CB # 44-50 Girls in Trouble

I feel like a huge subset of Young Adult fiction, involves stories about girls in trouble.

 

Every Little Thing in the World Nina de Gramont

Sydney finds out that she’s pregnant but doesn’t know what she’s going to do about it. She’s unable to tell her parents, because every discussion ends in a fight with her mom, and her dad lives like a hippie and doesn’t understand her at all. She has no money for an abortion, her mom won’t let her work at the pool, and her father has decided to send her to a summer camp in the Ontario wilderness.

This was a surrising book. You could never figure out what exactly was going to happen to poor Sydney. However, she find the wilderness helps her figure things out. And I loved that the book deals with the invincible feeling that many teens have. Even Sydney’s pregnancy doesn’t seem to wake her up.

A Pure Swift Cry by  Siobhon Dowd

Set in Ireland in the 1960’s, Shell has to take care of her family after her mother’s death. Her father has given up on life and is drinking his way through all the welfare  money. Shell struggles when she discovers that she’s pregnant. This book deals with religion, death  and the secrets that people keep from each other. The writing style was beautiful in this one.

What Happened to Goodbye? by  Sarah Dessen

I love Sarah Dessen books, but I found that the most recent wasn’t as much fun or as engrossing as her older book. There was not as much friendship of relationship drama, which is the main reason why I read Dessen. Instead, this book focuses mainly on interior drama. McLean keeps on moving to different cities with her father, as he tries to rejuvenate failing restaurants. Each time she moves she reinvents herself with a different name. Now who is she?

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne Jones

This is the book with a boy in trouble as well. Blink is a street kid who witnesses a kidnapping that seems all right, but it seems all wrong. He ends up calling the kidnapped man’s daughter and trying to help her figure out what went wrong.  He ends up meeting with a drug runner named Caution who is punishing herself for her past mistakes. The story is really engrossing with both the mystery of the present day kidnapping, and the mystery of how both these teens got to where they are now.

The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty

This is a lighter hearted read, that is a return of the girls from the Year of Secret Assignments. They tell  the story of their final year of high school as a series of essay written in gothic style. There are new students at the school, and they have a deep dark secret! The story sort of flips between darker moments and really hilarious moments. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of Moriarty's other books, but it was still a fun read.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King

Vera deals with the death of her ex-friend Charlie in the worst way possible, with drinking and imagining him everywhere. I thought that this novel is fairly engrossing, but I can’t really bring up much more about it.

CB # 41-43 Uglies, Pretties, and Specials

Uglies
Pretties

Specials   All by Scott Westerfield (YA)

This trilogy (plus the extra book which is set in the same world, Extras, which I never got around to reading) is set in the far future. Human civilization as we know it has been destroyed by a virus that caused all the petrol to explode. Now humanity has rebuilt itself into a beautiful species.  In the first book, Uglies, Tally Youngblood is excited about her upcoming 16th birthday. Finally she’ll become “pretty,” a surgical process that will physically transform her so that she is a perfect example of the human beauty ideal - giant eyes, perfectly smooth skin, amazing hair etc. Everyone has the surgery at age 16. However, a week before her birthday, Tally’s friend, Shay tells her that she doesn’t want to get the surgery. Instead she is going to run away to the Smoke, to meet her friend David. When Tally doesn’t want to leave with her, Shay gives her instructions on how to find the Smoke. Unfortunately, Uglies aren’t supposed to leave. Instead, Special Circumstances, who police the city, force Tally to go and find out where the Smoke is, and set off a receiver so Special Circumstances can find and destroy the Smoke.

Obviously, Tally's world can't be utopian (why can't we have a utopia?), so there need to be dark secrets which Tally will discover as things go along. Also, it's a trilogy, so more and more secrets will be revealed as you go through the books.  I found the first book to be the strongest and the most interesting, but as a series it couldn't keep my interest. I took forever to read Specials and I found the plot fairly repetitive. However, I will say that I couldn't completely abandon the books. The end of each one hooks you into reading the next, even if it takes you forever to get through them. 

