Ads 468x60px

Thursday, March 28, 2013

REVIEW: You Know What You Have to Do, by Bonnie Shimko


You Know What You Have To Do
Funny, fiesty, fifteen-year-old Mary Magdalene Feigenbaum (otherwise known as Maggie) suddenly faces more than the usual YA concerns: a voice in her head is telling her to kill people. Not just anyone – each time the target is someone who has done something terrible to a person Maggie cares for.

"You know what you have to do," the voice commands.

Maggie struggles to resist, but the voice is relentless. With rising suspense, this story of psychological horror introduces a narrator whose own unique voice and irreverent humor are unforgettable – an unlikely hero fighting a desperate battle against incomprehensible evil.



This is one of the most difficult psychological thrillers for YAs I've read.

It's a little bit Dexter-ish, I'll admit. The voice in Maggie's head doesn't tell her to kill people, all willy-nilly like. No, it does have a purpose. She only kills those who have hurt others she cares about or who have upset her. She does fight the voice and not kill innocents or people who just really don't know any better. Oh..and apparently, if you threaten the life of the kid who is blackmailing you because he knows of your first kill...well, you get away with everything!

Maggie's voice (her own voice, not the one in her head) is the perfect portrayal of a TV-styled teenager. She can't be reasoned with, even when she learns the truth. She spends the entire book blasting her mom because she thinks she's a slut--even after she learns that that really isn't the case. She complains about her friends constantly--all 2 of them--and then alienates them. (Of course, her "best" friend tells her that sitting in the back row of a movie theater is just "asking" for sex and she should apologize for nearly being raped while on a date. So..that one might be worth alienating.) She's just not a strong character. I tend to want my protagonists to be a bit better than the "average" teenager as portrayed by the media.

It's really an interesting premise, but it could have been done SO much better. There are just too many holes in the story, and not enough development of what is an obvious psychological condition. There's no story line here, just what feels like random scenes from a couple school years.


What do you think??


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Amazon Children's Publishing through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

REVIEW: Excessive Entanglement, by Nick d'Arbeloff


Excessive Entanglement 
 2012
President Virginia Belknap is one year into her second term when a NASA scientist discovers a new planet with an atmosphere similar to Earth. Embracing the event, Belknap turns a one-way mission to colonize this new world into her grand calling. It is the early 2030s—a time when Earth is struggling under the ill effects of climate change and a growing population, and the mission seizes the world’s imagination. But as the coolheaded and competent Belknap starts to assemble experts from different nations to plan all aspects of this illustrious enterprise, including the new planet’s constitution, religious conservatives—led by an earnest evangelical named Randall Reese—rise up in outrage and indignation. Reese and his followers see the plans put forth by Belknap’s Mission Council as the blueprint for a Godless world and the tragic loss of what could be a second Eden. 

As the political machinations of Reese and others put the launch at risk, a broader and darker conspiracy takes shape that threatens to obliterate the ship, its crew, and even the new planet itself. Belknap, her own life in danger, is forced to battle Reese, expose the conspiracy, and regain control of the mission before the launch window closes. But not before the forces at play spark a bonfire of deceit, murder, and domestic terrorism. While taking us on a wild, action-packed ride from Washington DC to Beijing to the L5 Spaceport, Excessive Entanglement holds a mirror to modern society, creatively exploring the political and constitutional issues presented by mankind’s first opportunity to create a more perfect world from the ground up.


The first novel from Nick d'Arbeloff (not a YA writer) is awesome. I expected some generalized awkwardness, especially being a self-published piece, but there isn't any. I don't know who edited for him, but the two did an amazing job on this novel.

It's a political thriller, a near-future science fiction story, a to-the-point look at religion in politics, and a mystery. How in the world does a first time author accomplish all 4? Beautifully...that's how.

There's no one main character, but several and someone to represent each facet of the story, and of the work to essentially create a society on another planet. I didn't "fall in love" with any one of them, as I'm prone to do in most books, but that worked for me in this one. I didn't want to  get too close to any one character (though I will admit to rooting for the romantic relationship that evolved).

