Kidliterate

Geek Magnet by Kieran Scott

I really like Scott's Non-Blonde Cheerleader series and was looking forward to reading this. Somehow it got buried in my galley pile, but I pulled it out this weekend and gave it a go. I'm glad I did! KJ is the stage manager of the annual musical (Grease this year), and because of her years-long association with the school theatre AND her penchant for being a really, really nice person, she has managed to attract the attention of most of the school's geeks - several of who are kind of obsessive about her. When Class Queen Tama (also the lead in the musical) offers to help KJ ditch the geeks and snag a star jock for a boyfriend, will she be able to do what's required - ditch her nice-girl personality as well? If she does, will she have any friends left at all? And how will she juggle this with the drama her alcoholic father creates at home? Not much older content here. KJ is well-endowed (which she refers to with annoyance more than once) and one of the geeks has a habit of staring at her chest. At one point KJ's helping a guy who likes Tama and she's going to show him a video of dancers (because Tama likes dancing) and they joke a little about it maybe being porn. There's a little bit of drinking at a party. That's it. Definitely recommended. I love the theatre plotline (I'm a sucker for that) and the problems in her family gave it a good serious undertone without dragging it down into melodrama. Scott struck the balance just right.

LOOKING AHEAD: Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

I was a total King Arthur fangirl in high school. I mean, I was a King Arthur nut. In my high school yearbook on the graffiti page there is a small heart inside which is written "Arthur + Jenny"; those were the nicknames my high school boyfriend and I used with each other (no wonder we broke up, huh, with that karma?). I have a shelf full of King Arthur texts and retellings, but somewhere along the way I burned out on it to such an extent that when Arthur-based galleys would surface at the shop I might have rolled my eyes. "More Arthur," I would think, "that no one will care about." Philip Reeve's HERE LIES ARTHUR was on the top of my pile because of who Reeve was, not because of who he was writing about. I was dreading reading it because of who he was writing about, assuming that as usual with these Arthur retellings it would just be more of the same old, same old. Oh, Mr. Reeve, how I doubted you, and I am here to apologize, because this book is fantastic. It's told from the point of view of a poor orphan named Gwyna who is found in the woods by Merlin (called Myrddin here) one day after Arthur burns down the settlement in which she was living. In this retelling, Myrddin isn't magical at all, but he's clever and compelling and knows how to trick people with light and words and chance. No lady of the lake gives the sword to Arthur - it is Gwynna, who swims like a fish and holds it aloft from beneath the water. Soon enough Gwynna is disguised as a boy, renamed Gwyn and is taken in by Myrddin permanently as a servant/companion/squire. Gwyn is present as all of the events of Arthur's life unfold, but nothing is what it seems or what we (the audience) have grown up reading about Arthur. Arthur is not a noble hero here - he's actually a boorish, unintelligent jerk with very few morals. Myrddin is the one who makes him into a hero through storytelling. Gwyn says: Myrddin said he was not an enchanter, but he worked magic all right. He turned me into a boy, and he turned Arthur into a hero. It's a pretty clever commentary on today's political situation, actually, whether intentional or not. Myrddin says: Arthur can do nothing so bad that I can't spin it into gold and use it to make him more famous and more feared. If the tales are good enough, even the poor man who goes hungry from paying Arthur taxes will love him. Sound like anyone you know? Anyone who, you know, might be in charge of our country or something? My favorite passage from the whole book comes toward the end, as Gwenhwyfar and Bedwyr (in place of Lancelot, as is traditional) have betrayed Arthur and a war is taking place as a result and Myrddin is still spinning his stories, trying to keep Arthur present in people's minds as "the hope of Britain." Gwyn says: Arthur? You've wasted your life building him high and wrapping him up in stories, but Arthur hasn't cleaned the Saxons away. They're still sitting on their stolen lands, growing stronger and stronger, and laughing at us while we fight among ourselves. Arthur doesn't care about anything but making his own self fat and rich, and he hasn't even managed to do that very well. And all you can do is make up stories, make up lies, try and turn him into something that he isn't. Home run, Mr. Reeve.

