It’s Best Books of the Year season again! Amazon.com has published it’s best of 2009 list – you can see it here, but I thought I’d provide catalogue links below, so you can reserve and read and see what you think.
Still going.
Almost Perfect, Brian Katcher (357 pages) – Logan begins a relationship with Sage, sort of, only to discover that she’s a boy (transgender). Obviously this is a major thing for him to work through: will he be able to maintain a friendship with her?
First sentence: Everyone has that one line they swear they’ll never cross, the one thing they say they’ll never do.
Demon Princess: Reign or Shine, Michelle Rowen (284 pages) – Nikki finds out that her absent father is the demon king of Shadowlands, so she follows the bearer of the news there to find out more (the bearer happens to be cute). As you’d expect with hereditary titles, her father’s keen for her to take the throne.
First sentence: “That guy is staring at you.”
Archenemy, Frank Beddor (370 pages) – the gripping conclusion to The Looking Glass Wars. Something strange is happening to Wonderland, and it’s not just Arch declaring himself king. Conundrums of evaporating puddles, shimmering portals, assassins, metamorphoses, action aplenty. The dude on the cover has got the coolest suit of armour and gun thingy ever.
First sentence: Alyss of Wonderland raced up the front walk, using her imagination to unlock the door and turn the latch.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa (200 pages) – First published in Japan in 2003 and described as “the phenomenon that took Japan by storm” which is super cool. Haruhi and Kyon set up an after school club, as you do, all very usual. Unusually, Haruhi has the power to destroy the universe.
First sentence: The question of how long someone believed in Santa Claus is a worthless topic that would never come up in idle conversation.
Punkzilla, Adam Rapp (244 pages) – Jamie, who is Punkzilla, embarks on a road trip to visit his brother who is dying of cancer. Along the way he catalogues, in epistolary fashion (letter writing), the gritty, freakish and interesting people he meets along the way.
First sentence: Hey, I’m finally writing you back.
One Wish, Leigh Brescia (311 pages) – An overweight teenager who determines to do something about this, and is largely successful, learns that the grass is not necessarily greener on the skinny and beautiful side of the fence, particularly when you go to great (dodgy) lengths for your new svelte body.
First sentence: Nobody ever asks you if you want to be popular.
Darke Academy: Secret Lives, Gabriella Poole (267 pages) – The first in a series which I’m going to describe merely by quoting the tagline on the cover (and you can do the rest): “You’ll be dying to join the chosen few.” Good news is the next book, Blood Ties, is less than six months away.
First sentence: “Hey, is that you?”
Tricks, Ellen Hopkins (625 pages) – A novel in verse, interweaving the stories of five different teenagers. Sounds clever, quite serious subject matter.
First sentence: But do they know how / to craft fiction?
Little Black Lies, Tish Cohen (305 pages) – Sara is at a new school in a new town, which seems like the perfect recipe for starting again and leaving behind her difficult past, especially with the help of a few fabrications of truth: popularity awaits. But then a dethroned popular girl starts getting suspicious.
First sentence: “What the…?” Gripping the vinyl passenger seat of the VW bus, I try not to hit the window as my father takes a corner too fast in his rush not to be late for our first day at Boston’s illustrious Anton High School.
That’s it for now. Yet more to come!
There’s a truckload!
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (400 pages) – as anticipated in this post, the collection of geek short stories is here. Fifteen stories in all, interspersed with comics, by some excellent writers.
First sentence (Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci): I awake tangled up in scratchy sheets with my head pounding and the taste of cheap alcohol and Tabasco still in my mouth.
Strange Angels, Lili St. Crow (293 pages) – again, we hinted about this one here. The first book about Dru Anderson, a zombie-killing tough girl whose life is about to become dangerous and complicated.
First sentence: I didn’t tell Dad about Granmama’s white owl.
Pretty Dead, Francesca Lia Block (195 pages) – Charlotte is a vampire. Jared is mortal, and “brooding” and “magnetic” to boot. Francesca Lia Block’s take on the gothic theme. Cassandra Clare says (winningly) on the cover: “An opulent, surreal world of strange beauty, sudden horror, and lush romance.”
First sentence: Teenage girls are powerful creatures.
