There are many, many new books this week. Here they are!
Oathbreaker : Assassin’s Apprentice, by S. R. Vaught and J. B. Redmond (374 pages) – High fantasy at its highest. Aron is kidnapped and forced to become an assassin in a world of powerful magic and shapeshifters. Should he avenge his family’s death?
First line: ‘Hot winds blew across the Watchline, twisting rusted wires against rotted fence posts.‘
Pastworld, by Ian Beck (353 pages) – It is 2048, and London has been transformed into a giant Victorian-era themepark. Its inhabitants do not know this! Visitors are a bit like time-travellers, and Caleb – one such visitor – finds himself accused of a murder by the local olde constabulary.
First line: ‘It was the cold hour before dawn.’
The Genius Wars, by Catherine Jinks (384 pages) – The conclusion to the Genius Trilogy. Cadel must launch an all-out attack on Prosper English, who is now a fugitive determined to take down all of Cadel’s loved ones.
First line: ‘Two dented lift doors were embedded in a wall of pebblecrete.‘
The Waters and the Wild, by Francesca Lia Block (113 pages) – A new book from one of the best writers in YA fiction. And it’s pretty brief, so perfect for a quick & magical read.
First lines: ‘When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. “You are me,” the girl said. Then she was gone.‘
The Glittering Eye, by L. J. Adlington (309 pages) – Shabti wakes in a field and has no memories. And Amy, daughter of an archaeologist, arrives in Egypt. They are connected! But you won’t guess how …
First line: ‘He woke up in a barley field.‘
Crashed, by Robin Wasserman (440 pages) – Lia died six months ago. She’s now a mech, and has to choose between humanity and the sheer awesomeness of being a machine. The second book in a trilogy! (The first is Skinned.)
First line: ‘When I was alive, I dreamed of flying.‘
The Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan (329 pages) – Nick’s mother stole a charm from the most feared of magicians, and his brother, Alan, has been marked by a demon. Which leads to death! Nick must face the magicians, whose powers are sourced from demons, and he must kill them to save his brother.
First line: ‘The pipe under the sink was leaking again.‘
After The Moment, by Garret Freymann-Weyr (328 pages) – There is a summary inside, which I can lazily copy. ‘When seventeen-year-old Leigh changes high schools his senior year to help his stepsister, he finds himself falling in love with her emotionally disturbed friend, although he is still attached to a girl back home.’
First line: ‘Leigh Hunter thought he’d said goodbye to her almost four years ago.‘
The Twilight Saga – New Moon : The Official Illustrated Movie Companion, by Mark Cotta Vaz (141 pages) – Something about vampires and werewolves? Never heard of it myself. I wonder if it will be popular.
Marcelo In The Real World, by Francisco X. Stork (312 pages) – Marcelo Sandoval has a form of autism that leads him to hear music all the time. His father challenges him to work in his law firm’s mailroom, and there Marcelo faces new challenges. ‘Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,‘ says the blurb.
First lines: ‘“Marcelo, are you already?” I lift up my thumb. It means that I am ready.“
Headlong, by Kathe Koja (195 pages) – Lily attends the private Vaughn School, and has done so since preschool. New girl Hazel - whose background is vastly different to Lily’s privileged upbringing - and Lily become firm friends, and Hazel shows Lily what life has to offer.
First line: ‘A black circle-in-a-circle-in-a-circle, a bull’s-eye, a target: I trimmed it from the symbol sheet, painted on glue, stuck it to the underside of the vestal’s upraised wrist, one of the few blank spaces left on her.‘
In The Path of Falling Objects, by Andrew Smith (323 pages) – Brother Simon and Jonah take a road trip to find their other brother, who is in the army. They get a ride with a crazy man and a strange woman, and it quickly becomes the ride from Hell.
First line: ‘The only shade there is blackens a rectangle in the dirt beneath the overhang of the seller’s open stall.‘
Front and Center, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (254 pages) – Like everyone in her family, D.J. Schwenk is VERY tall. And she’s wanted by College scouts, town hoops fans, and a couple of fellas. [The one that comes after Dairy Queen and The Off Season - Grimm]
First line: ‘Here are ten words I never thought I’d be saying …‘
Hush, Hush, by Becca Fitzgerald (391 pages) – Nora Grey isn’t interested in romance until transfer student Patch appears. He’s dreamy and mysterious and he’s also an angel, I think? If you like Twilight you may appreciate this – reviewers have commented favourably on the character of Nora compared with Bella.
First line: ‘Chauncey was with a farmer’s daughter on the grassy banks of the Loire River when the storm rolled in, and having let his gelding wander in the meadow, was left to his own two feet to carry him back to the chateau.‘
Warrior King, by Sue Purkiss (265 pages) – It is the ninth-century. King Alfred the Great has a plan – a good plan! – to get rid of the Vikings invading Britain (I guess they were bad?), but what will it mean for Fleda, his daughter?
First line: ‘Alfred couldn’t find his mother.‘
Confessions of a First Daughter, by Cassidy Calloway (214 pages) – Morgan’s mum is the president of the US. Morgan’s tendency for ’screwing things up’ means that she often makes the news, always for the wrong reasons. When her mother has to go on a secret mission, Morgan steps in for her; with a little makeup, no one will spot the difference. Maybe.
First line: ‘I wonder if my mother ever feels like throwing up before she delivers an important speech.‘
Unsigned Hype, by Booker T. Mattison (206 pages) – Fifteen-year-old Tory Tyson and his partner Fat Mike enter the Unsigned Hype contest on a radio station. If he makes it his whole life will change. BUT will he win?
First line: ‘Somebody’s banging on my front door and it’s rocking the house harder than the beat I’m laying down in my bedroom.‘
Academy 7, by Anne Osterlund (257 pages) – Aerin and Dane are both new to the most exclusive academy in the whole UNIVERSE. Their secrets will soon unite them in this genre-spanning sci-fi romance mystery.
First line: ‘Aerin tried to ignore the bloodstain on the control panel of the Fugitive.’
(There aren’t enough fishhooks.)
The Center of the Universe : Yep, That Would Be Me, by Anita Liberty (286 pages) – A ‘profound, touching and hilarious’ story of one girl’s junior and senior years at high school. I read parts! It IS hilarious.
