Middle-Grade Musings

Whew! Almost completely caught up on reviews now.

The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow by Tim Kehoe was a very fun, fast book. I honestly can't remember if I requested this book through Shelf Awareness or if it was just randomly sent to me by the author. But, I sure did enjoy this book! Vincent has a quirky brain that leaves him with blackouts but gives him brilliant ideas for toy inventions! He has a top secret lab in the back of his closet that no one knows about. He tinkers whenever he can though he rarely gets his inventions to work the way he wants.
He moves to a new city and really likes one of his new teachers who encourages him to enter a toy invention contest. And one of Vincent's inventions is chosen to go to the national contest!

You know I like to support local authors and Tim Kehoe lives in Minnesota with his family. Always fun to read a new book set where you live! I believe this book is the first in a series starring Vincent. I recommend this book to reluctant readers for its short chapters and illustrations. I think it would be particularly interesting to boys as well (or really anyone!!). I will definitely read the next one.
Source disclosure: I believe through Shelf Awareness from the publisher.

39 Clues: Books 4 & 5: Not much to say here. The adventure continues with Amy and Dan continuing to get themselves into various predicaments with members of the Cahill family. I continue to enjoy these books as they move along. I particularly like that they only focus on a few of the family members in each book. And it seems that Dan and Amy are growing up and maturing through the course of their adventure. It's also fun to see which countries their travels take them to and which family members do actually help them out.
Source disclosure: I purchased both of these books.

The graphic novel Good As Lily is actually a Young Adult title, but I didn't have enough to say to warrant its own review. I actually really enjoyed this one. High schooler Grace wakes up one morning to meet her 6 year old self, as well as 30-year old and 70-year old versions of herself. The four Graces go through the week together as High School Grace tries to figure out what to do with the other Lilys or how to help them. She starts to figure out what each of them needs. The title comes from Grace losing her sister Lily at a young age and always feeling like she never lives up to Lily's memory.
Source disclosure: Borrowed this book from the library.

YA Weekend--Hunger Games

I do realize I'm about the last book blogger on the planet to review Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. :-) I have had my eye on it since it first made its debut in the blogosphere a year ago. I entered every contest I could find and tried to get it from early reviewer sites. But I did not get my hands on a copy. So I finally broke down and bought my own. Here's the thing, I know it's dystopian fiction. And I'm not sure how I feel about that subject. Sometimes I think that turns me off. But there was something very compelling to me about the storyline and reviews I read about this book. I've read MANY MANY EXCELLENT reviews that are hard to ignore.

I tend to be also be a bit leery about books that have too much hype (ie: The Book Thief and Twilight) because I tend to have high expectations and they fall short for me. I decided to finally jump into the Hunger Games last weekend and boy, I wasn't the least bit sorry!!!

For those who have completely ignored the hype of this book, Katniss and her sister and mother live in District 12 of a country called Panem (it is explained that Panem used to be America and District 12 is located where coal country or Appalachia used to exist). Every year the Capitol pulls two names (one boy, one girl) from each district to participate in The Hunger Games. They release these 24 individuals into an arena filled with whatever environment the officials choose for that year and they must fight each other to the death until one is standing at the end, the victor. The catch is that the Games are televised reality show style all across Panem. And the officials can introduce anything they want into the Arena to move the Games along. Katniss ends up representing District 12 in the Games and since we know the series continues, the ending is fairly predictable.

But however predictable the ending is, getting there is quite interesting. One thing I really liked about Hunger Games is that the main character is a very empowered young woman. She has had to work hard her whole life to survive and even though she does not have much, she makes the most of it. She's very intelligent and cunning, as well as athletic and logical. And really Collins wrote many of the female characters to be smart, athletic, interesting characters (Foxface and Rue). Some of the male characters in contrast seemed of somewhat inferior intelligence and some of them were just big oafs!

I believe Collins could have ended the Hunger Games with the winner returning home wrapping this up into one nice novel. I'll be curious to see how the next two books play out in the aftermath of what happens at the Games. And I'm wondering if they'll be able to keep up the excitement or if the story will drag along. We'll see! Early reviews of Book 2, Catching Fire are all very good and promising.

YA Weekend--Memorial Day Edition

I think I could almost start a "World War II Wednesday" regular feature here. I cannot believe how many books there are based during WWII. I never had a particular fascination with WWII or cared to learn more about it other than what I was taught in school. But books on the subject keep popping up and sound good to me. A bit ago, I finished two juvenile fiction books set during WWII: Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff and The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Both were interesting and worthwhile reads.

Lily’s Crossing: Lily finds herself with her grandmother at their oceanside summer home in 1944. She always looks forward to her summers in Rockaway, but this year is different. Her father was shipped overseas to help with the war effort and her best friend moved away so her father could help build planes in Michigan. Just when her summer looked like it was going to be the worst ever, Lily meets a Hungarian boy named Albert. They forge a friendship throughout the summer. This sweet book depicts wartime in America with rationing, a town’s reaction to their own missing in action, and just simply the unknown during war. The pace is a little slow, but that seems to reflect the pace of Lily’s summer days and also the patience for waiting for a loved one to return home from war. This is a middle-grade Newbery Honor Book and I think it definitely fits the age group well. You learn about the war, but it is a bit censored and appropriate for a younger age. I wonder if this book might be a bit boring for the younger set, but I liked it.

The Boy in Striped Pajamas: We meet nine-year-old Bruno, and his family who all of sudden must pack up their house in Berlin because his father has gotten a new assignment. They all move to an undesirable house at Out-With. From Bruno’s bedroom window he can see a fence with many people behind it. They are all wearing the same outfit: striped suits with matching caps. Bruno does not understand why his family has left Berlin and everything they know, but he knows his father is an “important man who works for the “Fury” and is going places.” The book goes on through Bruno’s days at Out-With and he can only accept so many “Don’t go anywhere near the fence” statements before he goes exploring. He follows the fence for quite a while, not seeing a soul, until he comes upon a little boy named Schmuel. The two form an unlikely friendship never playing and only talking to each other with the fence between them. This book is written from Bruno’s very ignorant and naïve point of view. He does not understand at all what is going on on the other side of the fence and in fact, never does quite figure it out, even at the end (which is incredible, but not all together shocking—I saw the end coming as soon as Bruno crossed the fence line). He spouts some of the rhetoric he hears coming from his house from the Nazi soldiers. And all he knows is that his father is a great man. The author purposefully omits the word Auschwitz in the book, instead sticking with Bruno’s mispronunciation of Out-With so that the book could really be about any war atrocity.

