ve had this book on my TBR list for awhile. So much excited buzz about it and the unusual main character – couldn’t wait to read it.Finally had the opportunity.
Loved the positive body image that Elisa portrayed, but that wasn’t necessarily my favorite part about the book. Solid story and unique blend of styles in creating this world to play in. I look forward to reading more.
Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he’s not the only one who needs her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.
Most of the chosen do. (Plot summary from author website.)
Learn more about Rae Carson here.
Follow Rae on Twitter here.
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THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE by Jennifer Matthieu
This is the second author I was asked to interview as a pair – and again, seriously?
I’d heard about this book last year and I’ve wanted to read it ever since. So glad I did.
Loved the format! Four different POVs and none from the character the book is actually about. This added another layer to the examination of the rumor/gossip culture and why we participate, even when we know something isn’t true. Fabulous book!
Everyone has a lot to say about Alice Franklin, and it’s stopped mattering whether it’s true. The rumors started at a party when Alice supposedly had sex with two guys in one night. When school starts everyone almost forgets about Alice until one of those guys, super-popular Brandon, dies in a car wreck that was allegedly all Alice’s fault. Now the only friend she has is a boy who may be the only other person who knows the truth, but is too afraid to admit it. Told from the perspectives of popular girl Elaine, football star Josh, former outcast Kelsie, and shy genius Kurt, we see how everyone has a motive to bring – and keep – Alice down. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jennifer Matthieu here.
Follow Jennifer on Twitter here.
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Read her interview on my blog here.
SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY by Julie Murphy
I heard all the buzz about Julie’s second novel DUMPLIN just about the same time I was asked to do an interview with her and another author. (Seriously? I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough.) Just before the release date, I thought I should read her first novel.
Wow! This is such a powerful book. I loved the idea of a character deciding to take the vengeance route before dying and then getting a reprieve from that death sentence. Oops! And yet, this was not written in a campy or light-hearted way. She had good reasons for lashing out. Great character development and the perfectly awkward realness of the relationship between her and Harvey was just so, ah! I just loved it.
What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?
When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.
Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?
Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.
Learn more about Julie Murphy here.
Follow Julie on Twitter here.
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Follow Julie on Instagram here.
Follow Julie on YouTube here.
Read her interview on my blog here.
GHOSTLIGHT by Sonia Gensler
So much to adore about this book! This is the third novel (and first middle grade book) by my lovely friend, Sonia. First one she has set in contemporary times, and yet, it still has that delightful tingle-up-your-spine proper ghost tale feel of her previous novels that will have you sleeping with the lights on.
Bravo, Sonia! The perfect amount of spooky.
And great character dynamics, especially between Avery and Julian. Just loved this book! And so will you.
Things that go bump in the night are just the beginning when a summer film project becomes a real-life ghost story!
Nothing ever happens on Avery’s grandmother’s sprawling farm, where she and her brother spend the summers. That is, until Avery meets Julian, a city boy with a famous dad, whose family is renting a nearby cottage. When Julian announces his plan to film a ghost story, Avery jumps at the chance to join him.
Unfortunately, Julian wants to film at Hilliard House, a looming, empty mansion that Grandma has absolutely forbidden her to enter. As terrified as Avery is of Grandma’s wrath, she finds the allure of filmmaking impossible to resist.
When the kids explore the secrets of Hilliard House, eerie things being to happen, and the “imaginary” dangers in their movie threaten to become very real. Have Avery and Julian awakened a menacing presence? Can they turn back before they go too far? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sonia Gensler here.
Follow Sonia on Twitter here.
Follow Sonia on Facebook here.
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THE BODY ELECTRIC by Beth Revis
This was a pick for Colleen Houck’s book club and I was intrigued by the title, alone. What a fantastic book! I loved the entire concept of delving into the brain and memories and what makes us real. Ella as the main character, struggling to come to grips with her world falling apart and figuring out who to trust and how to trust her own mind – ah! Just wonderful.
This seems to be a companion book to her Across the Universe series, which I now must read. Although I have to say, this book reads perfectly fine as a stand-alone.
Ella Shepherd can slip into other people’s minds. Using technology invented by her parents, Ella has the ability to experience–and influence–the memories of others. She’s used this ability to help ensure the safety of the world from a dangerous terrorist group, but not all is as it seems…because someone’s been inside Ella’s head, too.
Find out what happened on Earth while Amy and Elder were in space!
Learn more about Beth Revis here.
Follow Beth on Twitter here.
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FAIREST & WINTER (The Lunar Chronicles Books 3.5 and 4) by Marissa Meyer
I absolutely love a good villain. And give me a story where I actually end up sympathizing with them? Oh, yes! FAIREST had me thinking way back to when I read Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series where he wrote one book from the POV of Satan – incredible!
Meyer has us all in the palm of her hand, salivating for the final installment of the series, WINTER. This was such a nice distraction, and yet also glorious torture. I blazed through it way too fast.
Plot summary for FAIREST:
In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story—a story that has never been told … until now. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
WINTER came along just in time to ease our suffering. This conclusion was just as well-written and fast-paced as the rest of the series and Meyer tied up everything very nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire Lunar Chronicles.
Plot summary for WINTER:
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Marissa Meyer here.
Follow Marissa on Twitter here.
Follow Marissa on Facebook here.
IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT by Judy Blume
This is the first adult book I’ve read by Ms. Blume and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how she showed the ways a tragedy – and even a bizarre series of tragic events – could affect people so differently. Well crafted, so thoughtful. I just loved it.
When a series of passenger airplanes crashed in Elizabeth, New Jersey within a three-month period in 1951–1952, Judy Blume was a teenager. “These events have lingered in my mind ever since,” says Blume. “It was a crazy time. We were witnessing things that were incomprehensible to us as teenagers. Was it sabotage? An alien invasion? No one knew, and people were understandably terrified.”
Against this background, Blume uses her imagination to bring us the lives of three generations of families, friends, and strangers, who will be profoundly affected by these events, either directly or indirectly. But life goes on and Blume digs deep into her characters—we see them coping not only with grief but with first love, estranged parents, difficult friendships, familial obligations, divorce, career ambitions, a grandparent’s love, a widower’s hope, and everything in between. . . . Most important, In the Unlikely Event is filled with the same warmth and authenticity that have won Blume the hearts and minds of readers of all generations. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Judy Blume here.
Follow Judy on Twitter here.
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MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool
Fantastic voice. Fantastic characters. Fantastic story.
Freakin Newbery.
Enough said.
This book was one of my 2015 TBR Challenge books. Read my longer review here.
The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”
Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.
Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Clare Vanderpool here.
I WILL SAVE YOU by Matt de la Peña
This is Matt’s self-proclaimed “sad” book and it did wreck me at the end. I loved the characters. I could relate to the heartache and suffering they were struggling with. And in the end, I didn’t even mind having my heart broken a little bit. That ending, though. Damn. This book was one of my 2015 TBR Challenge selections. Read my longer review here.
Kidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but therapy. He doesn’t belong at the beach where he works either, unless he finds a reason to stay.
Olivia is blond hair, blue eyes, rich dad. The prettiest girl in Cardiff. She’s hiding something from Kidd—but could they ever be together anyway?
Devon is mean, mysterious, and driven by a death wish. A best friend and worst enemy. He followed Kidd all the way to the beach and he’s not leaving until he teaches him a few lessons about life. And Olivia. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Matt de la Peña here.
Follow Matt on Twitter here.
Follow Matt on Facebook here.
SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King
This was the first selection for our OK SCBWI monthly book club. I actually read this years ago for a novel revision retreat. Great book. Fantastic resource. I’ve especially enjoyed meeting every month and discussing a few chapters with our group. It’s a wonderful refresher for those more experienced writers and essential information for beginners.
You can give your manuscript a real edge if you handle interior monologue, point of view, exposition (backstory), narrative voice, dialogue, etc. like a pro—we love it when a mainstream editor says of a client’s manuscript: “You’d never know this was a first novel.” By the same token, you may be a superb writer, but literary agents and publishing editors are unlikely to find out if your literary mechanics aren’t smooth.
Listed in the Los Angeles Times as one of six indispensable books for writers, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King, has been a bestseller for writers of fiction–as well as nonfiction such as memoir and journalism that employ fiction technique–since its initial publication in 1993. (It has since gone through many printings and a revised second edition, released in 2004.) (Description from book website.)
Visit the book website here.
THE SILKWORM (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling)
I really enjoy the characters and the crime mystery series Rowling has begun here. I especially like the development of Strike’s assistant, Robin. I love that she’s making their relationship messy and real. Fair warning: this mystery was a bit more grisly than the last one, so reader beware. Nothing most crime readers can’t handle, I would think. Maybe don’t read too close to dinner. Just a suggestion.
A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days – as he has done before – and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives – so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.
And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before…(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Robert Galbraith here.
Follow Robert on Twitter here.
Follow Robert on Facebook here.
(I’m sure you know how to find J.K. Rowling, but here’s her other main site, just in case, here.)
SCARLETT UNDERCOVER by Jennifer Latham
This debut novel from my fellow Oklahoma writer is seriously kickass.
I love a good mystery. Add in a feisty girl detective with the ability to defend herself and I’m over the moon. I raced through this book in record time. I do hope we haven’t seen the last of Scarlett. I have a feeling she has many more mysteries to solve. I’d love to be there when she’s back on the case.
When 15-year-old Muslim-American detective Scarlett agrees to investigate a local teen’s suicide, she figures she’s in for an easy case and a quick buck. But it doesn’t take long for that suicide to start looking a lot like murder, and for cults, ancient artifacts, and a very private billionaire to figure into things. To save the scared little girl who hires her, Scarlett has to face her family’s brave past, her own future, and maybe even a jinni or two. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jennifer Latham here.
Follow Jennifer on Twitter here.
Follow Jennifer on Facebook here.
YOUR ALIEN by Tammi Sauer, Illustrations by Goro Fujita
Book two of three releases this year for my dear friend Tammi. Had a brief peek at this one during her book launch for book one, GINNY LOUISE, earlier this month.
So cute!
I will now be looking out my window for something wonderful to come my way…more amazing stories like this! And those illustrations, are you kidding me? Love!
This is Goro Fujita’s first picture book, although he is no stranger to illustrations, as he is currently working for DreamWorks Animation. See his website below to view more of his work. Or you can wait for the sequel of this picture book! Yes, a second YOUR ALIEN is in the works already!
When a little boy meets a stranded alien child, the two instantly strike up a fabulous friendship. They go to school, explore the neighborhood, and have lots of fun. But at bedtime, the alien suddenly grows very, very sad. Can the boy figure out what his new buddy needs most of all? This funny, heartwarming story proves that friends and family are the most important things in the universe . . . no matter who or where you are. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Learn more about Goro Fujita here.
Follow Goro on Facebook here.
MISSOURI’S HAUNTED ROUTE 66: Ghosts Along the Mother Road by Janice Tremeear
My dad picked this book up for me to help with research for a WIP I’m working on.I was really touched and super-impressed that he found something so specific to my story. I only wish the author had been more detailed in her recountings of the actual ghost stories and less interested in describing the architecture of the places sightings occurred.
Sigh.
Still, some of the more detailed stories may be useful and a few of the tales did give me actual goosebumps.
Alongside the nostalgic appeal of Route 66 lurk ghostly roadside hitchhikers, the Goatman of Rolla, amusement park spirits, Civil War dead and the shadows thrown by the mighty Thunderbird. Spanning three hundred dangerously curving miles, the stretch of the Mother Road in Missouri earned the title of “Bloody 66,” and some of its stopping places are marked by equally grim history. The Lemp Mansion saw family members commit suicide one by one. Springfield’s Pythian Castle was an orphanage before becoming a military hospital and housing World War II prisoners of war. Follow Janice Tremeear as she takes a detour down Zombie Road, peers into the matter of the Joplin Spook Light and even stays overnight in Missouri’s most haunted locations to discover what makes the Show Me State such a lively place for the dead. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Follow Janice on Twitter here.
GREY (Fifty Shades #4) by E.L. James
Okay, so I was curious.
I’d read the other three books and I wanted to see how James would approach the series from the male POV. My opinion?
Meh.
I had hoped for a lot more insight into Christian’s character and a lot less rehashing of the same exact sex scenes (blow-by-blow, pardon the pun) from the first book. It got repetitive and boring pretty quick. For me, not enough of what I was interested in. For most readers, probably exactly what they wanted.
See the world of Fifty Shades of Grey anew through the eyes of Christian Grey.
In Christian’s own words, and through his thoughts, reflections, and dreams, E L James offers a fresh perspective on the love story that has enthralled millions of readers around the world.
Christian Grey exercises control in all things; his world is neat, disciplined, and utterly empty—until the day that Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair. He tries to forget her, but instead is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist. Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him—past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian’s cold, wounded heart.
Will being with Ana dispel the horrors of his childhood that haunt Christian every night? Or will his dark sexual desires, his compulsion to control, and the self-loathing that fills his soul drive this girl away and destroy the fragile hope she offers him? (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about E.L. James on her website here.
SUMMER NIGHTS edited by Sarah Kettles
It feels very weird to have read something that I contributed to, but read it I did. I really enjoyed the other 12 authors’ stories – some I was reading for the very first time.
SUMMER NIGHTS is the first flash fiction anthology compiled by The Great Noveling Adventure. The collected stories run the gamut from first love to heartbreak, revenge to forgiveness, redemption to murder. They, like the thirteen authors who contributed them, are widely varied, but they each demonstrate the same truth:
A lot can happen in a single night.
With stories from:
Jenny Adams Perinovic, Gabriella Crivilare,
Cristina R. Guarino, Antonius M. Hogebrandt,
Neil Kettles, Sarah Kettles, Valerie Lawson,
Adriana Marachlian, Kyrie McCauley, L.S. Mooney,
Susan Nystoriak, Kate Sheeran Swed, and R.B. Stewart (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
To learn more about our anthology, and to download a free copy, visit our website here.
GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
I had the pleasure of reading this book early at our spring conference. I got to hold this lovely book in my hands and admire shiny details of spot gloss while reading the tale of Ginny Louise, a hedgehog after my own heart. Her approach to dealing with outlaws of the bully variety is delightful and refreshing. (No spoilers here!)
The Truman Elementary Troublemakers are a bad bunch. Especially these three: Cap’n Catastrophe, Destructo Dude, and Make-My-Day May. But they are no match for Ginny Louise, the new hedgehog in school. Her unwavering cheerfulness in the face of their bullying will make young readers holler with glee. Full of rhymes, wordplay, and comic misunderstanding, this book will lend itself well to reading aloud as well as discussions about peer dynamics. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
HOLD ME CLOSER: THE TINY COOPER STORY by David Levithan
I absolutely loved WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON. And one of the best things about that novel was Tiny Cooper. I was so excited that he finally got his own book! And this book is 100% Tiny. So funny and fabulous, I never wanted it to end. I do hope someone really does make this into a musical. I’d love to see it!
A novel in musical form – or a musical in novel form. Either way, Hold Me Closer is the story of Tiny Cooper, first seen in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, from fabulous birth to epic boyfriend problems… and beyond.
About the book:
Especially for those of us who ordinarily feel ignored, a spotlight is a circle of magic, with the strength to draw us from the darkness of our everyday lives.
Watch out, ex-boyfriends, and get out of the way, homophobic coaches. Tiny Cooper has something to say—and he’s going to say it in song.
Filled with honesty, humor, and “big, lively, belty” musical numbers, Hold Me Closer is the no-holds-barred (and many-bars-held) entirety of the beloved musical first introduced in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, the award-winning bestseller by John Green and David Levithan.
Tiny Cooper is finally taking center stage . . . and the world will never be the same again. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about David Levithan here.
Follow David on Twitter here.
Follow David on Facebook here.
LIFE AFTER LIFE & A GOD IN RUINS by Kate Atkinson
A GOD IN RUINS was selected by Gillian Flynn (author of GONE GIRL and SHARP OBJECTS) as the most recent NPR Morning Edition Reads book club selection. As the description mentioned it was a companion novel, so of course I felt compelled to read the first book, LIFE AFTER LIFE. I am so glad I did. I truly enjoyed the first book infinitely more than the second, in all honesty.
Ursula’s story was so fascinating and compelling. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of reincarnation, but Atkinson turns that idea on its head by having her character restart the same life from the beginning, having her sidestep past mistakes that caused her earlier demise(s). The way she tells the story can be jarring at times with its out of sequence style, and yet, somehow, for the most part, it works. The characters and settings are gorgeously vivid and full of life.
Although I did enjoy the second novel, it took me more time to get in to, and I missed the mystical/magical element from the first one. I also missed Ursula. After I was finished reading the second book and understood the purpose the author had for the story, I did appreciate it much more. Really unique, fascinating reads. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Plot summary for LIFE AFTER LIFE:
What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?
During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.
During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.
What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life’s bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.
‘Don’t you wonder sometimes,’ Ursula said. ‘If just one small thing had been changed, in the past, I mean. If Hitler had died at birth, or if someone had kidnapped him as a baby and brought him up in – I don’t know, say, a Quaker household – surely things would be different.’
‘But nobody knows what’s going to happen. And anyway he might have turned out just the same, Quakers or no Quakers. You might have to kill him instead of kidnapping him. Could you do that? Could you kill a baby? With a gun? Or what if you had no gun, how about with your bare hands? In cold blood.’