More on John Green ' s Covers

Okay, so if you go down to the last post I wrote on the new covers of John Green's books, you'll see that he commented with an explanation for the branding: he is apparently better known as a videoblogger than he is as an author. I didn't know that - I've watched a couple of the videos he traded back and forth with his brother Hank, but somehow missed the part where it became a Big Thing. So if having his name so huge on his books sells more of them to videobloggers - well, that's a pretty damn good reason, and I appreciate that John took the time to stop by and explain that to me. (That's one pretty website he's got there. I've never seen it before, because I read his blog syndicated on Livejournal.)

Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

What a fun book this was. I should disclose up front that I love Regency romances, and the trend of Regencies for teens (The Luxe, La Petite Four, etc.) that's been happening lately has made me very happy. Twins Persephone and Penelope are about to make their debut in London Society, and also trying to keep a very big secret: they are practicing witches, studying under a governess to control and hone their magical powers. If word got out in society they would be shunned (if not hung), so they are trying to carry on as normal teenagers would in the Regency period. Unfortunately, their governess is kidnapped as part of a plot to gain control over Princess Victoria (soon to be Queen Victoria) and Persy and Pen must risk their reputations and their very lives in order to save her from death and England's throne from corruption. Tied up with this is a lovely little romantic subplot - smartypants Persy fell in love with their childhood friend Lochinvar years ago, and now he is back - older, taller, and one of the catches of the Season. How will she bear it if he falls in love with prettier, more outgoing Pen instead? And would it be wise to use magic to help herself to a husband? It's a delightful piece of summertime fluff - just what I want to read while lying by the pool with a lemonade - but that's not all it is. Smartly written and tightly plotted, Bewitching Season is a romp in every sense of the word. Publisher: Henry Holt Pub date: out now, in hardcover

Cover annoyance

I want to say something up front lest anyone think I am picking on John Green: I like his books very much, including Paper Towns (whose cover I trashed earlier), which I think may be my favorite. Also, I met him briefly at BEA once and he was very nice and personable. Thirdly, his new book (with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle) is very good, and I am going to say just that when I get around to writing it up. Okay, all that said: what is going on with the new covers of his books? Why is his name so huge? It makes me crazy when publishers try to make brands out of authors. John Green is not a brand. Stephenie Meyer sells about ninety bazillion more books than he does and her name isn't sixteen times as big as the title of her books. Heck, Nora Roberts' name is barely bigger than the titles of her books, and if anyone's a brand, she is. The new trades of Green's books make it look like they're all called JOHN GREEN. Generally I like what Penguin does with their covers. I'm not entirely sure what's going on here. (I should say that while I'm generally disapproving of hardcovers that change to picture covers when they are pubbed in paperback, these are at least pretty picture covers. Again: not hating on John Green, just the art director or whoever decided this was a good idea.)

so tired of this debate.

After reading I'm YA and I'm Okay, two things spring immediately to mind. 1. Meg Rosoff has no idea what she's talking about: Meg Rosoff, an American-born author who lives in London, said, “There isn’t an adult who’s going to trot into the children’s section to look for adult literature.” Clearly Meg Rosoff hasn't met a lot of adults. 2. James Patterson claims his Maximum Ride books didn't sell as well as his adult books because "in this country we tend to pigeonhole things" and they were only shelved in the YA section. I hate to break it to him, but they didn't sell well because he's writing for the wrong audience. Generally readers of that sort of fantasy tend to be a little younger. Also, according to the kids we know who have read them, they're not that great. And honestly, what are we talking about here? They all made the NYT bestseller list. Isn't he already rolling around on cascading piles of cash?