I actually think Boy in Striped Pajamas would make a good book club book just because there is much to discuss. Just from reviews I have read on amazon.com and other sites, this book sparks many lively discussions, for example here on LibraryThing. I keep going back and forth on my rating for this book. I give it four stars just for the thought-provoking ideas, but maybe only 3.0 for the execution. In the LibraryThing discussion, there was some negative reaction to this book as historical fiction. They felt that a nine-year old growing up in a household with visits from Hitler would probably know more about what was going on than Bruno. Also, that maybe some of the depictions of Auschwitz were not accurate. However, the cover of this book states that it’s a fable. I actually give it a bit more leeway knowing that (and hoping that came from the author and not the publisher) because then its not based so much in fact, but in what the moral of the story is.

Bruno’s naivety bugged me quite a bit. I think he actually acted more like a five or six year old. And I felt the first half of the book was a bit dull. Schmuel does not even appear until more than half way though the book. The second half does pick up and I think you just need to take the story with a grain of salt. It is what it is. And yes, even though maybe history did not happen just as Boyne has stated it, he paints an interesting picture of what happened during the Holocaust and may help bring it to a more real level, especially for a young adult who may not have the same amount of knowledge as adults reading the book.

I think the right age for this book would be around 13-14 years old. Any younger than that probably would not understand. I know I didn’t truly learn about WWII and details of it all until freshman year of high school or maybe Eighth grade when we read Anne Frank. This book is definitely not appropriate for younger than that based on subject matter.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day Weekend and please take a moment to remember the soldiers who have fought and are fighting for our country and those who gave their lives. We came back from vacation on Saturday and encountered many, many military men and women in the airport. And in particular one army soldier getting on our plane saying good-bye to his wife and two young sons. Everyone was hugging and crying and you could see just how hard it was for him to stop hugging them and get on the plane. It was quite poignant. And a nice reminder of what this weekend is really about (besides the relaxing and grilling).

Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt

Oh dear, I’m sorry to say, but I hope you make it to the bottom of this post. I’m about to go on and on!

I picked this book up because it was sitting on the “New Arrivals” shelf in the children’s area of the Chanhassen library. How could I pass it up? It was a mystery, it was about art theft and the art involved was from the Baroque period (17th century). AND, I was familiar with the art topic of Lucretia! Seriously, I couldn’t get more excited. Plus, I could use this as my first book for the Art History Reading Challenge.

I’ll try not to go all art historian on you (I do have to go on a little bit though) and actually talk about the book in a minute. My focus for my art history major in college was Baroque art and I spent half my time studying the female artist Artemisia Gentileschi. I remembered one of the papers I wrote on her included her Lucretia so I just had to go Google the painting and look at it again before writing this. And because I’m a big dork and kept all my art history info from college, I even FOUND my paper and reread that part. You know what really TRULY amazes me? How easy do kids have it these days with the internet? I mean, yes, the internet existed when I was in school. But, not like today. I had to scour academic search engines to find information in journal articles and books on the topics I studied. There was no wikipedia. And there certainly was not an entire website devoted to Artemisia! I am feeling old and amazed by the information so readily available at our fingertips. Not to mention, how easy it would have been to study for an art history test if I could just bring up the images on my computer to look at! Instead of going to look at slides in the basement of the art building. Okay, I really will get to a BOOK review here. I just had to share why this book was calling to me to read it.

Susan Runholt’s book is a young adult mystery starring fourteen year old Kari and her best friend Lucas. The girls stumble across an art mystery when they encounter the same man in a gallery in the Minneapolis Institute of Art and The National Gallery in Britain. He appears to be copying famous Rembrandt paintings and the girls are intrigued to find out why. They start to spy on him and come up with clever ways of staying covert. After a third painting of Rembrandt’s Lucretia is “found” and donated to the Rijksmuseum, Kari’s mother realizes the girls really were on to something and attempts to help catch the forger. Danger, kidnapping and more ensue.

The book is written in first person from Kari’s point of view so we are treated to the inner workings a fourteen-year-old’s head. While many children’s and young adult books do not have the parents present, Runholt has very cleverly involved Kari’s mother to a point, but also provides good excuses for the mother to be busy in order for the girls to explore on their own. I think both mother and daughter are portrayed well here. From a younger person’s point of view, the mom seems rather cool and from a mother’s perspective the mom does react somewhat realistically to the situation at hand.

My only gripe would be that sometimes I felt like the writer let a little of her own voice into the story instead of sticking with Kari’s voice. Some of Kari’s thoughts and conclusions seemed a little mature for a fourteen-year old. And then again, other times, the voice seemed younger than fourteen to me. Actually, Kari’s voice seemed to mature over the course of the book. And maybe that’s what the author was going for since clearly being involved in a mystery, kidnapping and highly public art theft can mature a person.

Overall, this was a very fun adventure. I loved the art history references. I love the focus of the Lucretia story. Runholt has found a fantastic topic to write about for young women. Her message in the book is empowering and wonderful from the lessons both Kari and Lucas learn, to the portrayal of Lucas’ powerful grandmother ,and the evolution of Lucas’ mother from dizty socialite to devoted philanthropist. I so look forward to my daughters reading this book in the future. And I think this book would be a perfect addition to a mother/daughter book club list. It would be great to hear the reaction of both mothers and daughters to this book and their discussion of the mother/daughter relationships. This is a very PG-rated book. Where there might be swearing the girls use the word “Meep”. Even though its rated as young adult, other than the dangerous situations the girls get into, this book would be fine for younger than that. I’d say 10 and up.

Susan Runholt is a first-time author and the runner-up of the 2005 Debut Dagger Award by the Crime Writer’s Association of Great Britain. This was instrumental in getting this book published. Runholt also lives a stone’s throw away from me in St. Paul. She leaves the book opened for more mysteries from Kari and Lucas. In visiting the author’s website, I see her next book Rescuing Seneca Crane will be published this August! And she has already been asked to write a third book in the series.

I also came across the author's feelings about choosing her topic for the book and I just have to share them. “Mostly, THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD LUCRETIA is meant to be just a fun book for kids--an exciting mystery that young readers can enjoy. But one of the things I was trying to do with the book was to write about ordinary kids who feel at home in museums and who respond very naturally and directly to art, the way my daughter did when she was their age. I really wanted to break down the barrier that somehow divides too many people, especially people in this country, from the beauty and power of art.” Go Susan!!