If I thought it would save Teddy, Ursula thought.
Not just Teddy, of course, the rest of the world, too. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Plot summary for A GOD IN RUINS:
He had been reconciled to death during the war and then suddenly the war was over and there was a next day and a next day and a next day. Part of him never adjusted to having a future.
Kate Atkinson’s dazzling Life After Life explored the possibility of infinite chances, as Ursula Todd lived through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. In A God in Ruins, Atkinson turns her focus on Ursula’s beloved younger brother Teddy – would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father, and grandfather – as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century. For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge will be to face living in a future he never expected to have.
A God in Ruins is a masterful novel. It looks not only at war – that great fall of man from grace – but also at the endless opportunities offered by fiction. Few will dispute that it proves once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Kate Atkinson here.
Follow Kate on Facebook here.
If you are interested in reading about the NPR book club and the author’s appearance on the show, click here.
REMY AND LULU by Kevin Hawkes (additional illustrations by Hannah E. Harrison)
Hannah Harrison did the artwork miniatures for this book, so I bought a copy at our last spring conference. Hannah first started working in the miniature art medium many years ago when she joined the Cider Painters of America. She’s even won many awards for her tiny paintings. (To view some of them, see her website below. They are truly amazing!)
Hannah did some apprenticing under Kevin Hawkes and he later asked her to work on this project. How exciting!
This story is so cute – really just delightful. Through his subtle storytelling and their combined artwork, Hawkes and Harrison convey the idea that it’s never too early to learn that there’s more than one way to express the creative spark inside.
Lulu and her master, Remy, a passionate but struggling portrait painter, wander the French countryside looking for customers. They don’t need much business —just enough for some figs and cheese to keep their bellies full—but not many people seem to appreciate Remy’s abstract style.
Before long, Lulu secretly lends a paw to Remy’s work and—voilà!—the pair are the most celebrated artists on the salon circuit. If only Remy knew why . . .
With art from both beloved children’s book illustrator Kevin Hawkes and award-winning miniatures artist Hannah Harrison, this funny and heartwarming story about friendship and creativity shows that there are many ways to be good at the same thing . . . and that a true friend is always there for you. (Plot summary from Harrison’s website.)
Learn more about Kevin Hawkes here.
Learn more about Hannah E. Harrison here.
Follow Hannah on Facebook here.
BERNICE GETS CARRIED AWAY by Hannah E. Harrison
I so was excited when I greeted Hannah at our last spring conference and she said, “I have something for you!” I couldn’t wait to see what it was. Then she gave me an early folded and gathered copy of her new book! I was so thrilled! (I did ask her to sign it for me and she did, of course. She’s such a doll!) I had of course already pre-ordered a hardback copy months earlier. I’ll have her sign THAT one later to my son. (He’ll probably carry it around all the time like he does her first book, EXTRAORDINARY JANE.)
The artwork is delightfully expressive! How Harrison plays with color and perspective enhances the emotion of the story so well. Just looking at those eyes when Bernice receives that “plain white square from the middle” of the birthday cake, it makes you feel sad all over. One can understand how she gets carried away…
Bernice is having a truly rotten time at her friend’s birthday party. First, everyone else gets a piece of cake with a frosting rose. But not Bernice. Then, everyone else gets strawberry-melon soda. Bernice gets the prune-grapefruit juice. And it’s warm. The last straw is the one lousy (squished) candy she gets from the piñata. So when the balloons arrive, Bernice knows just what she has to do: grab them all. And then, poor cross Bernice gets carried up, up, and away. Luckily, she figures out just how to make her way back down to the party…and she brightens lots of other animals’ days on her way.
Hannah Harrison’s gorgeous animal paintings come alive in her second picture book. Her “exceptionally polished” debut, Extraordinary Jane, received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Hannah E. Harrison here.
Follow Hannah on Facebook here.
GLORY O’BRIEN’S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE by A.S. King
I have been an avid fan of Ms. King’s since her debut novel, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ, which won her the Printz Honor award. I haven’t missed a book since. For those who do not know the awe and inspiring power of this mind-blowing writer, I beseech you to rectify the situation immediately. Each novel she writes is a unique experience, always with King’s own special touch of magical realism that enhances the emotional depth of the story.
As John Green says on the cover of this book, “A.S. King is one of the best Y.A. writers working today.” I can’t argue with that.
WOULD YOU TRY TO CHANGE THE WORLD IF YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD NO FUTURE?
Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for what’s next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way…until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying.
A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.
In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last—a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
From the opening pages, I thought King had ripped off scenes from my teen years. Seriously. I thought maybe she’d stolen pages from my hidden diary.
Just like Glory, I was raised by my single father, a feminist, who taught me to be a strong, feminist in my own right. My mother was also missing from the picture, although the reason was far less dramatic than in Glory’s case – divorce/lack of interest. Just like Glory, I felt that hole in my life and had unanswered questions about the missing person that left terrible, damaging scars. This book is so important for showing kids how they can navigate and survive this kind of loss.
It’s also one hell of a kickass story.
Learn more about A.S. King here.
Follow A.S. King on Twitter here.
THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater
I received this book for Christmas a few years ago and I just now got around to reading it as part of my TBR Challenge. Such a fascinating read. Read my blog post with a longer review here.
It happens at the start of every November: The Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Some riders live. Others die.
Based on the legends of the eich uisce — the Celtic water horse — The Scorpio Races take place on the tiny, fictional island of Thisby. Each November, water horses emerge from the black ocean and gallop the beach beneath the cliffs of Thisby. And each November, men capture these horses for a thrilling and deadly race.
Both Sean Kendrick, four time champion, and Kate “Puck” Connolly, newcomer to the races, will ride this year, and both of them have more to gain — or lose — than in any previous year. But only one can win. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
I so wanted both characters to win the race, which I think says a lot about Stiefvater’s ability to make us care deeply about these imaginary people in a very real way. Of course, I’m not going to tell you how the race ends, that would be cheating. It is a very intense story that doesn’t disappoint.
Learn more about Maggie Stiefvater here.
STRONG POISON by Dorothy L. Sayers
A lovely writer I know forced this book on me – I jest. She made a reference to the characters in this book while we were chatting on Twitter. I found them quite appealing, so I said I must read one of their books immediately. That made her very happy and she agreed enthusiatically.
I found this book in a similar vein, yet distinctly different from Agatha Christie. It reminded me of the days of my youth when I used to tear through her books in a weekend and wonder at the fascinating, yet other-worldy lives of the people that existed in her novels.
Mystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her fiancé died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury of her peers had a hangman’s noose in mind. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent as determined as he was to make her his wife. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
I loved the mystery and Lord Wimsey – and, indeed, the chemistry between him and Harriet. The use of language was just fun. And although I only once ever figured out whodunit in a Christie novel, I was fairly sure what happened in this one, if not exactly how. Still, the book was great fun to read. I do look forward to reading more from Sayers with Peter and Harriet. (Thank you, Sonia!)
Learn more about Dorothy L. Sayers here.
THE HEARTBREAK MESSENGER by Alexander Vance
This book was recommended during our SCBWI OK conference by Laura Biagi. Her agency represents this author. I found the premise interesting and I’ve been wanting to read more Middle Grade, so I dove right in. Quentin was a kid after my own heart. My best friend and I used to be just as enterprising when we were that age. Once on a fabulous snow day, my bff and I hit up all the neighbors with our spontaneous snow-shoveling business. We raked in the dough and didn’t regret a minute of it. There was far less drama than in this story, although we did compose a song about hating shoveling snow by day’s end. The money we loved.
This story is well-written with a cast of characters that keeps you reading till the end, hoping all turns out well. Although you can kind of see the ending coming, it still is fun to read. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Quentin never asked to be the Heartbreak Messenger, it just kind of happened. The valuable communication service he offers is simple: he delivers break-up messages. For a small fee, he will deliver that message to your soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. If you order the deluxe package, he’ll even throw in some flowers and a box of chocolates. You know, to soften the blow…
At first, Quentin’s entrepreneurial brainchild is surprisingly successful. But as he interacts with clients, message recipients, and his long-time best friend, Abigail, it doesn’t take long for him to wonder if his own heart will remain intact. Quentin discovers that the game of love and the emotions that go with it are as complicated as they come–even for an almost innocent bystander. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Alexander Vance here.
Follow Alexander on Twitter here.
Follow Alexander on Facebook here.
SAILING ALONE AROUND THE ROOM; New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins
This poet was suggested reading by our previous Oklahoma Poet Laureate and he hasn’t steered me wrong, yet. This book as the title indicates is broken up into sections from other works and then concludes with new poems from the author. Collins starts off with a bang by opening with the poem Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House, which doesn’t discuss gun ownership as much as it gives delightful description of the never-ending barking of the dog next door. I loved Introduction to Poetry because it’s basically how I approach poetry versus how I feel I’m supposed to:
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Some other poems are a little more somber and pensive in tone, like Picnic, Lightning which discusses the possibility and randomness of death while living moment to moment and still others border on the surreal like Purity, which has the poet discussing his favorite time to write and how he goes about it, going as far as removing his flesh and organs “so that what I write will be pure, completely reined of the carnal, uncontaminated by the preoccupations of the body.” It goes farther out there, but I’ll let you read it for yourself. Then there is Japan which is just so beautiful that it defies description (by me, at least) and must just be experienced. Really a wonderful collection to introduce you to this poet.
Sailing Alone Around the Room, by America’s Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, contains both new poems and a generous gathering from his earlier collections The Apple That Astonished Paris, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, and Picnic, Lightning. These poems show Collins at his best, performing the kinds of distinctive poetic maneuvers that have delighted and fascinated so many readers. They may begin in curiosity and end in grief; they may start with irony and end with lyric transformation; they may, and often do, begin with the everyday and end in the infinite. Possessed of a unique voice that is at once plain and melodic, Billy Collins has managed to enrich American poetry while greatly widening the circle of its audience. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Billy Collins here.
Follow Billy on Facebook here.
THIRST by Mary Oliver
I wanted to read more poetry by women for April and this is the best book of poetry I could find at my local bookstore. The one that called to me. I loved the title and I’ve already read two other books of poetry by Oliver, so I knew I’d enjoy it, but nothing quite prepared me for this one.
WOW.
Talk about reaching a powerful transcendental spiritual connection. Words cannot describe how deeply I was moved by these words.
Here is the shortest, yet not the least of poems, that stopped me in my tracks:
The Uses of Sorrow
(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)
Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.
There were many others that had me reeling in wonderment. I just adored this collection. It lightened my heart in a time when my heart needed lightening. when I read the last poem, I closed the book and hugged it to me. I will cherish this collection of poems always.
Thirst, a collection of forty-three new poems from the Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Oliver, introduces two new directions in the poet’s work. Grappling with grief at the death of her beloved partner of over forty years, she strives to experience sorrow as a path to spiritual progress, grief as part of loving and not its end. And within these pages she chronicles for the first time her discovery of faith, without abandoning the love of the physical world that has been a hallmark of her work for four decades. In three stunning long poems, Oliver explores the dimensions and tests the parameters of religious doctrine, asking of being good, for example, “To what purpose? / Hope of Heaven? Not that. But to enter / the other kingdom: grace, and imagination, / and the multiple sympathies: to be as a leaf, a rose,/ a dolphin.” (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Mary Oliver here.
THE DARK DIVINE SERIES by Bree Despain
The first book I read by Bree Despain was last year when I read the first book in her second series, Into the Dark called THE SHADOW PRINCE. After participating in an online book club chat with Ms Despain, I actually won a copy of the first book in this series, THE DARK DIVINE. I’d been dying to read it ever since I’d heard Greg Ferguson – her editor – talk about it at a conference a few years ago. He even discussed in detail how they’d agonized over that stunning cover. So fascinating.The first book was one of my 2015 TBR Challenge selections. Read the full review here.
I must admit, after viewing the cover, I was surprised when this series turned out to be about werewolves. Clueless. Once I read the first book, though, I was hooked on the characters. I found the dynamic between Daniel, Grace, and Jude to be very compelling. I quickly read on to the next book. I enjoyed the entire series.
Plot summary for THE DARK DIVINE:
I stood back and watched his movements. Daniel had that way about him that could shut me down in an instant. . . . I kicked the gravel a couple of times and worked up my courage again. “Tell me . . . I mean . . . why did you come back? Why now, after all this time?”
Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.
As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel’s dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.
Plot summary for THE LOST SAINT:
Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven.
Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot—a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel is put in danger—in more ways than one.
Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her—not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung
Plot summary for THE SAVAGE GRACE:
Wrestling with the werewolf curse puling deep inside of her, Grace Divine was finally able to find her brother, but it nearly cost her everything.
With her boyfriend, Daniel, stuck in wolf form and Sirhan’s death approaching, time is running out for Grace to stop Caleb Kalbi and his gang of demons. If she fails, her family and hometown will perish. Everything rests on Grace’s shoulders.
(All plot summaries from author’s website.)
Learn more about Bree Despain here.
Follow Bree on Twitter here.
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Follow Bree on Tumblr here.
THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage
This book was suggested pre-conference reading by one of our speakers. I have to say, absolutely loved it. Great voice, great characters, and man, what a sense of place! I just fell in love with this little orphan child who loved solving mysteries. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Miss Moses LoBeau, rising sixth grader, has plans for the summer.
To hang out with her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III and his dog, Queen Elizabeth II. To help out in the eccentric café run by the Colonel and Miss Lana, who took her in 11 years ago when a hurricane washed Mo into town. To continue her lifelong search for her Upstream Mother. And to research her own life story – which so far is one big fat mystery.
Mo’s summer looks sweet. Until Detective Joe Starr shows up asking too many questions. And cranky old Mr. Jesse turns up dead. And Dale becomes the chief suspect in tiny Tupelo Landing’s first murder.
Can Mo’s life get any worse?
Yes. And it does. A kidnapping, a car crash, a bank robbery, a hurricane…
Mo and Dale set out to clear Dale’s name, solving the mysteries of their own lives in the process.
Fortunately, Mo’s always been lucky. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sheila Turnage here.
Follow Sheila on Facebook here.
FORTUNATELY THE MILK by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Skottie Young
After hearing Mr. Gaiman speak recently, I came across this book in a local store. I hadn’t read this particular selection by him yet, so I picked it up and began reading it in the store. Twenty pages later, I decided I should probably buy the book and finish it at home.
This delightfully irreverent tale reminded me of something my best friend and I would do whenever we were bored. Make up incredibly impossible stories that started with a seemingly innocuous incident, like going to the store to buy milk for breakfast cereal, and then turning into a completely ridiculous and out-of-control tale. Loved this story so much! The artwork is fantastic. And of course, Gaiman’s humor is just spot on.
This is quite possibly the most exciting adventure ever to be written about milk since Tolstoy’s epic novel War and Milk. Also it has aliens, pirates, dinosaurs and wumpires in it (but not the handsome, misunderstood kind), also a never-adequately-explained-bowl-of-piranhas, not to mention a Volcano God. (Plot description from author’s website.)
Learn more about Neil Gaiman here.
Follow Neil on Twitter here.
Learn more about Skottie Young here.
Follow Skottie on Twitter here.
LEGEND Series by Marie Lu
I received this series as a Christmas present. I had not heard of it prior to diving in, but apparently it was sweeping through the night shift at the hospital where my husband worked. That was enough for me to take a chance. Such an exciting series! Lu has created a wonderful dystopian landscape to play in and such strong character relationships to fall in love with. I read through this series pretty fast. So exciting to learn there are movie talks in the works. I’d love to see this developed for the big screen.
Plot Summary for LEGEND:
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Plot Summary for PRODIGY:
Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic’s most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots – a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?
Plot summary for CHAMPION:
June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position.
But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything.
With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.
Learn more about Marie Lu here.
Follow Marie on Twitter here.
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SOLD by Patricia McCormick
My daughter started reading this to me on a road trip. She was so excited about this book that she had to share many of the passages. When I got around to reading it from start to finish myself, I felt the same way. It actually read more like free verse poetry to me. The short chapters paint such vivid imagery of the scenery and the day-to-day life, both the joyful and horrifying, that you feel you are living in the story. I felt for these girls and for Lakshmi. I wanted to her escape and feared that she never would. Fantastic read.
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt—then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.
Lakshmi’s life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother’s words— Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision—will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?
Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Patricia McCormick here.
Follow Patricia on Twitter here.
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SINNER by Maggie Stiefvater
This was my latest Stiefvater acquisition. And I received it straight from the hands of the writing goddess herself at the SCBWI LA conference and even got the bonus book wrap with her fab artwork to adorn it.
This is a stand-alone companion book in the Shiver universe that just so happens to include two of my favorite characters. Although there wasn’t as much involving the wolfish side of Cole’s character to suit me – I think Stiefvater almost made it an afterthought to some extent – the story is pretty good. A nice little bonus for those of us who hadn’t had quite enough of these two. In the end, this story left me satisfied.
Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole’s story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole’s darkest secret — his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel’s life. Can this sinner be saved? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Maggie Stiefvater here.
Follow Maggie on Twitter here.
Follow Maggie on Tumblr here.