First lines: ‘My name is Anita Li … That was stupid. Why am I introducing myself?‘
Chasing the Bear : A Young Spenser Novel, by Robert B. Parker (169 pages) – Robert B. Parker has written a LOT of novels about Spenser, a private eye who solves mysteries. They’re all in the adult fiction collection. This book is for younger readers and is about Spenser’s youth in Wyoming.
First line: ‘I was sitting with the girl of my dreams on a bench in the Boston Public Garden watching the swan boats circle the little lagoon.‘
Would You Rather?, by Chris Higgins (261 pages)
Serendipity Market, by Penny Blubaugh (268 pages)
Rowan the Strange, by Julie Hearn (332 pages)
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.
Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, by Beth Fantaskey (354 pages) – Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess, according to new exchange student, Lucius Vladescu. So now Jessica must transform herself from ‘average American teenager to a glam European vampire princess’. It sure ain’t easy.
First line: ‘The first time I saw him, a heavy, gray fog clung to the cornfields, tails of mist slithering between the dying stalks.‘
Witch and Wizard, by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet (329 pages) – This is the first in Patterson’s latest series. Whit and Wisty Allgood are accused of witchcraft and are thrown into prison, along with thousands of other young people. The New Order are out to get all users of magic and crush all expressions of art and liberty. It’s 1984 meets Harry Potter! At last!
First line: ‘It’s overwhelming.’
Homestretch, by Paul Volponi (151 pages) – Seventeen-year-old Gas runs away from his abusive father and finds work on a racetrack in Arkansas. His new job challenges his racism and he also becomes a jockey! He is short.
First line: ‘I’ve always been small – the shortest kid in my class, from kindergarten through the end of my junior year in high school.‘
The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams (213 pages) – Kyra is thirteen, and lives in a religious community where men have lots of wives. She’s been told she will have to marry a 60-year-old who already has six wives. She’s been reading forbidden books (from a library! yay, libraries) and knows she’s got to get out. But how?
First line: ‘“If I was going to kill the Prophet,” I say, not even keeping my voice low, “I’d do it in Africa.”‘
Fire, by Kristin Cashore (491 pages) – A companion book to Graceling (there is one common character). So! If you liked that you will like this, according to Grimm. ‘Cool cover,’ she adds.
First line: ‘Larch often thought that if it had not been for his newborn son, he would never have survived his wife Mikra’s death.‘
Cupid’s Arrow, by Isabelle Merlin (336 pages) – Fleur’s mother inherits a ‘magnificant’ library that belonged to a famous French author, so they head to the ancient French town of Avallon. That sounds like the best thing ever! Mais non! ‘Fleur’s nightmare is just about to begin …’
First lines: ‘I’m running. Running very fast. Running for my life.‘
Secrets at St Jude’s : Jealous Girl, by Carmen Reid (226 pages) – Gina is from L.A. and spends her time in pools, malls, and so on. But she also has to go to school in Scotland, where it rains and is probably a little less glamorous although there are castles and the Edinburgh festival, surely? But it’s all good, and Gina has loads of friends at St Jude’s.
First line: ‘”Gina, you can NOT go back there! You just can NOT leave us again!” Ria was lying back on a lilo in the pool, dangling a tanned arm into the cool turquoise-blue water.‘
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld (440 pages) – This sounds pretty great, I think! ‘In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.’ The book has terrific illustrations throughout.
First line: ‘The Austrian horses glinted in the moonlight, their riders standing tall in the saddle, swords raised.‘
Exam Stress? No Worries, by Su Dorland (254 pages) – Here’s a guide to overcoming the anxiety that many feel before exams. There are techniques you can use to relax, and – AND! – it comes with a CD with ‘visualisation and relaxation tracks to help you stay calm and focused, and sleep well at exam time.’ Very timely.
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.
Raewyn’s latest book review!
Devil’s Kiss, by Sarwat Chadda – A Knights Templar! Who would have guessed that she could be one of them? Billi had thought it was a wonderful thing to be chosen as one of this elite fighting group when she was only 10 but now at 15 she has bruises everywhere and her Ordeal is to kill a boy of 6! Well actually it is a demon inside the body of a 6 year old boy but you have to be up really close to tell that. Then her friend Kay returns from Jeruselem and she is having to learn a lot more about how much evil there is in the world. When Kay looks into the Cursed Mirror and opens a portal to the other side things start to get weird. But when she is asked out on a date with a handsome young man she starts to think about doing normal things for a change – or is this just the beginning of the end?
Fairies are having a renaissance, (thankfully not just fairies of the Rainbow Magic variety) so it’s really easy to find books and whatnot that feature them. This is not so much a Top 10 as it is a selection.
Some things to note about lots of fairy books in 2009:
Supernatural romances are super hot right now, for a few reasons (well, four plus a couple of movies), and there are quite a few trilogies making waves. I’ve taken a deep breath and read three of them: The Mortal Instruments trilogy, by Cassandra Clare; Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr (there’s another one to come next year); and A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray.
The Hype
There’s internet hype a-plenty for Cassandra Clare (see here, and here for example). Fragile Eternity had a book trailer (you can visit it at YouTube here: I won’t embed it because I’m really not sure I approve of book trailers, since you don’t get to imagine what characters look like and all. He’s no Seth, that’s for sure) that made people oo and ah. Being smart writers, they all blog.
The World
Set in the late 19th Century and mostly in England, Libba Bray’s story is a bit different from the others; Melissa Marr and Cassandra Clare’s books are more urban fantasy. While MM’s books focus solely on faeries, CC’s contain basically every supernatural fantastical creature there is – a melting pot/United Nations sort of deal, which is apt since home base is New York.
The Writing
Libba Bray’s books contain a lot of dense, wordy description which is great if you love dense, wordy description but not so great if you like your books to, you know, move along at pace. The dialogue is witty (actually, witty dialogue happens in all three). As far as style goes, there’s a bit of cringing to be had in the Mortal Instruments trilogy, which needed a really good edit and didn’t get one. I got memorably fed up with being told what everyone was wearing all the time, especially in the heat of battle. Wicked Lovely (and the others by Melissa Marr) rips along at a pace similar to Stephenie Meyer’s books, so don’t start it late at night.
The Most Perfectest Man Ever?