YA Weekend

I'm cheating a bit for my alliteration: I, Lorelei and Gilda Joyce are really more middle-grade fiction than YA.

I, Lorelei by Yeardley Smith: Eleven-year-old Lorelei decides to keep a journal, to assist her future biographers, and she decides to address it to her recently deceased cat, Mud. What follows documents a year of ups and downs as Lorelei's parents begin the process of divorcing. In addition, Lorelei is involved in the school play, confronting a bully, befriending a friendless girl, and fighting with her best friend. And maybe even finding a first boyfriend. The journal is sweet and touching, and often hilarious, and I thought Lorelei's voice was authentic enough to carry off the journal format. If not all the loose ends are wrapped up at the end, well, that's how life is. And this difficult year in Lorelei's life is very well told indeed.

Scat by Carl Hiaasen: The brilliance of Carl Hiaasen is that he manages to take his all-over-the-place, barely contained, hilarious trademark style and adapt it into equally crazy and fun novels for young people. It's like he's had the adult content surgically removed without touching the great characters, wit, and humor he's known for. I loved Hoot and Flush, so it's no surprise I found Scat to be a delight. In this stand-alone novel, Nick's teacher, Mrs. Starch, disappears into the woods when a fire cuts short a field trip...and she doesn't come back out. Nick convinces his friend Marta to look into her disappearance. Throw in panther sightings, a scary classmate (who bites a pencil Mrs. Starch wags in his face, chews it up, and calmly swallows), an odd kidnapping, and a crooked oilman, and you have quite an enjoyable afternoon. The environmental message is very well incorporated into the storyline, so the book isn't preachy in the least, but suggests that a respect for nature is a good thing. Nick and Marta have a sweet friendship, and "Smoke," the scary classmate, is complex and surprising. Another winner from Hiaasen.

Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison: Gilda, a whimsical thirteen-year-old, has decided on a career as a Psychic Investigator. That she's had no psychic experiences to date is not about to stop her, and she is motivated partly by a longing to contact her dead father. Hoping something more interesting than her usual summer at home with her mom and older brother, she manages to invite herself to visit a distant relative in San Francisco. Uncle Lester has a creepy house (complete with a tower from which his sister jumped to her death) and a sullen daughter Gilda's age. Gilda investigates what she is certain was foul play in the death of Aunt Meredith both using traditional methods apparently gleaned from reading Harriet the Spy (hilarious disguises abound) and through "psychic" methods like her Ouija board and automatic writing using her father's trusty old typewriter. Gilda is smart and funny and her struggles with her father's death, her mother's dating, and her best friend's absence (she's off to camp) ring true. Her growing friendship with cousin Juliet (who deals with some serious issues) is lovely, and her investigations hilarious. I will be reading the next adventures of Gilda in Ladies of the Lake and Ghost Sonata.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

The Twilight series has come up a few times at my book club gatherings. A couple had read them (Most notably one member's husband was hard up for reading material on a vacation. He devoured Twilight and then rushed out to buy the other three!) and the rest of us sort of felt like we'd read them if we had to for book club. :-) Well, Twilight was our choice for February. I have yet to have the meeting so I'm not sure what everyone else thought.

I cannot really tell you why I haven't read these books before. It appears the entire rest of the world has read and reviewed them. When Breaking Dawn was released it was all the rage for several weeks on the book blogs. I guess part of my aversion was that it was such a big deal. I guess I didn't want to feel like I should read something just because it was a sensation all over. Especially when the topic was vampires. I'm just not really into vampires. Never really got into Buffy or anything like that. So, of course it was my book club book, I just had to read it then, right? ;-) I took it on vacation with me and it really was the perfect beach read. And just to further illustrate my point about the extreme popularity of this series. As I was sitting by the pool in the second row of chairs. I looked to my right. Three chairs down a woman was also reading Twilight. I looked to my left and four chairs down a woman was reading Breaking Dawn. In front of me someone was reading New Moon. And I just sort of scanned the crowd at that point and there was someone else reading one of the books. I mean, seriously! That was on ONE day.

I have to be completely honest and say I took forever to jump on the Harry Potter bandwagon too because of its sensation-like popularity. It took me seeing a 70-year old man reading it on a plane and obviously enjoying it to convince me to start the series. And well that was fantastic!

Anyhoo...my thoughts on the book. Hmmm...mixed feelings. I actually really liked quite a bit of the book. Maybe the first two-thirds. I enjoyed meeting the characters. I enjoyed the mystery of Edward and why he was the way he was. I enjoying learning about the "reality" of the vampires versus the mythology. It was fun to see how Meyer was so creative with stamping out the myths and stereotypes of vampires. But it started to go downhill for me when the other coven of vampires started hunting Bella down. And then her whining at the end about wanting Edward to turn her into a vampire really got on my nerves. I did read the excerpt of New Moon in the back and I can't decide if I want to continue the series or not. I'm a little curious to know what happens to the characters, but I'm not sure I can handle Bella for three more books. So I guess I'm on the fence with this one. I'll take a break. I have so many, many books I want to read that I think I may come back to the series after I have gotten through a few more on my TBR stack. But I guess I can understand the appeal of these a bit. This one just did not pull me in quite as much as I thought it might.

YA Weekend Catch-Up and GIVEAWAY!

I received Triple Shot Bettys in Love by Judy Gehrman in my big box of Penguin books, but after reading the first two pages, I realized this was not a stand-alone sequel, so I ordered the first in the series, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, so I could read it first. The premise sounded cute. Geena is excited that her favorite cousin, Hero, is coming to work in the coffee shop with her and her best friend, Amber, for the whole summer. She envisions a summer of girl-bonding that dissolves when Hero and Amber instantly hate each other. In the first couple of pages, I thought there was nothing that could make me want to finish the book. What happened? I learned the nickname of one of the main characters, a name chosen for its shock value and advertisement of sexual experience, and I thought, "I have a daughter. There's no way I can handle this." I am SO glad I pushed through and kept reading, because what followed was a cute, clever, laugh-out-loud story of three very different girls and their growing friendship. Gehrman uses stereotypes (the Skater, the Slut, the Trust-Fund Priss, the Jock), but defies them at the same time by making her characters more about other characteristics. The aforementioned Slut turns out to be far more complex than I had feared, and (I'm a mom now, so when I read YA, this is something I think about) the message ends up being more about embracing who you are than the Girls Gone Wild story I was worried about. I think it's actually a very positive message for teen girls. And when Hero's reputation is ruined, Geena and Amber (and a diverse group of guys) step up to make things right. The positive messages are completely integrated in a very funny, yet moving account of growing up in Amerca today, so it's not preachy in the least. Gehrman does a great job of rendering scenes that made me absolutely crack up (Geena looking for her nonexistent dog as a cover was hilarious), while making her main characters shine with realism. Lovely story, told in diary entries written by the delightful Geena.