BRAVE ON THE PAGE: Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life edited by Laura Stanfill
I met Laura through a mutual blog admiration when I first began this blog and I have enjoyed her insights on many topics. When she took the giant leap of faith to start up her own small press, I was amazed by her tenacity and energy. I was also completely supportive of her efforts. This book is the first project her press, Forest Avenue Press, released, and thankfully not the last. This collection was a great start for her press. Laura even used interviews from her blog in the book. I found many of the essays very inspirational. Reading this book also made me long to return to the Pacific Northwest in a big way. This book was one of my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge selections. Read the full review here.
Brave on the Page: Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life is a homegrown writers’ resource featuring interviews and essays by forty-two authors, including Scott Sparling, Yuvi Zalkow, Bart King, Gina Ochsner, Kristy Athens, Joanna Rose and Jon Bell.
“If one was not aware of the vibrant literary community that exists within the state of Oregon, then Brave on the Page would be the perfect introduction to the varied literary voices from the state’s working writers,” said the Los Angeles Review’s Renee K. Nicholson. “Separated into three sections, the first and third consisting of interviews and the second made up of flash essays, this book offers interesting advice and inspiration from journalists, novelists, middle-grade authors, poets, nonfiction writers, writer-activists, short story writers, and all kind of writers in-between.”
“For any aspiring writer who feels lonely at the keyboard, Brave on the Page is a treasure trove of inspiration and advice on the writing life that will without a doubt encourage,” said Portland Book Review reviewer Kristen Leigh. “In an artfully curated collection of interviews and flash essays written by Oregon writers and edited by Laura Stanfill, authors speak candidly with equal parts depth and grace about their craft.” (Book description from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Forest Avenue Press here.
Follow Laura Stanfill on Twitter here.
THE JUMBIES by Tracey Baptiste
A dear writer friend of mine, Gwendolyn Hooks, asked if I would like to read this ARC as her own work load had recently increased dramatically. I would do just about anything for Gwen, so I didn’t even hesitate to say ‘yes’. I fell in love with Tracey’s story. Her take on a classic Haitian folktale called “The Magic Orange Tree” is beautifully written. Her fantastic cast of characters and lush, vibrant setting make you feel immersed in her Caribbean island. Be forewarned! This tale isn’t some cozy, tropical vacation and it’s not for the weak at heart, oh, no! If you like spooky tales, this is the book for you. (Longer book review given on the blog.)
A spine-tingling tale rooted in Caribbean folklore that will have readers holding their breath as they fly through its pages.
Corinne La Mer isn’t afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They’re just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn’t belong to a jumbie. Or could they?
When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne’s house, cooking dinner for Corinne’s father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine’s plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn’t know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.
With its able and gutsy heroine, lyrical narration, and inventive twist on the classic Haitian folktale “The Magic Orange Tree,” The Jumbies will be a favorite of fans of Breadcrumbs, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn mores about Tracey Baptiste here.
Follow Tracey on Twitter here.
Follow Tracey on Facebook here.
A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
If this was the “best American novel to emerge from World War I”, as the blurb below gushes, there must have been a short supply of good writing back then. I actually had to restrain myself from throwing this book across the room when I finished reading the last page. I found the writing so uneven and unfocused in parts that I wasn’t sure what the writer wanted us to focus on except the war-torn countryside. That was during the 20+ pages detailing monotonous troop movement through the rain across the Italian countryside. There were a few vignettes where he pauses to have the soldiers ponder big life questions and the meaninglessness of war. Maybe that is all the merit this book needed to show for audiences back in the early twentieth century.
As for Hemingway’s “frank portrayal of love” between the main characters, I’m still waiting for any sign that these characters loved each other at all. If this is his idea of a love story, count me out. The dialogue between these two “lovers” was so mechanical and surreal that I would maybe buy it as a love story between two neurotic robots.
This book did have one redeeming quality – it finally put to rest the need for me to read any more Hemingway books. Ever.
The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway’s frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modern literature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto – of lines of tired men marching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized – is one of the greatest moments in literary history. A story of love and pain, of loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms, written when he was thirty years old, represents a new romanticism for Hemingway. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Ernest Hemingway here.
THE FUTURE OF US by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Another one of my TBR Pile challenge books – I may just complete this challenge, yet! (Here’s the full review.) I picked this book up at an SCBWI LA conference a few years ago where I sat in on a breakout session with both authors. They spoke about the process of writing with a co-author and it was really great. I later got this book signed by both of them – both so nice.
The story itself was seamless. I couldn’t tell where one author began and another one ended. Great voice for both main characters. They talked about how they made that one of their goals when working together – they both wanted to be able to write from each character’s voice, even though Jay mostly wrote the male character chapters and Carolyn wrote most of the female character chapters. The pacing and tension were great – I couldn’t stop reading it. I actually finished this book in just over a day. I will say the ending fell a little flat and left me feeling somewhat disappointed, but the overall story was very interesting.
It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long—up until last November when everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since, but when Josh’s family gets an America Online CD-ROM in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto Facebook…
But Facebook hasn’t been invented yet.
Josh and Emma are looking at their profiles fifteen years in the future. Their spouses, careers, homes, and status updates—it’s all there. But it’s not what they expected. And every time they refresh their pages, their futures change. As they grapple with the ups and downs of what their lives hold, they’re forced to confront what they’re doing right—and wrong—in the present. (Plot summary from author website.)
Learn more about Jay Asher here.
Learn more about Carolyn Mackler here.
Follow Jay on Twitter here.
Follow Carolyn on Twitter here.
THE DARK BETWEEN by Sonia Gensler
This is my first TBR Pile Challenge book and it;s also one written by a dear writer friend. I’ve been dying to get to this one, so that’s probably why I moved it to the top of the stack. View the full review post here.
This is only Sonia’s second book, but it read like a dream. I became totally immersed in her Cambridge world of the paranormal and her trio of main characters were all so wonderfully well-rounded and distinct. Loved them! Such a delightfully spooky book with a great story.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.
Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves. (Plot summary from author website.)
Learn more about Sonia Gensler here.
Follow Sonia on Twitter here.
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DEEP DOWN DARK: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Héctor Tobar
I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, but after I heard author Ann Patchett talking about this book and why she chose it for the first selection for the NPR Morning Edition Book Club, I was actually eager to read it, myself. Tobar weaves all the difference strands together effortlessly and creates an engaging narrative that you can’t help leaning forward to get closer to. I was utterly mesmerized by the story of these men and their dire situation and how they survived – before and after they left the mine. I’m really looking forward to the discussion on NPR next week. And that’s another reason I like book clubs, I always discover books I never would have otherwise.
When the San José mine collapsed outside of Copiapó, Chile, in August 2010, it trapped thirty-three miners beneath thousands of feet of rock for a record-breaking sixty-nine days. Across the globe, we sat riveted to television and computer screens as journalists flocked to the Atacama desert. While we saw what transpired above ground during the grueling and protracted rescue, the story of the miners’ experiences below the earth’s surface—and the lives that led them there—hasn’t been heard until now.
In Deep Down Dark, a master work by a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Héctor Tobar gains exclusive access to the miners and their stories. The result is a miraculous and emotionally textured account of the thirty-three men who came to think of the San José mine as a kind of coffin, as a “cave” inflicting constant and thundering aural torment, and as a church where they sought redemption through prayer while the world watched from above. It offers an understanding of the families and personal histories that brought “los 33” to the mine, and the mystical and spiritual elements that surrounded working in such a dangerous place. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Héctor Tobar here.
Read about NPR Morning Edition Book Club Discussion here.
COCAINE BLUES by Kerry Greenwood
The second season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries were recently added onto Netflix and I have enjoyed watching this season as much as the first. Since it’s also time again for Jazz Age January, I thought it was a great time to start reading the books the series is based on.
I’ve always loved the roaring twenties. If I had lived then, I hope I would’ve been an adventurous type like Phryne. This was an effortless read. The voice was so similar to the show, I was just delighted with it. It was really fun to read how all the main characters end up working together in this first mystery. It is different from the TV series – still all of the great character traits really come through. Dot, Phryne’s new maid, who takes everything Phryne throws at her in stride, is just as lovable as ever. Bert and Cec, the hired muscle, are still such colorful mongrels. And Dr. Mac is one of my favorite minor characters. It was nice to see her so prominently displayed in this story.
The mystery was intriguing, with just the right amount of Jazz Age details I love. I did have it fairly figured out before the big reveal – the whodunit, if not all gory the details. It was a great romp of read. And there are fifteen more books in the series to read. Yay!
The first of Phryne’s adventures from Australia’s most elegant and irrepressible sleuth.
The London season is in full fling at the end of the 1920s, but the Honourable Phryne Fisher – she of the green-grey eyes, diamant garters and outfits that should not be sprung suddenly on those of nervous dispositions – is rapidly tiring of the tedium of arranging flowers, making polite conversations with retired colonels, and dancing with weak-chinned men. Instead, Phryne decides it might be rather amusing to try her hand at being a lady detective in Melbourne, Australia.
Almost immediately from the time she books into the Windsor Hotel, Phryne is embroiled in mystery: poisoned wives, cocaine smuggling rings, corrupt cops and communism – not to mention erotic encounters with the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse – until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street. (Plot summary from publisher’s website.)
Learn more about Kerry Greenwood here.
Follow Kerry on Facebook here.
BEWARE THE WILD by Natalie C. Parker
First book of the year and it was stellar!
I met Natalie while going through her Critique Camp a few years ago. She really helped me learn how to dig deeper with my critiquing skills and I got so much out of that camp. When her debut novel came out this year, I was too excited to get my hands on it. I knew it would be fantastic.
Natalie’s use of imagery and local mythology are outstanding and her setting is a delightfully eerie character all on its own. It took me no time at all to care for her main character Sterling as she finds herself surrounded by people who have forgotten her favorite person in the world – the one who’s always protected her now needs saving and she has no idea what to do. She has to find the strength in herself and be the rescuer. Such a fantastic read from beginning to end.
It’s an oppressively hot and sticky morning in May when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp — the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn’t return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed.
Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp’s done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance — and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Natalie C. Parker here.
Follow Natalie on Twitter here.
Follow Natalie on Tumblr here.
— Books I’ve Read in 2014 —
SHARP OBJECTS by Gillian Flynn
Another great novel by Gillian Flynn. I loved GONE GIRL when I read it at the beginning of last year. I raced through it because the pacing compelled me to. This book had a similar rushing pace and a deliciously dark plot that I couldn’t stop reading.
WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.
NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.
HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Gillian Flynn here.
Follow Gillian on Facebook here.
AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang
I’ve wanted to read this story ever since I heard about it over a year ago at a conference while listening to a talk about graphic novels. It finally made it to the top of my TBR pile and it was well worth the wait. What a fantastic story. The artwork leaps off the page and the humor is laugh-out loud funny.
All Jin Wang wants is to fit in. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he’s the only Chinese American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, and he has hardly any friends. Then, to make matters worse, he falls in love with an all-American girl…
Born to rule over all the monkeys in the world, the story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. Adored by his subjects, master of the arts of kung-fu, he is the most powerful monkey on earth. But the Monkey King doesn’t want to be a monkey. He wants to be hailed as a god…
Chin-Kee is the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, and he’s ruining his cousin Danny’s life. Danny’s a popular kid at school, but every year Chin-Kee comes to visit, and every year Danny has to transfer to a new school to escape the shame. This year, though, things quickly go from bad to worse…
These three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant and action-packed. American Born Chinese is an amazing rise, all the way up to the astonishing climax–and confirms what a growing number of readers already know: Gene Yang is a major talent. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gene Luen Yang here.
Follow Gene on Twitter here.
Follow Gene on Facebook here.
A DANCE WITH DRAGONS by George R.R. Martin
I was so excited to find out what happened to some of my favorite characters who had been absent for too long in the last book. The tension and drama continues, although too many favorite characters meet an untimely demise – I won’t say which ones, but if you’ve read Martin for this long, you know not to get too attached to anyone. I took my time reading this book in between many other novels this year. Who knows how long it will be until the next one? I savored every bloody minute of it.
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again–beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone–a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.
And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all. . . .
Learn more about George R.R. Martin here.
STOLEN BY THE SEA by Anna Myers
I’m slowly accumulating all of Anna’s books. This is one that she chose for me out of a few she had on hand. I’m so glad I read this one. It was such touching story. And I know it was a difficult and personal story for her to write. I have only wonderful things to say about this book. As always, Anna puts you right into the heart of an historic event and really lets you experience it through diverse and dynamic characters that you care about from the very first page. This story will stay with you long after you put it down.
Maggie McKenna loves the sea. One of the best things about living in Galveston is being able to swim in the gulf and walk along the seashore with her father. Maggie wishes those special times with her father would never end. She knows she’s wrong to be jealous of the new baby that’s coming, but the bad feelings keep building inside her like a threatening storm. She even resents the time her father spends with Felipe, the Mexican boy from the orphanage who does odd jobs around the house.
When her father has to take her mother to Houston to see the doctor, Maggie is left behind to struggle with the jealously that is sweeping away her common sense. But soon she is facing the battle of her life when the very sea she loves, stirred up by one of the most powerful hurricanes of the century, ravages Galveston, destroying homes and lives in a powerful and violent flood. Her only chance at surviving through the night is to join forces with Felipe as they try to ride out the storm together. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Anna Myers here.
Follow Anna on Facebook here.
HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff
I absolutely fell in love with Meg Rosoff after listening to her speak at this year’s SCBWI LA summer conference. She was the first keynote speaker and I can’t think of a better or more irreverent way to start off a conference than with Meg. I firmly believe that her brain works like no one else’s and I wish she could teach mine to work in the way. This story is her first novel and I really enjoyed it. Great characters, intriguing plot, I just raced through the whole book in about a day. I can’t wait to read more of her books.
Fifteen-year-old New Yorker Daisy is sent to live in the English countryside with cousins she’s never even met. When England is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy, the cousins find themselves on their own. Power fails, system fail. As they grow more isolated, the farm becomes a kind of Eden, with no rules. Until the war arrives in their midst.
Daisy’s is a war story, a survival story, a love story—all told in the voice of a subversive and witty teenager. This book crackles with anxiety and with lust. It’s a stunning and unforgettable first novel that captures the essence of the age of terrorism: how we live now. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Meg Rosoff here.
Follow Meg on Twitter here.
SIFTING THROUGH THE MADNESS FOR THE WORD, THE LINE, THE WAY by Charles Bukowski
I wanted to read some of Bukowski’s poems because a poet I admire recommended him. He was such a prolific writer, I didn’t really know where to begin, so I just started with one of the few selections my local bookstore actually had available. That simplified things. This was a collection put together after his death, and it seemed death and endings were heavy on his mind in many of the poems – along with drinking and horse racing. I didn’t much care for many of those poems, although they rang with a true, gritty voice. I did find myself touched by some of the more random poems, especially this one near the end.
nobody but you
nobody can save you but
yourself you will be put again and again
into nearly impossible
situations.
they will attempt again and again
through subterfuge, guise and
force
to make you submit, quit and/or die quietly
inside.
nobody can save you but
yourself
and it will be easy enough to fail
so very easily
but don’t, don’t, don’t.
just watch them.
listen to them.
do you want to be like that?
a faceless, mindless, heartless
being?
do you want to experience
death before death?
nobody can save you but
yourself
and you’re worth saving.
it’s a war not easily won
but if anything is worth winning then
this is it.
think about it.
think about saving yourself.
I have to say, I cried so hard after reading this. It just really hit home with me and where I am right now. I really needed this. This is why poetry is so important. And this is why, despite all of the poems about living in shady hotel rooms and chasing women that I didn’t love, I will read more Bukowsi.
from “neither Shakespeare nor Mickey Spillane”
young young young, only wanting the Word,
going mad in the streets and in the bars,
brutal fights, broken glass, crazy women
screaming in
your cheap room,
you a familiar guest at the drunk tank, North
Avenue 21, Lincoln Heights
sifting through the madness for the Word, the
line
the way,
hoping for a check from somewhere,
dreaming of a letter from a great editor:
“Chinaski, you don’t know how long we’ve been waiting for you!”
no chance at all. (Poem excerpt from Goodreads description.)
Learn more about Charles Bukowski here.
HEXED by Michelle Krys
This book was written by a lovely writing acquaintance of mine from Canada, whom I’m more than happy to support. This is her debut novel and it was quite a fun read. It got a little slow in the middle, but overall, the pacing was break-neck and the tension was high, just the way I like it. She now has a sequel in works and I’m sure it was be just a wonderful. Congrats, Michelle!
It’s Bring it On meets The Craft in this spellbinding witchy series debut.
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?
Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.
Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Michelle Krys here.
Follow Michelle on Twitter here.
Follow Michelle on Facebook here.
Follow Michelle on Tumblr here.
FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell
I’ve waited over a year to read this book! (I loaned my copy to a friend soon after receiving it for my birthday last year and then she moved and it was buried in a box for ages.) All in all, it was well worth the wait. Rowell’s characters are so well-written and so dynamic that they could’ve been people I went to college with. And talk about nostalgia! I was back in my cramped dorm room, reliving those early days with my first roommate within a few chapters. So surreal. Loved this book ALMOST as much as Eleanor & Park. It was really close.
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .
But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?
Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Rainbow Rowell here.
Follow Rainbow on Twitter here.
Follow Rainbow on Facebook here.
Follow Rowell’s Tumblr here.