Tell me I’m making generalisations if you like, but there’s hot competition at the moment over who can write the perfect man. In this instance we have in the red corner… Seth (WL etc). Seth could make you love multiple piercings. He’s arty, intelligent, attractive, sensitive, calm, patient, doesn’t think you’re mad if you tell him you see faeries, and (most importantly) has definition in his arms. In the blue corner there’s Kartik (AGATB etc), who also has definition, is the last word in mysterious, doesn’t mind that the girl in question has tendencies towards being a raving feminist ahead of her time, and to top it off, said girl’s friends all think he’s an exotic beauty. Finally, in the annoying corner there’s Jace (MI), although he still manages to impress the odd reader.
The Romance
There’s romance, for sure, in varying quantities, using the tried and true love triangle formula. Gemma (AGATB) must choose between traditional Victorian courtship with the dashing Simon or her less conventional dealings with the aforementioned Kartik. Ash (WL) is a really sensible girl, which is just as well when she’s faced with a choice between a beautiful faery king who’s out to claim her and, well, Seth. Clary (MI) has the option of Simon the friend or Jace, shadowhunter extraordinaire, whose relationship to Clary takes many, many twists and turns. Simmering stuff.
The Big Showdown
There’s gruesomeness to be had. Not to give too much away, The Sweet Far Thing ends with a beautifully described apocalyptic battle to end all battles (this really isn’t giving too much away, honest), complete (possibly) with some tear jerking moments. Cassandra Clare worries a bit too much about what people are wearing, as mentioned earlier, but she’s not scared of injuring her characters which is good, because you’re more likely to worry for their safety. The big showdown is yet to happen in the Wicked Lovely world: will have to wait for next year.
If you love books in this genre there is a whole heap more out there, for example:
Evermore, by Alyson Noel. Psychic girl falls in love with an immortal boy.
Need, by Carrie Jones. Werewolves and pixies.
Wings, by Aprilynne Pike. Faeries again, this is the first of a planned series of four.
Impossible, by Nancy Werlin. Read a review at teenreads.com.
Read all this? Well Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is coming soon. Grace is a girl, haunted by a yellow eyed wolf; Sam is a yellow-eyed werewolf… (here’s an excerpt from teenreads.com).
Also, don’t forget Holly Black’s modern faerie tales.
ps “supernatural romance” isn’t a catchy enough name we decided, so what to call these books? Well, here were some suggestions (not all strictly relevant): supernatromance, phantasromance, zom-rom, boo woo, hell-odrama, vampmance, fantmance, horromance, creepy-crawly-lovey-dovey, unexplained flingnomena
If you liked Graceling by Kristin Cashore then you really should reserve Fire now. Due to be published in October this year (that’s like just two months now), Fire is described by Kristin Cashore as the “prequel-ish companion book” on her blog, which also now says that her third book will be about Bitterblue (the princess in Graceling), so there you go.
This week’s lot (in order of how many words make up the title):
Jatta, by Jenny Hale (464 pages) – a fantasy thriller replete with dragons, werewolves, and a mystery that begins with bloody paw prints.
First sentence: Princess Jatta woke on the cold marble floor, groaning weakly.
Posse, by Kate Welshman (278 pages) – things have been tense between best friends Amy and Clare, and when Clare disappears while they’re on Year 11 camp (Year 12 in New Zealand) there are more questions than answers; about what actually happened, about friendship…
First sentence: It’s the kind of heat you can’t escape.
Stolen, by Lucy Christopher (301 pages) – Gemma is kidnapped from an airport and taken to the Australian outback where her kidnapper, “expected [her] to love him.” Reviews all say this is a really well-written and moving story. It’s written as a letter from Gemma to her kidnapper, which is an interesting angle.
First sentence: You saw me before I saw you.
Jinxed, by Sara Lawrence (331 pages) – on a rather different note, the cover of Jinxed says “It’s spring term at Stagmount and love has never felt so naughty.” Set in a riotous boarding school in Brighton.
Resistance, by Craig Simpson (357 pages) – set in Norway during World War II; a story about Resistance freedom fighters, sabotage and courage.
First sentence: Her dying cry echoed across the Hardanger plateau.
Bloodline Rising, by Katy Moran (343 pages) – set in the dark ages and the sequel to Bloodline, Cai is captured in Constantinople and sent to Britain where he’s taken in by Wulfhere, prince of Mercia. When war threatens Cai must choose between his own life and that of his new clan’s.
First sentence: The young man moved like a cat: quick, sure.
Blood Water, by Dean Vincent Carter (248 pages) – a deadly parasite has gone missing, threatening to kill everyone in the town and Sean and James must track it down and destroy it before it does so.
First sentence: I managed to steal another hour in the laboratory tonight to examine the specimen before retiring to bed.
Bad Company, by Mike Walker (264 pages) – a story of modern day piracy and people smuggling on the Indian Ocean, with just a small amount of romance thrown in.
First sentence: If Lewis Hamilton hadn’t snatched fifth place in Brazilian and won the World Championship I wouldn’t have been stuck with three thieving bastards on a leaking ship in the Indian Ocean with a pirate holding a gun in my face screaming that he was going to blow my head away.
‘Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?’, by Louise Rennison (315 pages) – the final fab confessions, with some unexpected spelling in the title (bas? baz?). The shiny gold cover is calling “Read me! Read me!” If you get a bit lost there’s a comprehensive glossary of Georgia terms in the back.
First sentence(s): Why. Oh why oh why?
New books for the week - part two.
Eagle Day, by Robert Muchamore (405 pages) – The much-awaited latest book in the Henderson’s Boys series. Charles Henderson is a British spy, who leads some kids in actions against the Germans during WWII (it’s not set in the present, obviously). There’s an official website with all kinds of interesting content and downloads.
First line: ‘It was eleven at night, but the port of Bordeaux crackled with life.’
Goldstrike, by Matt Whyman (265 pages) – Teen hacker Carl is being pursued by a bounty hunter and an al-Queda assassin. His only recourse is to hide out in a warehouse guarded by Cleo, a hyper-super-computer that doesn’t like intruders …
First line: ‘In black suits and dark glasses, the three men stand out among the throng.‘
Stolen, by Vivian Vande Velde (158 pages) – On the same day that a child-stealing witch is supposedly immolated in a house-fire, a girl appears in the forest with no memory of where she’s from. Could she have been taken by the witch six years earlier?