The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante

I was astounded by this book. It is beautifully written, very hard to read at times, and handles a dual-voice narrative better than almost anything I can think of. Two distinct characters tell this story and it is impossible to mix them up. The book is printed in two typefaces but it honestly doesn't need to be - the two voices are that well drawn. I think this book could win something, and would be very happy if it did. Agnes and Honey were both born at Mount Blessing, a religious commune run by a man named Emmanuel whose word is final in every situation. There are strict rules and severe consequences for violating those rules - consequences Honey has come up against time and again. As the years have passed Agnes and Honey's best friendship has been strained as Honey has begun to chafe against the rigidity of life at Mount Blessing and Agnes has longed to become a perfect disciple. Honey gets her wish when Agnes's grandmother visits Mount Blessing, learns one of the commune's darkest secrets, and whisks Honey, Agnes, and Agnes's brother Benny away in the middle of the night. Now Honey is free as she never dreamed she could be, while Agnes's terrified heart longs to be back at the only home she has ever known even as the truth about life there threatens her very sanity. In the end, Agnes is the one who holds the key to their freedom, if she only has the courage to face the truth. The author was raised in a commune like Mount Blessing, and her personal experience clearly imbues the novel with a truth that would not be possible otherwise. Days after finishing this book I am still haunted by many of the things she wrote here. I think this book is really remarkable and am recommending it wholeheartedly to everyone I know. It is not an easy read, but I think it is an important one, and a timely one. Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub date: out now in hardcover

LOOKING AHEAD: Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy. That's my one-word review of Bonechiller. (Probably you could have figured that out yourself, right? I mean, it's pretty much all right there in the title.) Danny and his dad move around a lot, trying to escape their memories of Danny's mother, who's gone now. This time they've ended up in Harvest Cove - "tucked away in the Big Empty that makes up most of Canada...Turn off Highway 11, north of Barrie, then follow the road as it goes from paved to gravel to dirt. If you're looking for somewhere to hide, this is it." It's winter, and the town is empty (it's a summer cottage town), and cold, and dark. Danny's accumulated a small group of rebellious friends and they're spending their time doing things that skate the edge of legality. One night, on his way home, Danny is attacked by a creature that is like nothing he's ever seen before. It can't be real...can it? Inuit legends and town rumor point to an old, old evil that's never been confirmed. Danny's pretty sure he's just confirmed it. But can he get anyone to believe him? And even if they do, what can anyone do about it? This book is, again, really creepy. McNamee really knows how to chill your blood - his writing is really suspenseful and he's got a way of making you feel like you're really inside the main character's head. I read this one before bed and ended up being really sorry - in a good way! Older content: not much. The characters like to use the insult "you're a pussy," and the expression "cop a feel" is used more than once, but no one actually cops a feel and the language doesn't get any worse. There's some kissing, but nothing more than that. There's definitely some violence, but it's not very graphic.  I was really impressed that this book managed to be as scary as it did without having a lot of graphic violence. Publisher: Random House Pub date: September 9, 2008

LOOKING AHEAD: Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut! by Paul Feig

This is one of my four (so far) favorite fall books, and definitely my favorite fall middle-grade release. (No, I haven't told you about my other three yet; patience, dear readers.)

My love for Paul Feig already knew no bounds. I am a huge fan of the late, lamented TV show Freaks and Geeks (seriously huge - I own the $140 super DVD set that came in a replica yearbook with ninety bazillion hours of extras), and I also think his two memoirs of earlier life as a supergeek (Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence and Superstud)  are hilarious. So when I found out that Paul (I can call you Paul, right?) was writing a kids' novel I was pretty excited. And then the galley came and I was even more excited. So excited that I slipped the only copy off the galley shelf at the bookstore where I used to work and moved it with me to St. Louis. I finally unpacked that box last week, and there was Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut! staring up at me. Read me, read me, it implored. And so I did.