Sea Change, Aimee Friedman (290 pages) – Miranda leaves New York for an island holiday. But this is Selkie Island, and with a name like that it’s bound to be a weird place, with a strange history, spooky legends. And then there’s Leo.
First sentence: The waiting ferryboat – ivory-coloured and two-tiered – resembled a slice of cake.
Girl in the Arena, Lise Haines (324 pages) – A satire on reality TV type shows – Lyn’s father is a gladiator, the top gladiator in the league, in fact. When he’s killed in competition the Gladiator Sports Association (GSA) decrees that Lyn must marry the gladiator who did it. Being independent-minded, Lyn isn’t going to take this lying down, even if that means having to enter the arena herself.
First sentence: In 1969 there was a young widower named Joseph Byers who lost his only child, Ned, to the war in Vietnam, when Ned tried to dodge the draft.
Counter Clockwise, Jason Cockcroft (202 pages) – “What if time moved counter-clockwise?” the inside cover asks, which is the basic premise of this thriller. Nathan witnesses bizarre and disturbing things happening around him, like his father disappearing through a hole that appears in the bathroom wall. That’d wind you up.
First sentence: When Nathan’s father told him the news, his voice seemed lost in the quiet of the schoolroom - as though it didn’t belong, Nathan thought.
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, Jessica Day George (317 pages) – based on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, a Nordic fairy tale. A woodcutter’s daughter agrees to accompany a bear to his castle. She thinks this is a good idea; I think not. Strange and terrible adventures unfold in the quest that ensues.
First sentence: Long ago and far away in the land of ice and snow, there came a time when it seemed that winter would never end.
The Dead House, Anne Cassidy (264 pages) – Lauren moves back to London to study, to a place very close to the house where she used to live. Trouble is, the house where she used to live contains nightmarish memories of her past and her family that she must confront.
First sentence: Lauren went to look at the house late at night.
The Bad Tuesdays: Strange Energy, Benjamin J Myers (330 pages) – the second in the series after Twisted Symmetry. Chess Tuesday and her brothers are enlisted by The Committee to find out what happened to the stolen children. But why?
First sentence: The razor wire gleamed along the top of the fence.
1 The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams. Kyra reads books from the mobile library, which might seem not exactly rebellious, but it is when you’re in a cult and reading books is forbidden.
2 Andromeda Klein, Frank Portman. Andromeda’s life is a quirky mess, but when books start going AWOL from the library she’s onto it, possibly with the help of her dead friend Daisy who may be trying to send her messages. The story of a teenage occultist who finds herself pitted against dark powers, including some “friends of the library”.
Libraries and romance
3 Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, Deb Caletti. Not only does it feature a librarian – Ruby’s mother – but also a bookclub. A book geek full house. Never fear though, it also features lots of romance (historical and current). Deb Caletti is often compared to Sarah Dessen, who’s the next suspect.
4 The Truth About Forever, Sarah Dessen. Macy chooses between a boring and safe life (involving a job at the organised library) and a more unpredictable and interesting one (involving a job in disorganised catering). The choice also involves two boys.
5 Cupid’s Arrow, Isabelle Merlin. Fleur’s mother inherits a fabulous library from a famous French author. Retrieving this library from Avallon in France brings mystery, romance and, the publisher’s website says, an “interactive web element”.
6 The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffeneger. The last word in romantic books featuring librarians. Henry works at the Newberry in Chicago, which is serious library stuff.
Libraries and fantasy
7 The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner. Not giving too much away, but one of the characters who may or may not be Gen lives in the library in Eddis, since his/her close-ish relatives have a history of being vile to him/her, and he/she is probably insufferable back.
8 Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr. The tireless and devoted Seth proves to be a useful researcher and, like a lot of useful researchers, visits the library to find out stuff (and to be harassed by faeries he can’t see).
9 Harry Potter…, J K Rowling. The library is the ultimate solution, according to Hermione. A bit like a cup of tea, but ultimately containing more information.
10 Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, Brandon Sanderson (a children’s book). The evil librarians are trying to take over the world. Because if you’re trying to do that, librarian is the obvious career path (under the radar, see).
Let me know about any more.