First line: ‘The old witch saw that she had gone too far.‘
Eternal, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (307 pages) – Miranda’s life is saved by her guardian angel, Zachary, but she’s consequently converted into a vampire. She is adopted by the King of the Mantle of Dracul, and Zachary pretends to be her assistant in an effort to save her soul. Has werewolves and romance also.
First line: ‘I may be heaven-sent, but I’m not perfect.‘
The Bower Bird, by Ann Kelley (196 pages) – Twelve-year-old Gussie has many plans; she wants to be a photographer, loves animals, and needs to cope with her parents’ divorce. Alas! She also needs a heart and lung transplant, and time isn’t on her side.
First lines: ‘We’ve been here for two weeks. I’m still not well enought to start at the local school.‘
Plague of the Undead : Chronicles of Blood, by Gary Cross (300 pages) – It’s 1650, and Lucius’ father – a newly-made vampire – has just killed his family. Lucius survived, and joins an elite band of vampire hunters, tracking down the master vampire who wants to turn the world into a vampire race. Written by a NZer!
First line: ‘The boy knew his father was going to kill him.‘
Fat Hoochie Prom Queen, by Nico Medina (290 pages) – Margarita “Madge” Diaz is ‘fat, foxy, and fabulous’; she and her rival, student-body president Bridget Benson, decide to compete with one another be named prom queen. The loser will back off, for good. Both will do whatever it takes to win.
First line: ‘I hate Bridget Benson.‘
Saving Rafael, by Leslie Wilson (410 pages) – Jenny and Raf are in love, but they live in Nazi-ruled Berlin – and Raf is Jewish. They join with others who must try to stay alive and eventually flee from immense danger.
First line: ‘We were in a cow byre, ten of us, cleaning out the stalls in our thin striped calico skirts and jackets.‘
Blood Sun, by David Gilman (400 pages) – This is the third in the Danger Zone series of books about eco-hero teen Max Gordon. Official website here!
First lines: ‘Darkness devoured him. Eyes wide with terror, he saw only the gaping void, heard his desperate breathing hammering through his skull as the rasping one-eyed monster pursued him.‘
Raven Rise : Pendragon Book Nine, by D. J. Machale (544 pages) – book nine is the second to last in the series and finds Bobby Pendragon trapped and the final battle for Halla about to begin. Can he save the world? The book cover says this is The Lord of the Rings for the Alex Rider generation. Discuss.
First sentence(s): “Ibara!” The tunnel remained silent.
Ghost Medicine, by Andrew Smith (357 pages) – After the death of his mother, Troy just wants to spend the summer hanging out with his friends and being sort of invisible, but life gets in the way with complex, dangerous twists and turns.
First sentence: I can see myself lying in the dirt, on my back, on a warm, starry night, with my feet up on those rocks, ringing a swirling and noisy fire, listening, laughing, seeing the sparks that corkscrew, spinning above me into the black like dying stars, fading, disappearing, becoming something else; my hat back on my head so I can just see my friends from the corners of my eyes.
Half Way to Good, by Kirsten Murphy (320 pages) – from the back cover: “A funny and moving novel about dealing with love, death and everything in between.”
First sentence: Waiting wasn’t anyone’s idea of fun.
The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim C. Hines (344 pages) – Cinderella (real name Danielle) is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte shortly after her (Cinderella, that is) marries Prince Armand. Martial arts expert and fairy-blessed Talia – or Sleeping Beauty – comes to the rescue, but not before Armand is taken to the Realm of the Fairies. Talia, and Snow White, both part of the Queen’s Secret Service, join with Danielle to get Armand back.
First line: ‘Danielle Whiteshore, formerly Danielle de Glas, would never be a proper princess.‘
The Poison Garden, by Sarah Singleton (284 pages) – Thomas’ recently deceased grandmother leaves him a magic box that enables him to enter a mysterious garden. He encounters her ghost there, where she reveals that she belonged to arcane guild of chemists. She was poisoned during a struggle for power, and now Thomas must find the murderer before he himself becomes a victim.
First line: ‘High in the tower the bell tolled, counting out eleven hours.‘
Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, by Narinder Dhami (247 pages) – A gunman is rumoured to be somewhere in Mia’s school, and the place is being evacuated. Mia has a dreadful feeling that the gunman is her brother, Jamie, who has been acting very weird lately. Can she get to him in time? This book has a terrific twist at the end that’s right I read the end first
First line: ‘The scene is normal: a family at breakfast on Monday morning before the kids go off to school.‘
In brief:
Brown Skin Blue, by Belinda Jeffrey (211 pages)
Butterfly, by Sonya Hartnett (214 pages)
Lunch with Lenin and Other Stories, by Deborah Ellis (169 pages) – a collection of short stories about teens whose lives are affected by the drug trade.
There are heaps of new books this week. Heaps!
The Dead Girls’ Dance : The Morganville Vampires Book Two, by Rachel Caine (248 pages)
Midnight Alley : The Morganville Vampires Book Three, by Rachel Caine (245 pages)
Feast of Fools : The Morganville Vampires Book Four, by Rachel Caine (242 pages)
Lord of Misrule : The Morganville Vampires Book Five, by Rachel Caine (244 pages) – These bring the library’s collection of these big-in-the-US vampire books up-to-date. The next book is due out this month, and book six is due later this year.
Damosel : In Which the Lady of the Lake Renders a Frank and Often Startling Account of Her Wondrous Life and Times, by Stephanie Spinner (198 pages) – The Lady of the Lake, as everyone knows, was the one who gave King Arthur his sword. This is as adaption of the myth with her as its central character.
First line: ‘I am so well versed in The Rules Governing the Ladies of the Lake that I could recite them backward on a dare, but the wisdom I treasure most was gleaned not from that vast, ancient compendium, but from my own earnest blundering.‘
Something, Maybe, by Elizabeth Scott (217 pages) – Hannah’s parents are famous and notorious, and she’s managed to live life under the radar. But! Nothing is ever that simple, especially with crazy parents and falling in lurve.
First line: ‘Everyone’s seen my mother naked.‘
Highway to Hell, by Rosemary Clement-Moore (357 pages) -Maggie Quinn and friend Lisa look forward to spending their spring break (which is a holiday in the US when everyone goes to the beach) in a waterfront hotel and taking a break from fighting evil. But! They get stuck in a small town in Texas, where weird, probably evil things are happening.
