Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. By Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. 2007. Copy supplied by publisher, Random House (imprint: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers).

The Plot:
Naomi and Ely are been best friends since forever; grade school, high school, and even college. Naomi loves Ely, Ely loves Naomi; Ely is gay, but that doesn't stop Naomi from believing that Ely, her best friend, is, well, the one. Despite the evidence to the contrary: gay, remember?

Naomi and Ely have a friendship preserving "no kiss" list; the cute doorman has just been added. Naomi didn't think she had to add Bruce the Second, her current boyfriend, to the list; wouldn't it be obvious?

But Ely kisses Bruce the Second. And it changes everything.

The Good:
Do girls like Naomi exist, for real? Both Naomi and Ely are New York City kids, thru and thru. Naomi is the gorgeous one: you can just imagine that the Eagles song is about her (city girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile.) She's gorgeous, all the guys fall for her, and she can seem like a total bitch.

But underneath -- Naomi is someone who has been betrayed and let down by almost everyone in her life. Everyone except for Ely. And then what does Ely do? Lets her down by kissing Bruce the Second. By falling in love with Bruce the Second. By falling in love with someone who isn't her. By having someone in his life who is more important than her.

Naomi is a hard girl to like; she can be a bitch. Hey, better to keep people away than to let hem hurt you. I'm not even sure I can say I like her; but do I understand her? Yes. And I'm intrigued that Cohn and Levithan took the risk of having such a hard person to like be at the heart of this book.

Also good: Cohn and Levithan did dual narrators in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist; here, there are multiple narrators, with Cohn and Levithan writing all voices. So we see people as they see themselves, as others see them; the masks they put on successfully, and the ones they don't realize they have on.

This is a book about the break up of a friendship; a friendship that is so close and tight, it didn't have room for anyone else. Oh, Naomi and Ely date others -- but their true loves and soulmates? Are each other. Naomi half realizes it, keeping boys at arms length (she's still a virgin); Ely has had many boyfriends, but it's all short, hot, romances, no real love. Naomi and Ely -- had this book been set in high school, ah, it would have been full of nights out and shared clothes and everyone in school half in awe, half in love with them. A world where NaomiandEly are one word, and they are the it couple who are not a couple. But can that intensity be maintained beyond high school? Should it?

Can that type of friendship survive growing up? Falling in love with someone else? No matter how glam and sexy and smart Naomi and Ely are together -- they are too close. They just don't realize it; until Ely kisses Bruce the Second. And Naomi begins to realize -- not that yes, Ely is really gay and so will never by her first lover or husband; but that yes, Naomi cannot be the most important person in Ely's life forever. And a girl who has been let down by her parents -- well, to Naomi, once she is no longer the most important person in Ely's life, its as if she is no longer the most important person in anyone's life. That's a lonely, cold place.

All too often, in teen books and movies and TV, there is friendship message that, well, friends are and will be BFF no matter what, if they just want to be. They ignore the reality that it is a healthy thing to grow up and perhaps apart; and to let in new people. It's refreshing to see this book address that; and to do so in a way where there are no good guys or bad guys, just flawed and very human teens trying to figure out who they are and what they want and who they want to be.

Other goods: While this is a book about breaking up, it's also a book about falling in love: Ely and Bruce the Second. And it's about Naomi being in love with Ely, and fighting against falling in love with someone who is a bit more available.

Final point: I heard David Levithan read a chapter of this in October. He is a fabulous speaker.

And, yes, it's one of my personal best books this year.

Links:
Kids Lit review
Propernoun review
sea heidi write review
emilyreads haiku
avenging sybil review
worth the trip review
2nd Gen Librarian review

Bradbury Season: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding

As Colleen explains at Chasing Ray, it's Bradbury Season: a time of possibility.

For Bradbury Season, I've chosen The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding. (library copy).

In the October 2006 issue of Bookslut, Collen Mondor wrote about Bradbury and October Country: "This is the time of year where the unexpected can take an ugly turn down alleyways and tunnels and your very own hallways and find its darkest corners."

What better example of the unexpected, the dark corners, than Alaizabel Cray?

The Plot:

Thaniel Fox, 17, is a wych-hunter in London, like his father before him. He's been trained since childhood, and he's good. He's hunting a particularly nasty wych-kin, the vampiric Cradlejack, when he discovers a beautiful girl, with no memory other than her name: Alaizabel Cray.

