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Creative narration, as it colors perspective, can add to a book’s appeal.  Just as Death narrates Markus Zuzak’s The Book Thief, which offers a perspective on the Jewish holocaust, and God narrates Alan Lightman’s Mr. g, a hypothesis about the universe’s creation, the ghost of Jacob Grimm narrates Tom McNeal’s new book, Far Far Away. Although the story doesn’t begin “once upon a time” or “in a land far, far away,” McNeal’s recent release is a fairy tale. Set in the parochial village, Never Better, Far Far Away features heroes and heroines, villains and ogres, horrors and cruelties, as well as lessons for and truthsRead More →

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In her newest book, Of Beast and Beauty, Stacey Jay has penned a fractured fairy tale that also functions as a cautionary one.  Although the core of the story is based on the familiar Beauty and the Beast plot, Jay moves the conflicts beyond the traditional to warn contemporary society about the effects of intolerance and divisive philosophies and policies. Somewhat satirical in her style, Jay creates a world in which the Dark Heart’s magic has gained control via an ancient curse, and the only way to undo the curse is for one Smooth Skin and one Monstrous to build a relationship unfreighted by expectationsRead More →

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To describe David Levithan’s book Two Boys Kissing is like trying to nail Jello to a tree.  This chapterless book is a support narrative and survival story for anyone who has considered suicide or who has been ashamed of his/her body, it is a love story, and it is a book about perseverance and finding a good time in a remarkably dire place, but most of all, it is a story of hope.  Although Levithan tells the tales of Tariq, Cooper, Ryan, Avery, Craig, Harry, Peter, and Neil, he also spins a tribute to all the homosexual men who came before them as forefathers inRead More →

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While reading Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, I was immediately struck by the rich detail with which protagonist Willow Chance describes the world as seen through her 12 year old eyes. Willow, a genius who attends Sequoia Middle School in Bakersfield,California, goes to the mall not to buy things but to collect field notes and make diagnostic flash cards on skin disorders.  Besides medical conditions, Willow is obsessed with the number seven, plants, and order.  Rather than engage in small talk, Willow prefers “talk of theories and concepts mixed with facts and known quantities” (89).  Her favorite color is red. These interests and abilitiesRead More →

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Any reader fascinated by math or science or curious about the universe will likely find Pi in the Sky by Wendy Mass intriguing.  Mass tells the story of thirteen-year-old Joss, the seventh son of the Supreme Overlord of the Universe. Each chapter of her book begins with a quote from an astronomer, physicist, mathematician, cosmologist, chemist, engineer, naturalist, or writer captivated by the universe.  These quotes form the underlying themes of the book. Joss, virtually an immortal life form, lives in The Realms, which are located inside dark matter, so parts of it reach out into all the galaxies.  In The Realms, many of theRead More →

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Isis Ann Murray, known by her friends as Ice or Icie, loves language, Starbucks, smart-ass T-shirts, horror films, her iPhone, and Tristan.  With her best friend Lola, Icie engages in linguistic creativity, creating Ripples—words that lose their individual identities when they swirl into new forms, adding flavor to conversation.  Freaking idiot, for example, becomes fridiot, and terrifically boring becomes borrific.  Icie’s life is flowing as smoothly as life can for a seventeen-year-old whose dad is a nuclear physicist and whose mom works for the federal government, but she learns that, regardless of life’s banality or beauty, Psycho-style surprises can erupt. When Tristan—two weeks before prom—dumpsRead More →

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Imagine everything you’d do over if you had the chance.  Ten-year-old Odessa  Green-Light in Odessa Again by Dana Reinhardt  does more than imagine do-overs.  In her attic, jumping gives her the power to make today yesterday all over again.  In the early stages, Odessa’s magic helps her to erase humiliation, misunderstanding, and poorly orchestrated choices, and readers will discover whether Odessa can change the things that matter most in the bewildering life of a tween.  Can she make her life resemble the online game Dreamonica, where she gets to make every decision—“how many puppies, how big a mansion, even what color hair and eyes she had” (107),Read More →

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Identity theft has been the top consumer complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the past twelve years in a row.  According to the FTC, identity theft, which happens when someone steals your personal information and uses it without your permission, is a serious crime that can wreak havoc with your finances, credit history, and reputation — and can take time, money, and patience to resolve. This is the topic of Anna Davies’ new book, Identity Theft, the second installment in the Point Horror series.  Davies’ novel features senior Hayley Westin, who has more awards than friends.  As a freshman, she took down herRead More →

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Readers of alien invasions, apocalyptic fiction, or exhilarating action-thrillers will not be disappointed with Rick Yancey’s latest novel, The Fifth Wave.  Reminiscent of Steven King’s The Stand , of P.D. James’ futuristic political-fable novel Children of Men, or of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Yancey’s book is super- intense and rich with nearly nonstop action.  In grand genre-blurring fashion, Yancey writes a book that is equal parts science-fiction and thriller, the first in a trilogy that promises to rival the popular  Hunger Games series. When aliens invade earth, their presence is felt in waves: Lights Out, Surf’s Up, Pestilence, Silencer, and the Fifth Wave.  After losing the powerRead More →