Recommends

Birth Marked
-Caragh O'Brien
A brilliant dystopian novel about a society trying to create a type of utopia (for some of its residents anyway) and preserve the human race. Gaia is a midwife who must turn over a certain number of newborns to the Enclave each month. She soon begins to question her assignment and discovers some dangerous secrets.

The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows
- Jacqueline West

 

I LOVE this book! A great middle grade book involving magical paintings, talking cats, and a little girl all alone in her big house. I have to agree with the comparisons to Roald Dahl and Neil Gaiman. Sometimes spooky, sometimes funny - it feels like a classic!

The Eternal Ones

by Kirsten Miller

Synopsis
Haven has visions of the past that include a boy named Ethan. She flees rural TN to find the Ouroboros Society in New York City. There she meets a mysterious boy with whom she is immediately drawn to. (Meaning she falls madly in love with). Haven must unravel a series of secrets hidden in her past lives or face dire consequences.

Review
I wanted to love this book, the premise sounds awesome, but I just kind of liked it. Some things I liked: the secret society aspect, the idea of being reincarnated, the secrets of past lives - basically the story and ideas. Some really cool settings too (excluding stereotyped TN). The Ouroboros Society is a great idea (they even sent me a pamphlet in the mail!), and some of the "mystery" stuff is intriguing.

What I didn't like - the characters. Haven is a bit bi-polar when it comes to her relationship with Iain. One minute she is all " I love you, I will follow you anywhere" and the next all "how dare you, I don't believe you, I'm leaving!". Geez Haven, take a deep breath and lets think this thing through. Also Haven, use your noggin! I've mentioned it before, I hate main characters (especially girl characters) that have no moxie! Seriously, I'm looking for a smart, sassy heroine who (despite her crazy infatuation for a boy she has just met) can still think for herself. Seriously, I could interchange these characters with others from recent Paranormal YA and hardly tell the difference.
Also... is this going to be a series??? ARG.

All that having been said, I will read the next one. And major props to the publisher who changed the final cover. The first one looked like It should be in the romance section.

Story - 3/5 some good stuff here
Characters - 2/5 ugh main character
Pacing - 4/5 I read this in two days
Romance - 3/5 I might have given it more if their relationship was better
Snogging Scale - no details but I'm pretty sure it is a 10
Overall - 3/5 I'll read more

Let's talk about ...

sex. Thats right. I said it. Sex in YA books.

I heard an awesome story on NPR the other day about Judy Blume's Forever. And it got me to thinking about sex in YA. I have no problem with sex in YA, generally because of the audience, it is mostly talked around or seriously edited. Teen readers are going to hear about sex. It is a fact. So I just figure it might as well be in an honest voice that doesn't warp perceptions. Talking about sex with out glorifying or perverting it can only be healthy.

If the characters (OMG) "do it", I try to consider that when I am recommending a book to parents or grandparents. Here is what I want to really talk about, not if sex in YA is appropriate (because it is) but examples of books that don't glorify the act but is handled honestly and as part of character development. Forever, qualifies as an example.

So does Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky. I love this book, mostly for its discussion of the main character's relationship with her first love (read the afterword for a really interesting discussion on Limerance, a fancy term for infatuation and love). If anyone ever questions why I always keep a copy of this book on hand (and you should hear the reactions to the cover, THE HORROR!) I'll tell them my reasons. It is about, *spoilers*, a girl and her relationship with her boyfriend - the kind where she depends on him for her happiness and they are each others firsts. Things don't end happily ever after and the main character realizes that she was in a semi- unhealthy relationship and is able to grow from the experience. This book does not glorify sex in anyway, in fact there might even be some regret. 

Some other books I have heard good things about when the topic of sex in YA comes up: (PS. I have not read any of these so feedback is appreciated) *Steps off soapbox*

- Losing It edited by Keith Gray 

- Doing It by Melvin Burgess 

- Lost It by Kristen Tracy 

Recommends

More store recommends ...

The Summer I Turned Pretty
by Jenny Han

This book makes me want to drive to the beach just so I can read it there! A perfect summer read about love, family, and growing up. I can't wait to read more in the series!

The Beautiful Between
by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

This book was not at all what I expected when I picked it up. Not at all a fluffy Upper East Side fairy tale, but a gorgeously written honest book about friendship and grief.