Thaniel tries to discover who she is, and where she comes from, and finds himself investigating a secret society, The Fraternity, that aims to take over London, and the world.

The Good:

One of my favorite books of all time. Alaizabel Cray is a wonderfully creepy horror story; it is complex, layered, logical.

Wooding excels at creating worlds that are layered and complex; I'm a bit impressed that he has so many standalones in a world of fantasy series. On the one hand, great to be read, knowing the end will be the end and not a cliffhanger. On the other, I'm impressed that he invests so much time in world and character building, yet then only uses those things for one book.

Alaizabel Cray is similar to our world; but not, just as the names (Alaizabel, Cathaline, Jerdiah) are oh-so-close to being familiar, yet, at the same time, are different, other, strange. There are references to a London bombed beyond recognition by Prussian airships; telephones; yet cobbled streets, and an Edwardian, if not Victorian, flair to the world. And then there is the wych-kin; it's a world where the Winchester boys would feel at home.

I loved how Alaizabel Cray is many types of books:

A horror story. The beautiful, mysterious Alaizabel bears a strange tattoo; her body is host to a two hundred old year wych; and Thaniel's world is full of wych-kin (monsters.) Wooding isn't content to say vampire, werewolf, and the like; instead we get Stitch-Face, a cradlejack, and real wolves prowling the city streets.

A mystery; not just, who is Alaizabel, but, also, what are the wych kin? For we find out that wych kin were nothing more than stories until 20 odd years ago, when the Prussians bombed. Are they a Prussian plot? Did bombings unearth long hidden monsters? Why are the wych kin here? How, into the world of science, did the world of the supernatural take hold?

A buddy story. We have Thaniel, and his mentor, Cathaline; and along the way, in true buddy adventure mode, they gather a group who helps investigate who Alaizabel is. The group ranges from beggars to police inspectors.

Most of all, what I love about Alaizabel Cray, is that it is about the power of belief. What it means to believe, in people and things. And, what it means for a reader: because for any story to work, the reader must believe it to be true. For the characters to be flesh and blood, and the plot believable, whether it's wych kin. Or puppies. And Wooding, in a world where the names are familiar, only not, makes a world that you believe in. Even as it scares you to death.

Links:
Round Up of participants at Chasing Ray, including:
Kelly at Big A little a on A Beasty Story, by Bill Martin Jr. and Steven Kellogg
Jackie at Interactive Reader on The Curse of the Rumbaughs
The Seven Imps take another look at Adam Rex and Frankenstein
Little Willow on some more Christopher Golden scary goodness
Betsy salutes the ABC Spookshow at Fuse Number 8
Kelly at Writing and Ruminating loves Neil Gaiman
Sarah looks at some Diana Wynne Jones awesomeness over at Finding Wonderland
And Tanita has some deep October thoughts on Octavia Butler's Kindred
Gwenda is also in on the fun at Shaken & Stirred with some thoughts on literary vampires.
(Image from Little Willow; links compiled by Colleen).

My review of Wooding's Storm Thief, which first appeared in The Edge of the Forest.
My review of Wooding's Poison.

Congratulations, Caridad Ferrer

Adios to My Old Life by Caridad Ferrer is the 2007 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Single Title!

The RITA Awards are sponsored by the Romance Writers of America, and it is the romance-publishing industry's highest award of distinction.

And, Adios to My Old Life is a YA title. How cool is that?

Thanks to Smart Bitches, who posted about this book winning. And, apparently, in the Romance world there is a bit of discussion about whether a YA title should have won. I don't know the history of the award or the criteria, but I found the comments very interesting. A lot of discussion (most of it polite & respectful) about what is YA? and what is romance? And is it possible or impossible for a book to be both YA and romance?

I haven't read the book yet; but overall, I think yes, a book can be both YA and romance. I am disappointed by many YA books called "romance" because there is no HEA (that's a new acronym I just learned, it's the Happy Ever After. Love it!) and I think a romance needs HEA. I think YA is a big umbrella, and contains romance, science fiction, horror, etc. Any possible genre can be found in YA (which, btw, is why I don't like using the word "genre" for YA; I don't see it as a genre, but as an age range.)

So I'm looking forward to reading this book, especially since this win makes me strongly suspect I'll get my HEA!

Links
Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels review
Latina YA review
Little Willow/Bildungsroman review & interview

Hattie Big Sky

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. Copy from author. Cybils short list 2006. Newbery Honor. My Best Books For 2006 (sidebar).