This is not one of my "fluff" reads, that I rush through in a day for escape. You have to think, and be prepared that (even though it's fiction), it will make you think--just what would we do if we could essentially start over on creating a human society?

While this book isn't a YA book, or even marketed to YAs in any specific way, it's one that your intense readers will enjoy. Those who aren't hardcore sci-fi fans will appreciate that no aliens make an appearance, but there's just enough science to capture your general science fiction crowd.


What do you think??


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Smith Publicity through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

REVIEW: If You Find Me, by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me
2013
Fourteen-year-old Carey and six-year-old Jenessa have been living in the woods with their mother for as long as they can remember; the sheltering trees and a broken-down camper are all they know. But what they’ve never been told is that Carey vanished from the real world ten years ago, when their mother took her, causing an uproar in the media—and in her father's life.

Now, abandoned by the mother they trusted, they’re often left alone for long periods of time to fend for themselves—until, in one moment, everything changes. They're found by Carey's father and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world, one of shopping malls, shiny appliances, new clothes and mouth-watering food. Carey desperately wants to believe in this new reality, but is held back by a deep and painful loyalty to her mentally ill mother, who gave Carey her violin and taught her how to play the soaring music that helps her survive. 


And then there’s the other piece of Carey’s past that haunts her . . . the story of what happened to her and Jenessa on that dark night in the woods . . . the reason Jenessa hasn't spoken a word in over a year. Will Carey ever be able to trust her father and his family enough to fit into this new life? Will Jenessa finally break her silence and ruin the cocoon of safety that Carey’s built so carefully around them? And what will happen if the secret comes out?


You know, I get these books from NetGalley, read the blurb, request it, and by the time I actually read the book, I don't remember why I requested it or what the blurb said. Sometimes that works out okay, other times I'm doing a good job of scratching my head.

This time, this book seriously snagged me. It's face-paced and compelling. There are some heart-breaking moments, impossible for this reader not to tear up over. And though it is YA (not simply because Carey is 14), it doesn't read like YA. Emily Murdoch hasn't "written down" to her audience, but instead assumes an honest maturity. Carey is a bit on the too mature side, which is obvious from some of the things her mother made her endure before disappearing, but Murdoch keeps her (and the reader) still on the side of innocence. While there is no doubt what happened in the forest in Tennessee, the memory flashbacks are not gruesome or too detailed.

I read that this is Emily Murdoch's debut novel. What a great start to what will hopefully be a prolific career. I love her characters--she's definitely got everyone mastered. From Carey's too grown up, too mature, too naive personality, down to Janessa's sweet, innocent, desperate one. I forgot I was reading fiction, and for realistic fiction, that's perfect.

But, Ms. Murdoch, if you make me cry like that again, I'm not sure I'll read your 3rd book. (Just kidding...you're on my list of authors to watch and wait for.)

What do you think??


Shop Indie BookstoresDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from St. Martin's Press through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

REVIEW: The Madness Underneath, by Maureen Johnson


 
The Madness Underneath

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory’s brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she’s become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city’s secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it’s too late.


The sequal to Johnson's The Name of the Star is good....but not as good as the first book in the series.

Rory is "home" recovering after the events of the first book. And it takes a while to get past that part. Plus, "something" has happened to change her--literally--and you really have to have read the first book to catch on. (And recently read it, probably, since I didn't remember what had happened.)

The first book had more ghost-y stuff. This one had some significant scenes, but really didn't further that story line just a whole lot. There was, of course, a paranormal mystery, but it was centered more on humans who were caught up in the paranormal.

Rory is more developed, but still a bit immature. Stephen (the not-so-paranormal mystery character in the first book) is given a back story, that explains his nature a lot. The other members of the team don't get much play in this book, just enough to remind you they are there.

This felt less like a continuation of a story and more like a "check-in with the characters" book. It's not bad, it just left me wanting. There is a great cliff hanger though, and zero doubt that there will be a third installment.