First line: ‘Some people think that Texas has only one season, that it’s summer all year long.‘
Walkaway, by Alden R. Carter (202 pages) – Andy is fed up with his family and decides to walk away, into the Wisconsin woods. His skills allow him to survive but can he escape own ‘emotional demons’? It’s like Man vs Wild but with a dysfunctional family.
First line: ‘I’m between the car and the garage door.‘
First Strike, by Jack Higgins and Justin Richards (295 pages) – Twins Jade and Rich have saved the life of the US President, and during a tour of the White House they find themselves embroiled in a potential third world war.
First line: ‘Rich watched the tanks rolling down the main street.‘
Jarvis 24, by David Metzenthen (255 pages) – So far, Marc E. Jarvis has lost a white football boot, a school tie and a best friend. But when he completes ‘work experience’ at a local car yard he is truly shaken up. Then he meets Electra and nothing will ever be the same again. (From the book cover)
First line: ‘I tend to worry, I know I do, but only because I think there is lots of things to worry about.‘
The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A. S. King (330 pages) – In the seventeenth century, ‘famed teenage pirate’ Emer Morrisey was cursed to have to live the lives of 100 dogs. Now, centuries later, she’s a contempary American teenager with only one goal; to dig up her buried treasure in Jamaica.
First line: ‘With one last, almighty roar, the Frenchman fell to his knees and died.‘
Freefall : Book Three of The Tunnels Series, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams (579 pages) – This follows Tunnels and Deeper in a series. A pretty popular series, too. Learn more about it all at the official website.
First line: ‘“Herrrrrph,” Chester Rawls groaned softly to himself.‘
The Thirteenth Child : Frontier Magic Book 1, by Patricia Wrene (344 pages) – Eff is a thirteenth child (bringing bad luck), and her twin brother is a seventh son (bringing good luck); I had to think about this for a few moments, but it does make sense. Their father is to be a professor of magic at the frontier (the magical divide that protects settlers from the beasts of the wilderness) and all kinds of crazy stuff goes down.
First line: ‘ Everybody knows that a seventh son is lucky.’
In brief:
Triple Shot Bettys In Love, by Jody Gehrman (249 pages)
Running on the Cracks, by Julia Donaldson (335 pages)
A Year in Girl Hell 2 : Dumped, by Meredith Costain (154 pages)
The Sweetest Thing : An Inside Girl Novel, by J. Minter (248 pages)
Usually set in the 19th century (where steam was the superpower), but containing elements of fantasy or science fiction, steampunk stuff features a lot of machinery with cogs, knobs, levers and most importantly steam. Think magnificent flying machines and infernal devices (courtesy of Philip Reeve, K W Jeter and soon, worryingly, Cassandra Clare)… Leonardo-type contraptions without the linseed oil.
And some movies:
Interested in doing some research? Start by checking the links on the Wikipedia page.
A few extras to finish the week.
The Ask and the Answer, by Patrick Ness (519 pages) – the sequel to the multi award winning The Knife of Never Letting Go (which glared at me from my bedroom floor for four weeks before I concluded it wasn’t going to get read, for which I have a sense of un-achievement). Things aren’t going well for Todd; Viola is in the hands of Mayor Prentiss and he (Todd) has been imprisoned, then there’s the question of the Answer: who are they? Very cool cover.
First sentence: “Your noise reveals you, Todd Hewitt.”
Worldshaker, by Richard Harland (366 pages) – Worldshaker is a mobile city and Col is one of the privileged inhabitants. Then one day a girl called Filthy escapes and appears in his cabin. What follows is full of twists and turns, as any good action packed novel should be.
First sentence: A sound brought Col out of a deep sleep.
The 13 Treasures, by Michelle Harrison (326 pages) – Tanya uncovers an unsolved mystery while visiting her grandmother; a story of missing persons, magic and secrets. There’s a sequel planned for next year.
First sentence: She was aware of their presence in the room before she even awoke.
Frenemies, by Alexa Young (245 pages) – As the name suggests, Avalon Greene and Halley Brandon are about to have their friendship severly tested; by each other.
First sentence: Halley Brandon had survived the impossible: two whole months away from her best friend in the world.
Love and Kisses, by Jean Ure (254 pages) – Tamsin’s never had a boyfriend, until she meets Alex, then she finds out how complicated having a boyfriend can be sometimes and how hard it can be to “do the right thing”.
First sentence: I’ll never forget the day I first saw Alex.
Some new non-fiction:
War Is, edited by Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell (200 pages) – a collection of fiction and nonfiction on the subject of war.
Weighing it Up, by Ali Valenzuela (186 pages) – “a teenager’s frank account of her struggle with anorexia” says the cover.
New fiction on compact disc:
The Road of Bones, by Anne Fine (6 CDs, read by Tom Lawrence) – a story of freedom of expression set in an oppressive state.
Well better late than never, here’s the promised next batch of new books.
Dark Calling, by Darren Shan (216 pages) – this is Book 9 of The Demonata. The series will reach an earth-shattering conclusion next year with Hell’s Heroes, says the back pages. Can you wait? In Dark Calling Kernel Fleck is in a personal hell worse than hell – can he resist?
First sentence: A small, wiry, scorpion-shaped demon with a semi-human face drives its stinger into my right eye.
Dark Angels, by Katherine Langrish (346 pages) – Wolf has run away from the monastery where he was raised and finds himself on Devil’s Edge, a dark hillside infested with evil supernatural figures and haunted by ghosts. Set in and inspired by the world view of the Middle Ages.
First sentence: The first time the horn sounded on the hill, Wolf mistook it for a sheep bleating or a bird crying, and thought no more of it.
Falling, by Sharon Dogar (344 pages) – a love story with a twist: Neesha has overwhelming, repeated fragmentary nightmares about a girl falling in what appears to be the past. When she meets Sammy he appears to be her “rescuer”, and they are drawn to each other, but are they both repeating an old, nightmarish love affair that ended very badly?
First sentence: I saw a picture once.
Last of the Braves, by Archimede Fusillo (233 pages) – the back cover says “Under the influence of his idol. the hot-headed seventeenth-century Italian painter Caravaggio, Alex draws his mate Ces into an uncontrollable cycle of destruction and hurt.”