On the plus side, I thought that the friendship between Shay and Tally changed and was complicated in a very real way, and I appreciated it. I also think that as soft science fiction, it can be a great introduction to a reluctant reader to a really fun genre. The writing style is easy to read and Tally has really normal teenage concerns throughout.

CB # 38 - 40 Magicians and their problems

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Together these three novels were my top reads of the year. They were filled with magic and wonder, but there was a depth to them that I really needed. I have always loved children's and young adult fantasy, but I was often uninterested in reading adult fantasy. I think it's because I assumed that if I was going to read an "adult" novel, then it had better be an important one. I think I'm over that assumption now.

The Night Circus is actually the most light-hearted of these books.  As children, Celia and Marco were  pledged without their consent into a competition to prove what method of teaching magic works best. The competition will take place in the Cirque des Reves, with Marco working on the circus from a distance, while Celia performs her magic openly by pretending to be a regular magician. Unfortunately, neither of the magicians are prepared for the fact that they might fall for their competitor, nor are they ready for the fact that they are not the only people that they must worry about; they need to think of everyone involved in the circus. Morgenstern does not attempt to explain the magic they perform, which adds another element of mystery to the story, and the circus (a black and white marvel) seems so amazing that I wish I could go. I did think that a editor might have tightened a few sections, but otherwise I adored it.

The Magicians is really interesting because it draws on the children's fantasy tradition.  In his senior year of high school, Quentin is still obsessed with children's books about Fillory. Fillory resembles Narnia with its talking animals, need for humans to save it from trouble, and the god figure(s) who exist in this magical world in animal form (also the fact that the children who visit get unceremoniously kicked out, often for good). Quentin's obsession with Fillory, and with the need to experience real magic is making him rather antisocial, until one day he suddenly finds himself walking through a door, and arriving on the lawn of Brakehills, a real school for magicians. Magic is apparently real, and although Brakehills relies a lot on Harry Potter and Hogwarts for its essence, there is something unusual about this school, and this book. Magic apparently involves a huge amount of hard work and sacrifice, and that amount of effort makes life in a magical world almost banal. If you have to really, really study, and there isn't a quest every year, like in Harry Potter, then maybe magic isn't anymore wonderful than everything else in life. There's a dark undertow in this book, as Quentin finds out that even a magician has to strive to make his life have meaning. There are nihilist moments as Quentin and his friends leave the school and find out how little they need to do. Of course, there are adventures, and there's even a trip to Fillory, but the world is never as simple as you can hope it is.

I loved The Magicians so much, that I actually bought the sequel in hard cover. I'm still a student, so this means something. I've since lent these books around to anyone who'll borrow them. The Magican King begins a bit after where The Magicians ended off, so I'll talk about it after the jump, for anyone who doesn't want any SPOILERS at all.

CB # 33-37 Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Lightning Thief

The Sea of Monsters

The Titan’s Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Last Olympian                     All by Rick Riordan

                To be short and sweet, this is a really fun children’s fantasy series, focusing on what would happen if the Ancient Greek gods were around in present day America. Percy Jackson has always been getting into trouble, and he can never stay in the same school for more than a year, but he learns when he’s 11 that there’s a reason for this. He’s actually a demigod, a son of Poseidon. Monsters are drawn to demigods and wish to destroy them, and Percy finds a relative safe haven at Camp Half-Blood, where all the campers are demi-gods. In the first book, Percy has to clear his name and prevent war between the gods, when Zeus’ Lightning bolt goes missing. There is also an overall series plot, coming from a prophecy that one of the children of Hades, Zeus or Poseidon will making a choice when he or she turns 16 that could lead to the destruction of Mount Olympus, and therefore the Western world.

                I liked that Percy, although the star of the series, is not the best at everything. He always needs to rely on his friends, including the brilliant Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover, a nature loving satyr. I loved that there are lots of smart and strong girls and women in the series, and Percy regularly had to rely on their support to survive. I loved that even though I knew most of the myths that the plots are based on, Riordan would surprise me by changing the details to better fit a modern retelling. I loved that all of the demigods were dealing with disabilities (dyslexia and ADHD), but that the ADHD improved their fighting skills, and the dyslexia is caused by their inborn gift to read Ancient Greek. I thought it was a nice touch, for kids to see heroes with those issues.