This time last week (approximately) over 100 people in 31 teams competed to see who knew the most Twilight trivia. As you’d expect with a name like this, the Twiologists came away with the victory with an impressive 73 out of a possible 80 points. So, yes, they know Twilight. Actually, lots of people do as it turned out; we were impressed with the range of knowledge (fancy remembering who Mike went to the wedding with!). We’ll be posting the questions here soon, so if you weren’t there you can test your knowledge and if you were there you can once again bask in your cleverness.
Some things worth noting: some cool costumes, including the trucks (who won the spot prize), the forks (sorry I took such a long time to get it!) and the Volturi with their freakish red contacts (coming from a person who thinks being able to put contacts in your eyes is freakish). The nearly but not quite award (if there’d been one) would have gone to the team who missed out on second to last place by half a point… too many.
So, until next time, keep reading, enjoy the movie when it comes out, and remember that Nosferatu is indeed available from Wellington Central Libraries.
If you’re wanting to know, you might like to reserve I Will Always Love You, an addition to the Gossip Girl series started (but not finished) by Cecily von Ziegesar.
I Will Always Love You documents what Serena et al get up to when they return from their respective colleges for their summer breaks (four in total). There’s bound to be hookups, fights and, well, gossip, but hopefully not that song by Whitney Houston.
Useless information: ratio of vampires to un-undead – 7:7. Making an appearance this month are some other popular vampire series, House of Night and Vampire Academy. If you’ve read the Twilight books 14 times each then here are some more ideas which you may or may not have thought of yourselves. There are over 100 people waiting for Brigands M.C. so please be patient!
The week of the short first sentence.
The Enemy, by Charlie Higson (407 pages) – Charlie Higson is the guy who’s been writing the Young Bond series (about James Bond when he was at high school). The Enemy is the first book in a new trilogy with zombies – a whole lot of zombies. Reviews suggest this is rather scary, and overall really rather good. Plus it has black page edges.
First sentence: Small Sam was playing in the park behind Waitrose when the grown-ups took him.
The Bride’s Farewell, by Meg Rosoff (186 pages) – the much anticipated new book from the author of How I Live Now. Pell runs away on the morning of her wedding and hits the road to uncover the secrets of her past.
First sentence: On the morning she was to be married, Pell Ridley crept up from her bed in the dark, kissed her sisters goodbye, fetched Jack in from the wind and rain on the heath and told him that they were leaving.
Fade to Blue, by Sean Beaudoin (201 pages) – “Fade”, one of the chapter headings tells me, is pronounced “Fa-day” and is the last name of Kenny, who is one of the characters whose point of view the reader is treated to, the other being Sophie Blue. As the title suggests, how Sophie and Kenny connect is what this novel is all about. The cover describes this rather complex novel as “part thriller, part darkly comic philosophical discussion, … accompanied by a comic book element.”
First sentence: The place was packed.
Real Life, by Ella West (192 pages) – the final instalment in the Thieves trilogy. Nicky is back at the Project, trapped by a tracking bracelet that can’t be removed. “When terrorists threaten [the Project], Nicky is sent to the dangerous heart of the matter,” says the cover.
First sentence: For a whole week we were free.
Lost, by Jacqueline Davies (235 pages) – set in New York in the early 1900s. The story of Essie, who lives in virtual poverty with her mother and siblings, is woven into a retelling of two historical events; the disappearance of a New York heiress and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Nice cover.
First sentence: The new girl was lost.
Fire and Rayne, by Kate Cann (314 pages) – Rayne has escaped from London to the country and takes a job at a mansion house, hoping for peace and quiet. What she gets is ghostly warnings, a sinister new manager, and a jolly good reason to be afraid.
First sentence: Rayne woke screaming.
Warrior Princess, by Frewin Jones (346 pages) – another first in a series, and no, it’s not about Xena. Branwen is in Britain (I think: judging by the author’s and the character’s names, probably Wales more specifically) when the Saxons invade and kill her brother (among others). When a “mystical woman in white” fortells that Branwen will one day save her country, Branwen is forced to choose between her intended life path and that of the warrior princess.
First sentence: Branwen ap Griffith sat on the grassy hillside with her back to an oak tree, gazing out over the rugged landscape of bony hills and steep, wooded valleys that she had known since childhood.
Miss Understanding: My Year in Agony (314 pages) – Miss Understanding is her school agony aunt, but like most agony aunts, she’s rubbish at sorting out her own life problems. Through the course of this book she will become better at it, I think.