The sequel, Triple Shot Bettys in Love, has Geena unwillingly flirting with a cute new teacher on MySpace under Amber's name. She thinks Amber's fixation on the teacher is unhealthy, but she knows Amber will have to find that out for herself. Meanwhile, Geena's boyfriend is spending time with a childhood friend who's moved back to Sonoma Valley, a gorgeous fashion plate. Geena has to learn how to be a girlfriend without losing her identity while trying to unite Amber with Jeremy, a far more suitable beau. I thought this one was cute, too, though it didn't sparkle quite as much as the first.

Do you want to win these two books? Confessions is a trade paperback, and In Love is a trade paperback-sized ARC, and they need a good home! To enter, leave your best dating story (funny, embarrassing, whatever) in a comment on this entry. But hurry! I'm closing this contest Thursday, February 12 at midnight Pacific Standard Time. I'll pick my favorite story and send the winner's books out by Valentine's Day!

YA Weekend, Part Two

I'm not deliberately creating a theme of reading books in pairs, with one I love followed by one I'm less enthusiastic about, but it happened again after the National Book Award post. Artichoke's Heart was a beautiful, rich coming-of-age story about an engaging, wry heroine, while Beautiful Americans was more like a soap opera. A superficial soap opera. I received both of these in my delightful box of books from Penguin I won at Presenting Lenore.

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee
Rosemary Goode (nicknamed "Artichoke" by the popular Bluebirds the day she wears an unfortunately green, puffy jacket) received an unwanted treadmill for Christmas, attends a "Fat Girl" conference paid for by her size 0 Aunt Mary, and is enrolled in a weight-loss counseling program by her mother. By the time Rosemary has finished "getting back" at her mom and Aunt Mary with cheese curls and Hershey bars, she's gained another 13 pounds. She's now over 200 pounds and has a single pair of pants that fit--sweats. All her mother's and Aunt Mary's efforts are wasted until Rosemary decides herself to lose the weight. And it's not an easy journey. Her mother is diagnosed with cancer while Rosemary is denied her usual coping mechanism--food. Kyle, her dream guy, shows interest in her, but she can't understand why. Meanwhile, she develops an unlikely (to Rosemary) friendship with the lovely, popular Kay-Kay (who eventually proves too nice to stay popular), which challenges her previous assumptions that popular, thin people are happy with no insecurities of their own.

Supplee absolutely nails the "fat girl" relationship to food, insecurities, feelings of "I don't deserve this" and hopelessness that make losing weight so hard. Her Aunt Mary, exasperated, asks how hard it can be to just not eat something? This illustrates the complete inability of the naturally thin to understand the difficulties of losing weight. Rosemary is funny, wry, and insightful, and Supplee makes her a complex heroine relatable to anyone, fat or thin. Rosemary's gradual gain of self-esteem and her friendships with Kyle and Kay-Kay are lovely and believable. She's a girl so likable that I couldn't help but cheer her on. This story was so much more rich and developed than it would have been in less capable hands: Rosemary finds insight into even negative, interfering Aunt Mary's insecurities, and her mother's battle with cancer (and the way she protects her daughter) add another dimension. A lovely, rich, realistic coming-of-age story that should be required reading for junior high and high school students.

Beautiful Americans by Lucy Silag
This took forever for me to get through, and I was delighted when I reached the last page. The premise was promising: four teenagers head to Paris for a year abroad, each bringing his or her own baggage. The structure made it tedious and superficial. Four first-person points of view are used: Alex, a truly hideous name-dropping, fashion-obsessed, know-it-all rich girl; Zack, a closeted gay boy suffocated by his born-again family and closed-minded Southern hometown; PJ, who is escaping family crises that are alluded to in annoying dribs and drabs; and Olivia, who is perfectly nice, loyal to her long-distance boyfriend and autistic younger brother, seeking a dance scholarship. Unfortunately, in a 300-page book, that's 75 pages per voice, so it's more like a single episode of a soap opera than a complete novel. The timeline is a bit jumpy, too, sometimes slipping back between voices, sometimes skipping ahead a bit, so that every chapter I had to regroup to figure out "who, where, and when" again. I cringed at every Alex chapter, since she was so thoroughly unlikable that I was glad when her mother cut off her Amex account. PJ was fine, but the family drama she left behind is never really completely established, and her drama with her host family was overblown. Zack and Olivia were both sympathetic characters, but with only 75 pages each, their changes seem abrupt and I didn't have the chance to get to know them that well. Paris is the backdrop, but with so many points of view to manage, the city takes a backseat. The book ends on a huge cliffhanger that in a more adept effort would have had me pre-ordering the sequel, but I can't be bothered to read any more in this series.

YA Weekend

I don't know, I've had some good alliteration going with Mystery Monday, so I thought I'd try YA Weekend since I have several to post.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
I'd come across this book in a few different places, and I'm so glad I picked it up in the last post-Christmas gift-card-fueled trip to Borders. This is an unusual coming-of-age tale, a chronicle written after the events that unfold in the narrative, giving witty, insightful foreshadowing that made the events themselves even more delicious to read about. Frankie Landau-Banks, privileged sophomore at a posh boarding school, has always tried to be sweet and accommodating, but something snaps when her boyfriend, coveted senior Matthew, blows her off one too many times to hang out with "the guys." Frankie wonders if Matthew actually respects her, or if he most values her adorable sweetness. After some basic surveillance, she discovers that he's a member of the Order of the Basset Hound, the very exclusive, all-male secret society to which her own father belonged. After giving Matthew several openings to tell her about the Society, she decides on a different tack: infiltration. The "disreputable history" that follows this decision is brilliant, funny and subversive, as Frankie turns the lax Society into a real secret society, performing pranks she learns from the disreputable histories of the Bassets and other secret societies, infusing the beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking group with a mission of social commentary and changing outdated traditions.