The Plot: It's 1918; Hattie Brooks is 16; she's an orphan, shuttled from relative to relative. When she finds out that an uncle she didn't know about has died and left her his homestead claim in Montana, she resolves to go, prove the claim, and create a home for herself.

The Good: I adored Hattie Big Sky. And at this point, I do think I am officially the last blogger to review it.

When I read this back in the fall, I immediately wanted to pass it along to everyone -- not only does this work for teens, but for younger kids reading up and for adults. One of the ladies I work with came into the library raving about it, saying how it's the first time in a long time she stayed up late reading, and crying. And refused to believe it's a teen book, much less a kids book.

And that shows just how amazing a title this is -- that it can work for multiple readers. I imagine sixth graders reading this, then rereading it ten years later and marveling at the things they didn't pick up on earlier. There is nothing objectionable for younger readers; yet at the same time, there is a lot going on, from politics to depth of character to motivation, that is best appreciated by older readers.

Hattie is alone in her struggle, alone as she has been all her life. Except she's not. She has neighbors who become friends; including a warm, loving German family. Remember the year. World War I is raging, sons have left to fight in the war, sacrifices are being made for the war effort, and a family that speaks German is not popular, to say the least. But this family reaches out to Hattie, and she discovers that family can be people who are not bound to you by blood.

I love the details -- we know exactly how much Hattie has in the bank, how much things cost, we add and subtract and hold our breath, hoping it will work out. $400 is a lot of money -- will it be enough? How can a teenage girl earn more?

The language is wonderful: "The stew tasted of sage and carrots and hope."

Now for some spoiler stuff.

1918 is also the year of the Influenza Epidemic. So the flu visits Hattie and her friends. And yes -- there is a death. I cried, hating the death. But the death had to happen. One of my great grandmother's sons died from the flu; she was pregnant with her last child and just buried her husband. Death happens, it's not fair, and it would have been a lie not to have a death. But man, it tore my heart out.

The ending was note perfect: Hattie starts out wanting to create a home by proving up her claim. She sacrifices, counts pennies, learns to build fences and plant. And at the end of the book, she has create a "home", a sense of belonging -- but not in the way she thought.

And some more spoiler stuff.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

You see, Hattie doesn't prove her claim up. Not only that; she ends up in debt. But Hattie has hope; and while some people mock books that end with hope, I love hope that is realistic and earned. Hattie has a sense of belonging now, a sense of home, because of the friends she has made. She doesn't stay with them -- she has to go off on her own to make money to pay down her debts -- but Hattie realizes that if you have people in your heart, if you have people who care about you, that it all that matters.

I cried. I adored it. And that is why it's a book for grown ups. Because by traditional standards she has lost: she has no home, is in debt, is separated from friends and loved ones. Yet in her heart she has won. "Though I should feel a total failure, my time on the prairie has branded this hope on my hear: next year it will be better." And I think I love this book, and Hattie, and Kirby Larson, because that is my own hope.

Links:
My interview with Kirby Larson at The Edge of the Forest.
Bildungsroman/Little Willow interview.
Bildungsroman / Little Willow review.
Newbery and Caldecott medals awarded in Seattle (SeattlePI.com)
Deliciously Clean Reads review.
The Longstockings: About Hattie
Swarm of Beasts review.
AmoxCalli review
Jen Robinson's review
A Fuse #8 Production review
Miss Erin review
bookshelves of doom review

Dramarama

Dramarama by E. Lockhart. Reviewed from ARC.

The Plot: Sadye and her best friend, Demi, have been accepted to the summer drama camp at Wildewood Summer Institute. Sadye (well, technically Sarah, but Sadye is so much better, don't you think?) knows that this will be the best summer of her life, in part because it's getting her out of Brenton, Ohio.

But things don't turn out the way Sadye had hoped. What happens when your whole life is about pursuing a dream -- and you find out that you don't have what it takes?

How much worse is it when your best friend does have what it takes?

The Good:

This is going on my best books of 2007 list.

Sadye had been Sarah, living a boring life, wanting something more, and then she met Demi during the auditions for the drama camp and they instantly click. Before, Sadye loved musicals and drama; and the week before she meets Demi, she gets a new haircut and a new wardrobe, turning herself into someone who (she thinks) is more glam, more drama, less suburban mall. And then she meets Demi and her life falls into place.