ART & FEAR: Observations on the Perils (And Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland
A close friend recommended this book to me years ago when I was struggling with my craft. I bought it and let it gather dust on my shelf. This year I resolved to delve into the heart of my fears and actually read the book. I’m so glad I did. I wrote a two-part blog post about this subject. The second installment mostly discussed this book here.
Art & Fear explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often doesn’t get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way. The book’s co-authors, David Bayles and Ted Orland, are themselves both working artists, grappling daily with the problems of making art in the real world. Their insights and observations, drawn from personal experience, provide an incisive view into the world of art as it is expeienced by artmakers themselves.
This is not your typical self-help book. This is a book written by artists, for artists -— it’s about what it feels like when artists sit down at their easel or keyboard, in their studio or performance space, trying to do the work they need to do. First published in 1994, Art & Fear quickly became an underground classic. Word-of-mouth response alone—now enhanced by internet posting—has placed it among the best-selling books on artmaking and creativity nationally.
Art & Fear has attracted a remarkably diverse audience, ranging from beginning to accomplished artists in every medium, and including an exceptional concentration among students and teachers. The original Capra Press edition of Art & Fear sold 80,000 copies.
Learn more about David Bayles here.
Learn more about Ted Orland here.
ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein
This is the companion novel to CODE NAME VERITY, which I read last year and loved so, so much. I really enjoyed this story,too, but it didn’t hold quite the intensity and impact that Verity did. This is still a well-written book and well worth the read.
Rose Justice is a young pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. On her way back from a semi-secret flight in the waning days of the war, Rose is captured by the Germans and ends up in Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi women’s concentration camp. There, she meets an unforgettable group of women, including a once glamorous and celebrated French detective novelist whose Jewish husband and three young sons have been killed; a resilient young girl who was a human guinea pig for Nazi doctors trying to learn how to treat German war wounds; and a Nachthexen, or Night Witch, a female fighter pilot and military ace for the Soviet air force. These damaged women must bond together to help each other survive.
In this companion volume to the critically acclaimed novel Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein continues to explore themes of friendship and loyalty, right and wrong, and unwavering bravery in the face of indescribable evil. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Elizabeth Wein here.
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter here.
Follow Elizabeth on Facebook here.
TUMBLEWEED BABY by Anna Myers
This is a gorgeous picture book by my dear friend, Anna Myers. I did a blog post and interview all about this book here.
A large, loving family in the 1930s Dust Bowl finds a “tumbleweed baby”—a wild baby—in the plains near their cozy farm home. The baby’s new siblings discover the ways she fits and doesn’t fit into the family, ultimately deciding that her wildness makes her one of them. The rhythm and voice of the text make this feel like a classic tall tale, and it pairs perfectly with the dreamy, warm art from master illustrator Charles Vess. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Anna Myers here.
Follow Anna on Facebook here.
LIES WE TELL OURSELVES by Robin Talley
A dear writer friend of mine passed this book along to me from the author’s publicist and asked if I’d like to review it. I had already heard about this book and was actually looking forward to reading it, so I gladly accepted.
I was gripped by the story from the first pages. I could feel the tension of of those black students going through their first day of integration so intently, I don’t think my own muscles unclenched until they were safely home. How any of them made it through an entire week, let alone an entire school year, living with constant fear and torturous conditions is beyond me.
I’ve read a lot about the Civil Rights Movement and I thought I knew about the story of integration, but I’d never really thought about the story from the kids’ perspective. They really held the battle on their shoulders. And Talley weaves such a wonderfully nuanced tale that connects today’s struggle for equality with that of the past, making it just as relevant and just as terrifying. Sarah and Linda’s relationship grows so naturally and painfully that I couldn’t stop reading it. Really an excellent book.
In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.
Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.
Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.”
Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Robin Talley here.
Follow Robin on Twitter here.
Follow Robin on Facebook here.
Follow Robin on Tumblr here.
DEFIANCE by C.J. Redwine
This was the October Colleen Houck’s Goodreads Book Club selection and another new author to me. This is the first in Redwine’s Defiance trilogy and it looks to be an interesting series. I enjoyed the dual POVs between the male and female lead characters, Logan and Rachel. The strong female character having to camouflage herself, to hide her true nature, her strengths, and train in secret just so she could survive in a male domineering society struck a chord with me. I do live in a very male-domineering, conservative state. (“You didn’t take your husband’s last name? How…odd.” And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, my friends.)
It just makes my skin crawl thinking about trying to adapt to the type of situation the main character lives in. Not being able to move about freely without a male protector? Ugh! I know there are cultures that actually exist where women cannot go out in public without a male relative and that also makes me want to rebel in the worst way. Again, I just think I would have had to go underground in this world or risk being executed for disobedience. Basically, I wouldn’t have survived in that kind of society. Or I would have been leading the revolution. Saudi women defy driving ban, anybody?
Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.
At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.
As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about C.J. Redwine here.
Follow C.J. on Twitter here.
Follow C.J. on Facebook here.
Follow C.J. on Tumblr here.
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Saenz
How in love am I with this book? Let me count the ways. From the very first page, I stopped to reread passages that took my breath away, that made me want to hug this book to me and never let it go.
And I still finished it in record time.
Here’s the first passage that stopped me in my tracks:
As far as I was concerned, the sun could have melted the blue right off the sky. Then the sky could be as miserable as I was.
Seriously?
And that was just the writer getting warmed up and talking about the weather. He gets deep and breaks your heart with his words. And you want to thank him for it. This is a book I will read over and over until its pages fall out.
I read this book at the recommendation of a dear writer friend of mine. And now I’m recommending it to you. To everyone who loves great story and words and beautiful characters. You will take this story into your heart and it will never leave you.
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.(Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Benjamin Alire Saenz here and here.
Follow Benjamin on Twitter here.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel García Márquez
This was a very slow read for me, but also a very enjoyable one. It was so rich with character and setting, I wanted to stay with it. I chose this book after hearing Matt de la Peña speak about it. This book was the first book his father ever read and it opened up an avenue for them to share the world of books together. He also said how crazy it was that his dad chose to start off by reading Márquez. “You don’t just start with a book like this.” After he was done, Matt asked him what he thought. His dad said he liked it. And that was all. He then asked him for another book. That piqued my interest and this book sounded like a challenge. It was and I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
One of the 20th century’s enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement of a Nobel Prize winning career.
The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility — the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth — these universal themes dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel Garcia Marquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master.
Alternately reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an accounting of the history of the human race. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gabriel Garcia Màrquez here.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
This is another book I read, or rather listened to, for my observance of Banned Book Week, this year. I actually read this book years ago while in high school. It was lying around the house and had a catchy title. I’m not sure how much I remembered about the book, except how it ended. I remembered how odd it was that an author would tell you in the beginning of a book how the story would end. I was so curious that I did turn to the back of the book right then to see if it did indeed end with “Poo-tee-weet”. This time around, I still found it jumbled and jarring, but a little more profound. It’s Vonnegut. What else is there to say?
Kurt Vonnegut’s absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut’s) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.
Don’t let the ease of reading fool you – Vonnegut’s isn’t a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, “There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.”
Slaughterhouse-Five is not only Vonnegut’s most powerful book, it is also as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author’s experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut’s other works, but the book’s basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy – and humor. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Kurt Vonnegut here.
EARTHBOUND and EARTHQUAKE by Aprilynne Pike
The second book in this series was the selected book for September for Colleen Houck’s Goodreads Book Club, but I could’t just start with book 2, that would be crazy. Who does that?
Obviously not me. I really enjoyed the first book and found the premise of reincarnation of gods who must reawaken their memories from their past lives and then reunite with their soulmates to regain their true strength quite exciting – especially what if you don’t want to keep being a goddess who reincarnate with the same soulmate? What if you want to break the rules? Very complex ideology; a book you can really dig deep into your brain and blow your mind about. Although I thought the second book waned a little in the middle, it definitely picked up steam near the end. I look forward to the third installment.
Plot Summary for EARTHBOUND:
Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told. Tavia will soon to discover that she alone holds the key to stopping the Reduciata, an evil society that manipulates global events for its own shadowy purposes. But Tavia must make a choice: to come into her own powers and save the world from the evil Reduciata, or choose free will and a love of her own. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Plot Summary for EARTHQUAKE:
Tavia Michaels has discovered that she’s an Earthbound–a fallen goddess with the power to create matter from nothing–and that the Reduciata will stop at nothing to control her and her power. Captured and imprisoned along with her eternal lover, Logan, huddled in a claustrophobic cell, they lose track of the days, their attempts to escape proving as ephemeral as Tavia’s newly gestating powers.
But then Tavia and Logan are mysteriously rescued–and what they do next will determine not only the fate of their love, but also the fate of the world…(Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Aprilynne Pike here.
Follow Aprilynne on Twitter here.
Follow Aprilynne on Facebook here.
JOURNEY and QUEST by Aaron Becker
Aaron Becker was one of the keynote speakers at this yea’s SCBWI LA summer conference. I happened by his books in a store and showed them to my son. We read through JOURNEY, or rather viewed the beautiful wordless picture book in quiet reverence. My son was entranced. He then wanted to view the second book, QUEST. And then he insisted we take it home with us. Journey reminded me of HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON meets THE WIZARD OF OZ. QUEST just took that world a step further. I was just as enchanted by the gorgeous illustrations and the lovely storylines as my son was.
Becker has a Facebook page, entitled the Journey Trilogy, so it would seem there will be one more of these beautiful books. This page also shows some of his artistic process and how he works from his own models to create the otherworldly landscapes on his pages.
Plot Summary for JOURNEY:
A 2014 Caldecott Honor Book, Journey, follows the adventures of a young girl who escapes the boredom of home to find a magical realm – in which she can control her destiny with her imagination. A Junior Library Guild Selection.
Plot Summary for QUEST:
Quest is the second book in the wordless picture book trilogy that began with the 2014 Caldecott Honor Book Journey. The adventure continues as the girl, the boy, and their purple bird companion make their way back into the enchanted realm behind the red door. They discover that there’s more to this land than they imagined – and they’re more a part of its mythology than they could have dreamed.
Learn more about Aaron Becker here.
Follow Aaron on Facebook here.
Follow Aaron on Twitter here.
THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS (Captain Underpants #1) by Dav Pilkey
I read this as part of my observance of Banned Book Week, as this was the book that made it to the top of the list. Surprised? So was I. I couldn’t see what was so censor-worthy about this graphic novel, especially one that has encouraged so many reluctant readers TO READ! Here are some notes from the author’s website about this series:
This book is based on a superhero that Dav Pilkey invented way back in 1973 when he was a second-grader. The comics that Dav made were very much like the comic book that George and Harold sell on the playground in Chapter 3.
When I began making children’s books in 1986, my goal was to one day make a book about Captain Underpants. I wrote several different versions of this story, including a 48-page comic book, but every publisher who saw it turned it down. When the book was finally accepted in 1996, it was a real dream come true! — Dav Pilkey
Many of the things in the book are taken directly from Dav’s childhood: the practical jokes, the comics, even the cheesy animation technique called “Flip-O-Rama” (Dav and his friends used to amuse themselves by making these flip-action animated pictures in elementary school).
Dav Pilkey had dyslexia when he was a kid. He was always discouraged by wordy texts, small type, and lengthy chapters.
My goal with The Adventures of Captain Underpants was to make a chapter book that SEEMED like a picture book. So I wrote incredibly short chapters and tried to fill each page with more pictures than words. I wanted to create a book that kids who don’t like to read would want to read. — Dav Pilkey
That’s an admirable goal and great reason to create such a relatable series for kids. I happen to know that these books DO inspire kids to create their own comics and stories. I honestly don’t see this as a bad thing that should be censored.
Here’s the actually plot summary for the first book:
Meet George and Harold, a couple of wise guys. The only thing they enjoy more than playing practical jokes is creating their own comic books. Together they have created the greatest comic-book superhero in the history of their elementary school – CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS! But George and Harold’s principal, mean old Mr. Krupp, doesn’t like their pranks OR their comic books. He’s cooked up a plan to catch George and Harold and stop their shenanigans – once and for all! This book is about what happened when that plan backfired, and Captain Underpants leaped off the page to save the day! (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Follow Dav on YouTube.
THE THREE SNOW BEARS by Jan Brett
Retellings are very popular right now, but they are nothing new. On a recent trip to the library, my son picked up this book, and begged to bring it home. We read it through over and over. It is a beautiful and creative retelling of the Goldilocks story, set in Alaska with polar bears and a curious native Inuit girl named Aloo-ki in the main character role. The author traveled to Alaska to research this book. You can find details about her research and fun activities to go along with the story on the author’s website, listed below.
The Goldilocks story takes a fine twist when an endearing snow bear family and a curious Inuit girl meet center stage in Jan Brett’s stunning paintings of a land where the Inuits and the animals share the amazing Arctic landscape.
When Aloo-ki loses her sled dogs, her search for them leads her to an igloo. She can’t resist peeking inside…and then she can’t resist the smell of something delicious…
While Aloo-ki is making herself at home, Papa, Mama and Baby Bear are out walking, waiting for their breakfast to cool off…and who do you think they find?
In the borders, playful Arctic animals in parkas inspired by original Inuit designs have a mischievous time as the lively story bounces back and forth between the snow bears and Aloo-ki until they come face-to-face.
Learn more about Jan Brett here.
Follow Jan on Facebook here.
Follow Jan on Twitter here.
THE 5 LOVE LANGUAGES: THE SECRET TO LOVE THAT LASTS by Gary Chapman
I read this book at the suggestion of my therapist. I had some profound philosophical issues with some of the author’s approaches, especially the idea that you have to keep trying – no matter what – to fulfill the other person’s need for love. (I know, right?) But if I didn’t take it too seriously, I understood the overall ideas. It was okay. I am not one who reads many self-help books. I made an exception here and after reading this book, I remembered why I don’t often read them. If you are one who enjoys self-help books or finds them helpful, maybe you will find this one of value.
Couples who understand each other’s love language hold a priceless advantage in the quest for love that lasts a lifetime — they know how to effectively and consistently make each other feel truly and deeply loved. That gift never fades away. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Gary Chapman here.
YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME: STORIES AND POEMS ABOUT BOYS by Sharon Flake
I heard Sharon Blake speak during the SCBWI LA conference and she was fantastic. This was one of the few books left to get signed so I snatched it up. She was a delight to meet. So warm and thoughtful. This was my first conference read after I returned home. And I definitely want to read more from her. There is a companion book, WHO AM I WITHOUT HIM: SHORT STORIES ABOUT GIRLS AND THE BOYS IN THEIR LIVES and then there is her first book, THE SKIN I’M IN, that won several awards, that I’d love to read.
This book was great. The perspective was at times, funny, sad, angry, awkward, and complicated, just like a young teen boy is. This isn’t just a good book for boys to read, it’s for anyone who enjoys good characters that will touch you.
They fall in love, plot revenge, seek to be understood. They sit in class, show their colors, date your daughter and dream of making it big. But do you know them, these brazen, brilliant, bold young men walking among us? In my new novel, young men celebrate love, mentor younger boys, wrestle with HIV and contemplate suicide. They dodge adults, brag about becoming president and wonder if they’ll be alive in the morning. Boys: Do we know ‘em? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sharon Flake here.
Follow Sharon on Twitter here.
Follow Sharon on Facebook here.
OH. MY. GODS by Tera Lynn Childs
Another wunderbar book club pick. You have to appreciate the cover art. Though this one brought back barely veiled trauma-esque (new word? I’m going with it) memories from my elementary days and life with my crazy first step-mom, the health nut in love with the 80s running craze, so we became a family of runners. (Seriously, if I had time to spin the tales, you’d agree to her level of insanity.)
Memories of waking up at the crack of dawn before school so I could go jogging. Memories of weekends with the family, taking road trips out of town before sunrise to run races while my friends slept in and watched cartoons. Once I got past these, I found the story charming and delighted in the main character actually enjoying the act of running – I did remember the sense of accomplishment and the runner’s high – although the story didn’t hold that many surprises as far as the plot was concerned, it was entertaining and I did care about the characters. I am enjoying the recurring theme of strong female characters in the book selections, even in the romantic selections. And a story set in Greece is always a fun read.
What If The Greek Gods Were More Than Myth?
If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She’s made all her plans, so it’s a complete shock when her mom announces she’s marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them half-way around the world—to Greece.
What If Their Descendants Lived Among Us?
Phoebe’s stuck on a secret island in the Aegean attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster and the kids are anything but your average students—they are descendants of the Greek gods, super powers included. That’s right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery.
What If You Had To Go To High School With Them?
Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe’s only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be grueling, even without a sabotaging stepsister from Hades and a gorgeous guy—what a god!—who just might be her Achilles heel. One thing is for sure—summoning the will to win and find her place among the gods could be Phoebe’s toughest course yet.
In Oh. My. Gods. the Greek gods get a makeover in this romantic odyssey of mythic proportion. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tera Lynn Childs here.
Follow Tera on Twitter here.
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REALITY BOY by A.S. King
This book is one of my greatest treasures – and not just because it is inscribed to me by the phenomenal A.S. King herself. (Okay, that doesn’t hurt – *hugs book tighter*) I just love her writing so much. It’s honest and raw. I want to call this one ‘The Anger Book’ because it lets you really get down and dirty with feeling all kinds of angry. And understanding where your anger really comes from – that lack of caring, the seeing-but-not-seeing adults who let things happen, the neglect, the injustices that were done when you were too young to be in control of your destiny. The main character, Gerald, taps right into it all and lets us live vicariously through him as he slowly starts to find his voice and make demands for a new life. Enpowerment on the page. Dig it.
Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.
Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.
In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about A.S. King here.
Follow A.S. King on Twitter here.
CARNIVORES by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat
I first heard about this book from the editor when she came to our spring conference. It sounded funny and intriguing, but her description did not even do this fantastic book justice. I snagged this from a fellow writer on the plane ride to LA because I was dying to read it. I laughed out loud and didn’t even care. Dan Santat’s illustrations are stupendous and make the witty text so much funnier with his visual jokes. This is a book you will read over and over until the cover falls apart.
The lion is king of the jungle!
The great white shark is sovereign of the seas!
The timber wolf is emperor of the forests!
But . . . it’s lonely at the top of the food chain. It’s difficult to fit in when plant eaters can be so cruel—just because you ate a relative of theirs that one time! What’s a carnivore to do? Aaron Reynolds’s roaringly funny text is perfectly paired with Dan Santat’s mouthwatering illustrations, creating a toothsome book that’s sure to stand out from the herd. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Aaron Reynolds here.
Learn more about Dan Santat here.
THE COCKOO’S CALLING by Robert Galbraith
This is the first mystery novel written by J.K. Rowling under her pseudonym. I for one, love a good mystery, so I finally decided to give it a go – even after my experience with her first adult novel. And I’m glad I did. This was a much better experience with Rowling back to doing what she does well – telling a great story.
When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.
Strike is a war veteran – wounded both physically and psychologically – and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model’s complex world, the darker things get – and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .
A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London – from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho – The Cuckoo’s Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel from Robert Galbraith. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Robert Galbraith here.
Follow Robert on Twitter here.
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(I’m sure you know how to find J.K. Rowling, but here’s her other main site, just in case, here.)
THE PLEDGE by Kimberly Derting
This was my online book club selection for July. Another first-time reading experience for me. I’m getting to know several new authors this way – such great exposure. Although I’d never heard of this author or this book before, I was intrigued by the story’s concept. Segregating people by the use of different languages for each of the classes. What a concept. I also liked the idea of a female-based ruling society. This is the first book in a series. I’m interested enough in this first one to want to see where this continues.
In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It’s there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she’s never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.
Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Kimberly Derting here.
Follow Kimberly on Facebook here.
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THE GRISHA SERIES (Books 1-3) by Leigh Bardugo
I’d seen so many writer friends geeking out about this series, so I finally broke down and read this onto see what all the fuss was about…and found myself finished with it in the briefest time span of one week. And the wishing there were more. Such a fascinating exploration into the darkness and light in all of us and what we’ll sacrifice for power and what we won’t. All of the layers and depths of character, ah! Just loved it. Bardugo created such an unusual world, and yet so believable. And this was one very satisfying conclusion to a trilogy – not overdone, not pandering. Perfect.
Plot Summary of SHADOW AND BONE:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.
Plot Summary of SIEGE AND STORM:
Darkness never dies.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
Plot Summary of RUIN AND RISING:
The capital has fallen. The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.
Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.
Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.
(Plot summaries from author’s website.)
Learn more about Leigh Bardugo here.
Follow Leigh on Twitter here.
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HIS FAIR ASSASSIN SERIES (Books 1-3) by Robin LaFevers
A fellow writer had reviewed this book and she had me at the words assassin nuns. Then I saw the gorgeous cover. That’s no damsel in distress with a mighty crossbow, oh, no! Medieval women kicking ass? Love it! And can I say, it’s about damn time! Where has this book been all my life? So, so glad LaFevers came up with this idea. Now I know what I can go as if I ever find myself at a medieval fair. Don’t worry, fair lads in distress, there are damsels about wielding mighty weapons with skill who can protect your honor.
Plot Summary for GRAVE MERCY:
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart
Plot Summary for DARK TRIUMPH:
Vengeance is divine.
Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. The convent views Sybella, naturally skilled in the arts of both death and seduction, as one of their most dangerous weapons. But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?
Plot summary for MORTAL HEART:
Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.
But across Brittany, the tides of war are drawing ever nearer, with France pressuring the beleaguered duchess from all sides. Annith’s search for answers threatens to rip open an intricate web of lies and deceit that sit at the heart of the convent she serves. Yet to expose them threatens the very fabric of her existence and risks an unforeseen chance at love, one that she can no longer deny. Annith must carefully pick a path and, gods willing, effect a miracle that will see her country—and her heart—to safety. (All plot summaries from author’s website.)
What a great conclusion to this trilogy! I’d recommend this series to anyone looking for a fantastic medieval adventure with a bit of romance on the side.
Learn more about Robin LaFevers here.
Follow Robin on Twitter here.
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THE GREAT GREENE HEIST by Varian Johnson
Author Kate Messner recommended this book to everyone on the planet during the awesome #weneeddiversebooks campaign. She wanted us to all put up (and not even shut up) and help make this book a bestseller, not just because it was written by a minority author, but because it’s brilliant.
After beginning on page one on a road trip and finishing it before I reached my destination, I can attest to the fantasticness of Johnson’s storytelling. Man! I so wish I could’ve gone to school with a kid like Jackson Greene. Or if I were a kid right now reading this book, I would get into all kinds of mischief plotting my own Jackson-like schemes. I loved, loved, loved this character. I so hope Johnson gets to write more Greene adventures. i will read every one of them.
Jackson Greene has reformed. No, really he has. He became famous for the Shakedown at Shimmering Hills, and everyone still talks about the Blitz at the Fitz…. But after the disaster of the Mid-Day PDA, he swore off scheming and conning for good.
Then Keith Sinclair — loser of the Blitz — announces he’s running for school president, against Jackson’s former best friend Gaby de la Cruz. Gaby hasn’t talked to Jackson since the PDA, and he knows she won’t welcome his involvement. But he also knows Keith has “connections” to the principal, which could win him the election whatever the vote count.
So Jackson assembles a crack team to ensure the election is done right: Hashemi Larijani, tech genius. Victor Cho, bankroll. Megan Feldman, science goddess and cheerleader. Charlie de la Cruz, point man. Together they devise a plan that will bring Keith down once and for all. Yet as Jackson draws closer to Gaby again, he realizes the election isn’t the only thing he wants to win. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn mores about Varian Johnson here.
Follow Varian on Twitter here.
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WONDER by R.J. Palacio
I’ve had this book on my radar for a long, long, time. I’ve even had it in my TBR pile more than once. I gave it away at a Christmas party for a dirty Santa gift when I hadn’t had a chance to get to the store. Just meant I had to buy another copy and wait longer to read it. I guess I wasn’t quite ready for it. But this was the year. I’m glad i finally did read it. The story resonated a little too close to home at times and there were some tears shed, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Mostly they were during the chapters told from the sister’s point of view, oddly enough. I think I was thinking of my daughter and how she could relate to this experience. Anyway, there were just as many moments of laughter as tears and the overall emotion was of hope, so it was a good read. And well worth sharing with everyone who needs to experience some empathy for anyone who’s different – not just on the outside.
August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about R.J. Palacio here.
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GEORGE FERRIS WHAT A WHEEL by Barbara Lowell, Illustrated by Jerry Hoare
This was my lovely critique partner, Barbara Lowell’s, first published book and I was so happy to have been a small part of the creative process. I’ve seen so many drafts of this story that to actually hold the finalized, finished product, complete with perfect illustrations and actual photos from the assembling of the wheel, in my hand, well, it was just such a thrill. I love, love, love this book, but as I may have indicated, I’m a wee bit biased here. I do think it’s well-designed and well-written and anyone with any interest in this subject can’t go wrong with this book. READ IT! You won’t be sorry.
Have you ever ridden a Ferris wheel? You go up, up, up and can see for miles! But when the inventor of the Ferris wheel, George Ferris, first pitched the idea, everyone thought he was crazy. A 250-foot bicycle wheel that goes around and around and carries people in train cars? Can’t be done, they said. But George proved them wrong. Read about how George’s hard work, courage, and imagination created one of the most famous fair rides today.
George Ferris, What a Wheel covers the concepts Imagination and Problem Solving. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Barbara Lowell here.
AFTER THE END by Amy Plum
A dystopian novel that turns out NOT to be a dystopian novel? What a great twist. This was the second selection for my online book club and I thought it was fantastic. I ad not read anything by Amy Plum before so i didn’t know what to expect. Great characters, great story. Challenging philosophical discussions encouraging readers to QUESTION EVERYTHING and come to their own conclusions about what they believe was a much needed dialogue. LOVED the dynamic between the two main characters. I don’t want to give anything away, so that’s all I’m going to say. After I read this, I totally couldn’t stop talking about it to my daughter, who totally couldn’t stop listening to me talk about it and still wants to read the book.
You should, too. Although, fair warning, it does end on a cliff hanger. Book Two comes out in March 2015. NOT SOON ENOUGH!
World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness.
They′ve survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.
At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.
When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact.
Everything was a lie.
Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she’s trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Amy Plum here.
Follow Amy on Twitter here.
CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE (Book 6 in Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare
I was more than satisfied with this final installment of the series. The last book had me a little worried, but Clare let out all the stops and left nothing out in this final book. She even left the window cracked for some new characters to take off with a new series in the same world so we don’t have to get all weepy at the total loss of the series. Smart cookies that Ms Clare. Still, it’s sad to say goodbye to some of the most interesting and dynamic cast of characters I’ve read in awhile. Maybe we haven’t seen the last of all of them, eh, Magnus? (I certainly hope not.)
In this dazzling and long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother.
Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.
The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris – but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?
When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee – even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned…
Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the word in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments! (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Cassandra Clare here.
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VADER’S LITTLE PRINCESS (Jeffrey Brown’s Star Wars) by Jeffrey Brown
Hilarious book for any Star Wars fan. I picked this up in the bookstore and couldn’t put it down until I’d read the entire thing.
In this irresistibly funny follow-up to the breakout bestseller Darth Vader and Son, Vader–Sith Lord and leader of the Galactic Empire–now faces the trials, joys, and mood swings of raising his daughter Leia as she grows from a sweet little girl into a rebellious teenager.
Smart and funny illustrations by artist Jeffrey Brown give classic Star Wars moments a twist by bringing these iconic family relations together under one roof. From tea parties to teaching Leia how to fly a TIE fighter, regulating the time she spends talking with friends via R2-D2’s hologram, and making sure Leia doesn’t leave the house wearing only a skirted metal bikini, Vader’s parenting skills are put hilariously to the test. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Jeffrey Brown here.
THE POISONED HOUSE by Michael Ford
I’m not sure where I came across this little gem. A little reminiscent of an Agatha Christie tale with a ghostly bent. I enjoyed the creepiness and the mystery bit. Nice eery read for a rainy day in front of a fire.
Abi is a servant in Greave Hall, a stately London home. She runs away, but is soon recaptured, to suffer once more under the tyrannical rule of Mrs Cotton, the housekeeper. The house, though, has a dark secret. Something ghostly inhabits the corridors, leading Abi to the very truth someone has tried so hard to bury. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Michael Ford here.
THE SHADOW PRINCE by Bree Despain
I read this book as the first selection from my new online book club. I’m not sure I would have picked this book on my own, just browsing through a bookstore, so I’m glad that it came my way. Sort of the point of me joining the book club, really. This modern re-telling of the Persephone myth, with a few twists, was really well done. I enjoyed Daphne’s character as a strong female who didn’t just automatically fall head over heels for the male lead. She had her own goals and plans that needed attention. During our book club discussion I was surprised how many others felt at odds with her character for just this reason, and yet they still loved the book. Great discussion, great story. I look forward to reading more about these characters.
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.
Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.
Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
A pulsating romance of epic proportions, Bree Despain’s The Shadow Prince will leave her fans breathless for the next book in the Into The Dark series. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Bree Despain here.
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THE LUNAR CHRONICLES (Books 1-3) by Marissa Meyer
This was a fun and smart re-invisioning of the story of Cinderella. I loved the changes Meyer made to the original, especially giving Cinder a close connection within her adoptive family. The close bond she shares with her youngest step-sister is tender and painful, especially when that relationship is tested and threatened. Meyer is so creative in how she weaves the classic aspects into this new, futuristic world. The characters are well worth rooting for. This is a kick-ass female lead that we should see more of. I really enjoyed the entire series and I read through it quickly. I look forward to the next installment.
Plot Summary for CINDER:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Plot Summary for SCARLET:
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Plot Summary for CRESS:
In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.
Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Marissa Meyer here.
Follow Marissa on Twitter here.
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COUNTING BY 7S by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Having a story about a child on the autism spectrum that has been clamored about so much, I was really looking forward to reading this book. Although it was a decent story and I did love Willow as a beautiful character, some of the problems were solved a little too easily and too quickly for my tastes. Overall it was a nice book and I did enjoy it, however it fell a little short of my rather high expectations. I do think most readers will love the characters and it is worth reading.
Counting By 7s is the story of Willow Chance, a twelve-year old girl who has been identified at an early age as ‘gifted’. Willow lives in Bakersfield, California and comes home from school one day to the news that her parents have been killed in a traffic accident.
What follows is Willow’s search to find a place where she belongs.
In equal parts an exploration of the pain of loss and of the triumph of moving forward, the novel looks at how one person can change the lives of many, often without even trying. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Holly Goldberg Sloan here.
Follow Holly on Twitter here.
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THE DREAM THIEVES and BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE (Books 2 & 3 in the Raven Cycle) by Maggie Stiefvater
This is such a unique tale, it’s hard to describe. I really loved the first book and tore through it so fast, I thought I’d do the same for all of the books. However, this one took me longer to get into. I think it might have been because of all the different viewpoints. The first book was really focused on Blue’s character and her POV and I think I missed that. This book was good, though, and in the end, it won me over.
The next installment was completely different. I fell right in love with it and raced through it in no time. Waiting a year for the conclusion will probably kill me.
Synopsis from Book One, THE RAVEN BOYS:
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Gansey is different. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been told by her psychic family that she will kill her true love. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
Synopsis from Book Two, THE DREAM THIEVES:
Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…
Synopsis from Book Three, BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE:
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.
Learn more about Maggie Stiefvater here.
View Raven Cycle series own website here.
Follow Maggie on Twitter here.
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THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE: THE UNIMAGINARY FRIEND by Dan Santat
This was such a creative tale. For anyone whose ever felt invisible or was afraid of being invisible or thought they were an imaginary friend. I really enjoyed it.
This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and-at long last-is given his special name: Beekle.
New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Dan Santat combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art, creating an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one’s place in the world. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Dan Santat here.
Follow Dan on Twitter here.
Follow Dan on Tumblr here.
THE PIGEON NEEDS A BATH by Mo Willems
I just love all of the Pigeon books and this one is way overdue. Even Pigeon says so one the website. (He can be a little impatient.) I learned recently at our conference that this style of book is actually considered a graphic novel. Who knew? So maybe I could read it in a coffee shop and look hip. Or maybe not. Whatevs. I read what I like. And this I like.
The Pigeon needs a bath! Except, the Pigeon’s not so sure about that. Besides, he took a bath last month! Maybe. It’s going to take some serious convincing to get the Pigeon to take the plunge. (Plot summary from the Pigeon’s Website.)
Learn more about Mo Willems here.
Follow The Pigeon’s Tweets here.
Learn all about the Pigeon Books here.
OKLAHOMA POEMS…AND THEIR POETS edited by Nathan Brown
I loved this.
I read this as part of my need to expand my poetry education and to support my fellow Oklahoma writers. Our Oklahoma Poet Laureate put this fantastic collection together in a very thoughtful manner, including some of the best and brightest of our own Oklahoma poets.
An anthology edited by Nathan Brown, the 2013 – 2014 Poet Laureate of Oklahoma. It includes poems “about” Oklahoma that are written by natives, ex-pats, and visitors alike. These poems are an honest, and sometimes raw, look at the state’s past and present by way of three chapters titled: People, Places, and Odds & Ends. Among the poets represented are Pulitzer winners Stephen Dunn and N. Scott Momaday, as well as Naomi Shihab Nye, Joy Harjo, George Bilgere, Ron Padgett, and many others.(Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Reading this brought me back to my childhood memories and reconnected me to the people of this state. I did a more thorough review of this book here.
Read it.
Another great thing about this collection is that the proceeds benefit the Oklahoma Humanities Council. Very cool.
Learn more about Nathan Brown here.
Follow Nathan on Facebook here.
LOST SUN by Tessa Gratton
I won this book in a blog contest giveaway. It was actually my first ebook win, too Woohoo! I hadn’t had the pleasure of reading a book by Ms Gratton before, so this book was one of those total surprises. I just opened it up and gave it a shot. It was amazing! The mix of gods functioning within the present day context struck just the right balance to be fascinating and believable. The characters at the center – what fantastic emotional connection! The whole struggle Soren goes through with suppressing his berserker rage to avoid the fate of his father and Astrid tempting him to give in to it – ah! Loved, loved, loved this!
SOREN BEARSKIN
Haunted by unpredictable berserker rage, he distances himself from other students at school.
ASTRID GLYN
A prophet by blood, she dreams the weave of fate and sees Soren changing the futures.