Lockhart's snappy writing and Frankie's appealing earnestness make this book a delight to read. I couldn't wait to find out what happened, but I also didn't want it to end. Frankie is a complex heroine searching for her place in the world. By the end of the events chronicled here, she is well on her way to finding out the kind of person she'd like to be. She's gained perspective on tradition, vandalism, exclusivity, and social norms, and she makes us think about them, too. What traditions are worth keeping? What social rules should be respected and which should be challenged? Frankie's search for answers is satisfying and wickedly funny.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
I had a hard time getting into this book. It does have an appealing, noir-ish feel, but the heavy foreshadowing (along with overdone 1940s slang) felt clunky to me, and by the time the events foreshadowed were clear, it felt anti-climactic. The first several chapters were filled with foreshadowing and mood, but little else. I didn't really get to know the heroine (if that's the right word), Evie, so she wasn't enough to pull me through the obvious, though mildly interesting, intrigue. Evie's stepfather comes home from WWII and promptly begins a successful business venture. After a few calls from an "army buddy," he drags the family to Florida, where they meet up with a nice couple, the Graysons (the woman takes Evie shopping; the man may have a business proposition for Evie's stepfather) and Peter, the very "army buddy" they left New York to avoid. Evie (who is 15, mind you) promptly develops a crush on 23-year-old Peter, who reveals the truth behind her stepfather's activities in the war. Eventually, Peter and Evie's parents go off on a boat trip together, just before a hurricane strikes, and the obvious happens, giving Evie a big decision to make. The subplots with the Graysons and Wally seemed more convenient than anything else, and I wasn't thrilled with the ending. I'm giving this three stars for the well-established period mood and discussion possibilities.

Note: The Disreputable History... had a National Book Award Finalist sticker on it, so I looked up what the winner could possibly have been. I was shocked to find that What I Saw... had won. To me, there is no contest between these two coming-of-age stories, so I'm mystified by the outcome of the awards.

Fun contest! Exciting prizes!

I was lucky enough to win a big box of books from Presenting Lenore, courtesy of Penguin, and my NINE YA books showed up as a late Christmas present. So much fun! I've just started reading them, and I have a review and giveaway for the first (with a bonus!).


Death by Bikini by Linda Gerber: This is the first Aphra Connelly mystery. I picked it up when I received Death by Latte (the second) from Penguin. The third, Death by Denim, comes out in May. I've always loved mysteries, but I was racking my brain to remember YA mysteries I read back in the Dark Ages when I was a teen. I can remember graduating to the edgier Nancy Drew Case Files, but I was drawing a blank on anything else. I'm not sure they even HAD YA mystery back then, because junior high is about when I started reading my mom's Dick Francis and Sue Grafton books. Those were great, but I would have enjoyed a series like this, mysteries featuring a teenaged sleuth. Aphra is a strong, smart character who makes typical mistakes for a teenager. She's different from your usual teenaged protagonist in that she's not all about boys and the mall. In fact, since she lives at the island resort run by her father, there are neither boys nor malls to be had. So when dreamy Seth and his family visit the resort, Aphra is delighted. But why is her father so intent that she stay away from Seth? And who is the mysterious guy who checks in after Seth's family? After a rock star guest's girlfriend turns up on the beach, strangled with her own bikini, Aphra doesn't know who to trust. The action was fast-paced, with lots of suspense and scary moments (although sometimes a bit on the implausible side), and Aphra is funny and smart. A side plot about her mother (who left when Aphra was 12) adds some emotional depth. A fun mystery just for teens.


Death by Latte by Linda Gerber: Aphra goes to Seattle in search of her mother and finds herself embroiled in another mystery when she witnesses the poisoning of her mother's associate. Seth turns up to demand Aphra return the ring he'd given her, she has a hunky new neighbor, and her mother doesn't seem that happy to see her. Aphra needs to untangle these strange events and get out of Seattle alive. A good follow-up to Death by Bikini. After I finished Bikini, I wondered if the island resort was going to be another Cabot Cove, so I was glad Gerber moved Aphra out of there to give a new dimension to the series. Who to trust is a continuing problem for Aphra, but not in a predictable way. Aphra's relationship with her mother is complex and evolving. If the action isn't always remotely plausible, it's okay because the characters make up for it!

Want to win this pair of books? Leave a comment here telling why you'd like to win them. Three bonus entries for linking to this contest on your blog. The contest ends Wednesday, January 28 at noon EST. Good luck!

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Jen Robinson's review of this book made me want to pick it up. She also said if you liked The Eight, you probably would like this one. Well, not much else she would have to say to get me hooked. :-)

This young adult novel starts off in present day when twins Sophie and Josh (whose parents are off on an archaeological dig--they are staying with an aunt) happen upon a magical fight between book store owner Nick Fleming (aka Nicholas Flamel) and bad guy Dr. John Dee. Dee is trying to steal an antique book from Fleming. The twins intervene and end up getting themselves mixed up in an ageless battle full of mythological creatures, magical powers, auras, and a plethora of other supernatural things. Sophie and Josh find themselves visiting shadowrealms and learning about dangerous creatures. Flamel thinks the twins fulfill an ancient prophecy and he sets about awakening their unknown powers. Unfortunately, Sophie is given power, but the group is interrupted before Josh can attain his. This leads to a bit of sibling rivalry and we are left with the question of whether Josh will turn to the "dark side" or stick with his sister and their newfound guardians.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is filled with historical references and many of the characters including Nick Fleming/Flamel were real figures, all of which I truly enjoyed. Some parts of it were long and and a bit dull. Even though there was a small battle in this book, it seems to be building toward a greater battle in the future. I'm basing this next comment off the movies and not the books (*gasp* I've never read the Lord of the Rings trilogy); This sort of reminded me a tiny bit of Lord of the Rings. Granted, it is quite different in terms of the specifics of the stories and the characters. And maybe its just the good vs. evil thing and the idea of an epic battle that reminds me of Tolkien's series. I suppose there are many good vs. evil books out there. This was about a 3.75 out of 5 for me. But I will definitely be reading The Magician to find out how the story continues. The Sorceress, the third book in the series comes out May 29, 2009.

Back to High School

I have been interested in checking out graphic novels lately. I see them reviewed here and there in the blogosphere (almost always highly rated) and the idea of a graphic novel that is not based on a superhero intrigues me. The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci has popped up on several blogs I read so I thought I would start there.