Hunger Games Movie

I am super, super, crazy excited for the Hunger Games movie. I'm glad Suzanne Collins is writing the screenplay and I hope that they don't mess it up. I vote no for casting Chloe Moretz as Katniss. Which I just read about today here.  Please Hollywood, don't f up this for me. Though the article also mentions Miley Cyrus (who is linked to both Lisa McMann's Wake and Aprilynne Pike's Wings), if it came down between the two I would definitely vote Chloe. Can't we get some one new and mostly unknown???

Recommends

At the store I work at we have Recommends flags we place in books so customers can know what we liked even when we aren't there. We have A LOT of them.  A lot of independent bookstores do this, and I think it is an extra personal touch that you can't get in box stores or on Amazon. I'm going to try and post a few of my store recommends here on occasion. They are short and often I ignore grammatical rules.

(I know not everything on the table is YA but we have limited space!)

Here are two recommends from the past few months: 

Somebody Everybody Listens To

- Suzanne Supplee

One thing I love about this book (other than the Southern setting and main character) is that it seems so real and honest. Retta has dreams of being a famous country music star which lead her to Nashville. This is not a “suddenly she is a superstar” story, which is why I love it. Bonus – Country music references!

 

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

- Morgan Matson


An awesome road trip book. Amy, still reeling from the death of her father, must take her mother’s car across the country with the son of a family friend she barely knows. Both funny and heartfelt, this is a perfect summer read!

I heart Maureen

No really, I love her books so so so much. I also love her tweets. This is awesome as well. We all start somewhere.

OMG!

I read this book at least four times when I was younger. Seriously, I loved this book. So then I was poking around on Google Reader and came across this. IMDB says nothing and it could be a crazy wild rumor, but I would LOVE to see this made in to a film. Especially by Mr. DeVito who managed not to totally ruin Matilda. But then again this news article is from 2 years ago, so I won't get my hopes up...

Patrick Ness on Writing

Publishers Weekly has an awesome article about Patrick Ness and the Chaos Walking series!

Dear Publisher #1

This is the first of many posts addressed to some of my questions about why publishers do the things they do, or some of my thoughts and questions on what I would like to see in publishing.

Dear Publisher,
When you send me an advance copy of a book (thank you!) could you try to always note somewhere on the book that it might be part of a series?!

For instance, a year or so ago I read Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I have not been able to come to a decision about my feelings for the book because after reading 500 pages I discovered that there would be another book. (turns out there will be 4 in the series, I know this now) But I was expecting resolution not a cliff hanger!

I love a good series, but knowing a book is or might be part of the series lets me know what to expect from the get go.

Appreciatively yours,
Christie

PS. Started Beautiful Darkness, loving it so far!

Will Grayson WIll Grayson

by John Green and David Levithan

Synopsis

Two boys, both named Will Grayson, are busy living their seperate lives when they cross paths. This book is also about Will Grayson's (the John Green one) best friend Tiny Cooper. And a musical. And ... well I should stop.

John Green wrote the odd numbered chapters (WG1), David Levithan wrote the even numbered ones (WG2).

Review

OMG! I have been freaking out over this book since it came out months ago. I LOVE this book. Even better, I listened to it on audio and both narrators are made of awesome. Listening to the audio means that the songs for Tiny's musical Tiny Dancer are sung. I got ahead of myself didn't I.

I love and adore both John Green and David Levithan so hearing that they had a book coming out that they wrote together nearly made my head explode. Both writers have created characters that are unique and seem completely real despite some of their quirks. WG1 is nerdy and slightly neurotic and WG2 is angsty and a bit lost. (David Levithan wrote his chapters in all lower case letters) I've heard a few people say that this story is more about Tiny than either Will Grayson. I don't totally agree with that notion, but he certainly is pivotal.

I must have looked like a crazy person listening to this alone in my car - I laughed audibly numerous times, I might have cried a bit too. Do yourself a favor and listen to this book on audio, even if you have already read it.

Bonus! John and David reading from chapter three at an author event...




Humor - 4/5 laughing out loud by yourself looking like a fool
Warm Fuzzies - 4/5
Snogging Scale - a 6 at least, but I honestly don't remember
Story - 5/5 genius
Characters - 5/5 true teen!
Overall 5/5 - MADE OF AWESOME!

Summer Reading List Drama!

This is the cry of a sad sad little woman who is unloved... and has a stick up her butt.

I hate when people take things from a book out of context in order to make it sound more offensive.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/156012/