BALDUR THE BEAUTIFUL
The most popular god in the States disappears in front of TV cameras, and the country erupts in chaos.
THE DESTINY IS SET.
Astrid and Soren must save Baldur. But in saving a god, will Soren destroy himself… and everything he holds dear? (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Tessa Gratton here.
Follow Tessa on Twitter here.
Follow Tessa on Tumblr here.
HAMSTER AND CHEESE by Colleen AF Venable
Colleen was one of the lovely speakers at our SCBWI OK spring conference this year and she just happens to be an accomplished author in her own right. When not wearing her art and design editor’s hat at First Second Books, she’s writing amazing graphic novels of her own. This is the first in her Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye graphic novel series. When she told me that she purposely chose to show her female guinea pig without outrageous flares like pronounced eyelashes or giant hair bows to indicate that she was a female because “guinea pigs don’t look like that in nature” I knew I would love her books. And I did. Funny and captivating and mysterious as a detective tale should be. This was an awesome story.
There is a sandwich thief in Mr. Venezi’s pet shop, and everyone is a suspect—from the chinchillas to the goldfish. Never fear! The world’s fluffiest detective is on the case: Sasspants, PI(G). By day, Sasspants is your average book–loving, gizmo–inventing guinea pig. By night, she solves pet shop mysteries with the help of her sidekick, Hamisher the hamster. Our furry little heroes will stop by nothing to find the sandwich thief! (Plot summary form Barnes and Noble website.)
Seriously, after a plot summary like that, how can you resist?
Learn more about Colleen here.
Follow Colleen on Twitter here.
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman
The opening line long with the eerie graphics were enough to pull me right in to this moody tale.
“There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife.”
It’s not often that a middle grade begins with the homicide of an entire family, save the youngest member, a toddler who escapes by mere chance. Why he and his family were targeted is the great mystery and what fantastical things it leads to are just the beginning of the story of the boy who is destined to straddle the line between worlds. It’s a great tale.
Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he’s the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians’ time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren’t really one thing or the other. This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman’s first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman’s legion of adult fans. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Neil Gaiman here.
Follow Neil on Twitter here.
Follow Neil on Tumblr here.
INFINITE by Jodi Meadows
This was a well-rounded and satisfying conclusion to the INCARNATE trilogy. I’m sad to see it end. This was one of the first books I found purely by Twitter friends’ praise and the blogosphere word of mouth. It’s a lovely perk of my growing online community of writer friends, this constant growing list of lovely books I never would have found without them.
DESTRUCTION
The Year of Souls begins with an earthquake—an alarming rumble from deep within the earth—and it’s only the first of greater dangers to come. The Range caldera is preparing to erupt. Ana knows that as Soul Night approaches, everything near Heart will be at risk.
FLIGHT
Ana’s exile is frightening, but it may also be fortuitous, especially if she can convince her friends to flee Heart and Range with her. They’ll go north, seeking answers and allies to stop Janan’s ascension. And with any luck, the newsouls will be safe from harm’s reach.
CHOICE
The oldsouls might have forgotten the choice they made to give themselves limitless lifetimes, but Ana knows the true cost of reincarnation. What she doesn’t know is whether she’ll have the chance to finish this one sweet life with Sam, especially if she returns to Heart to stop Janan once and for all.
With gorgeous romance and thrilling action, the final book in the Incarnate trilogy offers a brilliant conclusion to the compelling questions of this fascinating world, where one new girl is the key to the lives of millions. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jodi Meadows here.
Follow Jodi on Twitter here.
Follow Jodi on Facebook here.
LET IT SNOW: THREE HOLIDAY ROMANCES by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
I am not one who usually gravitates towards romance novels, but I do love the three authors that co-wrote this book. This was also the only thing by John Green I hadn’t read, so I felt obligated to give it a try. I’m glad I did.
This book of three short stories was unusual in that all of the stories stand alone on their own, and yet weave together to tell a much bigger, richer tale about a small town hit by a winter storm and tragedies of the heart. These master story tellers keep you entertained while warming your heart in the midst of the freezing cold. It was a nice break from all my serious reading I’ve been doing. Don’t let that make you think for a minute the stories aren’t well-written or lacking substance, they have the goods as well. It was just nice for things to end on a positive note for a change.
An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve
buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House ( and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.
A trio of today’s bestselling authors – John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle- brings all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about John Green here.
Learn more about Maureen Johnson here.
Learn more about Lauren Myracle here.
WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson
I love Laurie Halse Anderson. She is a fearless author who writes emotion so beautifully. I first read her novel SPEAK years ago and I still can’t get that book out of my head. I heard Anderson speak for the first time last summer in LA and got to tell her how awesome she was in person. She signed this copy of WINTERGIRLS to me simply “Be Brave”. And yet, isn’t that one of the hardest things to be? Her keynote speech was one of the best of the conference and I was so inspired by her, I can’t even tell you. On top of that, she writes this story like she herself suffered through anorexia and had the words of a poet to make the reader know exactly what it feels like to be at war with your own body and to not be able to see yourself as you truly are. She has woven eating disorder pathology and effortless character voice masterfully into a story you just can’t put down.
“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secrets,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.
Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia’s mother is busy saving other people’s lives. Her father is away on business. Her stepmother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia’s head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way – thin, thinner, thinnest – maybe she’ll disappear altogether.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores one girl’s chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Laurie Halse Anderson here.
Follow Laurie on Twitter here.
Follow Laurie on Facebook here.
THE GODS OF SECOND CHANCES by Dan Berne
I met the editor of this book, Laura Stanfill, out in the blogosphere while we were both mutually admiring each others blogs. I found her just delightful and followed her progress as she bravely ventured out to start her own publishing house, Forest Avenue Press. This book is their first fiction release and I am delighted be have read one of the Advanced Reader copies. This book was well chosen. The writing is solid and the pacing moves the story along well. Author Dan Berne brings the Alaskan scenery to life effortlessly as he weaves the tale of this broken family trying to reunite, missing one of its members, and struggling to fit the pieces back together.
Family means everything to widowed Alaskan fisherman Ray Bancroft, raising his granddaughter while battling storms, invasive species, and lawsuit happy tourists. To navigate, and to catch enough crab to feed her college fund, Ray seeks help from a multitude of gods and goddesses – not to mention ad-libbed rituals performed at sea by his half-Tlingit best friend.
But kitchen counter statues and otter bone ceremonies aren’t enough when his estranged daughter returns from prison, swearing she’s clean and sober. Her search for a safe harbor threatens everything Ray holds sacred.
Set against a backdrop of ice and mud and loss, this debut novel explores the unpredictable fissures of memory, and how families can break apart, even in the midst of healing. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Dan Berne here.
EXTRAORDINARY JANE by Hannah E. Harrison
Hannah Harrison is one of our own SCBWI Oklahoma members and we couldn’t be prouder of her first. This is a delightful book that shows off her artistic skills and storytelling ability all in one. I spoke at length about this book in my interview with Hannah on the blog here.
For anyone with a beloved pet, this delightful and heartwarming story set at the circus shows that quiet qualities like friendship, kindness, and loyalty are important and worthy.
Jane is an ordinary dog in an extraordinary circus. She isn’t strong, graceful, or brave like her family. When she tries to be those things, Jane just doesn’t feel like herself, but she also doesn’t feel special. Is she really meant for this kind of life? Her Ringmaster thinks so, but not for the reasons Jane believes. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Hannah E. Harrison here.
RANT by Chuck Palahniuk
This book was thrust in my hand by one of my daughter’s friend’s who’s a huge Palahniuk fan. How can you resist reading a book coming from that much enthusiasm? I did read my first book by Palahniuk last year at this same teen’s insistence and I wasn’t disappointed, so away I went on another crazy literary ride. It was worth it. There is no way to adequately describe one of his books without spoiling the experience, so I’ll let the plot summary speak for itself. If you’re open for a reading adventure of a mature content nature, this is your book. And as all of Palahniuk’s stories, there’s more to it than you may originally believe.
Be careful. You may be infected with rabies.
Buster “Rant” Casey uncovers a huge wealth that turns his tiny rural town on its head. He needs to get out of there. So he becomes obsessed with getting bitten by anything venomous—snakes, spiders, and whatever else he can find. Loving the side effect that is a big ol’ erection, he uses it to get an early diploma and a nice fat check to get him out of town.
Rant arrives in the city which the reader discovers is the opposite of a utopian society. All the residents take on their appropriate character of respectable Daytimers and oppressed Nighttimers—all due to a strictly enforced curfew.
A new Nighttimer, Rant tries to fit in with the “Party Crashers”, a group of demolition derby-ers who crash into other cars adorned with that night’s “flag”. A mattress on top of the car, words written on the rear windshield. As Rant becomes more entwined in the life of the “Party Crashers” he meets and falls in love with Echo Lawrence. He also starts a nationwide rabies epidemic that causes everyone who is infected to be shot and killed on the spot.
Rant comes from the point of view of people who knew Rant Casey. Through changes in space and time, you find out that Rant may be present in more than one person, could possibly be dead, and may have tried to kill or marry his mother. Seriously.
So, next time you think about tying a mattress or Christmas tree to the top of your car, think again, my friends. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Chuck Palahniuk here.
Follow Chuck on Twitter here.
NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro
I was listening to Kazuo Ishiguro give an interview on NPR and the more he talked about his writing and his life, the more fascinating he seemed. I thought that if his writing was anything like he was, I had to read one of his books. This book is so beautiful. The storytelling is so effortless, I just loved it. Even though the characters and their situation were sad and tragic, I was just so in awe of the whole thing. I don’t know if it was because I was viewing it as a writer or not. One thing I do know is that I could not put this book down.
As a child, Kathy – now thirty-one years old – lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory.
And so, as her friendship with Ruth is rekindled, and as the feelings that long ago fueled her adolescent crush on Tommy begin to deepen into love, Kathy recalls their years at Hailsham. She describes happy scenes of boys and girls growing up together, unperturbed – even comforted – by their isolation. But she describes other scenes as well: of discord and misunderstanding that hint at a dark secret behind Hailsham’s nurturing facade. With the dawning clarity of hindsight, the three friends are compelled to face the truth about their childhood–and about their lives now.
A tale of deceptive simplicity, Never Let Me Go slowly reveals an extraordinary emotional depth and resonance – and takes its place among Kazuo Ishiguro’s finest work. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Follow Kazuo on Facebook.
MRS. DALLOWAY by Virginia Woolf
I read this as my final selection for the Jazz Age January reading challenge and I really enjoyed it. This is the first I’ve ever read by Ms. Woolf. Her stream of consciousness writing style was unusual, but surprisingly easy to follow. Her choice to focus on the psychological inner lives of the characters versus pursuits of plot broke the mold of the times and raised quite a few eyebrows. I found her story very intriguing as well as insightful. Many of her characters dwelled on the subject of the meaning of life and the certainty of death. Interesting considering how Woolf chose to end her own life years later. Overall, I loved her use of language and the questions raised by her characters’ inner ramblings, even though I wasn’t always sure where her storyline was taking me. The journey was worth the ride.
Mrs Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional high-society woman in post-World War I England. It is one of Woolf’s best-known novels.
Created from two short stories, “Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street” and the unfinished “The Prime Minister,” the novel addresses Clarissa’s preparations for a party she will host that evening. With an interior perspective, the story travels forwards and back in time and in and out of the characters’ minds to construct an image of Clarissa’s life and of the inter-war social structure. In October 2005, Mrs Dalloway was included on TIME magazine’s list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Virginia Woolf here.
THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I really struggled with this book I chose for a Jazz Age January read. As this story was supposed to be a semi-autobiographical account of F. Scott Fiztgerald’s relationship with his wife Zelda, I was expecting a little more depth of character in this novel. What I found instead was a train wreck that I couldn’t wait to see the end of and where I had no invested interest in any of the characters on board. It has all the elements of a tragedy, yet for me to feel anything for the characters, to want to care anything for their fates, to weep over their sorrows, I have to care that bad things happen to them. However, these characters are so incredibly self-absorbed and unsympathetic that I just don’t care. When they have the power to alleviate their own suffering, but are just too lazy to do anything about it, I have no compassion. I really could not recommend this book to anyone. Read it at your own risk.
1921 F. Scott Fitzgerald was twenty-five and heralded as the most promising writer of his generation, owing to the success of his first novel This Side of Paradise. Recently married to the girl of his dreams, the former Zelda Sayre, Fitzgerald built upon his sudden prosperity with The Beautiful and the Damned, a cautionary tale of reckless ambition and squandered talent set amid the glitter of Jazz Age New York.
The novel chronicles the relationship of Anthony Patch, a Harvard-educated, aspiring writer, and his beautiful young wife, Gloria. While they wait for Anthony’s grandfather to die and pass his millions on to them, the young couple enjoys an endless string of parties, traveling, and extravagance. Beginning with the pop and fizz of life itself, The Beautiful and the Damned quickly evolves into a scathing chronicle of a dying marriage and a hedonistic society in which beauty is all too fleeting.
A fierce parable about the illusory quality of dreams, the intractable nature of reality, and the ruin wrought by time, The Beautiful and the Damned eerily anticipates the dissipation and decline that would come to the Fitzgeralds themselves before the decade had run its course. (Plot summary from Barnes and Noble website.)
A MOVEABLE FEAST by Ernest Hemingway
I absolutely hated reading Hemingway back in high school THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA was one of the worst books I ever had to suffer through and I hoped I never had to read another Hemingway book again. I mean, who thinks teenagers are going to relate to that crap? That’s what I thought way back then. Flash-forward a few decades and I decided to give the old sea dog another try. I really enjoyed the HBO movie, Hemingway & Gellhorn, especially when presented in the lovely Clive Owen’s packaging. now, I can’t help picturing/hearing Hemingway just as Clive Owens portrayed him. Not altogether a bad thing, if you ask me. Then, the final push that led me to try Hemingway again was my father. He’d read this book and recommended it highly. That kind of sold me on it more than anything else (Sorry, Clive.)
Although this was an unusual piece to reintroduce myself to Hemingway as it was his last work and it wasn’t finished by him, it still did the job. In the end, it made me want to read some of his other works. I still have no desire to reread THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, but I would like to read THE SUN ALSO RISES as it was the book he was writing during the time period most covered during this book. I did find the order of the chapters and the skipping around of time a little jarring at times, but overall I really enjoyed getting a feel for the period and for the writers living in Paris and how they lived.
Begun in the autumn of 1957 and published posthumously in 1964, Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast captures what it meant to be young and poor and writing in Paris during the 1920s. A correspondent for the Toronto Star, Hemingway arrived in Paris in 1921, three years after the trauma of the Great War and at the beginning of the transformation of Europe’s cultural landscape: Braque and Picasso were experimenting with cubist form; James Joyce, long living in self-imposed exile from his native Dublin, had just completed Ulysses; Gertrude Stein held court at 27 Rue de Fleurus, and deemed young Ernest a member of une gneration perdue; and T.S. Eliot was a bank clerk in London. It was during these years that the as-of-yet unpublished young writer gathered the material for his first novel The Sun Also Rises, and the subsequent masterpieces that followed.
Among these small, reflective sketches are unforgettable encounters with the members of Hemingway’s slightly rag-tag circle of artists and writers, some also fated to achieve fame and glory, others to fall into obscurity. Here, too, is an evocation of the Paris that Hemingway knew as a young man – a map drawn in his distinct prose of the streets and cafes and bookshops that comprised the city in which he, as a young writer, sometimes struggling against the cold and hunger of near poverty, honed the skills of his craft.
A Moveable Feast is at once an elegy to the remarkable group for expatriates that gathered in Paris during the twenties and a testament to the risks and rewards of the writerly life. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
DOLLFACE: A NOVEL OF THE ROARING TWENTIES by Renee Rosen
America in the 1920s was a country alive with the wild fun of jazz, speakeasies and a new kind of woman—the flapper.
I received this book for review after answering a request on Twitter for book bloggers. I am so glad I did. This book was a lot of fun to read. I did a full review on the blog in January. Feel free to read more about my thoughts there.
Vera Abramowitz is determined to leave her gritty childhood behind, and live a more exciting life, one that her mother never dreamed of. Bobbing her hair and showing her knees, the lipsticked beauty dazzles, doing the Charleston in nightclubs and earning the nickname “Dollface.”
As the ultimate flapper, Vera captures the attention of two high rollers, a handsome nightclub owner and a sexy gambler. On their arms, she gains entree into a world filled with bootlegged bourbon, wailing jazz and money to burn. She thinks her biggest problem is choosing between them, until the truth comes out. Her two lovers are really mobsters from rival gangs during Chicago’s infamous Beer Wars, a battle Al Capone refuses to lose.
The heady life she’s living is an illusion resting on a bedrock of crime and violence unlike anything the country has ever seen before. When the good times come to an end, Vera becomes entangled in everything from bootlegging to murder. And as men from both gangs fall around her, Vera must put together the pieces of her shattered life, as Chicago hurtles towards one of the most infamous days in its history, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Renee Rosen here.
Follow Renee on Twitter here.
Follow Renee on Facebook here.
— Books I’ve Read in 2013 —
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I reread this as part of the year-long celebration of the 200th bicentenary of the book’s publication date. I loved it even better the second time. The language, the great speeches, the fantastic heroine Elizabeth Bennet, ah! What’s not to love?