The book starts out with high-schooler Jane being a victim in a random bombing in Metro City, similar to the 9/11 attack. She becomes attached to another victim, John Doe, who is in a coma, visiting him on a regular basis. Her parents now scared that Metro City is unsafe, move Jane to a suburban neighborhood far away. She tries to fly under the radar in her new school just waiting to graduate so she can get back to the big city. Refusing to assimilate into the popular group, she chooses to sit at a lunch table filled with more Janes (Jayne, Jane, and Polly Jane). Inspired by John Doe's sketchbook entitled "Art Saves", Main Jane (as she becomes known) decides to do an art installation in a construction site. She enlists the help of the other Janes who each bring their own attributes to the installation. They form P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods). With each covert installation, the town gets more worked up seeing the art as vandalism and even equating it to terrorist attacks. Curfews and rules try to curb P.L.A.I.N., but the girls somehow get around them all, until the end. I really enjoyed this and I think its an interesting commentary on art installations. At my small college, each spring we would find various art installations pop up around campus, they always provoked spirited discussions about what art really is. In the Plain Janes, I think P.L.A.I.N. becomes a way to help Main Jane heal emotionally from her experience in Metro City. The sequel, Janes in Love just came out September 23rd. Publisher Minx Books, a division of DC Comics, has several other titles similar to this one. These might be good choices for reluctant female middle school age readers (the publisher suggests grades 7-10). Unfortunately, in looking around at Minx Books on the internet, I came across this article detailing the failure of Minx. It's really too bad they couldn't give it a go awhile longer. I think it is a really neat idea to create graphic novels geared toward girls.

Other reviews of The Plain Janes can be found here: Girl Detective, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, So Many Books, So Little Time, and Presenting Lenore.

Although, I was attempting to link two books with the theme of high school, this next book is drastically different from Plain Janes. I recently finished The Power of Three by Laura Lippman, an adult crime novel. Lippman writes the Tess Monaghan series, which I haven't read, but would like to get to some day. The Power of Three is one of her stand alone books. We open with one girl hiding a gun in her backpack. Then, there is a school shooting. One girl is dead, one is injured in her foot, and the third (presumably the shooter) a botched suicide attempt. The whole book centers around trying to figure out what exactly happened in the bathroom to make three best friends become victims/enemies. There are flashbacks throughout the book to see the girls' friendship throughout the past ten years. Lippman does a wonderful job with character development. I feel like we really get a sense of who each of these girls are, what makes them different from each other and the rest of the high school crowd. Lippman guides us along in the investigation of the shooting letting us in on secrets here and there. I spent much of the book thinking I could figure it all out and I somewhat did, but I think I did at the pace that Lippman wanted her readers to figure it out. It was nicely predictable. And there was a tiny bit of a twist at the end as to who the "fourth girl" really was when the shooting took place. Any fans of Harlan Coben would most likely really enjoy this one. I found Lippman to sort of be a female version of Coben. I still have What the Dead Know sitting on my shelf and I'm looking forward to getting to that one as well.

A winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered our first ever giveaway! The response was amazing! I wrote everyone's entries out on fortune cookie sized pieces of paper and drew one out of my favorite mixing bowl. The winner is...BunnyB, who will be receiving her copy of Anatomy of a Boyfriend as soon as I can get to the post office.

I was really interested in everyone's favorite books as a teen, and also in the embarrassing stories. They all had such similarity, most having to do with being clumsy. I thought that was funny. I can remember being mortified by tripping or spilling something as a teen, and those are things I just laugh off now. Being a teenager definitely falls into the "couldn't pay me enough to do that again" category.

Anyway, thank you for making our first giveaway such a success! Enjoy your book, BunnyB!

Q & A With Daria Snadowsky

Daria Snadowsky, author of Anatomy of a Boyfriend, was kind enough to answer some pretty nosy questions by e-mail. We enjoyed the book, and so can you! See below for an opportunity to win a SIGNED copy.

Read Holly's review here.
Read Allison's review here.
Visit Daria Snadowsky's web page.

Allison: I have to ask, with all the comparisons between Anatomy of a Boyfriend and Judy Blume's Forever...Do you have any interest in writing a book for pre-teen girls? Even when I read Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, there were some outdated bits, and that was...ahem...a while ago.

Daria: Now that you mention it, I think tween books would be an interesting avenue for me to consider. Middle school was an endless gauntlet of adolescent "firsts" that still scar me to this day, so it might be cathartic to tackle those topics in a novel intended for younger readers.

Allison: Were there books that particularly spoke to you during your childhood and teen years?

Daria: I swore by Judy Blume, especially Forever. Blume has an unabashed, totally candid way of conveying her characters' emotions that always made me feel less alone. I read her books not for escapism or entertainment but rather empathy.

Allison: What was the most challenging part of Anatomy of a Boyfriend to write? The most fun? (I know, I sound like a college application essay question.)

Daria: The most fun part was writing about Dom's first kiss. I still remember mine more vividly than I do just about anything else that has happened to me before or since, so it was fun reliving that magical moment in my mind and then translating it to Dom's world.

The most challenging part were the love scenes. Walking that tightrope between graphic and pornographic, between sensual and sensationalized, between honest and gratuitous was a constant struggle. Judy Blume's Forever remained my guide throughout. That the character of Dom was an aspiring doctor who loved anatomy allowed me to get away with giving more clinical, detailed descriptions that I might have been able to otherwise.

Allison: Any memorable ex-boyfriend stories you'd like to share?

Daria: On Valentine's Day of my sophomore year at Emory, my then-bf and I went parking in his car on the top level of Peavine Parking deck. Seconds later campus security came by and found us. They made us stand outside while they lectured to us how stupid we were being and threatened to write us up. It was reeeally embarrassing, and they were right it was a pretty dumb thing for us to do, but it did inspire one of my favorite chapters in Anatomy of a Boyfriend.

Allison: You've written what seems destined to be a YA classic...what's next?

Daria: Thank you so much! I spent most of my time since Anatomy's release practicing law, but ideas are always going through my head for new projects. I can pretty much guarantee you that if I should write again, it won't involve anything with a fantasy/supernatural element. A lot of people have asked for a sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, so that's always a possibility.