Demi loves theatre, loves musicals, and is gay; his parents know, but he's not really accepted. Demi is never going to be able to be himself in his small town; and while Sadye feels like she doesn't fit in in Ohio, Demi really doesn't fit in.

And so, we saved each other, if you can call it saving when it takes the form of body glitter and cast albums and singing "Hot Lunch" in the back of a public bus.
And so, my life was no longer razzle-dazzle deprived but utterly fabulous -- as long as I was with Demi.

Brenton, Ohio is not -- needless to say -- a place where to musical-loving drama kids fit in. At Wildewood, for the first time ever, they find a place where they fit.

Except, spoiler time here, it turns out not to be so true for Sadye. It's a tough realization: she wants to be "The Star" and at best she's in the chorus. It's a hard reality* to face, made tougher as Demi shines. Demi has what it takes to live his dream; and Sadye has to deal with losing hers. Needless to say, Demi increasingly feels "at home" in Wildewood as Sadye feels increasingly the outsider. Can their friendship take this stress?

This is a fascinating look at friendship; how much was Demi's friendship with Sadye based on his loneliness? A loneliness that no longer exists? What about Sadye, left behind, without even a dream?

OK, obviously that's the part that really captured me. But what is great is that all this is happening while at drama camp; so for both Demi and Sadye their is the exhilarating power of freedom and independence (remember your first time away from home, whether summer camp or college), including the freedom to find yourself and be yourself. Add to it the fact that it's a golden time when the biggest worry was love, friendship and happiness? Yes, they are big worries... but it's worries taking place during that time where you don't have to worry about rent/mortgage/food/work. It's almost bliss.

Also good: the mix of friendship and competition. All these students have so much in common; almost too much in common, because only one person can get a role.

Also good: the powerful and pure emotions of love and jealousy.

And finally, the music. If you love musicals, you'll love this book, the songs, the references, it's a pleasure and you find yourself humming and singing along. And digging out old CDs or downloading songs from iTunes. Lockhart has created an iMix list of the tunes to assist.

Last note: I read this and Beige by Cecil Castellucci back to back, which led me to wonder, what if Katie/Beige had been into musicals? What would her punk father had thought of that?

Edited to add: Sadye tells her story with an incredible amount of honesty about her own insecurities, fears, and jealousies which is so refreshing; she is a likeable character who admits to bad and negative feelings. Very realistic.

*Can I tell you how much I loved this part of the book? Having just read Horace and Morris Join the Chorus (But What About Dolores) to Cheetah & PeterParker, where, basically, the message is if you want to be in the chorus you should be even if you cannot sing, I rejoice in a book that says yes, sometimes your talent and ability do not match your dreams, no matter how much you want it and how much you do (lessons and practice) to achieve it. Dolores shouldn't be in the chorus.

Links:

Booktopia review
The Longstockings review
I read books review haiku
avenging sybil review
bookshelves of doom review
oracle review

Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You

Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen, Jeanne d'Arc Umubyeyi. Translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford.

The Plot: A work of fiction about the Rwandan Genocide; based on what happened to the author's adopted daughter, who at age eight survived the Rwandan Genocide.

The Good: My immediate reaction to this book is best summed up: Horrible, horrible, horrible. Where to hide? Nowhere.

Jeanne is eight at the time of the genocide; the book begins with Jeanne at age six, and while at first I thought "this is slow, why," I soon realized that this served several purposes, including as a memorial to a way of life and an extended family that was brutally ended. When the slaughter starts we "know" Jeanne's family. And the loss and horror is much more than if the book had begun on the day the killings started, with the family members only names.

Eight. Think about that. You know an eight year old; protected, perhaps spoiled, watched, loved, supervised. Just like Jeanne. Think about the kids you know who are eight; and watching mother, sister, brother, murdered, yet somehow getting up, walking, searching, going on.

And that child not just living; not just surviving; but creating a full life for herself. Over a Thousand Hills contains short flash-forward chapters of Jeanne in Germany, now a teenager, with loved ones, mourning but also laughing. As the machetes fall, they serve to remind the reader, this one child makes it. Babies didn't survive; people killed their own nephews in the name of tribal purity; adults died; yet this child got up, walked, was buffeted around, lived.

As with Deogratias, this is a must read. It's a good compliment to Deogratias, since Over A Thousand Hills provides so much day to day detail on life, and more background information about what was happening. And, in all honesty? Deogratias is about how people are broken by events; Over A Thousand Hills shows a child who refuses to be broken.