First sentence: Alex drew the serrated knife heavily along the bottom of his empty plate, his eyes fixed on a spot right at its centre.
Hell Week, by Rosemary Clement-Moore (327 pages) – Maggie Quinn fights supernatural baddies (demons and the like), but has she met more than she bargained for in the hellish cesspit that is sorority rush on a college campus?
First sentence: Bright teeth flashed; I fought the instinct to recoil.
Blue Flame, by K M Grant (241 pages) – Book One of the Perfect Fire trilogy. Set in the 12th century, the Blue Flame is a treasure everyone wants, and having it means power, but nobody seems to know its true meaning. Parsifal (an Occitanian knight) must enlist the help of Raimon (the son of a weaver) in order to prevent the destruction of the Occitanians.
First sentence: Last night I thought I saw them again: Raimon, throwing out his arms to the wind; Yolanda, delighting in the clear water running between her toes; and Parsifal, sitting near Yolanda, polishing his father’s sword.
Fen Runners, by John Gordon (136 pages) – another horror story for you. Tom Townsend lost the blade of his skate in an accident on the frozen fens years ago, and since then has been plagued by nightmares. His granddaughter, Jenny, is haunted too, and then her friend Kit pulls something out of the fen water.
First sentence: They stood with their toes curled over the edge of the bridge and looked briefly into the distance.
Pop Princess, by Isabelle Merlin (326 pages) – the cover of this book is all Chick Lit, but I’m not judging. Lucie Rees is an ordinary Australian teenager until she finds herself living in Paris working as a companion to Arizona Kingdom, a troubled pop star. Danger is involved.
First sentence: The most important moments of your life aren’t the ones you plan for.
Wings, by Aprilynne Pike (360 pages) – Laurel thinks she’s ordinary, but she’s about to find out that’s not the case: the subtitle of the book says “A new kind of faerie tale.”
First sentence: Laurel’s shoes flipped a cheerful rhythm that defied her dark mood.
The Musician’s Daughter, by Susanne Dunlap (317 pages) – a story of murder and perhaps love set in the Esterhazy court in eighteenth-century Vienna. The musician’s daughter is Theresa, who becomes Haydn’s copyist after her father dies mysteriously.
First sentence: The night it all began I dreamt that Papa returned from the concert with a new violin for me.
Fate, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (354 pages) – the sequel to Tattoo, this is set two years later. Bailey Morgan continues to lead a double life; ordinary high school student by day and “ancient mystical being” by night. Senior year may be complicated, but it’s nothing compared to her other life as the third Fate.
First sentence: Life.
There are new books in this week. (The old books may be in the library’s booksale which is on right now.)
Theodork, by Jessica Green (177 pages) – On his first day in year seven Theo is rather cruelly labelled a dork, and all his efforts to reverse this only make things worse. A comedy.
First sentence: ‘I’m lying here in hospital, one arm in plaster, two legs hanging from a frame, and bruises fading in places I’d rather not think about.‘
Keepinitreal, by Don Henderson (229 pages) – A bike gang war is started when Kid Kabula knocks Fatts Charvetto into a pond display at the local mall. Whichsoundsabitroughbutshouldbeokayintheend.
First sentence: ‘Because this is pretty much a story about how I stopped being an egg-heaed idiot, I might as well start at the moment Kid Kabula exploded through the upstairs doors of the Victory Garden Mall.‘
Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve (321 pages) – A new book in the Infernal Engines world; huge, armoured fortresses that move across the wastelands. The book has a neat cover!
First sentence: ‘That morning they were making paper boys.‘
Gauntanamo Boy, by Anna Perera (339 pages) – Khalid, a British teenager, goes to Pakistan to see his family. There he is kidnapped and forced into a prison in Cuba called Guantanamo Bay, which you may have heard about in recent years.
First sentence: ‘ Sometimes, Khalid things as he drags himself home after another boring day at school, I’d rather be anywhere but here.’
Nathaniel Wolfe and the Bodysnatchers, by Brian Keane (197 pages) – Ghost hunter, Nathaniel Wolfe, must travel to the Other Side to vanquish whatever it is that the bodysnatchers plundering the graveyard have stirred up.
First sentence: ‘Lady Huntercombe was a thin woman with a pointed nose and rather distrustful expression.‘
The Game of Triumphs, by Laura Powell (308 pages) – Fifteen-year-old Cat enters a dangerous world called The Arcanum, where a deadly card game is played out in this mix of reality of fantasy.
First sentence: ‘It was his breathing that she noticed first: the hoarse, ragged wheezes of someone who has been running hard.‘
The Madman of Venice, by Sophie Masson (293 pages) - A vengeful Venetian Countess, a girl accused of witchcraft, a horde of pirates, murder and secrecy, and a madman that haunts the city - Venice, 1602, has it all, and English merchant Matthew Ashby, his daughter and his young assistant must investigate.
First sentence: ‘The city is a riot of laughter and parties and noise.‘
Love, Lies and Lizzie, by Rosie Rushton (216 pages) – This is the fourth of Rosie Rushton’s Austen adaptions. This time she’s updated Pride and Prejudice for the 21st Century. Lizzie Bennet and her sisters are ’swept up in a glamorous life of partying and country pursuits’.
First sentences: ‘“So you dumped him? Just like that? In the middle of the school trip? Are you crazy?”‘
The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan (310 pages) – From the catalogue – Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead. Creepy!
First sentence: ‘My mother used to tell me about the ocean.‘
Solar Nation, by Erica Blaney (344 pages) – Solly and Lalune must lead the people of Clandoi out of the darkness and into the sun. Sci fi! A sequel to Cyber Nation.
First sentence: ‘”Ruined!” bellowed the cook, hurling a pan of scalded soup out of the door.‘
Being Nikki, by Meg Cabot (336 pages) – This is the second in Cabot’s Airhead series of books, about Emerson Watts, a ‘braniac in the body of a teenage supermodel’ – a mixture of sci fi, romance, mystery, and chick(en) lit.
First sentence: ‘I’m cold.‘
Thought I’d have a look at what’s coming out this year in the way of sequels and nexts in series and all that: it’s an interesting collection. I will let you know when the selectors place orders for these titles (so new they’re not even in the catalogue!) so you can reserve the ones you’re eager to read.