                I did feel like the stories did have a slight formula (Percy being kicked out of school after fighting a monster, Camp Half-Blood is in danger, there’s a prophecy from the Oracle, etc.) but I still enjoyed it. My other complaint is that SPOILER AFTER THE JUMP

CB # 30-32: Books that were made into movies

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig (Translated  by Thomas Colchie)

Unfortunately, I have seen none of the movie versions of these books, so I can’t tell you how they compare, but I can tell you if I enjoyed the book!

The Help

                There was a lot of controversy about this book, and I do understand. I was frustrated that the two black narrators had dialect signals in their narration, including them regularly putting in the word “a” all over the place, while the white narrator never seemed to narrate in a specifically Southern way. I also thought that the author could have explored the relationships between white women and black maids in more depth. Both Albileen and Minny have complicated feelings about their employers, but neither woman out and out hated the people they were currently working for. Nor did they feel that they absolutely had to continue to work for a person they hated.  That would have been a more complicated story.  Instead they worked for people that they didn't seem to have any feelings for at all. Albileen thought that Elizabeth was a horrible mother, but she didn’t seem to hate her, and although Minny did “ a horrible thing” to Hilly, I never felt her visceral hatred for Hilly other than in that act. Maybe that’s just me.

                On the other side of the controversy, I have to say that writing is not politically correct. Writing fiction always involves imagining another way of thinking, which means that imagination can fail. I’ve heard a few people wish that this book had been written by someone else, who could deal with it more honestly and sensitively. Well, there is still time for someone else to write that book, and that’s the great thing about books. You can always write back to contest something you didn’t agree with. Honestly, my main concern with this book is that it is often being read in a self-congratulatory way. We aren’t like that anymore! There is no us and them anymore! But I don't think we can escape that part of ourselves that easily. It’s just that we don’t recognize who the “them” is now, or how we are being cruel to “them”. That takes time and self-reflection and a willingness to understand someone different from you. If The Help made you reflect on your life in that way, then it has value; if it didn’t make you think, well maybe it doesn’t.

               One thing I'd like to note is that at first I really couldn't read it. I skimmed it and found that it focused to much on Skeeter for my liking. Later on I returned to it and finished it properly, which is why I can't really say that I really enjoyed it.

Water for Elephants

                  Jacob Jankowski’s parents die in a horrible car crash, just before he finishes his training to become a vet in the 1930’s. To pay for his training at Princeton University, his parents had gone into debt and mortgaged their home. Now he has nothing, so he runs away with the circus. Even though he hasn’t finished his veterinary training, he’s the closest thing to a vet that the circus can get.  In the circus, he meets the beautiful  Marlena, who performs with the horses, and her bipolar husband August who manages the animals.  There is also the cruel and terrifying Uncle Al, owns the circus, and will get rid of any one who isn’t useful anymore.  The story is all told from Jacob’s perspective as a 90 year old man looking back at his life. Of course, Jacob falls in love with Marlena and all the animals in the circus, especially an elephant named Rosie, but neither August nor Uncle Al will let him be truly happy.

I actually really enjoyed this book, even though I was spoiled about the ending before I read it. This book had lots of interesting historical information about circuses in the past, but once again, there wasn’t a lot of depth to it. The romance was light and the cruelty of Uncle Al and August was incredibly intense. One friend mentioned that the main thing she got from it is that growing old really sucks. I still really enjoyed it though.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

                This book is a translation from Spanish and was written in the 1970s. The novel mainly consists of the dialogue between two prisoners in Argentina in the 1970s. One, Valentin, is a political prisoner, while the other, Molina, is a gay man who has been imprisoned for corrupting a minor. The reader never finds out more about the exact circumstances of either characters’ imprisonment, but before long it becomes clear that Molina has been asked to find out more about Valentin’s friends and their future plans, in return for his freedom. Most of the novel consists of Molina telling Valentin about the plots of films that he’s seen, as a comfort from the pain that Valentin is regularly in. The two become friends, as Valentin begins to see the importance of beauty in one’s life, while Molina begins to recognize the importance of being politically involved.