First sentence: Hey there you.
Midsummer Meltdown, by Cathy Hopkins (186 pages) – Lia is expecting her mother’s 40th to be the party of the decade, but then an ex of her’s (Lia’s) makes an appearance and things get complicated.
Do Secrets Count as Sabotage?, by Helen Salter (152 pages) – Holly is trying to keep gorgeous Luke a secret from her mother. Is this possible when jealous best friends are involved?
Just for something to do, this week I’ve subcategorised these. Some subcategories only have one – actually the maximum is two anyway – but there you go.
Vampires
The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales (416 pages) – Mwah. Embrassez moi, je suis un vampire. Short stories on the vampire theme by such supernatural stalwarts as Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder and many more.
First sentence (courtesy of Karen Mahoney): Theo was late.
Blood Promise (a Vampire Academy novel), by Richelle Mead (503 pages) – Will Rose protect Lissa or hunt down the irresistible Dimitri and keep her promise to him (i.e. kill him, like, dead)?
First sentence: Once when I was in ninth grade, I had to write a paper on a poem.
As featured in an earlier blog post
Once was lost, by Sara Zarr (217 pages) – go here for a quick summary.
First sentence: The whole world is wilting.
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (480 pages) – again, here’s a blurb.
First sentence: The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World.
Series
Forest Born (The Books of Bayern), by Shannon Hale (389 pages) – the fourth in the series. Rin is uncomfortable in the Forest, so she accompanies her brother Raz to the city and things progressively get more threatening and dangerous: someone wants the Fire Sisters dead.
First sentence: Ma had six sons.
The Pale Assassin (Pimpernelles), by Patricia Elliot (424 pages) – cleverly, the title of the series suggests something to do with the French revolution, unlikely heroes (or heroines, to be precise) and spies and the blurb backs this up (who’d have thought you could express so much in one word?). Eugénie de Boncoeur is caught up in the revolution and must rescue her brother Armand from death (at the hands of the “murderous spymaster” I think, but I could be wrong) and save her own life. A tall order.
First sentence: One summer evening outside Paris, a coach drawn by four black horses was creaking and swaying through the soft country twilight.
Comedy and Romance and Music and-
Blue Noise, by Debra Oswald (271 pages) – Charlie forms a band (Blue Noise), but bands never work, the back cover says (but, you know, don’t judge a book by its cover). “Blue” is a reference to the blues, which is a nice change from rock and roll and all.
First sentence: Ash Corrigan was in Guitar Heaven.
Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God, by Bill Condon (218 pages) – I thought this would be funny if it were a rebuttal of one of those Georgia Nicholson books but no. In 1967 the world is tumultuous, and Neil Bridges is at a Catholic boys’ school toughing it (life) out, but his life is about to get quite complicated and possibly quite dangerous (murder is mentioned). YA writers seem to be doing the Vietnam War at the moment (here and here as well for example).
First sentence: One huge shiver trudging on to the oval, that’s us.
Uh oh, something bad’s happening here
Candor, by Pam Bachorz (249 pages) – Candor is one of those “perfect” towns you just know is not in any way perfect. People are controlled by subliminal messages. Oscar, the son of the town’s founder, is doing a roaring trade smuggling kids out of Candor, and then Nia arrives.
First sentence: Ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk.
The Ghosts of 2012, by Graham Hurley (95 pages) – a quick read. Joe’s preparing for the 2012 Olympics in a military-run UK, but he’s okay with that (he’s preparing for the Olympics after all) until his ex-girlfriend goes missing.
First sentence: Sometimes in your life you get moments that stick out… you remember them forever.
Here’s a mixed bag of books we’ve ordered recently – take your pick and reserve what grabs your fancy.
Geektastic: stories from the nerd herd. Don’t let the title put you off! There’s nothing wrong with being a geek, especially if being a geek comes in the form of an anthology of stories written by people like John Green, Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, and M. T. Anderson. You can’t really lose. The blurb says subjects are many and varied (in the context of geekdom) from the faintly ridiculous (what happens when Klingons and Jedi collide at a sci-fi convention?) to the more serious (a 15 year old pretends to be her 32 year old sister online). Should stop typing now.