What do you think??


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Penguin Young Readers Group through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A brand new library...

Today, at our district's alternative campus, I gave the kids a gift.

A library.

It doesn't have a lot of books. 

Yet.

It doesn't have any comfy seating or lots of posters. 

Yet.

There's no reading challenge or program, or even an adult who staffs it daily.

Yet.

But you know what? For kids who didn't have access to reading material that wasn't a textbook or other curriculum material, it's a chance to read just because they want to. Or maybe they need to for test points. Or maybe they just want to look at some pictures. 

It's a chance for them to read, and maybe connect with a book. And maybe we "save" them. Who knows.


What do you think??

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Enter Text Here through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

REVIEW: Deep Betrayal, by Anne Greenwood Brown

Deep Betrayal

 It's been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she's counting. And when Calder does return, it's not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily's dad monopolizes Calder's time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.
     Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman's natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn't know what to believe--only that whoever's responsible is sure to strike again. . . .
Okay..first..this is the sequel to Lies Beneath. Which was an awesome book (I'll go back and review it at some point.)
I have to tell you, I'm excited to read about mermaids. If I'm going to read paranormal, I'm ready for something other than vampires, zombies, and psychics. And this..works.
Deep Betrayal is awesome as an escape book. Meaning, I got so caught up reading it, I did, in fact escape reality for a bit. I love Lily and Calder. I love that this novel focused more on Lily. She's got a lot to focus on in finding out what being a mutant (as she puts it) means for her. Oh...and there's the deaths. 
I'm not sure this book could be any better. I loved the first one, it dealt with practicalities of being a mer-person (seriously, they ARE part fish..there are some things to consider.) And this one addresses being a human, who happens to be part mermaid.
Great character deepening, as they develop in their identities. I would've liked more of Lily's dad as a central character, but it also worked that he was feeding into the inevitable "embracing his inner merman" that happens when one discovers who they really are.
Again, great read, better than the first installment, which would be tough since that one was so good. Definitely different and more based in the possibilities of the real world including the supernatural.

What do you think??


Shop Indie BookstoresDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Random House Children's Books (Delacorte BFYR) through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.


Shop Indie Bookstores

Thursday, March 14, 2013

REVIEW: Orleans, by Sherri L. Smith

Orleans
Published in 2013
First came the storms.Then came the Fever.And the Wall.  After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct…but in reality, a new primitive society has been born.  

Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-Positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader’s newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted. Fen meets Daniel, a scientist from the Outer States who has snuck into the Delta illegally. Brought together by chance, kept together by danger, Fen and Daniel navigate the wasteland of Orleans.  In the end, they are each other’s last hope for survival.


In light of the hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast in the last several years, this book tells a possible, if hard to imagine story. Set several years, and storms in the future, Orleans is a scary possibility, as well as a story that provides hope.

Fen is the anti-heroine. She doesn't begin as particularly likable, she's not a stunning beauty or paragon of virtue, like you tend to meet in adventure stories. And this is an adventure story, wrapped in a (I hope) dystopian future.

Daniel is also a hero, though an incredibly reluctant one and not the kind he thought he was going to be. He's the nerd, who has believed every single line fed to him by the government that abandoned the Gulf Coast after massive storms and a plague.

I loved so many things about this book. Smith created simply amazing characters. I could see and hear them on every page. Rich, deep, and familiar, yet completely unlike others I've known.

Having walked the streets of New Orleans since it was rebuilt post-Katrina, I read and re-read the descriptions of the city, now a near wasteland. It fed that curiosity in me that has always wondered, what would survive?

The story itself captures you. Fen's fierce determination to do right by her friend's baby is palpable, and feeds her story. Daniel's on a quest to save, though he doesn't realize salvation doesn't look quite the way he imagines.

This is what becomes of civilized humanity when it simply wants to survive.

What do you think??