Why is this a YA book? Why not adult, since the point of view of Jeanne's adoptive mother is included? Jeanne may be ages six to eight, but this isn't a child's book; it's not just the subject matter, and length, but it's also the words, the framework, the voice. Not a children's book. But there's something about how the story is framed by those short chapters in the present, of Jeanne as a teenager, that add to this feeling YA-ish.

One thing that is shown very well is "that moment"; the point in time when people realize that they can no longer cling to the pretense of normalcy. That life has changed. The nightmare is permanent. And, with Jeanne's parents, the moment when hope is lost.

And the details.... the father trying to hide with his children, yet knowing it is just a temporary respite. That was the worst; realizing that there was no place to hide, no place to run to. I am haunted by the image of the father, hiding in brush, with his daughter, and another child who he has somehow picked up, minutes after his wife and daughter have been killed; and the murderers getting closer; and this man paying for a few more hours of life for this small band of people. Handing over money and things of value, knowing that more people will come and that nothing will be left to buy these lives for another hour, and seriously -- they are surrounded. There is no where to go. No one to trust.

While it has nothing to do with the substance of the story, I also liked that the author is German and this book is a translation from German; that Jeanne's safe haven was Germany. Because sometimes YA and children's books are a little too American-centric; I know that part of the reason is that the true story is a child adopted by a German family, but seriously -- look at Sold, a great book where the child is saved by an American. Almost every book published in the US about emigration from a homeland to a "new life" has those people go to the US. I understand why this happens; but it's not entirely accurate. It's refreshing to read something so not US-centric, and that shows lives in other countries (not just Rwanda, but also Germany.)

The quote that stays with me: "Only at the very worst moment can you tell friend from foe." Jeanne lives because of friends and foes who for no known reason don't kill her. Her survival is random; but it's also due to the strength of spirit.

Links:

My review of Deogratias, including links about the Rwandan Genocide and the current atrocities in Darfur.
Talking with Hanna Jansen (PDF) (at author's site).
Propernoun review.
Left to Tell : Discovering God Amidst the Rwaandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza, an autobiography about a college student who survives physically by hiding in a small bathroom with many other women; and survives mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by faith, including coming to a place of forgiveness.

Bloodsong

Bloodsong by Melvin Burgess, sequel / companion to Bloodtide. Copy supplied by publisher. The first image is the UK version; the second is the US version. Review based on uncorrected book proof.

The Plot: Sigurd is born to be a hero; and Bloodsong begins with Sigurd facing the classic hero quest: slay the dragon.

The Good: Loved it. A Best Book for 2007.

Bloodtide and Bloodsong are set in a future that's barely recognizable. It's a post--apocalyptic world that is as bloody and brutal as anything out of the medieval past. It's a world of death and violence. Science has made magic real; with cloning and machines, and "magic rings" studied under microscopes.

Yet magic is not lost; gods such as Odin and Loki are real (or are they the result of some high tech machine?) For example, Sigurd says he is born to do great things: "You think I'm arrogant; I'm not. I was made for this -- literally. My father designed me for it. Every gene in my body was picked for this purpose. My mother brought me up for it; the gods shaped me as the keystone for this time and place. It's no credit to me. I have less choice than anyone." Magical swords coexist with people that are part pig and part dog because of DNA manipulation.

Bloodsong is about adventure; love; greatness; weakness. It is bloody and violent and heartless. And it's realistic, in the sense that things don't always work out they way you think they should or the way you want them to. Bloodsong takes some unexpected twists and turns, changing the story entirely. I never knew what was going to happen next, which is refreshing. And it's why I won't tell anything of the plot beyond Sigurd is off to slay a dragon.

Burgess often shifts POV; mixing it up, so sometimes it's first person, other times third person, and it's not consistent. It's a bit unsettling at first; but it works because it means that, despite the UK cover ("one hero. one kingdom. one chance to make it his own"), there is no one hero; we see Sigurd's view of himself, as well as how others view him; we get into the heads of all the characters, as well as seeing them more objectively. Which makes the violence, the betrayals, the hope and lost hope all the more real and all the more heart-shattering.

The US cover says "a legacy's final heir. a country's only hope." As mentioned above, Burgess provides a slick mix of Sigurd being the heir and the hope not just because the gods say so, but also because Sigurd himself has been genetically engineered to be heir and hope.