Intertwined, by Gena Showalter. More supernatural romance! Ah. Aden has a tough time because he has four beings inside his head, each providing him with a specific supernatural power. Mary Ann has the one power that Aden needs, the ability to negate supernatural powers, and it is with her that Aden finds peace (and romance perhaps?). But then their world is complicated by more supernatural creatures than you can poke a stick at, all after a new source of power.
In the path of falling objects, by Andrew Smith. Another road trip story (adding to the list), this one sounds a bit rugged: Jonah and Simon are on their own, trying to track down their family. They hitch a ride with a man and a “beautiful young woman” who are both disturbing and potentially dangerous. Set during the Vietnam War.
Once a witch, by Carolyn MacCullough. Tamsin lives in a talented (in the magic sense) family, but she isn’t. When a strange and sinister man arrives and mistakes her for her twin (talented) sister and requests her help in searching for a “family heirloom”, Tamsin jumps at the opportunity to appear magical. This is exciting, reviewers say.
And some other serious stuff:
Almost perfect, by Brian Katcher. A transgender story from a writer who likes to challenge people’s assumptions about the norm.
Positively, by Courtney Sheinmel. Emmy is left to struggle with the HIV virus that her now-dead mother unwittingly passed on to her.
Breathing underwater, by Julia Green. Freya comes to terms with the sudden death of her brother.
Taken, by Norah McClintock. Stephanie is taken hostage in the woods, but escapes and must use all her survivalist knowledge to make it back home. Tense.
We’ll keep you posted on more interesting things. Thanks to Stephanie for the tip offs.
Registrations are now open for the Twilight Trivia Night (Friday 30 October, 6.30pm, Central Library). Enter your team (or yourself) here for your chance at glory and prizes.
What’s the Twilight Trivia Night? It’s like a pub quiz but without the pub, and focusing on facts and trivia to do with the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer (the books, the movies, the music, the hysteria, the sparkles). According to the posters it’s the quiz “you can really get your teeth into.” Ha ha ha. We know there are some Twilight experts out there and we want to find out who you are! Of course non-experts will have the opportunity to duke it out for a special tactical non-expert award, so don’t be put off! Register now!
But wait, there’s more! If you send in a team image we’ll turn it into a team badge for you. Email your image to teenblog@wcl.govt.nz. The badges are round and 5.5cm across. Here’s a poor diagram to help you visualise it. Anything is fine, pretty much.
See you there.
Quick update: for ages 13 to 18 (inclusive).
Here’s a small amount of new stuff (no book covers though, as the server’s currently down). The little hooks are how we rate the first sentence.
Fade, by Lisa McMann (248 pages) – the sequel to Wake. Cassandra Clare calls the book “shuddersome”, which is kind of a cool word. The dream catchers Janie and Cabel must expose something horrid that’s going on at Fieldridge High.
First sentence: Janie spirits through the snowy yards from two streets away and slips quietly through the front door of her house.
Hate List, by Jennifer Brown (408 pages) – Val’s boyfriend, Nick, uses a list he and she created (of things and people they hate) to mow down their classmates in the cafeteria. The story is about Val coming to grips with her role in what has happened, the loss of her boyfriend, and how to move on.
First sentence: The scene in the Garvin High School cafeteria, known as the Commons, is being described as “grim” by investigators who are working to identify the victims of a shooting spree that erupted Friday morning.
Killer, by Sara Shepard (A Pretty Little Liars novel, 321 pages) – the sixth book in the series, the first paragraph on the dust jacket says it all: “In picture-perfect Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ash-blond highlights gleam in the winter sun and frozen lakes sparkle like Swarovski crystal. But pictures often lie – and so do Rosewood’s four prettiest girls.”
First sentence: What if, all of a sudden, you could remember every single second of your entire life?
When Irish Guys are Smiling, by Suzanne Supplee (211 pages), and The Great Call of China, by Cynthea Liu (246 pages) – these two titles are part of the series S.A.S.S., or Students Across the Seven Seas, about girls (mostly I think) who go on exchange, experience culture shock, learn about themselves, meet cute guys, and all the other things you’d expect.
Ember Fury, by Cathy Brett (232 pages) – Ember Fury’s parents are celebrities, and they are more interested in their own rise to the top than they are in Ember. So Ember – who hates the whole celebrity world – is a pyromaniac.