                It’s an odd novel. It’s mainly dialogue between the two characters, but there is no “he said”. You just have to figure out which character is talking.  Most of the dialogue consists of Molina retelling the plot of different films. As well, there are a bunch of odd footnotes that appear though out the novel which all deal with how psychologists (at the time or earlier) understood homosexuality.  I usually ended up skipping the footnotes, because their positions on homosexuality were aggravatingly out of date. I did find it interesting that Molina is sort of the hero of this story. His motivations are complicated, and what he’s been imprisoned for makes him suspect. What are his real motivations? There’s not a huge amount going on in the novel, but somehow that seems to make the story all the more complicated.

CB# 28-29: Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett               

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett  (YA)

                These are the two most recent Tiffany Aching books. I’ve reviewed the first two earlier.  I found these books fairly interesting because Pratchett had said that these novels are aimed at younger readers who might also enjoy the fantasy and humour of Discworld. The first two books had really felt aimed at children, while these two, especially I Shall Wear Midnight, feel like they’re aimed at young adults.

                 In Wintersmith, Tiffany is staying with the ancient Miss Treason to learn more witchcraft. She’s nearly 13 and although she misses her home, she knows that she’ll never be truly respected as a witch unless she goes away. Everyone’s seen her as a child, so she needs to leave so that they’ll believe that she’s changed. She’s still being watched over by the Feegles, and she has a pen pal in Roland, the Baron’s son. One night, Miss Treason takes her to a Dark Morris dance which leads to the coming of winter. Even though Miss Treason warns Tiffany that she can only watch the dance, Tiffany ends up dancing in it. This means that she actually danced with the Wintersmith, and replaced Summer in the dance. Now the Wintersmith is intrigued by her, and wants to be with her … forever! Also,  Summer might never come again, since Tiffany’s replaced her. This book is all about personal responsibility and realizing that actions have consequences. Once Tiffany realizes that she’s made a major mistake, she has to do more than just apologize. She has to fix things.

                I Shall Wear Midnight is even darker in tone. Tiffany is nearly 16 and she has to deal with the consequences of what she has done with the Wintersmith. The magic she used then has awoken and called to her a monstrous being whose power is to make witches be hated and feared. This will lead to witches (or women who seem like witches) to be killed by the community that they cared for.  This book is much darker in tone than the first three, at least in the unmagical happenings. In the first chapter, Tiffany has to take care of a 13 year old girl whose father beat her so hard that she miscarried. As well, everyone is worried for Tiffany’s wellbeing because (scroll over for spoilers)  Roland is getting married to someone else! . Honestly, I think it’s for the best, but it’s a bit of a surprise after their friendship in the other 3 novels. Don't let the darker tone turn you off though. In spite of this its still full of humour  and it's exciting to read. And the young girl that Tiffany cares for does manage to escape her father and find a safe place to be.

                I really enjoyed both novels. I love that magic isn’t the answer to everything. I love that being a witch mainly involves doing things that other people don’t want to do or don’t think about like making sure a wizened old lady gets her bath or visiting lonely people. I really like that Tiffany always has to deal with the consequences of her actions, and that she is always capable even if she is scared. In my mind, she’s a pretty good role model.

CB # 24-27 Mysteries!

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse

The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz

                I once read somewhere that librarians love to read mysteries. I think it has something to do with the fact that librarians love solving puzzles, since what is a reference question if it’s not a small mystery? Some of these are older, one is newer, and one is barely a mystery but I’m throwing it in just because.