Fire by Kristin Cashore (if you like the books by Cassandra Clare you should have a look at Graceling (and reserve Fire when you can)). Kristin Cashore was getting rave reviews for Graceling pretty much before the book was even published. We at the library thought it was a pretty good fantasy, although the villain could have been made more of: he had the potential to be a lot more menacing. The book covers are gorgeous (exhibit A to the right).
Daniel X: Watch the Skies – did you like The Dangerous Days of Daniel X? Well, this year he’s back in a second book. James Patterson’s website is frankly unforthcoming with info about what’s going to happen, but Amazon thinks it knows: an evil villain has ridden into the town of Holliswood and there’s only one person who can sort him out (but can he be sorted out at all?).
Then from the prolific Robert Muchamore stable there’s Eagle Day (Henderson’s Boys) and Brigands M.C. (CHERUB). Eagle Day finds Henderson’s Boys embroiled in the Battle of Britain, and the M.C. in Brigands M.C. stands for Motorcycle Club, as in the gang that killed Dante’s family.
Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson). She’s back. If you want to know what she’s up to in her tenth book the best place to go is the, fittingly, hideously pink website for a synopsis.
Of course, I’m anticipating with interest Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Will there be enough romance to keep the Twilight fans happy and for it to be the next big thing?
And for next year: if you’re into Cassandra Clare and you’re a bit miffed that the Mortal Instruments trilogy is only a trilogy and it’s all been published (with the concluding book City of Glass), you’ll be interested to know that she’s currently writing another trilogy (The Infernal Devices) about the Downworlders and set in Victorian England. Her titles are very Philip Reeve.
For people wanting another gut-wrenching reading experience, look no further than the third book in the “Moon Crash Trilogy” by Susan Beth Pfeffer, titled This World We Live In (check out this interview), also due to be published next year.
In the Who Knows? category we have Book 4 of the Inheritance Cycle (Christopher Paolini) and Book 4 in the Queen’s Thief series (Megan Whalen Turner – supposedly 2010 but still called blightingly “Title Unknown”). Hurry up people.
Just so you’re up with the play (and sorted according to the colour of the cover):
Pinkish covers:
Mates, Dates: The Secret Story, by Cathy Hopkins (196 pages) – the back cover says “at last the full story of Tony and Lucy’s romance can be revealed.” Which must be a good thing if you’re a Mates, Dates fan. You get both sides of the story, too.
First sentence (Lucy’s side): It was a moment that was to change my life for ever.
Parties & Potions, by Sarah Mlynowski (340 pages) – teen witches have a lot of fun; they can throw awesome parties by using their powers, also producing backstage passes and magicking themselves to exotic locations. Life seems idyllic, except if your boyfriend’s not a witch and you don’t want him to know your secret.
First sentence: Do I like red?
Reddish/orangeish covers:
No More Us for You, by David Hernandez (281 pages) – the story of Carlos and Isabel and how they connect over the course of a few weeks, told in chapters alternating points of view.
First sentence (from Carlos): So there I was, sitting on my folding chair, my first day as a guard at the Long Beach Contemporary Museum, when a man walked in and stood with his back turned to me, arms dangling at his sides.
Zombie Queen of Newbury High, by Amanda Ashby (199 pages) – Amanda Ashby very kindly did an interview with us in February. Zombie Queen sees Mia bungling a love spell that ends up zombifying her entire class with rather tricky, messy consequences.
First sentence: Mia Everett was doomed.
Purplish covers (purple is the colour of choice today):
Bloodhound, by Tamora Pierce (549 pages – including glossary etc) – the second Beka Cooper book. Beka Cooper is now a fully-fledged member of the Provost’s Guard. When counterfeit coins begin appearing in Port Caynn she and her partner Clary are sent to investigate.
First sentence: I should have known tonight’s watch would kiss the mule’s bum when Sergeant Ahuda stopped me after baton training.
Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr (the third in the series behind Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange, 389 pages) – “Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos” (book cover).
First sentence: Seth knew the moment Aislinn slipped into the house; the slight rise in temperature would’ve told him even if he hadn’t seen the glimmer of sunlight in the middle of the night.
The Last Thing I Remember, by Andrew Klavan (282 pages) – normally Charlie leads an uncomplicated life, worrying about the usual things… until he wakes up one day in a windowless cell and hears someone ordering his execution. The last thing he remembers is falling asleep (at home, in his bed), so how has he got into this mess? And how will he get out?
First sentence: Suddenly I woke up, strapped to a chair.
The Gimlet Eye (Quentaris: Quest of the Lost City), by James Roy (226 pages) – the Archon is dead and things are changing, darkly, and Tab and her friends realise they’re Quentaris’ only hope.
First sentence: The Archon is dying.
Blueish covers:
Kyla, by Frances Cherry (191 pages) – Kyla’s beloved grandmother Nora has died and Kyla is sent to live with her aunt. She hates her new life and to feel better about it she makes up stories, but then the lies get hard to manage.
First sentence: As soon as I see the doctor’s face, I know Nora is dead.
The Scarecrow, by Sean Williams (continuing from The Dust Devils, 175 pages) – Ros is on a mission to drop the crystal containing the Golem of Omus to the bottom of the ocean, but the journey is complex and fraught, and the Scarecrow in question is some frightening half-man thing that’s keen to get its hands on said crystal.
First sentence: Somewhere between Chemaly and Smerdon, Ros suspected they had become lost.
Godmother: the Secret Cinderella Story, by Carolyn Turgeon (275 pages) – vamping on the Cinderella story: Lillian can make wishes come true, which seems ideal and fun really, except she has a dark past and a guilty secret that keeps her trapped in a spell and in Manhattan, far from home and happiness.
First sentence: I loved arriving at the bookstore first thing in the morning, when the streets were still quiet, the sun half risen, and the whole place felt like a secret meeting room.
Greenish covers:
The Soul Trade, by E. E. Richardson (282 pages) – Nick’s happy when the shopkeeper at Bargains (the shop) accepts his artwork as payment, but then he finds himself trapped in a nasty job he didn’t bargain for: will he ever get out?
First sentence: It was getting late, it was getting dark, and Nick was running out of options.
Max, by James Patterson (309 pages) – Max is back. Something is lurking in the depths of the ocean and it’s not nice, and then there’s the criminal mastermind watching Max and the flock’s every move…
First sentence: There.