Do you have to read Bloodtide to read Bloodsong? No; I read Bloodtide when it first came out and had forgotten much of the details. While I want to reread it, I didn't have the time. No worries; while there are some connections I may have missed, for the most part Bloodsong stands alone. Actually, anyone reading Bloodtide expecting a true sequel may be disappointed; Bloodsong does not continue the story of Bloodtide, but rather tells the story of Sigurd, son of Sigmund, one of the characters in Bloodtide. It's like first reading the story of Henry II and then reading a book about Richard I.

While my copy of Bloodsong didn't mention it, these books are based on the Volsunga Saga. Many of the names are the same; others are close: Sigurd is a Volson, for example. Those of you familiar with the saga will be less surprised than I at the twists and turns of Sigurd's story, and instead will take greater enjoyment at how that story is reborn, retold and reimagined.

Links, all of which refer to the source material so all are highly spoilerific
The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga)
More on the Volsunga saga.
Interview with author. (video interview)

Clay by David Almond

Clay by David Almond. Copy from library.

The Plot: Davie is an altar boy, living in a small town in England when he first sees Stephen. Before this, it is a typical boyhood; a flirtation with a girl at school, a best friend, a rivalry with the kids from the next town that is a self described "war". But after Stephen arrives, a strange boy living with Crazy Mary, things change. Stephen makes things out of clay. And says he can make them live.

Are they alive? Davie is drawn to Stephen, to this power he has, and other things fall by the wayside. The pretty girl, his best friend. But the war with Martin "Mouldy" Mould only escalates. Stephen's answer? Create a man of clay to take care of Mouldy.

The Good: I adore David Almond. Straight up, let's get that out of the way. Love him. Love his books. So of course this gets onto my Best Books of 2006 list.

OK. On with the good.

Almond writes dialect; but it's not heavy handed. From the first "bliddy hell" I could hear these boys voices, the voices of their world, and I really want to listen to this on audiobook. I'm not a fan of books with dialect, because often heavy use of dialect separates me from the story. Here, I may not know what clarty means when I read "Great clarty footprints all through the hall" it thrills me, nonetheless. Another bit I loved: "the air outside seemed filled with angels."

I adored Davie's family; Almond has created a warm, loving family, very likable, which contrasts all the more with the danger in Davie's life. What is he getting himself into, the conflict with Mouldy, the relationship with Stephen, the man they may or may not create? Why is he making these choices?

Davie is Catholic; he believes in miracles and the miraculous and this story is set at a time when one may start to question those beliefs. Enter Stephen, with proof of miracles; proof of good and evil. And Davie believes; believes in Stephen's power, even when he sees Stephen create and destroy and treat people like toys. Believes because he sees these things.

Stephen pulls Davie into his world, saying that Davie can create, also. The only thing we need to make a real man, Stephen says, is the consecrated wafer and wine. I still get chills as I remember this passage; will Davie commit this ultimate sacrilege? And for me, this choice, and what Davie does, and why, is the heart of the book.

In addition to questions about belief, there are also questions about creation and responsibility (AKA the Frankenstein issue). Is Davie is mad or dreaming? Is this real? And if it is real, now what? What should this man of clay do? "Nothing means he'll crumble back into the earth. Nothing'll be the end of him."

Links: The Gail Giles review.
Bookshelves of Doom review.
An interview at Booktrusted.

The Mislaid Magician Or Ten Years After

The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After: Being the Private Correspondence Between Two Prominent Families Regarding a Scandal Touching the Highest Levels of Government and the Security of the Realm by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer;

third in a series : book one: Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country,
book two: The Grand Tour: Being a Revelation of Matters of High Confidentiality and Greatest Importance, Including Extracts from the Intimate Diary of a Noblewoman and the Sworn Testimony of a Lady of Quality.

I think Wrede & Stevermer get paid based on length of title.

The Plot: Cecy and Kate are two cousins with a knack for stumbling across intrigue. They live in nineteenth century England; it's Jane Austen meets Harry Potter; a magical world that is gentler and kinder than that of Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, but equally thrilling and dangerous. In the Enchanted Chocolate Pot, Cecy and Kate are teenagers, who save England and find husbands; in the Grand Tour, the have married the men introduced in Chocolate Pot, are touring Europe, and saving either the world or England. It's about ten years later, and so their children also get involved in the fun. This time it has to do with protecting England and helping a magician who has been turned into a dog.