Shop Indie BookstoresDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Putnam Juvenile through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

REVIEW: The Sin-Eater's Confession, by Ilsa J. Bick

The Sin Eater's Confession (Carolrhoda Ya)
Published 2013
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?


Wow. This book is heavy. It's tough. I'm not sure what I thought it would be, but good heavens it was tough. Like, took me a few days to get through it, because it impacted me. 

There were several teenage stresses in this book. The tamest of them is the tiger-mom--pushing her kid to be the best and work his butt off and "you can rest and play later." Ben's mom has him booked, solid, all with the intention of getting him into Yale, and then medical school. Seriously, nothing can stand in the way, and Ben, honey, you can sleep when you're dead.

Ben is also dealing with secrets. His secrets, Jimmy's secrets. And fighting rumors that have no basis in truth. It is so very tough. And dealing with them all on his own, because what he knows could end everything he's worked for, even though he is innocent.

I think Bick's work as a child psychiatrist is precisely what makes this work so well. What makes Ben's story so compelling. She truly understands the inner workings of the mind that would be Ben's. It is hard to read his pain. Because, if you're like me, you feel it.

This isn't a YA novel for the junior high set. I'd be hard-pressed to give it to my freshman or most of my sophomores, but I think my juniors and seniors could take it. It has the potential to make for some great discussion.

Be prepared, there is some gore and Bick doesn't sugarcoat it . This book does deal with homosexuality and the cruelty that can be dished out, and while it's central to the story, it's not the most important part of the story.


What do you think??


Shop Indie BookstoresDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Carolrhoda Lab through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Saturday, March 9, 2013


YALSA's The Hub Blog


Update: March 9.


So, I've been simultaneously not good about updating AND not good about reading from the list. I've got copies of several of the titles, I just can't seem to open them. Perhaps, knitting is getting the way. 

Since the previous update...

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green I think I may have cried even more this time through.

The Name of the Star, by Maureen Johnson Snagged this one because I'm reviewing the second book in the series. The Madness Underneath was published in February of this year.

The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater Gosh, this one is so good.


Reported to you before today

Every Day, by David LevithanI think I loved this MORE the second time around than I did when I first reviewed it. LOVE Levithan, and LOVE this book.

Friends with Boys, by Faith Erin Hicks. Great graphic novel. Faith Erin Hicks is one of the (few) graphic novelists that I really enjoy. She's awesome.

What do you think??



Tuesday, March 5, 2013

REVIEW: Being Henry David, by Cal Armistead

Being Henry David

Published 2013
Seventeen-year-old "Hank" has found himself at Penn Station in New York City with no memory of anything--who he is, where he came from, why he's running away. His only possession is a worn copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. And so he becomes Henry David--or "Hank"--and takes first to the streets, and then to the only destination he can think of--Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.Hank begins to piece together recollections from his past. The only way Hank can discover his present is to face up to the realities of his grievous memories. He must come to terms with the tragedy of his past, to stop running, and to find his way home.  

Really enjoyed this book, even though I can't think of a single 17-year-old at my school who would be voluntarily carrying around a copy of Thoreau. But hey, someone probably does. :)

So, we've got a male narrator. I have to admit that even though we have quite a few male narrators in YA literature, for the most part the audience is female and so even teenage boys are written to teenage girls. It is what it is. In this instance, it was nice to have a boy voice written to appeal to boys as well as girls. Pretty nice.

The writing style carries the emotion and storyline, too. There's a little choppiness in the places where Hank is very tense. It worked well enough that my shoulders crept up to my ears, just like they do when I'm tense in my real life. In a few places, the "short-ness" of the writing was too short and a particular detail or person didn't feel complete, but all in all it worked.

Places were gut-wrenching. I get emotionally attached, so I'm not ashamed to tell you I had to step away to deal with tears and calm down a few times.

The book is DEFINITELY worth your time. And take some time with it.

What do you think??


Shop Indie BookstoresDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Albert Whitman Teen through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed by Jennifer Turney under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

 
Animated Social Gadget - Blogger And Wordpress Tips