First sentence: ‘Fizzzzz … crack … whoosh … It was a tiny tongue at first, then it spread like a rippling, orange blanket over the floorboards and poured itself up the walls.’
Brainjack, by Brian Falkner (438 pages) – Sam Wilson, brilliant teenage computer hacker, has a go at the computer systems of the White House. This reckless obsession leads Sam into a dangerous world of ‘espionage and intrigue; of cybercrime and imminent war.’ Dangerous, sure, but pretty exciting you must admit.
First sentence: ‘On Friday, on his way to school, Sam Wilson brought the United States of America to its knees.‘
Mwah Mwah, by Chloe Rayban (263 pages) – Hannah’s plans for the holidays are foiled by her mother, who sends her off to Paris for a fortnight. Hannah isn’t too happy as she will have to stay with the unpleasant Matthilde (although I think we’d all like to grin and bear it if it means a couple of weeks in Paris).
First sentence: ‘”Mayjesweesewer. Annaseraravy! Weegrobeezoo. Abeeantow.”‘
Swerve, by Phillip Gwynne (228 pages)
Trashed (A Year in Girl Hell), by Meredith Costain (151 pages).
Strange Angels, by Lili St Crow, aka Lili Crow or Lilith Saintcrow, is a kind of kickass type supernatural novel about Dru Anderson, a “strange” girl who travels around with her father, dealing to nasties (zombies, werwulfs and the like). Then her father is killed zombified, and she’s trapped, and there are two boys who are really keen to help her out, but can she trust them? There’s more information here (she’s already written a sequel called Betrayals). I’ll go out on a small limb here and say that these might be a bit like the Casssandra Clare books maybe (not that I judge books by their cover or anything? Or if you’re into Twilight you could check them out to see if the romance passes muster.
Scorching to the front of the list with a whopping 83 people in its queue is Brigands M.C.. There are now bestseller copies available for The 10 pm Question, so if you’re finding the queue worrying you could grab one of those for $5 for one week.
So who buys the library books then? WCL has a team of eight people who are lucky enough to spend most of their time buying books, magazines, CDs and DVDs. This is a fairly ideal job if you really like spending money, and really like reading, listening to music and watching movies. Stephanie is one of the young adult selectors and we thought we’d ask her a few questions.
1) What’s the strangest book you’ve bought for the library and/or what’s the strangest suggestion to buy you’ve received from a customer?
Well, as well as books for children and teens I also buy zines for the Library. You know what they are right? For those that don’t basically they’re self published magazines and you can write them on just about any topic imaginable! So some of the strangest ones I’ve brought are: I was unaware they made black jeans that small; little dead riding hood; super pash action; why no one gets tight with the geek; I was a teenaged Mormon; I hate my mom’s cat and fish piss. Ok, so they ain’t that strange but they do have cool titles! They are also free to issue on the first floor of the Central Library. You should check them out sometime.
I can’t remember any really strange suggestion to buys, but Kathleen who works with me just showed me one for a book called “how to amputate a leg”, which is pretty weird.
2) When you were at school what did you want to be “when you grew up”?
I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was really young. I lived by the sea and my brother and I made friends with sea anemones. But really it wasn’t too serious. I just thought it sounded cool. I’m pretty happy doing what I do now though. Buying books is fun 
3) What superpower would make your job easier?
Um, maybe the power to clone myself so one of me could sit outside and read in the sun and eat bread and cheese and the other could be inside doing work and getting paid!
4) What things did you read when you were at high school?
I feel really bad saying this but I didn’t read too much at high school, mostly just the prescribed texts. I was a big reader at primary and intermediate and then took a long break and only got back into reading for fun when I was at university.
5) What YA books have you read lately (that you’ve enjoyed)?
Right now I’m enjoying reading Catching Fire, which is the sequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I also enjoyed the Twilight series (well mostly when it wasn’t making me cringe), How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The 10pm Question by Kate De Goldi and Violence 101 by my friend Dennis Wright. I plan to read heaps more too, ‘cos as I’m buying them for you guys I’m thinking “that looks awesome” and so I have to reserve it for myself.
6) If you were marooned on a desert island with three people (of your choice), three items of food and three books, who and what would you choose?