Thank you so much, Daria! Now for the contest! Enter to win a SIGNED, hardcover copy of Anatomy of a Boyfriend before it comes out in paperback September 23. Here's how to enter:

1. For one entry, leave a comment below, telling me your favorite book as a teenager. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address so I can contact the winner!
2. For a bonus entry, add an embarrassing story from your teen years.
3. For another entry, blog about this contest, linking to this post, and tell me you did in the comments.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59 P.M. EDT ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7! I will select a winner at random from all entries and contact the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky

Holly's review here

Daria Snadowsky's dedication to Judy Blume is an apt one; she certainly owes a debt to Blume, whose honest books on the facts of life were so important to girls of my generation. This is not to say that Anatomy of a Boyfriend is just a rehashing of Forever and other works; rather, it's a needed update. Snadowsky uses clean, spare prose (with a hint of humor) to examine high school infatuation (and maybe love), teenage sex lives, growing up, and taking control of your body. The first part of the book introduces Dom, a 17-year-old virgin whose best friend, Amy, has an "anything but" policy in her frequent hookups with whatever guy she finds cute that week. Dom finds most boys unworthy of her time and attention, and she's consumed with college applications, Science Quiz, and keeping her grades up for a good pre-med program. Then she meets Wes, and they begin a classic adolescent infatuation/flirtation during which Dom's brain apparently falls out of her head so that she's unable to think of anything but Wes. And what to wear when she sees Wes. And why Wes hasn't kissed her yet. And...you get the idea. I was getting a little annoyed when I realized--that's pretty much infatuation, isn't it? It bores/annoys everyone except those directly involved. It was hard to see Dom having trouble concentrating on her schoolwork when preparing for college had been her obsession before she met Wes, but it's accurate. And when Dom and Wes start fumbling around the edges of a sexual relationship, the intensity and awkwardness ring true. I obviously cared about the characters, because when Dom waffles on whether to go to her original second choice school, Tulane, (Stanford had rejected her) or Wes's NYU, I could have screamed at her not to be an idiot. Dom decides that she's ready to go all the way, and she and Wes make plans for prom night. Snadowsky doesn't shy away from the details, but the actual sex scenes are more tasteful than anything I've read in romance novels. The next part of the book deals with Dom starting college, meeting new people, trying to get good grades and figure out if she really wants to be pre-med, and, of course, missing Wes. Gradually, she begins to find an identity for herself independent from her great love, and I was pleased to see her make the transition toward growing up.

I have to say that overall this was an excellent novel for teen girls. As a parent (Holly and I are both parents, so you'll have to look elsewhere for the non-parent point-of-view) I think it would be a good starting point for parent-teen conversations about sex. I don't know that I would want this to be my daughter's only reference, but it isn't meant to be. Dom's parents really said very little about sex, except a couple of vague "be carefuls" and I wasn't thrilled that Dom was so non-judgmental about Amy's less-than-safe sex life (though there was finally a comment about it). On the other hand, I was pleased that Dom took charge of her health by providing condoms, and she's not one of those girls agreeing to sex so her boyfriend will like her. There's also a "Future Cosmo Woman" vibe (pun intended) as far as Dom being in control of her body that I thought was an empowering counterpoint to popular culture's emphasis on men's pleasure. I would recommend this to (mature) teen girls, and especially to parents of pre-teen or teen girls, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Anatomy of a Boyfriend sticking around for a whole new generation.

Stay tuned to On My Bookshelf--Daria Snadowsky has agreed to answer a few questions in our first-ever author interview, and we'll be giving away an autographed, hardcover copy of Anatomy of a Boyfriend (out in paperback September 23).

Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky

Allison and I were contacted by the author of Anatomy of a Boyfriend to see if we'd like to receive a copy of her book to review on the blog. We were very excited and of course said yes! I received the book in the mail last week and dived in yesterday.

It is a very candid account of a high school girl's first real relationship with a boy and the highs and lows of dealing with that. The main character, Dominique (Dom) is seventeen and very focused on her college applications, planning to be premed, and hanging out with her best friend, Amy.While hanging out with Amy at a football game, Dom meets Wes and almost immediately becomes completely preoccupied with him. The relationship moves along quickly. Dom and Wes become consumed with each other spending the last spring of high school together and the summer before college. Then off they go to separate colleges and their perfect relationship takes an inevitable turn.

I received a bookmark along with the book, which says, "An unflinching account of teen love, sex and heartbreak". I think the sex part should be first there. The first half of the novel was filled with a lot of description about Dom and Wes's sexual relationship. Actually, the experiences leading up to the eventual "deed", on prom night no less. As I was reading, I kept thinking to myself, "Is this what the whole book is going to be like?" It was very honest and Snadowsky did not hold back with the details. I was actually a little disappointed in the first half of the book because I was looking for more story and it seemed to me I was just reading about the characters going at it. However, around page 137 or so the story turns when Dom receives her college acceptance letters. The second half of the book is much more story driven and details the feelings of going off to college and leaving your best friend and boyfriend and trying to maintain long distance relationships.

I thought Snadowsky's book was quite accurate to many people's experiences senior year of high school and going off to college. She captures the first semester of college quite well from the shock of a bad test grade, to trying to have a relationship with a guy who is hundreds of miles away, while meeting new people who seem interesting. I also thought Snadowsky portrayed parents in the book well from a teenager's point of view. They seemed kind of lame but caring. They tried to be understanding and there for Dom if she needed them.

The bookmark I mentioned above also says "For ages 14 and up". I think I would put this at more like age 16 and up. Not that I'm naive, I know there are kids younger out there having sex. But I felt like this was almost a "how-to" book and I'm not sure I would want my daughters reading this at age 14. I'm hoping they have no clue about this stuff at age 14. :-) On another parental sidenote (sorry, I am a parent, it's hard to separate from that): I did like how Dom was portrayed in the sexual relationship. She took responsibility for herself about being safe so they would not be unprepared for the moment. I also thought it was interesting that Snadowsky portrayed Wes as the one who was holding back in the beginning. It's not often you think about the boy being nervous and holding back. The author also portrays the best friend as being sexual, but in an "anything BUT" kind of way. Amy has a goal of waiting until college. I think it was great to portray her with a goal and sticking to it. Overall, Snadowsky treats the topic of sex very responsibly in the book.

If you're looking for an honest account of an adolescent relationship, this is the book for you. Published in hardcover in 2007, you can find Anatomy of a Boyfriend in paperback in a few weeks! You can learn more about Daria Snadowsky here.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

The Wee Free Men is part of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I've read good things about him as an author so I thought I would check this out. It's the story of nine year old Tiffany Aching. She lives in the hills on her family farm. Her Granny was a shepherd and a witch. Tiffany soon learns she also has the gift. Her younger brother gets kidnapped by the Queen of another world, and she begins her journey to get him back armed with a frying pan, talking toad, and an army of red-headed little men.