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s witty comedy of manners–one of the most popular novels of all time–that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Renowned literary critic and historian George Saintsbury in 1894 declared it the “most perfect, the most characteristic, the most eminently quintessential of its author’s works,” and Eudora Welty in the twentieth century described it as “irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be.” (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Jane Austen from these sites:
The Jane Austen Society of North America
Crash and Burn by Michael Hassen
A fellow writer suggested this book to me and she said, “It’s the best teen novel I have read in a long time. Could not put it down. The voice is amazing”. How could I ignore a recommendation like that? She was not wrong. It is fantastic and has a spot-on teen voice. Felt like I was listening to a story about one of my kids at times – both have ADHD, just like the character. This is Hassen’s first book, but I doubt it will be his last.
On April 21, 2008, Steven “Crash” Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives. You likely already know what came after for Crash: the nationwide notoriety, the college recruitment, and, of course, the book deal. What you might not know is what came before: a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers’ lounge of Meadows High. And what you definitely don’t know are the words that Burn whispered to Crash right as the siege was ending, a secret that Crash has never revealed.
Until now.
Michael Hassan’s shattering novel is a tale of first love and first hate, the story of two high school seniors and the morning that changed their lives forever. It’s a portrait of the modern American teenage male, in all his brash, disillusioned, oversexed, schizophrenic, drunk, nihilistic, hopeful, ADHD-diagnosed glory. And it’s a powerful meditation on how normal it is to be screwed up, and how screwed up it is to be normal. (Plot summary from Publisher’s website.)
Learn more about Michael Hassan here.
Follow Michael on Twitter here.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
My daughter picked this book up at one of our weekend trips to the bookstore. Then she left it untouched in her TBR pile. I’d see it every time I went into her room and eventually it planted a seed. When I started seeing so much chatter all over the Twitterverse about Rowell’s current novel FANGIRL, I mentally put it on my list of books I wanted to read. Then my brain finally clicked. I already had one of her books in the house. I moved it to the front of my own TBR pile and started reading it next. I then promptly fell in love. Ms. Rowell has such an unusual style of writing, yet it’s completely accessible and you totally get what she’s saying. Having lived for a time in stark circumstances and knowing how this reflects on the teenage existence, I can really relate to some aspects of Eleanor’s life. Some a little too closely. Her characters aren’t perfect or beautiful by conventional standards, but their story is divine. After I tore through this book, I told my daughter she had to read this next. She did and she loved it just as much as I did. And guess what I got for my birthday? FANGIRL. Can’t wait to read it! I know I will be reading everything Rainbow Rowell publishes from now on.
“Bono met his wife in high school,” Park says.
“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”
“What about Romeo and Juliet?”
“Shallow, confused, then dead.”
“I love you,” Park says.
“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.
“I’m not kidding,” he says.
“You should be.”
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Rainbow Rowell here.
Follow Rainbow on Twitter here.
Follow Rainbow on Facebook here.
Follow Rowell’s Tumblr here.
Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem by Mac Burnett, illustrated by Adam Rex
I heard Mac Barnett speak at this year’s SCBWI LA conference and afterwards I knew I’d have to get this book. It was very hard to find and took about three weeks to finally arrive at my door, but it was worth it. Mac Barnett does not write ordinary stories and this one is no exception. When Billy Twitters refuses to do his chores or keep his room clean, his parents threaten to give him a pet whale. He of course thinks this is an empty threat until one arrives on his doorstep. Then his troubles begin. What I love about this book even more than the actual story is what was included on the outside cover UNDERNEATH the dustcover, for those most curious of children to find: an ad for a special offer to get your very own whale. Mr. Barnett told us all about this at the conference, how these special, detail-oriented, curious kids would find this offer, send off a letter requesting their whale and what exactly they’d get in return. A letter from a Norwegian law firm telling them that their whale was stuck in customs and until it could clear, they included the name and picture of their very own whale, ALONG WITH A TELEPHONE NUMBER. So they could call and talk to their whale. When the kids called, they heard some whale sounds followed by a beep – they reached the whale’s voicemail. Mr. Barnett then played several recordings of an adorable kid named Niko who left dozens of messages for his whale, Randolph. Oh, my God, were they hilarious and cute and amazing. What a fantastic gift he gave that young kid. A friendship with his very own whale. I’m off to order mine now…
The story of a boy and the pet whale that ruins his life. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Mac Barnett here.
Follow Mac on Twitter here.
Follow Mac on Tumblr here.
Insurgent & Allegiant from the Divergent Series by Veronica Roth
This has been one of my favorite dystopian series to read, and the sequel the most anticipated of the year. As wonderful as the world-building is, it all comes down the the character for me. Tris is delightfully unsure of herself, yet strong, even stubborn, at the same time. She learns to embrace what sets her apart, being Divergent, and makes tough choices, no matter what the consequence may be. A great role-model for young women, right up there with Katniss Everdeen. I re-read INSURGENT, the second book in the series, right after I read the first chapter of ALLEGIANT and couldn’t remember what was going on. I do read a lot of books and this is one series I’ve actually read as it’s been published – usually I like to wait for the entire series to be out so I can read through it all in one go. As I couldn’t really recall enough details, I didn’t want to struggle with enjoying the story, so I made myself wait for the finale of this magnificent series by refreshing my memory. INSURGENT was just as good the second time. Although I won’t give out any spoilers here, I will just say I was very satisfied with this series conclusion and understood the tough choices the author had to make. They enriched the story for me and stuck to the characters’ beliefs. I applaud you, Ms. Roth. One hell of a fine trilogy.
Plot Summary for Insurgent:
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
Plot Summary for Allegiant:
One choice will define you.
What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.
But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.
Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.
Learn more about Veronica Roth here.
Follow Veronica on Twitter here.
Follow Roth’s Tumblr here.
The Delirium Series by Lauren Oilver
One of my daughter’s friend’s gave me a stack of books and told me I had to read them. These two books were in the stack. Coincidentally, I had just read Oliver’s first book, BEFORE I FALL, and loved her writing so much that I wanted to read more. I had actually planned on reading this series on my own. I didn’t need to tell my daughter’s friend this. Why dim the excitement she has for sharing books? So I read as commanded. I did enjoy this twist on the dystopian story. It has some similarities to Allie Condie’s MATCHED series as the goal of this society is to control the population by pairing up its citizens through a matching system once they have gone through an extensive evaluation and have been “cured” of strong unwieldy emotions like love and all the chaos that comes with it. What could possibly be wrong with that? One character remarks that without love, there can be no hate. Another character counters this by saying or worse, you have indifference. Such fascinating ideas and they play out well in this setting. Well written and thought-provoking.
Plot summary for Delirium:
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing.
They didn’t understand that once love — the deliria — blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Plot summary for Pandemonium:
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Lauren Oliver here.
Follow Lauren on Twitter here.
Follow Lauren on Tumblr here.
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Oh, that Ruta Sepetys. Can she write! She ripped my heart out with her first book, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, and then just let me marvel at her awesomeness in this one. The minute you let your eyes wander over the first few pages, you are plunked down smack in the middle of the Quarter. The mood is set so effortlessly, you don’t even notice, it just creeps up on you until you have a sudden urge to eat oysters on the half shell. What a fantastic character she has in Josie. the girl who’s raised by a self-centered prostitute mother who cares more about her wealthy “clients” than taking care of her own daughter, who lives in a whorehouse run by a madam who doesn’t like children, but then neither does Josie, much. Loved this book. Loved it!
It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Ruta Sepetys here.
Follow Ruta on Twitter here.
The King of Sunday Morning by JB McCauley
This is not a book I would ever likely pick up on my own. I decided to try something new and I volunteered to participate in a review tour, not knowing what I would be reading or who the author would be. I was then sent a copy of this book and later found out it was self-published. As a matter of happenstance, I don’t read much self-published work. The publicity set up for this tour was all done very well and it was an interesting experiment to say the least. The book was unusually structured with each chapter being out of sequence in a flashback which took some getting used to. I wasn’t sure how well that served the story initially, but once I got used to it and just read, the story unfolded well enough. It was easy to understand and the characters were fully developed. Not a bad story. Not my favorite, but not bad.
The King of Sunday Morning is a geezer. Not in the traditional sense of the word as in old man. This geezer is a face, a wannabe, a top notch bloke. He is the greatest DJ that never was. He should have been. Could have been. Would have been. Now becoming a has-been….
Tray McCarthy was born into privilege but with the genetic coding of London’s violent East End. Having broken the underworld’s sacred honour code, it is only his family’s gangland connections that save him. But in return for his life, he must deny that which he has ever known or ever will be and runs to Australia where he is forced to live an inconsequential life.
But trouble never strays far from Tray McCarthy and eventually his past and present collide to put everyone he has ever loved in danger. He must now make a stand and fight against those that are set to destroy him and play their game according to his rules.
Set against the subterfuge and violence of the international drugs trade, The King of Sunday Morning is the tale of what can go wrong when you make bad decisions. Tray McCarthy has made some of the worst. He must now save those he holds dear but in the process gets trapped deeper and deeper into a world where he doesn’t belong. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about JB McAuley here.
Follow JB on Twitter here.
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
I read this book at the behest of my daughter who loved this book immensely and wished to discuss it with me, without spoiling it for me. She especially wanted to discuss the ending so she could understand it better. I raced through it, not just because of her request, but because it was a fantastic story. So very different in style from Zusak’s THE BOOK THIEF, this book still managed to take the reader on an exciting and yet deeply philosophical journey. I loved this book and I loved the fantastic conversation I had with my daughter about this book even more. That’s what great books do – inspire thought and conversation.
Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?
I am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Markus Zusak here.
Follow Markus on Twitter here.
Follow Zusak’s Tumblr here.
Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña
I heard Matt speak at the SCBWI La Summer conference this year and he was one of the few this year that made me want to stretch myself and be a better writer. Truly inspiring. I met him at the autograph party and he told me he’d be coming to Tulsa to speak in September. I saw him then, too. When I reminded him at that event, he couldn’t believe I came. He said he’d told three people that day in LA about the September talk in Tulsa and I was the only one that showed. That shook him up so much, he mislabeled the book he was supposed to be signing to my daughter. He tried to salvage it, but it was obviously messed up. I thought it was hilarious, but he described it as a train wreck and apologized profusely.
He’s such a down-to-earth guy and a fantastic writer. I loved this book for it’s honesty and heart. The voice is amazing as well. He’s also a huge fan of AS King – not to mention friends with her. (so jealous!) He predicts that King will soon be much more appreciated for her amazing talent. I whole-heartedly agree. For all of these things, I recommend de la Peña as an outstanding writer in his own right.
Danny’s tall and skinny.
Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. A 95 mph fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.
But at private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny’s brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blonde hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged.
Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico. And that’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. Only, to find himself, he might just have to face the demons he refuses to see right in front oh his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Matt de la Peña here.
Follow Matt on Twitter here.
Follow Matt on Facebook here.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
My husband gave me this book after I mentioned some of my favorite authors were head over heels in love with this book and Holden Caulfield, the main character. Somehow I’d never read it in high school. I’d been assigned horrible books like Silas Marner instead, blech! I did read his novella Franney and Zooey when I was a teenager. It was one of those books I grabbed off my dad’s bookshelf.
As I said in my Banned Book Week post, this one was a slow burn for me. It took me over half the book before I really began to appreciate it. I think many others find this a difficult book to pin down as well. There is no plot summary to be found anywhere that tells you much besides this one from Goodreads:
Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with “cynical adolescent.” Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he’s been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.”
His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
J.D. Salinger was a fairly renowned recluse who died in 2010.
To learn more about him, visit either one of these two dedicated fan sites:
The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
After seeing the first movie (which was pretty darn good, I must say) and reading the prequel series, I decided to reread the entire Mortal Instruments series for fun. It was just as good the third (fourth?) time around. I’ve read this series A LOT. Every time I tear right through one book and quickly move on to devour the next one.
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it’s hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.
Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary’s mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon.
But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know….(Plot summary of Book One from author’s website.)
The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare
In anticipation of seeing the first Mortal Instruments movie, I decided to start reading the prequel series that I’d never gotten around to reading. Like all of Clare’s books, I flew through all three of these very quickly. It was interesting to see this world set in an earlier setting with more of a steam-punk feel and with a different code of morality for the characters where relationships were concerned.
Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own.
Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length…everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world…and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all. (Plot summary of Book One from author’s website.)
Learn more about Cassandra Clare here.
Follow Cassandra on Twitter here.
Follow Cassandra on Tumblr here.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
There was so much amazing buzz flying around about this book that I had to pick it up. Young girl pilots and spies in World War II? Yes, please. I’m all for the empowerment of our young women and showing them that they can doing anything. I have fond childhood memories of wanting to be like Amelia Earhart. And what girl doesn’t secretly want to be James Bond instead of the girl who just a pawn that dies?
I remember thinking the minute I finished this book, “Maybe I’m too stupid to write something this good.” It was that fantastic.
Learn more about Elizabeth Wein here.
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter here.
Follow Elizabeth on Facebook here.
See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles
I had not read a book by Jo Knowles before. I follow her on Twitter, so I vowed this year that I would.
WOW.
I was blown away by how heart-wrenching this book was. Even after I set it down, I was crying. I have never had a book move me like that before. The family dynamic was so well-written, so believable. I ached for this family, It was never overdone, just real. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book. Insanely loved it.
Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. It seems as though everyone in her family has better things to do than pay attention to her: Mom (when she’s not meditating) helps Dad run the family restaurant; Sarah is taking a gap year after high school; and Holden pretends that Mom and Dad and everyone else doesn’t know he’s gay, even as he fends off bullies at school. Then there’s Charlie: three years old, a “surprise” baby, the center of everyone’s world. He’s devoted to Fern, but he’s annoying, too, always getting his way, always dirty, always commanding attention. If it wasn’t for Ran, Fern’s calm and positive best friend, there’d be nowhere to turn. Ran’s mantra, “All will be well,” is soothing in a way that nothing else seems to be. And when Ran says it, Fern can almost believe it’s true. But then tragedy strikes- and Fern feels not only more alone than ever, but also responsible for the accident that has wrenched her family apart. All will not be well. Or at least all will never be the same. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)
Learn more about Jo Knowles here.
Follow Jo on Twitter here.
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Back to the more serious book, I hadn’t read one by Sara Zarr in awhile, so I picked up one of her most recent. This shows her artistry as a fine storyteller.
Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she’s been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends—everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she’s somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.
Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?
As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sara Zarr here.
Follow Sara on Twitter here.
Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett gave a great keynote address this year at the SCBWI LA Summer conference where he talked about meta-fiction. (met·a·fic·tion (m t -f k sh n). n. Fiction that deals, often playfully and self-referentially, with the writing of fiction or its conventions.) This book is a fantastic example of that and so great. I read it to my roomie at the conference at bedtime and she loved it. Best endorsement there is.
A trip to the park, a walk through the woods, a glint of teeth behind a gnarled tree… And that’s when things go very wrong.
[Combines] twisty plotting, irreverent dialogue, visual hilarity, and sophisticated book design into an arch package. But beneath the silly surface, children will find a meaningful exposition of just what goes into a successful picture book, and how author, illustrator, and character must collaborate and compromise.” — Booklist
Learn more about Mac Barnett here.
Follow Mac on Twitter here.
Follow Mac on Tumblr here.
The Stinky Cheese Man: And Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
Who could resist a book of subversive fairy tales? Not me. Jon Scieszka was another fantastic speaker at this year’s SCBWI LA Summer conference. I had to buy and read at least one book from his. This won’t be the last.
What if the little old lady and the little old man who make the Gingerbread Man ran out of gingerbread? They might make a little man out of stinky cheese. And their fairy tale might never be the same again. What if someone changed a whole bunch of fairy tales? Those tales might become: The Princess and the Bowling Ball, Little Red Running Shorts, and The Really Ugly Duckling. And the whole book might be called The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jon Scieszka here.
Follow Jon on Twitter here.
Follow Jon on Facebook here.
Art & Max and The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
I absolutely love David Wiesner. I fell in love with his picture books many years ago when I read his book Tuesday to my kids almost every night. His amazing pictures hardly require words, and Tuesday didn’t have any on most pages, although my kids loved the stories I came up with. It was such a delight to hear Wiesner speak at this year’s SCBWI LA Summer conference and to hear the story of how Art & Max was created. We also needed a new copy of The Three Pigs as my son’s copy was falling apart from so many readings.
Hold on to your hat and your home, but let your imagination soar! This masterly picture book will blow you away right 
along with the three little pigs’ houses. Satisfying both as a story and as an exploration of story, The Three Pigs takes visual narrative to a new level. When the wolf comes a-knocking and a-puffing, he blows the pigs right out of the tale and into a whole new imaginative landscape, where they begin a freewheeling adventure as they wander—and fly—through other stories, encountering a dragon and a cat with a fiddle, among others. This familiar tale will never be the same old story again. (The Three Pigs’ summary from author’s website.)
Drawing on such diverse influences as George Herriman, Salvador Dali, and his own early encounters with art, David Wiesner has crafted a story that goes straight to the essentials—friendship, creativity, and the mysterious point where these two forces intersect.