Ok so this is a hard one! I would choose Don from Madmen (’cos he’s nice to look at), my friend Carmel (’cos we have fun together) and Katniss from Catching Fire (’cos she looks like she could handle just about anything!). For food I would have breads, cheeses and cakes! And books I couldn’t decide. Because I work in a library I never really read anything twice so perhaps something new? I’ve recently reserved Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (because Grimm said it’s like The Time Traveler’s Wife, which is one of my favourite books) and The Great Death by John Smelcer (it’s gotten good reviews) and The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson (recommended by my co-selector Tom).
Twilight fans, read this book:
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
When she was eleven, Grace was attacked by a pack of wolves but, in an unexpected turn of events, was rescued by one of them. Rather than feeling phobic, Grace feels drawn to and protective of the wolves, especially her rescuer, the one with the yellow eyes. She admits to being obsessed, and she’s a bit lost in summer, when the wolves are notably absent.
Sam, a part-time yellow-eyed eighteen year old boy, feels a similar connection to Grace, and when the wolves are hunted by men baying for blood, he finds himself wounded on Grace’s porch in his human form. Just as well, then, that she takes this discovery in her stride and copes admirably, getting him to hospital and then smuggling him out again when he heals super-quickly. Then there’s the difficulty of keeping Sam warm, as it’s the cold that transforms him into a wolf, and his human stretches are getting shorter and shorter. Sam knows this is his “last year”, which makes his connection with Grace a tenuous thing.
You should read this book: it will make you go “ah”. It’s a thoughtfully put-together story (right down to the helpful temperature indicators at the beginning of each chapter), kind of like a Time-Traveler’s Wife for young adults with a tear jerker ending. A very good supernatural romance.
Maggie Stiefvater’s website states there’s a sequel, Linger, due out towards the end of next year too.
Note to potential authors: this is a good way of putting together the plot of your novel. Take a song, poem, children’s story, play, myth or legend and then tweak it cleverly. The cleverer the better, but sometimes simple works like a charm (see the bestselling Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, for example).
Plus much more.
Here’s the official trailer for Stargate Universe, prepared, it says, for the San Diego Comic Con, so it’s had the geek stamp of approval. This is a spin off, of course, from the very popular Stargate TV world.
Further to this post, you can now reserve the next Alex Rider epic adventure, or one or two other hot series:
Crocodile Tears, Anthony Horowitz
Splendor (the final Luxe novel), Anna Godbersen
Archenemy (The Looking Glass Wars), Frank Beddor
Be the first in the queue! Thanks Stephanie.
What do the next few months look like in YA literature? We’ll let you know when they arrive, but you can reserve some of them right now if they grab your fancy.
Witch & Wizard, James Patterson (December). A futuristic dystopian story about Wisty and her brother Whit, who are imprisoned seemingly without reason and then discover they have strange abilities and powers.
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (October). A steampunk effort from Scott Westerfeld, where World War I is fought with strange machines and futuristic biotechnology.
Once Was Lost, Sara Zarr (October). Sara Zarr’s previous novels, Story of a Girl and Sweethearts, are thoughtful, realistic insights into life. In Once Was Lost, she examines tragedy and the effect it has on hope.
Going Bovine, Libba Bray (September/October). This couldn’t really be more different from the Gemma Doyle books. Sixteen year old Cameron is in hospital with Mad Cow disease. Visited by Dulcie, a punky angel, he’s given hope when she tells him it’s possible to find a cure. So he sets out on a road trip to find it, with a little help from a gamer dwarf and a gnome. I’m not making this up. You can even watch Libba Bray being interviewed about it, dressed up as a cow.
Some others that we will be ordering soon:
Splendor, a Luxe novel, Anna Godbersen (November). Luxe fans: this is the fourth and final book. Dangerous secrets, difficult decisions and unexpected happinesses (but for how long?) all feature in a dramatic showdown.
Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider), Anthony Horowitz (November). Alex gets caught up in an epic plot that could destroy an entire East African country. Heavy.
The Looking Glass Wars, Archenemy, Frank Beddor (October/November). The conclusion to the Looking Glass Wars trilogy. Everyone in Wonderland is creatively depleted, including Queen Alyss who must join forces with the evil Redd to keep things from turning worse than pear shaped (as the caterpillar oracles predict). But is this a good idea?
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