At first glance, this book seems like a fun young adult fantasy. I was about half way through it at the start of today and I tried to keep plugging through, but ended up skimming the last half. I stopped skimming and read the last several pages. I really wanted to love this book, or even like it. I think I only mildly enjoyed it. It was humorous. And I enjoyed the descriptions of the worlds and monsters. I also like the idea of Fairy tale monsters coming to life. My biggest problem with it is the language of the Nac Mac Feegles. It has a Scottish base and it got a bit tiring reading it as it was written. I think I would have enjoyed this much more if it were just stated that they spoke with a Scottish accent and then written with regular English. Instead it was written in the Scottish dialect and I found myself having to slow my reading down to catch what they were saying. This greatly annoyed me! Hmm....maybe I would really enjoy these books more as audiobooks! I'll have to think about that.

So now, I have A Hat Full of Sky sitting here from the library and I'm debating whether to read it now, or skip it all together and go right to Wintersmith.

Randomness

I went from not really being excited about any books I had in the house to having too many! I guess that's a good problem to have. A bunch of library requests came through at the same time so I have a few books from the library. I also received a free advance copy of a new book!

We'll start with that one: Off the Deep End by W. Hodding Carter. As a member of LibraryThing, you can choose to put your name in to receive advance copies of upcoming books, the only catch is that they ask you to review them. Well, to me, that's not much of a catch. I'd probably do that anyway. Usually there are 400-600 people for each book and maybe 15-50 copies of the book sent out. This was the first book I won. It's the story of Hodding, an over-40 man who used to be a competitive collegiate swimmer. He always dreamed of making it to the Olympics. He didn't have the chance when he was young and becomes obsessed with the idea as a middle-aged man. The book is his memoir of his journey.

It took me a while to get used to Carter's more conversational style of writing. It is very informal, and he tends to interject in the middle of his sentences. Anyone who was a competitive swimmer would probably really enjoy this book. I found it mildly interesting, but not incredibly fascinating. I had preconceived ideas that it might be more of an inspiring story, however, it is more about a man's mid-life crisis journey. Because its an advance copy, the end of the book is missing where you find out if he really did qualify for the Olympics this summer. Once it is published, I'll probably pick it up at the bookstore and just skim through the end.

In other book news, this week is Buy-a-Friend-a-Book Week. More info here. :-)

A while ago, I bought Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith as a bargain book. I've been reading very good things about Pratchett as a young adult author so I thought I would grab. I discovered this was part of a series of books in his Discworld. Discworld appears to be a large series with many tangents or several series within a larger umbrella series. Does that make any sense? At any rate, there were 2 books in this series before Wintersmith (The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky) so I picked up both of them from the library and plan on reading them before I get to Wintersmith. I'm sure I could have read Wintersmith out of order, but I'm kind of anal when it comes to that sort of thing and like to start with the first in a series.

I also have The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett sitting here. I went to the bookstore to look for Run. I just wanted to check it out. However, they were sold out. So I picked this one up instead and read the first few pages. I was really engaged so I requested it from the library. Of course, I received it at the same time as some other books. ;-)

And the last book I currently have sitting around here waiting to be read is Naptime is the New Happy Hour by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. She also wrote Sippy Cups are NOT for Chardonnay, which was hysterical. I can't wait to read this this. Her first book was so funny and true about parenting. I can only imagine what she has to say about the toddler years. I have a feeling I can recommend this one to other mothers without even having read it yet!

Well, I think that's all for now. I've been sort of schizophrenic about deciding which one of these to delve into, they all seem good to me. I guess I'll just see what clicks with my mood today...

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book received RAVE reviews on both Barnes and Noble and Amazon as well as in my Bookmarks Magazine. It falls into juvenile literature but adults young and old seemed to like it as well. This was our book club pick for October. And only one person finished it. I got to about page 75, others got to page 100, half way and a little beyond that. And no one liked it much. I was extremely disappointed. It was a slow read and lacked flow. I think we all expected it to read much quicker because it was a youth book. One person said it read much better if she could dedicate a longer chunk of time each time she picked it up. This is not one to read in ten minute increments (which is how I tend to read things these days).

The book is narrated by the character of Death set in Germany during World War II. Death encounters a little girl (the Book Thief) several times throughout her life and we hear about her life experience with a foster family and the people who live on her street, including a Jewish man they hide in their basement. We all agreed Death as narrator was a very unique and good idea. But it just didn't captivate us like we had hoped. Perhaps this is a case of having too high expectations going into the book.

Back to deciding what to read next....

More Summer Reading

I'm waiting for UPS to bring my Harry Potter book, so I thought I'd write up a few quick reviews.

No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews - This is the latest in her Meg Langslow mysteries. I really enjoy these, and Wicket was no exception. Meg and her family are lots of fun, there's an evil developer (always fun in a mystery), Duck plays an important role, and the mystery takes place around an eXtreme croquet tournament played by the cream of Caerphilly society. I would recommend starting with the first, Murder With Peacocks just to get acclimated to the Langslow clan, but you can really start anywhere in the series.

Antiques Roadkill by Barbara Allan - This is the first in a new cozy mystery series (Trash 'N' Treasure), and there was a lot to like. I guess I'm interested in reading the follow-up, Antiques Maul, to see if "she" (the author is actually a pseudonym for a husband and wife team) settles down a bit. The constant asides and parenthetical comments were disruptive, and the heroine isn't all that sympathetic. Well, the story is written in first person, and you learn quickly that she had an affair with a married man, this ended her marriage, and her husband has custody of their son. But you don't learn how she feels about any of that, which is weird, because she vents pretty much any other thought that enters her head, including rants about fashion, architecture, and more. She also turns the narration over to her bipolar mother for ten pages, which is unnecessary and tedious. The mystery was pretty well-done, though I did figure it out, at least partly, which I usually don't do. Some of the humor was very well-done, too, and it was enjoyable to read at times. I guess, pick this up if you're desperate for a new cozy mystery.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin - This is an extraordinary book. It's a YA novel that opens with Liz, an almost-sixteen year old waking up on a boat, with no memory of how she got there. She realizes quickly that she's dead, and the boat is taking her to Elsewhere. (This isn't a spoiler--you can find that out by reading the back of the book.) Read this with a box of tissues handy. It's funny and poignant and beautiful. I don't want to give away any more of the plot, but if the premise sounds at all interesting to you, pick it up. Liz and the supporting cast are wonderfully drawn, and the writing is a delight.