Max and Arthur are friends who share an interest in painting. Arthur is an accomplished painter; Max is a beginner. Max’s 
first attempt at using a paintbrush sends the two friends on a whirlwind trip through various artistic media, which turn out to have unexpected pitfalls. Although Max is inexperienced, he’s courageous—and a quick learner. His energy and enthusiasm bring the adventure to its triumphant conclusion. Beginners everywhere will take heart. (Art & Max summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about David Wiesner here.
You can view his portfolio, take a peek at his artistic process, and play around with an Art & Max coloring book on the author’s website.
Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Markus
Somehow I missed this amazing movement when it actually happened. Otherwise I’m sure I totally would have been a part of it. Instead I was flaunting my feminist agenda solo for the most part back in the early 90s. I came across a story about this book in my internet wanderings and had to read it. So glad I did. I am now a huge fan of Kathleen Hanna’s and I just watched a great documentary about Le Tigre, one of her many bands after Bikini Kill. She’s like the coolest older sister I never had, but always wanted. All of this has inspired a fantastic idea for an upcoming YA book of mine that I can’t wait to dig into.
Riot Grrrl roared into the spotlight in 1991: an uncompromising movement of pissed-off girls with no patience for sexism and no intention of keeping quiet. Young women everywhere were realizing that the equality they’d been promised was still elusive, and a newly resurgent right wing was turning feminism into the ultimate dirty word. In response, thousands of riot grrrls published zines, founded local groups, and organized national conventions, while fiercely prophetic punk bands such as Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, Huggy Bear, and Bikini Kill helped spread the word across the US and to Canada, Europe, and beyond.
Girls to the Front, the first-ever history of Riot Grrrl, is a lyrical, punk-infused narrative about a group of extraordinary young women coming of age angrily, collectively, and publicly. A dynamic chronicle not just of a movement but of an era, this is the story of a time when America thought young people were apathetic and feminism was dead, but a generation of noisy girls rose up to prove everybody wrong. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Sara Marcus here.
Follow Sara on Twitter here.
Nugget and Fang by Tammi Sauer
This is the latest picture book from my uber-talented SCBWI Oklahoma friend, Tammi Sauer. When I grow up, I want to be as cool as Tammi and maybe even create my own dance. Fang and Nugget are best friends and don’t think a thing of it until Nugget starts fish school and learns that sharks are supposed to eat minnows. Fang the shark sets out to prove to Nugget and his new minnow school friends that he doesn’t want to eat them.
In the deep ocean, tiny Nugget and big, toothy Fang get along swimmingly—until Nugget’s first day of minnow school. There Nugget learns that minnows are supposed to be afraid of sharks! To regain Nugget’s trust, Fang takes desperate (and hilarious) measures. But it’s not until his big sharp teeth save the entire school that minnows learn this shark is no foe. Fantastically stylized artwork adds even more humor to this undersea story of unlikely friendship. (Plot summary from book site.)
Nugget & Fang have their own site here.
Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.
Follow Tammi on Twitter here.
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
A friend of my daughter’s handed this book to me and said this was her favorite author. She checked in on me from time to time to see if I’d read it yet and then to see what part I was reading. When I finally read the first page, I had to send her a message. It was something like, “Holy shit!” My mind was blown in the first page and it didn’t change much during the entire ride. That’s what this story was, a wild, time-jumping ride. Palahniuk, who also wrote Fight Club, if that gives you any sense of what level we’re working on, broke so many rules of writing it was unbelievable. But unlike someone like, say, oh, I don’t know, Philip Roth for instance, who does it in a pompous look-what-I-can-do kind of way, Palahniuk actually does it with purpose and skill. He twists the plot in on itself so many times, you’d think it collapse on itself, but instead, it connects to the very beginning forming a nicely flowing loop. This book isn’t for everyone and there are explicit discussions of sex that might put some readers off, but I for one loved the book completely and did not find the discussions over the top at all, but realistic glimpses of the characters’ worlds. I can see why this young woman has read this book many times. I think you’d need to in order to glean the subtleties out of it. This wasn’t your ordinary road-trip with transsexual drug addicts and disfigured ex-models in need of a healthy dose of self-discovery, after all.
One more time, please. This time with a little less face.
Invisible Monsters initially unnamed narrator was once a beautiful fashion model. But only to draw the attention of her parents away from her brother, Shane. The narrator has it all until the fateful day of the accident where the bottom half of her face gets completely blown off leaving her with nothing more than top teeth and a tongue that hangs out of the gaping wound.
Now unable to speak and constantly wiping drool from her mouth, the narrator still gets attention, but only because she is a hideous monster. So here comes Brandy Alexander, the queen of overly coifed hair and heavily painted face. Only one surgery away from being a “real” woman, Brandy takes the narrator under her awkwardly large wing and equips her with the things she needs to be beautiful again. At least as beautiful as she can be with only half a face.
When Brandy isn’t giving our narrator hats with face veils, new clothes, “speech” lessons, and completely new identities, she is finding houses for sale. Not for purchase, but for prescription drugs to steal.
There are drugs, wounds, blood, fire, and new identities. Palahniuk delivers a dose of jilted beauty queens, messed up transsexuals, and twists on top of twists on top of twists. Invisible Monsters will only leave you wanting. Wanting what, I’m not sure. But you’ll want something. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Chuck Palahniuk here.
Follow Chuck on Twitter here.
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
This is the companion book to The Wednesday Wars. The book that made me an instant fan of Mr. Schmidt’s. If that hadn’t done it, his outstanding keynote speech at last year’s SCBWI LA conference would have cinched it for me. He is the kind of writer I want to be. So much heart. Talent and heart. Ugh! I could go on gush about him for days. The way he writes like a young kid with limited emotional expression thinks and talks – man! So natural it hurts. you can feel the emotions being stuffed back down so he doesn’t show the hurt. Freaking brilliant. LOVE IT!!! If you’re looking for a great middle grade book for boys to read, try this one.
As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain. In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
You can read the first chapter and watch an interview of the author on his website.
Learn more about Gary Schmidt here.
The Dark by Lemony Snicket, Illustrated by Jon Klassen
How could these two dark and twisty mind NOT collide to create a fantastic picture book to deal with the ultimate worst thing in a child’s fearscape, fear of the dark? It’s too perfect! I so wish this book had been around when I was a scairdycat quivering under my covers at night, waiting for the dark to creep up the stairs from the basement to get me. If only it just wanted to play. BRILLIANT!
Laszlo is afraid of the dark.
The dark lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn’t come into Lazslo’s room. But one night, it does.
This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark.
With emotional insight and poetic economy, two award-winning talents team up to conquer a universal childhood fear. (Summary on Barnes & Noble site.)
Learn more about Lemony Snicket here.
I Want My Hat Back & This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
I kind of went on a Jon Klassen picture book bender. But seriously. This guy is like the twisted step-child of Maurice Sendak, don’t you think? He at least delivered his newspaper or something. There is a dark and twisty element that is so deliciously fun about these books. And yet still kid-friendly. No, really. All the murders totally take place off-stage. (Talk about your surprise endings. Oops! Spoilers!)
The bear’ s hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear s memory and renews his search with a vengeance. Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humor and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke.
When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale. (Both plot summaries from Amazon website.)
Follow Jon on Twitter here.
Follow Jon on Tumblr here.
Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy
One of the writers in our SCBWI Oklahoma group suggested this book to me a few years ago and I finally finished reading it this year. I’ve read passages from time to time and found them inspiring to get my butt back in the chair. I thought it was time to finish the book and move on to another book on the craft that has been languishing in the TBR pile purgatory. These passages a short and easy to digest when time is not on your side. Nice to have around for inspiration when you find it lacking. Each page header is a quote from a writer followed by a short essay to expand to that particular idea expressed in the quote.
A daily motivator for people who write–and for all those who long to write–providing an insistent wake-up call for the creative urge, with insights on how to work against resistance, live with the loneliness, develop discipline, and dare to take deeper risks in their work. (Description from Goodreads.)
Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Tara was the special guest at our Tulsa schmooze anniversary dinner this past June. She was such a trooper to come speak to us on the opening day of her third book in her Hereafter trilogy. She was so forth-coming about her writing journey – warts and all. I just loved her. What’s more, she’s from right here in Oklahoma. Oh, yeah. I wrote a blog post all about her visit here. She signed her first book for me that night and even agreed to do an interview for my blog later in the summer when the tour slows down. Such a doll!
Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she’s dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she’s trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.
Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
See pictures from the actual town of Wilburton and hear the playlist that inspired the book on the website.
Learn more about Tara Hudson here.
Follow Tara on Twitter here.
The Great Lollipop Caper by Dan Krall
As some of you may know, I won this delightfully bittersweet tome from Jama Rattigan’s blog giveaway. I wrote a whole post about it here. As Dan also illustrated my friend Tammi’s book, Oh, Nuts!, I have an enduring picture book crush on him forever, now. I truly treasure this book.
One cranky caper is about to learn that being salty might be just as good as being sweet.
Having adults love his acidic taste is not enough for Mr. Caper. He wants more. He wants the children of the world 
to love him—just as much as they love the sweet, saccharine Lollipop.
And thus a plot is hatched: Caper-flavored lollipops are dispatched throughout the world…and everything goes horribly wrong. Will Mr. Caper find a way to repair the havoc he’s wreaked by over-reaching? Maybe, if Lollipop helps save the day!
This quirky tale, illustrated with humor and heart, contains sweet and salty delights for both adults and children. (Plot summary from book’s website.)
The Great Lollipop Caper has its very own website here.
Learn more about Dan Krall here.
Follow Dan on Twitter here.
Asunder by Jodi Meadows
The sequel to last year’s breakout novel, Incarnate, was a pleasure to read. Jodi Meadows is a delightful author. I just love her. And aren’t the book covers just gorgeous? C’mon! Ridiculous! The storyline is such an unusual concept for a dystopian novel in which everyone keeps reincarnating with their memories/experiences intact. The villagers greet each newborn as the old souls they are until Ana comes along. She is a New Soul. She replaces someone who will never come back. In this book, we get to learn more about why this occurred and if it will occur again. I love the richness that music and composition plays in this world. It’s so beautifully written, even with the dangers, I want to visit Heart and hang out with Ana and her friends. And if you like a little steamy swoon in your dystopian sci-fi, wowza, does she deliver!
DARKSOULS
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.
SHADOWS
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.
LOVE
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.
In this second book in the Incarnate trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. Once again, Jodi Meadows explores the extraordinary beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jodi Meadows here.
Follow Jodi on Twitter here.
Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman
This is the third Forman book in this year’s reading list. After the If I Stay/Where She Went coupling, I found this one, which deals with a similar subject matter to my current YA project. I had to read it next. I must say it’s one of the few books I’ve read that’s dealt with kids in a treatment setting in a realistic way, while still telling a good story. I really enjoyed it. (Ellen Hopkins book Impulse is another good one, btw.)
Have you ever had the out-of-control dream? The one where you know you’re not crazy, but no one around you—not your parents, not your teachers, not even the authorities—will listen to you?
For sixteen-year-old Brit Hemphill, the out-of-control dream comes true when her dad enrolls her at Red Rock, a bogus treatment center that claims to cure rebellious teen girls. At Red Rock, Brit is forced into therapy and her only hope of getting her life back is in the hands of an underqualified staff of counselors, a hardass Sheriff and a cruel shrink. Brit’s dad thinks Red Rock can save her, but from what? Brit thinks that the place is doing her more harm than good.
No girl could survive at Red Rock alone—but at a treatment center where you get privileges for ratting on your peers, it’s hard to know who to trust. For Brit, everything changes when she meets V, Bebe, Martha, and Cassie, four girls who keep her from going over the edge. Together, they’ll hang on to their sanity and their sisterhood while trying to keep their Red-Rock reality from becoming a full-on nightmare. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
You can read an excerpt from this story and all her other books on her website.
Learn more about Gayle Forman here.
Follow Gayle on Twitter here.
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
I reached out to the Twitterverse in search of books with strong sister stories and received this gem of a recommendation. (Thanks, Becks!) Ah! What a find! It felt so iconic, so not of this time period, so like the summers of my youth had I been born in a different decade and gallivanted about vast mansion grounds in search of adventures, yet it was written in this century. There was a certain je ne sais quoi about it if you know what I mean.
Meet the Penderwicks, four different sisters with one special bond. There’s responsible, practical Rosalind; stubborn, feisty Skye; dreamy, artistic Jane; and shy little sister Batty, who won’t go anywhere without her butterfly wings.
When the girls and their doting father head off for their summer holiday, they’re in for a surprise. Instead of the tumbledown cottage they expected, they find themselves on a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon the girls are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the most wonderful discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.
The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwicks as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Which, of course, they will—won’t they?
One thing’s for sure: it will be a summer the Penderwicks will never forget. (Plot summary from author’s website.)
Learn more about Jeanne Birdsall here.
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
This book was a serendipitous find. It found me at just the right moment. I was searching high and low for books that had strong sister relationships. I couldn’t find any. Then I found this diamond in the rough. Such heart and guts and a willingness to explore difficult subjects, ah! You will ache for the characters on all sides of this story.
This is Emily Murdoch’s debut novel that just came out this spring. I look forward to reading her next one already. Here’s a quote from her website: “I write to my own drummer, I won’t deny it, but I believe in following my writing heart, not in chasing popular trends.” Amen, sister! A writer after my own heart.
Violin prodigy Carey Blackburn spent the majority of her fifteen years hidden away in the Obed Scenic and Wild River National Park with her mute little sister, Jenessa, and their bipolar mother, Joelle. She didn’t expect Mama to go into town for supplies and vanish off the face of Tennessee, leaving the girls no choice but to return to the father who abandoned them long ago … or did he?(Plot summary from the author’s website.)
Learn more about Emily Murdoch here.
Follow Emily on Twitter here.
Lapse Americana by Benjamin Myers
Benjamin Myers has a special place in my heart, not only as an Oklahoma poet, but as the son of my mentor, Anna Myers. This is his second book of poetry and it is just as rich and diverse as the first one. Here’s one of my favorite poems:
Talking to My Racist Friend
I read somewhere that all the sunlight
smacking the earth
at any moment
weighs as much
as a cruise ship,
which makes me
wonder
how much the darkness
in this conversation
with you
must weigh:
Eight semis stacked in a pyramid
and balanced on a teacup?
The Empire State Building
sopping wet?
All the dirt in Oklahoma?
Or maybe a cruise ship
of its own,
with doe-eyed passengers
waving
dumbly from the deck
as they sail obliviously off
to kiss the sullen iceberg.
The twin ravens, Thought and Memory, of Norse myth are reborn as American crows to fly an interweaving pattern or remembering and forgetting through the pages of Lapse Americana. Born out of the poet’s childhood during the Pax Americana and situated within the war and economic lapse of the new century, these poems explore memory and amnesia, faith and doubt, presence and absence. They are rooted in rural, working class experience as well as in the poetic traditions of America, Europe, and China. By turns formal and jazzy, confessional and coy, these poems speak of the universal by focusing on the particular, insisting with simultaneous emphasis upon the value of remembering and of embracing forgetfulness. (Book description from publisher’s website.)
Learn more about Benjamin Myers here.
Appetite: Food as Metaphor: An Anthology of Women Poets by Phyllis Stowell
This is another book of poetry I won last year from a lovely blog, Jama’s Alphabet Soup, which always leaves me hungry for great books. This book of poems explores the connection we have to food by exploring some fantastic female poets throughout the ages and their homages to various edibles, but sometimes its about something else altogether. One of my favorites was from Edna St. Vincent Millay:
Never May the Fruit Be Plucked
Never, never may the fruit be plucked from the bough
And gathered into barrels.
He that would eat of love must eat it where it hangs.
Though the branches bend like reeds,
Though the ripe fruit splash in the grass or wrinkle on the tree,
He that would eat of love may bear away with him
Only what his belly can hold,
Nothing in the apron,
Nothing in the pockets.
Never, never may the fruit be gathered from the bough
And harvested in barrels.
The winter of love is a cellar of empty bins,
In an orchard soft with rot.
In poems from as varied women poets as Jane Kenyon, Lucille Clifton, and Anne Sexton, food emerges as a re-occurring and central metaphor in the way women live, in the pulse of the everyday, and as a vehicle for the exotic. From coffee to caviar, from potatoes to dandelions—even in hunger and anorexia—the metaphors of food have worked like yeast in the imagination of these poets. (Book description from Barnes & Noble)
Learn more about Phyllis Stowell here.
The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
I saw Tony DiTerlizzi speak at the summer conference in LA last August and he was so full of energy, he hardly stopped moving. I thought he might fall off the stage at one point. I loved hearing about his inspirations – Wizard of Oz (especially the original with its odd green tone illustrations), the art nouveau stylings of Alphonse Mucha, and an old Jack & the Beanstalk illustration that looked more like a comic book – for the design of this book and seeing some of the illustrations. His imagination is boundless.
When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary that Eva Nine was raised in by the robot Muthr, the twelve-year-year-old girl is forced to flee aboveground. Eva Nine is searching for anyone else like her, for she knows that other humans exist, because of an item she treasures—a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, “WondLa.” Tony DiTerlizzi honors traditional children’s literature in this totally original space age adventure: one that is as complex as an alien planet, but as simple as a child’s wish for a place to belong.
Breathtaking two-color illustrations throughout reveal another dimension of Tony DiTerlizzi’s vision, and, for those readers with a webcam, the book also features Au