Murder Must Advertise

                I have a deep and abiding love for Sayers.  I read her translations of Dante’s Divine Comedy for class, and our professor informed us that she also wrote mysteries about the lovely Lord Peter Whimsy. Whimsy seems to be a dilettante but he’s really one of the greatest detectives of all time. One of the appeals of the Whimsy novels is that  Sayers  goes really in depth when writing her mysteries. Not only is it exciting and well written, but a huge amount of research must have been done, because you always learn something (not surprising coming from a translator of Dante). This one is set at an advertising house and was published in the 1930’s. There’s been an “accident”, and Whimsy is on the case, disguising himself by getting work at the agency. I learned a ton of about how ads were created and distributed, which makes sense since Sayers used to work in advertising. I also learned that cocaine has always been a hell of a drug, although I did find 1930”s drug slang confusing.

                Apparently this wasn’t Sayers favourite work, but I really enjoyed it. The mystery was interesting, Whimsy was divine and all the supporting characters were a delight. I also actually figured out part of the mystery myself, which made me feel super accomplished (sad but true).

Evil Under the Sun

                I reach for Agatha Christie novels when I want a quick read. I always fly right through them in an hour or so. It’s part of the appeal though, especially after you finish a slog of a book. Hercule Poirot is the detective in this one, and even though he’s not my favourite (Miss Marple is) he is still pretty wonderful. Vanity is always appealing in a character, but never in a real person. Also, he has a great mustache, which is always admirable.

                The mystery in this book revolves around a dead woman found on a private beach. Only people staying at the hotel could have access to it, so they’re all suspects. I find it hard to solve Christie’s novels, so I usually just read them for the thrill. She’s always using red herrings and I find it hard to ignore them. However, it was harder to ignore the 1940’s version of femininity that I was presented with. Christie regularly writes that way, but I found it really rubbed me the wrong way this time. Even so, it’s a good quick read.

Something Fresh

                To be honest, this is barely a mystery, but it was so funny that I have to recommend it. Especially since the last time I read a Wodehouse novel it was just offensive, and I need to believe that some good things did come out of Britain.

                Lord Elmworth is incredibly absentminded, and accidentally stole a priceless scarab from his hapless son’s future father-in-law. The millionaire father-in-law, J. Preston Peters, is incensed and decides that he’s going to  offer a reward if someone steals it back. Ashe is barely escaping poverty by writing trashy detective stories, and takes Peters up on the offer. Unfortunately for Ashe, his neighbor Joan Valentine has also heard about the reward from  Peters’ daughter Aline, and really needs to get her hands on some money. Then there’s the fact that Freddie, Elmworth’s son, has gambled too much and probably should be a confirmed bachelor since I don’t think he could make anyone happy. I’ve only mentioned the major characters, there are more and they are all ridiculous and therefore charming. This is a major comedy of errors with people running around Blandings Castle all night, falling in love, making huge mistakes, stealing scarabs and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

                Once again this is a quick read, but it’s funny and there is a bit of a mystery and a lot of  (hilarious) romance.

The Spellmans Strike Again

                One of these things is not like the others. The Spellman mysteries are set in present day USA, and not in first half of the 20^th century Britian. However, these books are funny and charming and they are mysteries, which is the connection I made to the others. This one is the fourth in the series.

                Izzy Spellman works as a private detective, which might sound interesting until you realize that it’s really a lot of watching people. If you’re wondering how she got into that work, it’s because it’s a family business. Everyone in the family, except for her brother David, works at the Spellman firm. It’s probably not best for family relations because they’ve become very used to surveillance and they spy on each other all the time. Izzy’s mother blackmails her with information from prom night so that Izzy will go on dates with lawyers. However, Izzy actually has a boyfriend, a bartender who doesn’t appreciate the fact that she absolutely has to go on dates with these men.

                Her younger sister Rae, wants nothing more than to be a detective, but her parents know that she’s practically a genius, and they want her to go to a renowned university. Oh, and there’s a mystery as well. A millionaire is losing his valet for a short period of time, and wants Izzy to figure out if the rest of his servants are stealing from him.

                The mystery is rarely the point in the Spellman books. It’s more about the kooky family arrangements, and the secrets that they’re keeping from each other. Once again, it’s a quick, fun read that’s really delightful.  I would suggest that you start with The Spellman Files, so that you get maximum enjoyment from the series.