Dude. This is one funny book. This is one thrilling book. This is one fine middle-grade novel. It's sci-fi! It's comedy! It's freaking fantastic. Ignatius (Iggy) is one of those kids who is destined to be bullied in school, and he is. He has two friends who are equally bully-able, and they are walking targets for the school's population of buttheads. Iggy has grown weary of it all and continually wishes that an alien might spot him one day and whisk him off to another planet. When this doesn't happen, he decides that maybe he could build a rocket and blast himself into space, where of course an alien civilization will take him in and change his life. So the kids build this hilariously incompetent rocket out of a garbage can and license plates and a lot of other crap, and then one of them swipes his brother's illegal fireworks stash and they clean the gunpowder out of the fireworks and fill a coffee can with it (Uh...guys? Bad idea, okay?). They light the can on fire, and Iggy decides at the last minute that maybe this is a bad idea, but his backpack gets stuck on something and he can't get out of the garbage can rocket and then...BOOM.

When he comes to, he seems to be in the middle of the same field. Except the only thing that's the same is the basic terrain. What he doesn't yet know is that the explosion shifted him into another Frequency - like an alternate universe. He's technically in the same place, just slightly sideways. He meets a 16 year old girl named Karen who had a chemistry lab accident a year ago, which is how she ended up in this other Frequency, which is otherwise populated by a variety of bizarre alien creatures. Even more bizarre: five years back, a teacher at the high school in Iggy's neighborhood was supposedly killed when his house exploded. The teacher's in this Frequency, too, except he's reinvented himself as the President of the aliens and taken over the world. Karen is trying to stop him, and she wants Iggy to help her. Iggy just wants to get back to his own Frequency. However, it seems that once you become a Frequenaut, getting out of your current Frequency isn't as easy as it seems - especially not when your only friend is a one-woman revolutionary band and is being hunted by the President's army.

The plot is like nothing I've ever read before, and the book is what we'd been wishing for at the bookstore for years - not just sci-fi, but funny sci-fi. This is going to be a great book for kids who like stuff like The Mysterious Benedict Society - smart kids who like their adventure mixed up with a little comedy and a whole lot of brain activity. I love this book and I hope Paul Feig comes to St. Louis so I can tell him how much I love it in person.

Publisher: Little, Brown Publication Date: September 1, 2008

LOOKING AHEAD: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Evie is 15 going on 16. Her stepfather, Joe, came back from fighting in WWII and it seemed like family life got back to normal pretty quickly and Joe opened up a couple of appliance stores with a GI loan. Sure, they live with Joe's mother, who doesn't seem to like Evie's mother Beverly much, but other than that things are going well. Until the phone rings one day. Joe says it's someone looking for a Joe Spooner who isn't him, but he's acting weird and the next day he proposes an impromptu family trip to Palm Beach (from NY) even though it's in the middle of the school year. So off they go to Palm Beach. And lo and behold - what a coincidence! - a guy from Joe's old platoon shows up at the same hotel. They're "friendly" but Evie can tell that Peter unsettles Joe. Meanwhile, Evie's experiencing her first major crush, and Peter seems to like her too. But things are getting more and more uncomfortable between Joe and Peter, and finally one night after an altercation between the two, Evie learns the truth about where Joe got his money and why Peter is in Palm Beach. The next day Joe, Peter and Bev go out on a fishing trip, and a hurricane makes landfall. When the boat returns to shore, Peter is dead and Evie's parents are on trial for murder. What really happened on the boat? Was there anything going on between Peter and Bev? Can Evie trust that anything he told her is true? And how far will she go to save her family? This book is basically a combination historical fiction/coming of age romance/mystery. The writing is terrific - the plot unfolds slowly, but not too slowly, and with just the right amount of suspense. A lot of books try to have their character grow up over the course of a series of events but it doesn't always ring true to me - in this one, the growth does. I'm also a sucker for teen girl books from this time period, and Blundell captured just the right mood and used just the right language. She really did her homework. Publisher: Scholastic Pub date: November 1, 2008