Yellowish covers (sort of):
One Trick Pony, by Daniella Brodsky (279 pages) – One Trick Pony is the name of the coffeehouse where Jesse and his friends hang out. When a mysterious French woman takes over the coffee house, with her delicious coffee, Jesse and his friends find their lives are changing in interesting ways.
The Winds of Heaven, by Judith Clarke (268 pages) – “Judith Clarke tells a moving and beautiful story as she traces the lives of two young women, separated by circumstance, but linked forever by blood and friendship.” (Book cover)
First sentence: These days Clementine has visions.
Also in brief (and purplish and greenish covers):
Wild Orchid, by Cameron Dokey – a retelling of “The Ballad of Mulan”
The Rose Bride, by Nancy Holder – a retelling of “The White Bride and the Black Bride”
The Night Dance, by Suzanne Weyn – a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”
The book with the cool, long title, Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room) by Ysabeau S. Wilce, has been acknowledged at the annual Nebula Awards, being given the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (a suitably long award title).
Flora fans will be chuffed to hear this. If you’re a Flora fan and you feel so moved, you can send us a review. We’re curious to hear about the books (the other is Flora Segunda, being the magickal mishaps of a girl of spirit, her glass-gazing sidekick, two ominous butlers (one blue), a house with eleven thousand rooms, and a red dog).
It’s time to list the new YA books that are in this week! (Among them are a bunch of new Naruto comics, but I won’t write them up.)
Robert Pattinson : True Love Never Dies, by Josie Rusher (62 pages) – This is a biography of the Twilight actor whose angular cheekbones and floppy hair have charmed fans all over the world. This book is full of photographs, and interesting facts – he doesn’t like ugg boots, for example.
If you like this book you will like this: the newest promotional poster for New Moon. Link sent in by a reader thanks!
Living Dead Girl, by Elizabeth Scott (170 pages) – This rather grim tale is about Alice, who is abducted by someone when 10-years-old and held captive for years. Has an edge-of-your-seat ending.
First sentence: ‘This is how things look: Shady Pines Apartments, four shabby buildings tucked off the road near the highway.‘
Colony, by J. A. Henderson (371 pages) – Thirty years ago a military research facility was destroyed by ants. The two survivors carry with them something terrible, something that becomes evident when their kids are hounded by the military.
First sentence: ‘The Mojave Desert: California, 1980 – The teenager woke up on the floor in the back of a bouncing jeep.’
Solace of the Road, by Siobhan Dowd (260 pages) - Holly is sick and tired of her foster-child-life and all it entails. So she dons a blond wig, calls herself Solace, and heads off through Ireland to find her mother. ‘Bittersweet, gritty, and laced with humour,’ the back cover says.
First sentence: ‘I breezed down the line of cars, so cool you’d never have known I was looking for a way to board the boat.‘
Cruel Summer, by Alyson Noel (229 pages) – Colby Cavendish ditches her dorky image and her dorky best friend and dreams of a summer spent larking it up on the beach. But! Her parents send her to spend summer in Greece with her aunt. Which sounds great to me, but Colby isn’t having any of it. Until she meets Yanni, that is. Yannniiii.
First sentences: ‘“Dear Aunt Tally, when I asked my mom for your e-mail address, she just laughed and told me you didn’t have one. But I know she’s just joking - right?”‘
Auslander, by Paul Dowswell (295 pages) – Peter’s parents are killed and he is sent to an orphanage. Because of his blue eyes and blond hair he fulfills the Nazi ideal, and is quickly adopted. However, Peter doesn’t want to be a Nazi, and is going to take the most dangerous risk he could take in 1943 Berlin.
First sentence: ‘Piotr Bruck shivered in the cold as he waited with twenty or so other naked boys in the long draughty corridor.‘
Princess Ben : Being a Wholly Truthful Account of Her Various Discoveries and Misadventures, Recounted to the Best of Her Recollection, in Four Parts, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (344 pages) – A long title which doesn’t tell you all – Princess Ben, held by the nasty Queen Sophia, learns the magical arts and saves the kingdom!
First sentence: ‘How many times I have wondered what my fate might have been had I accompanied my parents that rainy spring morning.‘
The Nest, by Paul Jennings (247 pages) – This is Paul Jennings’ first book for older readers; you may be familiar with his many Unmentionable and Wicked books for kids. The Nest is similarly chilling – ‘dark, tense, and ultimately uplifting.’
First sentence: ‘Charlie’s on the stage trying to raise money to bring some Somali kids from Melborne to the snowfields.‘
If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (209 pages) – ‘Life is wonderful for seventeen-year-old Mia, a talented cellist with family, friends and boyfriend. But life can change in an instant – a terrible car accident and everything is different.’ (Lifted freely from the catalogue.)
First sentence: ‘Everyone thinks it was because of the snow.‘
Fireworks : Four Summer Stories, by Niki Burnham, Erin Haft, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle – This book contain four long-ish short stories about summer. Winter is about to kick in here, so perhaps this could be read indoors in front of the heater and you could pretend?
First sentence: ‘The sun is delicious on my skin as I drift lazily in my cousin Porter Ann’s pool.‘
Perfect Fifths, by Megan McCafferty – This is the fifth and final Jessica Darling book. Jessica and Marcus randomly bump into one another at an airport and stuff happens (according to someone who read it as soon as it arrived (I won’t name names)). It’s partly written from Marcus’ perspective. [This book contains, like, more than 50 haiku.]
First sentence: ‘When Jessica Darling blindly collides into Marcus Flutie on this crisp, unclouded January morning, she can’t remember the last time she had imagined where she would be – and where he would be – at the moment of their inevitable collision.‘
The Princess Plot, by Kirsten Boie (422 pages) – Jenna auditions for a part in a film about a princess, and much to her shock is given a part. She is flown to Scandia, where she discovers she’s the spitting image of the real Princess of Scandia who has gone missing. Intrigue ensues! Translated from German.
First sentence: ‘Scandia was in mourning.‘
Mad Dog Moonlight, by Pauline Fisk (246 pages)
Handcuffs, by Bethany Griffin (307 pages)
Earthless Trees : Short Stories by Young Refugees in New Zealand (131 pages)
Bedlam, by Ally Kennen (265 pages)
Before Midnight : A Retelling of Cinderella, by Cameron Dokey (193 pages)
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