The Good: The stories are told as letters between Cecy and Kate. Part of the fun is realizing that what is happening with Cecy somehow concerns what is going on with Kate, as the letters criss cross each other.

I loved the first two books, and thoroughly enjoyed this latest visit with Cecy and Kate, their families and friends. This is not a standalone book; and it's not a good introduction to this enjoyable alternate England; read this book, yes, but read the series in order.

What puzzles me is why this is a Young Adult book. The Enchanted Chocolate Pot was clearly YA, with the girls in their teens and concerns about family, fathers, aunts, boys, and magic, all told in a very proper Jane Austen/ Regency way. Cecy and Kate aren't that much older in the second book, so (despite being married) I could see why it was marketed as YA. But with Cecy and Kate both mothers, I don't see this as having teen appeal, except for its existence as the third in the series. I guess it's because of publisher imprints and all that business stuff.

That said, this book has nothing inappropriate for teens (or even for younger readers reading up.) I just think that there is an audience for this series in the adult market -- the adults who have read Harry Potter and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell -- who would love this series, yet will never find it. YA librarians often buy books published for adults because of teen appeal; how many times are YA books with adult appeal found in the adult collection?

Links: fansite for the series.

Question for readers: I have that product preview function from Amazon (when your cursor is over the title of the book, you get the picture of the book and other information.) I haven't been including book covers because of that, but now I'm thinking I should go back to adding book covers. What say you?

Rash

Rash by Pete Hautman. 2006.

The Plot: It's the future, and it's safety first all the way. And no hurt feelings. Well, basically anything that anyone has ever thought could be bad, or is bad, is also illegal. Take Bo's dad, who is in prison for road rage: yelling and banging his fist on a car. It's a problem having a parent in jail; but, it's not uncommon since 24 percent of the population is in jail. Break a rule, go to jail.

Bo is falsely accused of spreading a rash at school, loses his temper, and goes to jail. Once there, his assigned work is to make frozen pizzas. But something else is going on; the warden likes football and has started an elite football squad. Bo's about to find out the real meaning of competition.

The Good:

Competitive sports are either outright illegal (such as football) or so heavily regulated and full of safety equipment that the sport is practically unrecognizable. Bo runs; but here he explains all the safety equipment:

Back when Gramps was in high school, kids ran faster. Gramps claimed to have run 100 meters in 11 seconds, and the mile in 4:37. That was before the Child Safety Act of 2033. Now every high school runner has to wear a full set of protective gear -- AtherSafe shoes with lateral ankle support and four layers of memory gel in the thick soles, knee pads, elbow pads, neck brace, tooth guard, wrist monitor, and an FDHHSS-certified sports helmet. We raced on an Adzorbium® track with its five centimeters of compacted gel-foam topped by a thick sheet of artificial latex. It's like running on a sponge.

Rash is well written; but it also offers plenty for book discussions. Here is Bo explaining why prisoners have to work:

Of course, without [prisoners], there wouldn't be anybody to do the manual labor that makes this country run. Without penal workers, who would work the production lines, or pick the melons and peaches, or maintain the streets and parks and public lavatories? Our economy depends on prison labor. Without it everybody would have to work -- whether they wanted to or not.

I recently read Inexcusable by Chris Lynch. Which I need to blog about; I did like it. But the book gave me a sense that organized sports equals bad, and I have read reader's comments that said that organized sports encourages or creates bad behavior in boys. So it was a relief to read Rash, and to read something that is a defense of football; a defense of it as an outlet, that competition can be good. Hautman also has some negatives (jocks pushing non-jocks around), but he does not label the sport itself as negative.

Rash is a world that has tried to legislate away violence, anger, aggression and hurt feelings; and the repercussions are serious. And humorous. All those things are part of life; and people, and their society, become ill when they try to suppress these feelings, legislate against the feelings, and remove any type of outlet for those emotions.

What else is good: this is a dystopia, but it's much funnier and more light hearted than Feed. There is a lot of "wow, people were so odd in the old days, can you believe what they thought or did." And since that is something people think now about people in the old days, it's funny (while giving one something to think about). Some of the humor also comes from the surprisingly little reveals about the future; Bo, for example, is short for Bono. Cracks me up that kids in the future will be named Bono.

Links: Publishers Weekly interview with Pete Hautman (interesting because Hautman isn't himself a "team sports guy" yet the team sports part is so great!) Author's blog.